Like an exogenous bad news that suddenly stunts the market and everyone – no matter how risk averse, above board they may have been – are negatively impacted – every Pakistani-American felt a ton of bricks when Attorney General Eric Holder announced that an individual from their community may have driven an explosive laden SUV to Times Square.
Among many aspects that I admire about my new ‘homeland’ one that is most precious is the justice system. I understand Faisal Shahzad’s presumption of innocence and I am sure when he has his day in the court he will be afforded that right. I am hoping he can miraculously explain why he bought a SUV and paid cash for it, how did his SUV showed up in the middle of Times Square with explosives and why he was going to Dubai and not Pakistan?
But candidly speaking – that is my wishful thinking.
For a minute, let’s assume that Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American who lived in Connecticut was indeed the individual who attempted to wreak havoc and harm innocent people. What than should we do? We, the hyphenated Pakistanis who have made this country our own- how do we purge our communities from poisonous, misguided individuals?
I feel there is larger and more complex question that plagues us but we are not the first immigrant community to face this challenge.
In the post 9/11 world the key issue around which debate, hopes, and hostilities often crystallizes is religion. Religion has become an emblem of cultural and personal identity for many. I believe ‘Pakistan’ as a nation state does not have such an animosity that an individual of Pakistani descent will risk their own life and attempt such a heinous plot.
And, I want to stress that because pre 9/11 I didn’t find that many young men and women in New York with accentuated religious identity. Heck – I was a young man not long ago and the only person I knew somewhat religious left America after completing his residency. He realized that with his world view he was better off living in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.
Bill Maher is right: Secular values are non-negotiable
Those who migrated to this country in search of a secular society (trust me there are plenty of Pakistani atheist and agnostics in New York as well) find themselves in rather vulnerable situation. And, majority who consider religion their personal matter also find themselves under microscope. But that is the exogenous bad news impact – even when you are not responsible your equity shrinks. Tough luck!
Last week Bill Maher said something very interesting:
“Although America likes to think it’s #1, we have to admit we’re behind the developing world in at least one thing: Their religious wackos are a lot more wacko than ours. When “South Park” got threatened last week by Islamists incensed at their depiction of Mohammed, it served—or should—as a reminder to all of us that our culture isn’t just different than one that makes death threats to cartoonists. It’s better.”
I totally agree and that is one of the main reasons why I am at home in East Village, New York. Problem arises when Bill Maher says “their religious wackos” many with Muslim names and backgrounds are unsure if they are part of “their” or “ours.”
I know this binary is rather linear and their can be a horizontal way of looking at cultural community as well.
Talking about Indian writers in England, Salman Rushdie suggested these individuals who are neither completely English nor 100 percent Indians have “access to a second tradition.” And he argues that this tradition is one of cross-connections, not roots. He writes: “the cultural and political history of the phenomenon of migration, displacement, life in a minority group,” constitutes its own community “cross- and intraculturally.”
If we agree with Rushdie and locate ourselves in the “cross-connected” community and do not assign much value to the “roots”, it becomes much easier to grasp and respond to the post 9/11 identity crisis that has put many young men behind beard and young women behind veil.
The politics of identity is a constant process of negotiation. I have written earlier that identity is fluid and contextual. I am a Pakistani when someone in New York asks me ‘where are you from?’ When the same question is posed in Lahore, I am from Karachi. I am a ‘man’ when around women- I am a ‘straight man’ around gays and an ‘old man’ around young kids. This relationality – different agenda joined within the same contested historical space – is central to the concept of identity.
Trust me – I did not digress. I wanted to make sure we are on the page and we define ourselves as hyphenated or “cross-connected”, and if we have made this land our home – we must categorically and unequivocally condemn this misguided individual.
And, we must stay on high alert. Remember those five men from Washington DC, Virginia areas were nabbed in Pakistan because their family and community pro-actively sought solution. If someone was keeping an eye on Faisal Shahzad, we may have averted this too.
We should keep an eye on every individual who we suspect of becoming a religious wacko. We should discourage our young men and women from accentuating only one aspect of their identity – that is “religion.” We should absolutely remind them that “secular values of America are non-negotiable.”
Ibrahim Sajid Malick is a Pakistani-American writer, technologist, and social entrepreneur. He has been writing on Pakistani society and politics since 1986. He has held several media, communications, and technology positions for organizations large and small. Mr. Malick graduated from New School for Social Research with a master’s degree in anthropology. He holds several technology and management certifications. He works for a leading technology firm and blogs at www.ibrahimsajidmalick.com
America is not yours
Get out of America NOW!
It is very funny Mark – because I am tracing your IP address to Australia. I wonder if your name is Mark or Mohammad.
Suggesting that international terrorism could be checked by communal vigilance sounds naive. Taliban have grown to become international like al-qaeda. US administration keeps equipping and paying ISI and Pak army while the people of Pakistan sink deep into poverty and misery. It looks like an Iranian revolution in the making. Peace
Terrorists on any soil of any origin, education, sex, religion, caste or whatever have one agenda and that is to kill & destroy. Such criminals must be treated with disgust.
