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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on October 19, 2007 at 10:40pm

I'm no fan of PPP or BB but what happened in Karachi yesterday was very tragic.
And it was man-made in the same way May 12 killings were but with far more devastating consequences. While the government must pursue and bring perpetrators to justice, we all must reflect on what we can do to be a part of the solution here. It will take the entire society to fix the scourge of suicide bombings emanating from rising fanaticism in our home country.

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Permalink Reply by Ali Hasan Cemendtaur on October 19, 2007 at 11:55pm

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Khalid Hassan. You wrote about the growing polarity in the Pakistani society and alluded to the intolerance of the two halves towards each other. Whereas your observation on polarity is absolutely correct, it is not right to say that the progressive elements are intolerant towards the right-wingers. Intolerance exists only on one side. [When was the last time you saw an "atheist" blow himself up to kill religious zealots?] That argument aside, we must find common grounds to relieve tensions in the society. Unfortunately, only the "atheists" are interested in that compromise.
regards,
C.

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Permalink Reply by Riaz Haq on October 20, 2007 at 9:49am

Here's a piece written on this subject for Chowk.com by Dilawar Syed, a friend and President of OPEN Silicon Valley:

At least 135 innocent lives lost; hundreds of families devastated. A tragedy of this kind has a way of bringing people together.
It’s hard to write about October 18, 2007 – a day that will go down in the history of Pakistan when carnage and tragedy struck the streets of Karachi; just when hundreds of thousands were engaging in the most free and genuine political expression seen in recent years in Pakistan. The nation is simply
stunned for never before in Pakistan’s history, the country witnessed such a scale of violence in a political rally. At least 135 innocent lives lost; hundreds of families devastated. A tragedy of this kind has a way of bringing people together. In her press conference in Karachi this morning, Benazir Bhutto was acutely inclusive of all mainstream political elements. That sentiment must be upheld as we move forward in the political process; the country can ill-afford further polarization.
To read full text, please visit Chowk.

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Permalink Reply by Irfana Khan on October 21, 2007 at 7:37am

As for as what happened in these last 10,15 years which changed us (Pakistan specifically) is the degradation of our economic and political system which has deprived the common person of even the basic necessities of life. When it takes u hours to get back to ur home from work, when u have to live without electricity and water for days in a row, when u r still jobless after getting outstanding education... its natural to become impatient, frustrated and intolerant.


However to find the solution, we should look back in retrospect to determine the cause ...its the hatred towards Islam and Muslims because of the recent events around the world which itself began as a result of the acts of the extremists. The extremists dont want to do anything with the west and want to take revenge for their deprivations and injustice from everyone else without realizing their own shortcomings. The "seculars", on the other hand, want to blend in the west so desperately that they have isolated themselves from other Muslims to remain in the good books. Whats' needed are true Muslims who follow the REAL Islam ...who r neither extremist nor secular but Muslims who not only believe in saying the five prayers but also in the struggle for peace and basic human rights , Muslims whose jihad does not involve blowing people up but a war against poverty and illiteracy and saying right from wrong ,who r not judgemental towards others because they have faith in the day of judgement, who are polite and forgiving ,who r humble and respectful to everyone irrespective of their religion, who r honest and sincere, who embrace their identity as Muslims with pride and whose acts (political or not) can salvage the image of Islam around the world and can create peace and unity among the Muslims themselves. We have to understand that being modern and developed does not involve changing ur attire and ur language rather embracing ur identity,ur culture and ur beliefs, that being a super power does not come from the use of technology for pleasure and leisure and the use of higher education for making money only but for the advancement and benefit of the entire system and that it involves the courage to be leaders and not followers and the courage to be proud of ur roots. We don't realize that even the super powers of today's world got their status by following the basic codes of conduct and moral values (like hardwork, courtesy, patience, honesty, charity, forgiveness etc) of Islam which r to be seen nowhere in our society...a society full of Muslims but no Islam. In short, the reason of our descent is our own ignorance from the true spirit of Islam ... the Islam which was before and not the Islam of today.

And at the risk of being called too optimistic... i want to add that we have already triggered the change by realizing our problems. If we try to implement it on ourselves and our kids, our friends and families and all others to whom our opinion matters...we can be a small part of this big change needed to revive our society and our right to become a great nation.

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