Liberal Pakistani activist Marvi Sirmed takes on Zaid Hamid

[BindazChakkar]

Re: Liberal Pakistani activist Marvi Sirmed takes on Zaid Hamid

@Enigmatic

Quoting directly from Marvi’s article in her personal blog:

1. She has used the word burqa, pardah & hijab interchangeably. Which means that she’s basically calling pardah a curse. We all know the importance of pardah in Islam. She further ignites these comments with such a picture she posted. It is bound to be controversial obviously. She thinks anyone who’s wearing a burqa/hijab is subjugated. Agreed it’s a personal blog, but a blog is public and anybody who reads it has a right to agree or disagree to it and it’s obvious that it hurt a lot of people.

2. My major concern of her calling the Two Nation Theory a major farce is because of the fact that it would do nothing but spread more unrest and hopelessness in an already demoralized nation which is suffering an awful lot. (whatever the facts maybe or whatever modified falsified history we have been taught)

3. We have already seen Extremist Hindu organisations such as Shiv Sina giving hateful comments against Muslims and Pakistan. Remember how Bal Thakre vowed to not let Pakistan play cricket at the worldcup in Mumbai - even threats to SRK (apparently India’s King Khan) on release of My Name is Khan etc. We know all about the Babri Mosque’s brutal burniing down incident too. Are these just coincidences?

4. Hindus and Muslims have been living together for almost a thousand years while the Muslims were the rulers. But the moment Brits invaded into the subcontinent and in the 1920 elections the Congress Ministries gave Muslims such a terrible time that Jinnah asked Muslims to celebrate Day of deliverance once the Congress Ministries resigned. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Deliverance_(India)
   http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xczktn_rule-of-congress-ministries-2_news

5. Even if the above and numerous other examples in our history books are cooked or modified, what about the opinion of many of our elders who had lived through the independence. My grandparents always told stories of the horror days when Sikhs and Hindus terribly persecuted the Muslims and raped their women. Alot of other people have their own witnessed incidents they could share. If they were all living so happily why would they even have bothered to leave their families, their assets and everything and migrate to a country with absolutely nothing?

6. For almost 64 years now, Kashmiris have been suffering from the worst persecution by the Indian army. Why sideline the Kashmir issue. Are they not humans? Am sure that in Balochistan people would never have suffered to that extent. My uncle who’s a geologist had worked for 15 years in Quetta, Zhob and other areas of Balochistan. He said there was always peace and mutual respect for each other at least till the 90s he was there.

Marvi Sirmed is doing what we call lighting up the matchstick, putting oil on troubled waters by such antics and then saying I am Pakistani with a bindi’! It just doesn’t make sense and it’s *obvious *people would take her a controversial figure and doubt her intentions.

I have to give you my Indian perspective on a couple of things you have said (not about purda issue)

2nation theory may have started on the principle that Hindus and MUslims should have separate countries - but it did not work. lot of Muslims would not or could not move out; and even Pakistan ended up splitting up which to me is proof that just because a country is ‘muslim’ country doesn’t mean they won’t fight and split on other grounds.

how can you take fringe people such as Bal Thackeray and gneralize on entire India and Hindus? This makes me think may be whoever thought 2nation theory will work also made similar mistake

Most importantly, accepted historical works and physical evidence that exists todate show that during the Muslim rule of large parts of India, atrocities such as demolition of Hindu temples occurred - not perhaps to the same degree in every king’s reign but certainly in scale. If that was the way the native people were treated, wouldn’t you expect some backlash..atleast for some time until woulds heal? rather than blaming the british (not that they did not practice divide and rule!) I think human tendency is to develop a hatred towards the religion in which’s name the temples were destroyed. No different from how even after 10 years of 9/11, some Americans distrust all Muslims because the 9/11 was perpetrated by people claiming to be Muslims

Finally, the Indian view in general about Kashmir is that but for Pakistan’s interference and tactics, Kashmir would never have become a problem necessitating heavy handed army presence.