Rashid Sahab, you said it right. This is a very childish article. I wasted my time . It has no head and no tail.
Rashid and Mansoor are absolutely right about this article. This is very simplistic and language of a kafir. He is openly supporting Bill Maher and Salman Rushdie. Both of these men are enemies of Islam.
Author has jumped to conclusion on Faisal Shahzad. Several questions have surrounded Shahzad’s arrest, including how he briefly eluded law enforcement surveillance and how he was eventually tracked down. Law enforcement officials had placed Shahzad under surveillance on Sunday but lost track of him sometime before he made his way to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport the next day. He was also allowed to board his flight despite being placed on a no-fly list. A CBS News affiliate reported Tuesday Shahzad was captured in part because U.S. military surveillance planes circling the New York area were able to track his cell phone number. Meanwhile, more details have emerged about Shahzad’s background, including that his home was recently foreclosed and that he once privately expressed disdain for former President George W. Bush and the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Mr. Malick knows nothing and writes whenever he gets an opportunity to defame Islam.
May he burn in hell!
My brother Porkistan is the land which breeds terror and trains muslims for jihad in p.o.k (porkistan occupied kashmir), more than 90% percent of the terorists visit POK for trainning just like they visit mecca.
when over 50% of certain population are trash.. the whole population is labled trash..even if some are good… the overall result is not in the good ones side…that’s why I call Paki as a human waste…reproducing like animals with no plan in the horizon… scattered every where in the glob like ants… retard as they look and speak.
Rashid Bhai, AoA,
Americans and ISI and Pakistani army and politicians are all creating a situtation very dire and dangerous. There is no electricity no plan for water or food. Americans claim to want to help civilians but they still paying military only.
This juvenile article thinks that pakistani americans can keep an eye of people. and he is saying if somebody wants to practice islam keep an eye on them. he is a very afraid man trying to make his american bosses happy.
Rashid Bhai you may not know that this wayward, american puppet writer is also married to a hindu. now you get the picture. maybe he is not juvenile but gets paid for writing this type of columns.
Malik Rashid, Mansoor Alam, Niaz Alvi and Faik Siddiqui (all other as well):
Thank you for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it. You have not provided any arguments to substantiate that my analysis is “naive” or “simplistic.” But that’s OK- you have the right to your opinion without the onus of explaining your reason.
” US administration keeps equipping and paying ISI and Pak army while the people of Pakistan sink deep into poverty and misery.”
Agreed! But how does this explain Faisal Shahzad’s adventurism? He was son of a retired Air Vice Marshal- he was doing well – living up the American dream in suburban CT. At some point in his life – reportedly very recently he drasticly changed. If not religion, what could have motivated him? Drone attacks? Murder of Khalid Khawja? Lal Masjid? My dog?
What do you suggest we do to prevent such act in future?
Let me pick up the phone and call the FBI that Ibrahim Malick is hiding behind a mask but in reality is funding terrorist activities and they should interrogate him if they want to stop these activities. Believe me it won’t take much effort from them one transaction here and there or in Pakistan and you will be on constant surveillance.
That is the reason why your article is so stupid. It is the injustices that is going on in this world which changes people to do what they do.
when your blood is so much valuable and only your citizens are innocent while you kill people in iraq, afghanistan, pakistan, palistine, kashmir,chechnya
desi people like you who were living the british dream in india at the time thought how come someone shoot in the parliament bhagat singh must be a wacho. the person who shoot indhra gandhi must be a wacho sikh. the person who shoot gandhi must be a wacho hindu. che guevara must be comi wacho. IRA the famous christen wachos. history is full of wachos and these wachos keep on coming not because of religions but because of injustices.
Why do you think there are no wacho activities in Switzerland or in Norway or in Finland although there are a large number of muslims in these countries?
Ameer bhai call FBI and get this pakistan hater Islam hater in trouble. He is always writing against Pakistan and Islam. I think he is a hindu or a jew. He cannot be a Muslim. I really like your statement: “history is full of wachos and these wachos keep on coming not because of religions but because of injustices.”
CIA agents Ibrahim harami malik are always ignoring the injustices.
Mr. Ibrahim Sajid Malick why do not you cover the injustice aginst our sister Afia Siddiqi? I demand that you drop Pakistan from this blog. You are not a Pakistani-American – you are Harami-American.
Let me know when you come to Pakistan next time.
Dear Mr. Ameer and Siddiqi,
Thank you for commenting. You ask” Why do you think there are no wacho activities in Switzerland or in Norway or in Finland although there are a large number of muslims in these countries?”
You are right- it is limited. Is it because these countries do not allow immigrants? How many Pakistanis live in Norway or Switzerland? What happens there when someone publishes a cartoon?
