Pakistan is not the only country that is debating the nature of its national identity, as religious or secular, but the intensity of its internal divisions has been cause for worry for a long time now. The mullah-versus-secularist rivalry is truly a fight for rights and freedoms, and the right to live without religious bullying. To be fair, most of the Middle Eastern dictators who have shown their ruthless authoritarianism have ruled “secular” states, but the vicious and violent totalitarian religious theocracies of Saudi Arabia and Iran are no less brutal.
The ambiguity and subjectivity of calls for “implementing Shariah” make me extremely apprehensive, whether it’s in Pakistan, parts of Nigeria, Somalia, Egypt, Tunisia, or even in the US. I have asked people what they mean by wanting Shariah in the US, for example, and I never get an answer. This is very alarming. Even the silence itself is cause for concern.
A young Pakistani economist has this to say about the matter, which I am sure will spur further debate … take a look:
http://dawn.com/2012/04/09/en-route-to-secularism/
I vote for neither Shariah nor secularism, but I embrace humanism. Too many grandiose claims have been made by all these “ism’s” that have only proven to be the worst violators of human rights. Isn’t it about time that the world embraces the “human” in human rights?
NOTE: Everything I write in this blog constitutes my personal opinions and views.
Hayat Alvi, Ph.D. 