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The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar also on Sunday. And given that other parties have been holding rallies of late, Sunday`s rallies could be seen as a rightful way for right-wing parties to assert their own political credentials. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
it is also necessary to remember that while the right wing in Pakistain may be exercising rights granted by the constitution and democratic principles, the parties of the far right do not have much interest in democracy as it is supposed to be practised in Pakistain. In fact, the Jamaatud Dawa, the `moderate` face of the Lashkar-i-Taiba, which headlined Sunday`s rally in Lahore does not even believe in electoral democracy, arguing that it is against the tenets of Islam.
While it isn`t clear yet if the latest right-wing alliance -- an umbrella group of 30-odd conservative and radical entities resurfacing in the wake of the
Mohmand... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
killings as the `Pakistain Defence Council` -- has been encouraged by the security establishment or is a self-initiative, the climate in which it has arisen is a dangerous one. With the more mainstream and secular parties fighting among themselves and the state continuing its ambivalent policy towards the West, the ultra-conservative elements in society can cash in on the growing anti-US sentiment in the country. While recalibrating Pakistain`s national security and foreign policies is necessary, if the PDC`s ideas were to be followed Pakistain would find itself more isolated than ever in the international community, and perhaps even on the warpath with neighbours and international powers. The anti-US, anti-India vitriol that marked the PDC rally was not just hyperbole or bombast; given the cast of characters involved, there can be little doubt that if they were in charge of Pakistain, some catastrophic decisions would be made.
In truth, however, the PDC may be less a cause than a symptom of what ails Pakistain. For two decades, from the 1980s, the Pak state explicitly supported a certain kind of worldview. Then, in the wake of 9/11, it may have cut many of its ties to jihadi groups and ended its explicit support for jihad but it did nothing to provide a counter-narrative. So the narrative of Pakistain as the bastion of Islam fighting against an unjust and unfair world has continued, and it has grown into an ever greater threat to the country itself.