There are plenty of American citizens who do not support wars or imperialist designs. But it does not mean that they condone terrorist attacks or fundamentalism of any type.
Sirji- tolerance and whackoness are inversely proportionate. Less tolerance more whackoness… More tolerance less whacko. That’s why none of the sufis were whack …
Respect!
DEAR MR.IBRAHIM MALIK,
WELL IF WE DEFINE TERRORISM….IT SIMPLY MEANS THAT ‘KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE IS TERRORISM’…CORRECT ME IF M MISTAKEN…!
YOU N MANY PEOPLE HERE COMMENTED THAT MUSLIMS N PAKISTANIS ARE TERRORITS…
BUT CAN U JUSTIFY THE ASSASSINATION OF MORE THAN 650000 CIVILIANS IN IRAQ WAR BY US ARMY?? AND THE MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE INCLUDING KIDS,THOUSANDS OF THEM WERE NOT EVEN MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD,KILLED IN PALESTINE BY ISRAEL…??US TROOPS ATTACKED IRAQ WITH NO REASON..THEY DIDN’T FOUND 9/11 SUSPECTS THERE…I WANT TO ASK WHY THEY ATTACKED IRAQ???G W BUSH(PIG) ACCEPTED THAT IRAQ WAR WAS A MISTAKE..IT WAS SO EASY FOR HIM,TO KILL MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AND THEN SAY SORRY IT WAS MY MISTAKE…DO U THINK IT IS JUSTICE??
IF YOU PEOPLE SAY THAT MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS,OK IT IS FINE… BUT THE MAJOR TERRORISTS PRESENT IN THIS WORLD ARE AMERICA AND ISRAEL !!
I agree with Uzair
Totally agree with Uzair..
Aah Heck! The very truth behind 9/11 and all the worlds terror is still a mystery, with no hard proven facts as to who was actually behind them. The World Wars are a controversy. Even the Gulf War, the Afghan war (and people like Saddam Hussain & Bin Laden) are allegedly NOT what they appear to be.
We have all the reason to suspect this is yet another move by the United States and their intelligence – blaming us for all the filth in the world. They’re always concealing information, and hell, all the fucking terrorists are just HERE – in the fucking Middle East. Surprise, surprise. Well, fuck that. What about that genocide and blood-spills in Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, Bosnia? And was there really a Holocaust, or is just another shitty space-age or stone-age Spielberg-Cameron directed fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings and/or Harry Potter? You see, they fuck us in the ASS, and then plan conspiracies, and then blame us for THAT TOO, and then, start a global WAR ON TERROR scheme to – Yup, you guessed it right – FUCK US ONE MORE TIME!
Tell you what is really going on. Watch this video. You will realize what they’re really up to, and what they are ready to do to achieve it – one way, or the other…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVmVdOohAXg
The NY terror suspect is a shame on all Pakistanis and Muslims. Such people need to not only be condemned but their Pakistani nationality needs to be revoked. The use their wealth and twisted minds to exploit the poor areas of Pakistan to cause harm to humanity. What they don’t realize is that their actions only harm Pakistan and Islam.
The Muslim world is treated unfairly in US and British foreign policy BUT the solution is not terrorism and violence.
Us Muslims need to realize that we can use our brains to make the world understand that hypocrisy in Iraq and Palestine is inhumane. Words and political pressure is the way forward.
And Americans need to realize it’s the action of their government that breed hate against them. They can also pressurize their government to pursue fair policies.
hey ,i think i have just been an ordinary human being ,and i am proud to say that i am a muslim.It all started when my father used to talk to me about the injustice america was doing to iraq,and funding talibans,and i couldnt realize his hatred towards america.hating someone doesnt mean you want to kill it or blow it away.I used to think that probably my dad was considering it too much,but No. He is right,i was totally unpolitical,but the habit of seeing the news everyday screwed my mind.almost every day i hear a drone attack at waziristan areas,every now and then i hear and see videos of american soldiers converting to islam,and it makes me think what has made them do it.Even they are sick of fighting without a reason,and invading other peoples rights.
Why do they hate pakistanis?just because we are a nuclear power.WHY?dont we have a right to possess security tools .let me ask the haters of pakistan a question?
what would you do knowing that there is big lion outside your house,and you have no windows and no doors?Wont you keep a gun or a Tool to protect yourself or it would eat your 5 months kid away?
Sanya you are pay ing for what your parents sowed. Porkistan is a land of terror and u guys deserve every drone. US should outsource drone attacks to us and we wll do a better non killing muslas. India knows where u sobs are hiding
@Mark: I condemn Shahzad’s act, the thing he was going to do was Terrorism not Jihad, but the thing you’re saying is RACISM. And you answer me, what makes America to occupy Iraq, Afghanistan and now eying to Iran’s oil fields? These lands DOES NOT belong to americans and neither to you aussies.
