Re: Hindu boy converts to Islam in Pakistan
If you don’t ‘get the uproar,’ it may be because you lack understanding of the realities on the ground. Comparing, say, a Terry Jones in America to an Islamic televangelist in Pakistan is a false comparison. In the States, judicial recourse and a (largely) politically correct, pluralistic public ensures that bigots on TV don’t enjoy an overwhelming audience, while in Pakistan the state institutionalizes discrimination against minorities (reference the Constitution) along with a frequently complicit public and media. After the high profile murders of 2 politicians over the issue of minority rights, it’s remarkable how anyone can fail to appreciate the extent to which religious dogma and intolerance has become an explosive issue. Over the last 35 years we have become an increasingly conservative society, with a dwindling Hindu and Christian population, forced conversions/kidnappings of Hindu girls. With this social and political backdrop, it is unclear how anyone fails to see that televising the spectacle of a young, frazzled looking Hindu man converting to a cheering audience can stoke sectarian tensions.
The act itself is a vulgar spectacle, a cheap commercialization of religion. The audience bestows him with a new name decided through “consensus.” Like they’re gifting a banana to a circus monkey who jumped through all the right hoops. Good for Ms. Khan, she’s giving the rabid Aamir Liaquat a run for his money.