Thursday, October 28, 2010

Targeting Sufi Shrines: The war within Islam


Sufi shrines have been increasingly targeted in recent times. The trend initiating from 2005 when a suicide bomber attacked Bari Imam complex in Islamabad has recently targeted Rehman Baba in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Data Darbar in Lahore, Abdullah Shah Gazi in Karachi and Baba Farid Ganj-e-Shakar in Pakpattan.

Many precious lives have been lost in these attacks on sacred shrines. As it is said, it is done by Taliban who wish to wage ‘Jihad’ against people who in their opinion are adulterating the purity on Islam and follow the orthodox Islam and the Wahabi thinking. They see Sufism as a radical threat composing ‘shirk’ and accepting modernism. Targets have hence not only been made on Sufi shrines but on religious proceedings of Shiites, on Ahmedis and several religious scholars.

                          






The trend of terror to instill fear and panic in the masses and discourage them from following their faith not only tries to impose on others a certain mindset but aims a civil war based on sectarian hatred. The aims may be of weakening or distracting attention from the war on terror but the tragedies of such violence makes the life of common man quite insecure. Visitors of these shrines are usually poor people. They visit often just because of devotion and prayers and also because in this time of high inflation, they are able to secure a free meal for themselves and their families. It is one of the very few places these people have got to visit. Imagine a child going with his family for a visit to a shrine and never returning due to dying in a bomb blast. There seems no justification of the immense insecurity every common man faces and it’s unfortunate that after the incident do all the security measures seem to come in to action. Every time large gathering of people are targeted but every time there’s a loop hole for terrorists and bombers to make their attack. The ignorance to nip the evil in the bud and no accountability of people getting caught and pay with serious consequences with such actions have made these attacks common and the militants bolder to attack popular sites at bigger cities. The harms these actions do to our religion and country are immense but security is more concentrated to protect the VIPs of the state and not the common man. With so much injustice prevailing in society, peace and security is a distant dream.

Sufism, the mystical side of Islam is largely attributed to the spread of Islam in the subcontinent. The Sufis gave the message of love, peace, harmony, humanity and brotherhood. A widely popular movement that inspires people to this time. Pakistan is blessed to have so many shrines in it of great Sufis. The Taliban are surely ignorant of the message of Sufism and wanted to impose their own doctrine in the Muslim world through terror and violence but that is no way people would accept such a message bearing life long suffering due to losing loved ones for this unworthy war for power and authority. Sufism has the capacities to counter fundamentalism in Pakistan and bring about peace in society. The message of Sufism is an integral part of society and a widely accepted message. Attempts to suppress it, attacking shrines to prevent the message from spreading itself shows the importance of the message and the power it with holds within it. The work and message of these saints is not an easy one to suppress with the tool of terror however, serious steps need to be taken in this ignorant society before matters worsen and circumstances go beyond control to the benefits of a lobby of terror promoting militants.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Advocacy for SRHR

What are sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) ?

·        Sexual health: Includes healthy sexual development, equitable and responsible relationships and sexual fulfilment, freedom from illness, disease, disability, violence and other harmful practices related to sexuality.

·        Sexual rights:  the rights of all people to decide freely and responsibly on all aspects of their sexuality, including protecting and promoting their sexual health, be free from discrimination, coercion or violence in their sexual lives and in all sexual decisions, expect and demand equality, full consent, mutual respect and shared responsibility in sexual relationships. We also have the right to say ‘no’ to sex if we do not want it.

·        Reproductive health: The complete physical, mental and social well-being in all matters related to the reproductive system including a satisfying and safe sex life, capacity to have children and, freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so.

·        Reproductive rights: The rights of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children, to have the information, education and means to do so, attain the highest standards of sexual and reproductive health and, make decisions about reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence




Adapted from definitions of SRR from the programme for action resulting from the
International Conference on Population Development (ICPD), 1994.

What are the 12 SRHR??
  1. The right to life should be invoked to protect women whose lives are currently endangered by pregnancy.
  2. The right to liberty and security of the person should be invoked to protect women currently at risk from genital mutilation, or subject to forced pregnancy, sterilization or abortion.
  3. The right to equality and to be free from all forms of discrimination should be invoked to protect the right of all people, regardless of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family position, age, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, to equal access to information, education and services related to development, and to sexual and reproductive health.
  4. The right to privacy should be invoked to protect the right of all clients of sexual and reproductive health care information, education and services to a degree of privacy, and to confidentiality with regard to personal information given to service providers.
  5. The right to freedom of thought should be invoked to protect the right of all persons to access to education and information related to their sexual and reproductive health free from restrictions on grounds of thought, conscience and religion.
  6. The right to information and education should be invoked to protect the right of all persons to access to full information on the benefits, risks and effectiveness of all methods of fertility regulation, in order that any decisions they take on such matters are made with full, free and informed consent.
  7. The right to choose whether or not to marry and to found and plan a family should be invoked to protect all persons against any marriage entered into without the full, free and informed consent of both partners.
  8. The right to decide whether or when to have children should be invoked to protect the right of all persons to reproductive health care services which offer the widest possible range of safe, effective and acceptable methods of fertility regulation, and are accessible, affordable, acceptable and convenient to all users.
  9. The right to health care and health protection should be invoked to protect the right of all persons to the highest possible quality of health care, and the right to be free from traditional practices which are harmful to health.
  10. The right to the benefits of scientific progress should be invoked to protect the right of all persons to access to available reproductive health care technology which independent studies have shown to have an acceptable risk/benefit profile, and where to withhold such technology would have harmful effects on health and well-being.
  11. The right to freedom of assembly and political participationshould be invoked to protect the right to form an association which aims to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights.
  12. The right to be free from torture and ill treatment should be invoked to protect children, women and men from all forms of sexual violence, exploitation and abuse.
Source: www.wpfpak.org

How many people know about this in Pakistan? How many people know about 

the work being done and by whom on SRHR?

The SRHR situation and awareness still needs time to make its way to the masses. However, the work must go on.

On 1st October, I got the chance to host Mr. Qadeer Baig, Country Head World Population Fund (WPF) at SZABIST, Karachi to discuss the SRHR Situation in Pakistan.

WPF is an internationally organization investing in young people's development and health.

WPF-Pakistan's vision is to develop as a regional resource for promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of young people for sustainable human development. And it's mission is  to work to improve the quality of life of young people in Pakistan by promoting:
  • Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
  • Awareness of the importance of SRHR for sustainable human development
  • Understanding of the central role of reproductive health in “population and development” issues
Mr. Qadeer Baig held a very informative session talking about SRHR and discussing us the situation in Pakistan. Learning from such people working for the benefit of the society is essential for it's development and the gap between the youth and the knowledge of such experienced people surely needed to be bridged.


Look forward to working on SRHR and with Mr.Qadeer Baig in the future InshaAllah :)