@Chohan: You’re out of your stupid mind. What is your Army doing in Kashmir? There are almost 27 organization working in your country for separation. We deserve drones or whatever it’s none of your freaking business, you stay where ever you are, or else world knows what happens whenever Pak stands against you.
When your own house is at fire, you shouldn’t play with fire outside.
Stay peaceful and you’ll be safe.
@Sharjeel: Sharjeel – you are right about Chohan’s comment but you must also understand the ground realities. As Fareed Zakaria recently noted in the Washington Post, “…all attacks against Western targets that have emanated from the region in the past eight years have come from Pakistan, not from Afghanistan. Even the most recently foiled plot in the United States, which involved the first Afghan that I know of to be implicated in global terrorism, originated in Pakistan.”
We believe that Afghanistan can never be made secure for the West as long as Pakistan remains a safe haven for Islamic jihadi groups. No matter who the declared target of these jihadis may be for now — whether India, Israel or the U.S. — Islamic fundamentalism which is opposed to any form of secular thought will inevitably strike western targets. As long as armed jihadis can be recruited in large numbers in Pakistan and move freely across the AfPak border Afghanistan will continue to have festering militancy that is inimical to U.S. and Western interests.
On closing note: I am really encouraged that educated Pakistanis are also vocal against fundamentalism.
@Chohan: I wish if US outsource dron attacks to you, so we can get this done once for all.
@All: Each and every true Pakistani who repespects idieology of Pakistan is against terrorism. If Pakistan would have been involved in terroris why would have we attacked our own country. More then 60% of ammunition Pakistan Army found from these exteremist elements was neither Russian, nor US but it was Indian. If our Neighbours stop supporting these terrorists on our Land there won’t be any Faisal Shahzad and neither any Ajmal Kasab.
and you sir are a dooshbag!
Frankly speaking the way things are going nowadays I don’t even know if that faisal guy or even usama is real!! I mean its just too damn convenient to trace every terrorist activity to Pakistan or Muslims in general when Muslims have become the biggest target of these suicide bombings themselves…. I mean Iraq was targeted blindly on “suspicions” of WMDs while Israel just got the membership of OECD despite the massive number of causalities it has inflicted on Palestinians and the continued illegal settlements. While Iran gets a warning now and then by the GODS of CIVILIZED WORLD, Israel gets a little nudge once in a while to stop the settlements. and a big f**k you the PORKHEADS who disrespect Pakistan….. Stay within your boundaries, get your a*s back on the ground and for once try to respect others you morons!
@Azeem T. Khan: The struggle against radical Islamism is very complex. America can’t wish it away. No strategy of winning “hearts and minds,” no great outreach, will bring this struggle to an end.
America can’t conciliate these furies. These men of nowhere—Faisal Shahzad, Nidal Malik Hasan, the American-born renegade cleric Anwar Awlaki now holed up in Yemen and their likes—are a deadly breed of combatants in this new kind of war.
Modernity both attracts and unsettles them. America is at once the object of their dreams and the scapegoat onto which they project their deepest malignancies.
Not sure what can be done. Great article!
@Malik Rashid: Pakistani authorities say Faisal Shahzad made 13 visits to Pakistan in the last seven years. Shahzad lived on the seam between the Old Country and the New. The path of citizenship he took gave him the precious gift of an American passport but made no demands on him.
Let’s look at the profile of his father, a man of high military rank, and of property and standing: He was “a man of modern thinking and of the modern age,” it was said of him in his ancestral village of Mohib Banda in recent days. That arc from a secular father to a radicalized son is, in many ways, the arc of Pakistan since its birth as a nation-state six decades ago. The secular parents and the radicalized children is also a tale of Islam, that broken pact with modernity, the mothers who fought to shed the veil and the daughters who now wish to wear the burqa in Paris and Milan.
In its beginnings, the Pakistan of Faisal Shahzad’s parents was animated by the modern ideals of its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In that vision, Pakistan was to be a state for the Muslims of the subcontinent, but not an Islamic state in the way it ordered its political and cultural life. The bureaucratic and military elites who dominated the state, and defined its culture, were a worldly breed. The British Raj had been their formative culture.
But the world of Pakistan was recast in the 1980s under a zealous and stern military leader, Zia ul-Haq. Zia offered Pakistan Islamization and despotism. He had ridden the jihad in Afghanistan next door to supreme power; he brought the mullahs into the political world, and they, in turn, brought the militants with them.
You call grass root action against such radicalization “naive.” What alternative are you suggesting? War against America? War against Pakistan army?
@Dilip: To some extent I agree with you Mr Dilip. And we Pakistanis do condemn these terrorisms in the name of Islam and Jihad. Our religion doesn’t allow to kill any innocent human being, and calls killing an innocent as “Murder of Mankind”.
Yeah there are some ground realities which bow our heads a little down, there are some facts that tell we are not that good at what we should be or we need to be, BUT it DOES NOT mean we support such activities on our lands. If you see we are at war inside our homeland. It hurts us more than any other country in the world but we are doing it for the stability and peace of our own homeland and for the rest of the world. And it hurt when people, instead of encouraging and appreciating our efforts, they criticize and blame us for supporting them. That’s what makes angry. We are doing our best to keep things peaceful, and I believe the day isn’t far enough when world would know/realize that we deserve some respect and honor as we are trying out more than best to earn it, and we will Insha Allah.
About Chohan’s, I have no personal issues with him, but the tone he was talking in, that made me angry, cz when people with very little knowledge open their mouth, they don’t realize what they are talking about, then we have to speak to shut their mouth. He was trying to create violence on this page and I felt I have to reply a little harder than him, still I don’t like using abusive words.
@Dilip: and please don’t use word ‘Jihadies’ or ‘Mujahids’ for those who kill innocent people, doesn’t matter victims are Muslims or not, those who kill innocent can never be Muslims neither Mujahids. Jihad has very different philosophy and these people are abusing out sacred concepts.
They can be terrorists but not Mujahids.
Sajid Malick you are actually some body Balram or Bagahat or some jew who is well paid to write such articles and dig your grave deeper to burn in Hell,, tell me why you are doing this for Money,,, for Fear,, how long will you live? 70- 80- 90 or 100 years, finally you will die,, what if you found out that all you did was wrong in your life,,, I know you will not publish my comments but at least you will read them and may be you realize if you have shame and self esteem,, Stop propagating against Muslims and Pakistanis,,, Neither Ajmal Kasab nor Faisal Shahzad was Pakistani,, its all non sense created to wage cowardly war against Pakistan in the name of Terrorism,,,,,
@Guru: The adoption of terrorism tactics can no longer be merely attributed to ignorance, poverty, deprivation or hardship.
Pakistan has its daily dose of terrorism, in one form or another. Schools are blown up with regularity in the newly-named K-P province, bodies of men executed by the local Taliban are found, men have their hands chopped off, women are ‘dishonoured’ and our main cities are under siege, bunkered and concreted, awaiting the suicide bomber from up north or from down south in Punjab where they are said to be heavily congregated (for one, Ajmal Kasab).
But apart from terrorism connections within Pakistan, we have those outside Pakistan, the paths of which lead straight into our heartland. The latest New York Times Square failed car bomber is but one of a string of notable Pakistanis who have garnered academic degrees and are not materially down and out in any way. What is it about Pakistan that it manages to produce so many young men who are violence prone, caring neither for their own or other people’s lives? We seriously need to ask ourselves this question.
The seal on the full conversion of the Pakistani mind towards militancy was stamped by the support given by Zia to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and then by the adoption of the Taliban by Benazir Bhutto’s second government.
No one, not even the most nationalistic Pakistani, can deny that the country is used as a training ground for terrorists or jihadists or whatever.
It is open knowledge that both the ignorant poor and deprived and the university-educated youth, and even adult men, can come to Pakistan and learn how to make bombs to blow up themselves, if they so wish, and as many others that they can either take with them or leave dead and maimed while they flee.
Can some bright psychologist work out why Faisal Shahzad, a college graduate, son of a Pakistani air force officer, married with two children, was prompted to do what he did on May Day?
Salman Rushdie on Bill Maher’s show said that we need to remember that whistle blower on Faisal was also a muslim. I think we need to highlight this aspect more. I tried to search for more details of the whistle blower but failed to find much. Media did not highlight the fact that the whistle blower was a muslim, instead they found it more sensational to use the stereo-type of a muslim being a terrorist.
Salman Rushdie on Bill Maher’s show said that we need to remember that whistle blower on Faisal was also a muslim. I think we need to highlight this aspect more. I tried to search for more details of the whistle blower but failed to find much. Media did not highlight the fact that the whistle blower was a muslim, instead they found it more sensational to use the stereo-type of a muslim being a terrorist. This fact also gives weight to Ibrahim’s suggestion that we need to keep our eyes open; no matter how naive and simple this suggestion may seem but this story itself proves his point.
Hello all
Why all of you condeming only faisal shezad. Why you ar not seeing american terrorism in iraq, afganistan and in pakistan. So called super power killing hundred of muslims in these country.
why all of out and so called human right organization sleeping.
Remember at the end Ummah won this war. Because Allah promiss with Ummah, at the end right won.
Inshallah
Long Live Freedom Fighters
@Syed Masood: This is an excellent charectarization of young Pakistani men: “America is at once the object of their dreams and the scapegoat onto which they project their deepest malignancies.”
@Ghulam Rasool: You are absolute right sir, no one should deny that Pakistani soil is being used “as a training ground for terrorists or jihadists or whatever.”
@shams: There was a Muslim vendor from Senegal who first saw the smoke coming out of SUV and reported to the police. You will find this in a democracynow.org report.
@Shahid: @Shahid: Young man- you need to understand that this not a war against Muslim Ummah. If it was war against Muslim Ummmah why were citizens of Dubai, Qatar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Oman (list can go on and on) involved in these activities? And don’t confuse anti-imperialism with fundamentalism. Please don’t let the mullahs and proponents of ISI brainwash your bright mind. You have great potentials to make an impact in this life and hereafter.
Ibrahim Sajid Malick Sahab- While out for dinner last week with colleagues in Jackson Heights, New York, we sat beside three 20-something women. There was the usual posing and glances exchange, and as they paid their bill two Muslim women entered and sat nearby.
Whispers were quickly exchanged and we could hear, “Why do they wear those things anyway?” … “I feel sorry for them” … and so on.
As they filed out of the restaurant, we noticed they sported a mixed collection of the following: skin tight pants, short skirts, exposed midriffs, push-up bras, high heels, jewelry, see-through or plunging tops, piercings, lipstick and makeup, and one had breast implants for certain.
We observed the two Muslim women as they were engaged in close conversation over Kashmiri chai. Their graceful features complimented their dark headscarves and warm eyes. Their natural gestures were flirty without even trying – revealing natural beauty. And their clothes, while conservative, brought forth the hidden potential of something wonderful and truly feminine.
The idea of dressing modestly terrifies some western women – but why? Perhaps it would trample their “right” to show off. Would their self-esteem all along with their hemlines?
After some debates, we identified the cost of the western “right” to flaunt.
The Muslim women were free from the fashion trap -free to “just be” without posing, comparing, dieting and spending for the approval of men and each other. And they looked more desirable to us than the exhibitionists who were in the restaurant and parading on the sidewalk. The sexual displays in our culture are so mainstream and competitive that modesty is seen as regressive. Yet, long term, when a man looks past the tight pants and heels, he will ultimately detect not confidence, but a certain unattractive desperation.
Modest women don’t have that desperation – they don’t compete in the arena of vanity. They have themselves – and that’s the kind of attraction with legs to last the long run.
Malick sahab- remember this next time you feel sorry for a Muslim woman behind veil or write about your sisters in Hijab.
@YourSister: Umm Salamah radhian Allahu anha narrates that The Prophet sallaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam said:
“Any woman, who died while her husband was pleased with her, will enter Jannah.” [Tirmidhi]
If you marry me I will be always pleased and you will enter Jannah.
@your sister: Are you male or female? If you are a sister why are you looking at other women as “desirable”. Are you gay? And Mark, are you a Muslim or are you just pretending to be one. The veil can be empowering or it can be oppressive. I have friends who are Iranian who hate the fact that they have to cover their head in Iran. I know girls in Pakistan who wear it proudly and happily. As long as it is completely and entirely a free choice, free from stigma, or positive or negative values its ok.
wateva is hapening iz wrong
CIA is back its ok dirty tricks .. Faisal was just another Mole .. its all part of a big games being played on world stage .. A US citizen who lived, studied, worked in US for 12 years … goes to PK for 5 months and comes back as trained terrorist? can you beleive that .. Govt. are lairs .. its another WMD … Weapon of Mass Deception .. a pretext to a new war .. all they want is the wars to go on .. excuses are fabricated .. nothing new .. why should religion of anything else be brought in .. lets put it in right perspective it has nothing to do with Islam or any religion .. it is everything to do with NEW WORLD ORDER and War Mongering Imperialist Policies of Uncle Sam
CIA is back its old dirty tricks .. Faisal was just another Mole .. its all part of a big games being played on world stage .. A US citizen who lived, studied, worked in US for 12 years … goes to PK for 5 months and comes back as trained terrorist? can you beleive that .. Govt. are lairs .. its another WMD … Weapon of Mass Deception .. a pretext to a new war .. all they want is the wars to go on .. excuses are fabricated .. nothing new .. why should religion of anything else be brought in .. lets put it in right perspective it has nothing to do with Islam or any religion .. it is everything to do with NEW WORLD ORDER and War Mongering Imperialist Policies of Uncle Sam
Mr. Malik as your articles are widely publicized over internet, facebook etc, which shows that you have a wealthy SPONSOR. In most of your articles you spew poison. Being always a negative thinking person, slanderer and mudslinger doesn’t count to be an intellectual.
The guys who are investing in you thinking that you are a talented writer should reconsider their sponsorship. Basically if i want to malign someone i would chose a “not so obvious hate monger”. Grow up for God’s sake. Stop following the TREND, talk about real world and actual happenings. Ask your Masters they will tell you the truth behind their “Oh So righteous” media campaign.
lol.. guess where am i from
@Ibrahim Sajid Malick:
[...] analystReutersThe private life of Faisal ShahzadThe Week MagazineWashington Post (blog) -Pakistani Politics and Economy (blog)all 4,481 news [...]
@Zaiba Rizvi is right I think that is a fact.
Its funny how everything has been made so simple here but before refuting or commenting upon the opinion of the authour i would like to say one thing to the ppl who call this author a kafir and in their fit of anger resort to making abstractions that do a diservice to Pakistan and perhaps even Islam.One should comment objectively and with a certain balance.To the author,this article is very simplistic,the power and the terrorist nexus in Pakistan is indeed very complicated.The war on terrorism has become more of a religious war than a political one therefore as muslims we feel that we have to protect our religious “identity” religion and especially islam doesnot tecah you to explode bombs and take the lives of innocent ppl.These terrorists may be motivated bby those who twist religion but not by religion itself i assure you.As far as America’s foreign policy is concerned,innocent ppl are being bombed in Afghanistan.Iraq, bajur and North Waziristan in the name of countering terror. What sort of a justice system is this that is aiming at eradicating terror while actually spreading terror.America today claims to be the universal provider of human rights but then what about Aafia Siddiqui??? What about the hundreds of others who ahve been hijacked from Pakistan and are suffering at Guantnamo for crimes unknown?First,are prosioners to be treated in this inhumane manner? Second,why are they never given a proper hearing?As far as secularism is concerned.secularism is meant to give you a certain kind of freedom,liberation but then have a look at secular France where muslim women do not ahve the choice of covering their head…what kind of freedom is this?there is dualism in what america and the world today says and frankly i trust nobody, be it pakistani or American politicians.they are all messing up with Pakistan and have made it a battleground in lieu of tehir own interests…its unfortunate that our government doesnot raise its voice when ppl like faisal shahzad are abducted…Pakistan need sto give its ppl the due support…i dont mean to say that i suppor or donot support faisal but he needs to get lawyers from his country’s side and he needs to be given the chance to clear himself…he may not be a hero but he isnta villain either.
Alright look,
I myself am a American Born Pakistani. But all the racisr comments are horrible. Everyone just use your common sense. This is just a way for the US to get inside Pakistan to get a hold of our nuclear power and then direct their attention towards Iran. All this is to destroy Iran. Why? Because Iran is the one muslim country that has not sold itself to the American government. The United States is very determined to “rule the world”. I currently live in pakistan because admission into medical school here saves 4 years in becoming a doctor. I live here,in lahore. I see people work their heads off day and night to feed their families. Our government doesnt: Go to war with other countries, charge their working class taxes for the uneployed who spend whatever money they have on drugs and producing more kids for which again the working class have to pay, and add to all the good salaries…a useless war tax. We all know “Pakistan main hamesha hera pheri hoti hai” but only if you are involved in “hera pheri” yourself. So Faisal Shahzad is a sellout. The government buys him. He frames “Pakistan”, and the US gets a reason to invade Pakistan(the reason they have been depserate for a while). And also note this, the US government knows EVERYTHING that goes on in their country. Faisal Shahzad was an independent sellout to the CIA “terrorist”. You dont automatically blame a country for anything. During fights in which african americans are involved, do we blame african countries for african american people killing “white” people? No. Historically speaking, the only REAL americans are the Native Americans(Red Indians). So all pakistanis living in america remember this, if you have that blue passport claiming you an american national, the united states must apply ALL their laws on you. They cannot deport you without reason. You can get a lawyer if they DO arrest you. They need much legeal evidence against you to ever have you under police custody. “Pakistanis are trash”…I have heard this a lot. You know whats funny, most of the people saying this are living off the tax money of these supposed pieces of trash. And to you accusing the country of pakistan for what Faisal Shahzad tried to do…
1) Pakistan is just a piece of land…its the people your TRYING to blame
2) You cant blame ALL the PEOPLE for a person saying he is pakistani, otherwise it just shows how educated you really are
3)Honestly speaking, all pakistanis in America are working their butts off trying to feed their families…they wont have time to even think of bombing the country the DREAM of seeing
4)You predjudiced people who just think that other countries are inferior just find it easy to blame them.
OPEN YOUR EYES. STOP BLINDLY LISTENING TO THE MEDIA. RESEARCH. KNOW WHAY GOES ON IN THE WORLD.
Thank You.
*And I know after this there will be many “hate” comments.
*Remember the truth hurts.
@H.A.: A common reaction to the almost universal conclusion that one of Pakistan’s main exports is terrorism — bolstered by the latest would-be hero of Times Square who fortunately failed — is that the larger majority of the Pakistani nation and its would-be leadership exist in a state of denial.
Apart from the fact that most deny historical fact with impunity the trend is to ignore the mote in one’s eye and focus on how mean and nasty is the rest of the world by its censure of many of the country’s inadequacies. By far the most sensible reactions to the incompetent bomb-maker (by design or accident one does not know) come from Pakistanis in America, many naturalised US citizens.
They are puzzled as to why a seemingly well-educated well-settled man, albeit of apparently modest means, would be prompted to attempt to kill and maim fellow citizens — or to even merely make a statement (if that is what he was doing).
One e-mailer this week has it that “the biggest problem is we are a group of people, not a nation, who are ruled by well-known and well-qualified thieves. We have been deprived of everything of which an educated person such as Faisal Shahzad and other Pakistanis can be proud of or have respect for. We are embarrassed in front of the entire world by the deeds of our leaders, past and present. Our identity is deformed and distorted. Thus we can easily be trapped by the so-called mullahs into ‘serving’ our religion.”
This from a young expatriate Pakistani — he went on to say that Pakistanis now living abroad, when applying for jobs, often declare themselves to be Indian or of Indian extraction to avoid being turned away. Not a happy situation
There are, of course, some who in line with the current fashion squarely put the blame for the spread of terrorism and the adoption of its methods by the young men of Pakistan on to the western world, particularly the US, for its ‘use’ of Pakistan, its attitude and its superiority in so many fields — resentment is a great spur towards senseless reaction. They ask why the Americans are doing what they are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, why are they there? (Strangely, there has been no mention of Palestine.) What one needs to ask these expatriates is why are they in the US.
From a man of Pakistani descent who has been working and living in the US for 30 years came valid comments, that it took Pakistan an inordinately long time to acknowledge that terrorism did exist; for years those who killed and destroyed bore the euphemism ‘freedom fighters’. It was not until the bombs started going off in the heartland of Pakistan that we began to acknowledge that, yes, terrorism does exist, it was not until we saw killings and bombings in the house of God that we stopped in our tracks and realised something was wrong. To this gentleman both Pakistan and America have failed as far as Pakistan is concerned — the Pakistanis, generals and politicians, because of their corruption, incompetence and double-dealing and their failure to deal with the US.
“We failed miserably,” he wrote, “our military failed in properly analysing the threat level and future assessment of the damage our incompetence and lack of action would do. We all thought of it as a game, our military and politicians toyed around with the Americans with sporadic arrests, selling men for $500 a head, and we failed to understand or look at the larger picture. …We have failed our children, we have failed to instil in them the unique identity of being a Pakistani first and foremost, and until we do that our boys will run around like rudderless boats seeking causes which have nothing to do with their identity.”
The younger writers are less thoughtful, they are angry, disillusioned and clueless as to where their allegiance should lie. They have no nexus with their nationhood, simply with the religion they have been taught from a very young age, a religion that has been distorted by the politics Pakistan has adopted and its firm denial, through fear of clerical vengeance, of its maker’s exhortation that religion is not the business of the state.
Too many of our youth, within and without the country, may have roots in Pakistan but thanks to 63 years of political and religious dishonesty combined with bungling, they have no cause when it comes to their country of birth or descent.
And these present politicians? Last Wednesday in the Senate cries of ‘shame’ were raised about a Newsweek article which had quoted from Husain Haqqani’s book, Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military, published in 2005. Haqqani tells “how the government’s jihadist connections date to the country’s creation as an ideological, Islamic state and the decision by successive governments to use jihad both to gain domestic support and to hurt its perennial rival, India. Describing the military’s distinction between terrorists and ‘freedom fighters’, he notes that the problem is systemic. ‘This duality … is a structural problem, rooted in history and a consistent policy of the state. It is not just the inadvertent outcome of decisions by some governments’.”
To deny this is foolish as it factually sets out one root cause of why we are what we are today. Haqqani, our ambassador in Washington, ends his book: “Pakistan was created in a hurry and without giving detailed thought to various aspects of nation and state building … Both Pakistan’s elite and their US benefactors would have to participate in transforming Pakistan into a functional, rather than ideological state.”
@Shaukat: You have many strong points. Most of them I agree with. It is true that the politicians of Pakistan do not do anything(I am not quoting you, I am just rephrasing). Its true that we noticed the terrorism that lied within our country very late but we noticed it. Regardless of the Pakistani government’s way of handling their issues, the still tend to handle it. And it is not only Pakistan that has been infected with such terrorism. These heinous acts of crime lie in many countries. So its childish to blame one country. The whole world knows that this “Faisal Shahzad” does not represent Pakistan, he does not represent muslims. No, he represents what some would call a “sellout”. Now based on experience I live in Pakistan. This is NOT a conservative society namely the province of punjab. And to top it off im a FEMALE living in Lahore. I drive. I wear jeans. I have never been stopped by the “mulla society” because i wear jeans. I have never seen nor heard of this exxagerated terrorism that is shown by CNN and Fox News. There is crime i admit. But its the problem of Pakistan that doesnt need to be interfered with by the US. The people of pakistan are happy. What you see on the news, thats what you call “propoganda”.
“Both Pakistan’s elite and their US benefactors would have to participate in transforming Pakistan into a functional, rather than ideological state.”
You write as if you greatly detest the country of Pakistan. Pakistan is very functional. No person has the right to state what pakistan does or does not need unless they themselves have lived in this country. Until they experience everything there is to experience here in Pakistan, until then, everything said against pakistan or said to “transform pakistan” has been said by non-pakistanis.