Such a peaceful group

[sheaf_stout]

Such a peaceful group.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1414137.ece

 

 

 

Female Pakistani minister shot dead for 'breaking Islamic dress code'

(Rahat Dar/EPA)

 

Zilla Huma Usman was an ally of General Musharraf and promoted rights for women in Pakistan

Devika Bhat, and Zahid Hussain in Islamabad

A Pakistani minister and woman’s activist has been shot dead by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil.

 

Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said.

 

Mrs Usman, 35, was wearing the shalwar kameez worn by many professional women in Pakistan, but did not cover her head.

 

The attack happened in Gujranwala, 120 miles southeast of Islamabad, where the minister’s office is based. As Ms Usman, 35, stepped out of her car – where she was greeted by her co-workers throwing rose petals - the attacker pulled out a pistol and fired a single shot at close range, hitting her in the head. She was airlifted to hospital in the provincial capital Lahore, but died soon afterwards.

 

The gunman, Mohammad Sarwar, was overpowered by the minister’s driver and arrested by police. A stone mason in his mid 40s, he is not thought to belong to any radical group but is known for his fanaticism. He was previously held in 2002 in connection with the killing and mutilation of four prostitutes, but was never convicted due to lack of evidence.

 

Mr Sarwar appeared relaxed and calm when he told a television channel that he had carried out God’s order to kill women who sinned. “I have no regrets. I just obeyed Allah’s commandment,” he said, adding that Islam did not allow women to hold positions of leadership. “I will kill all those women who do not follow the right path, if I am freed again,” he said.

 

“He is basically a fanatic,” Raja Basharat, the Punjab Law Minister, said. “He is against the involvement of women in politics and government affairs.” A police statement added: “He considers it contrary to the teachings of Allah for a woman to become a minister or a ruler. That’s why he committed this action.”

 

“He killed her because she was not observing the Islamic code of dress. She was also campaigning for emancipation of women,” said Nazir Ahmad, a local officer.

 

Ms Usman, a married mother of two sons, joined the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League after being elected in 2002. A strong supporter of the President’s policy of “enlightened moderation” - designed to tackle extremism - she was appointed to her current post in December last year according to her government biography.

 

In April 2005, she encouraged the holding of a mini-marathon involving female competitors in Gujranwala – an event which led to riots after police intervened to stop armed Islamic activists from disrupting the race. She also ran a small fashion business from her base in the town.

 

Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister, paid tribute to the minister, describing her as a “committed and dedicated politician”. “During her short span as minister, she took several steps for the welfare of the people of Punjab,” he said. Zobaida Jalal, the federal Minister for Social Welfare, added that Ms Usman’s death was an “unbearable loss to the cause of women rights and their empowerment”.

 

General Musharraf, whose support for the US-led war on terror has caused consternation among Pakistan's hardline elements, has promised to address women’s rights as part of his more moderate agenda.

 

But analysts said that the murder of the female minister highlighted the failure of his government in curbing Islamic extremism. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a recent report said that violence against women had increased alarmingly, with some of the incidents incited by Mullahs opposed to women’s emancipation.

 

Islamists also campaigned against the Women Protection Bill which was recently passed by parliament, which seeks to provide protection to women who have suffered discrimination under Islamic Sharia laws.

 

Women make up just over 20 per cent of the lower house of parliament, according to the country’s main human rights group, and there are three women ministers in the cabinet of the federal government.

 

But widespread discrimination against females continues to be a problem in what remains a male-dominated society, particularly in the countryside, where most Pakistanis live.

 

 

[foraker]

i suggest you live up to your namesake and begin drinking heavily.

[olyclimber]

2GL9ofasvNY

[tvashtarkatena]

Ah'm drunk, dis tahm ian Cai-ro

n' Ah gots bluhd own mah hain'

da krill iz gone fo me, babeh

Ain' got no tauntaun for a frien'

no Ah ain' goin' no wheyah

'cept to da Debil, ian de en'

 

 

[StevenSeagal]

Yeah. What savages! Can you imagine living in a country where religious extremists kill other people?

 

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

STFU, SS. That's not a state supported religion and you know it.

 

 

Oh, wait.....

[archenemy]

What I love is when people trot out the "women's" issues whenever it suits their fancy. Women are pretty much ignored until an example of violence or extremism fits into a seperate argument.

[tvashtarkatena]

I hate liberals and Muslims, especially when the latter abuse liberal Muslim women.

 

[JayB]

Is there any belief or behavior or practice out there which will not inspire a reflexive urge to find an analogue in one's own culture in order to render all belief, behaviors, or practices morally equivalent to one another?

 

If I were to post an article on say, slavery in contemporary Africa, such as this:

 

"Chattel slavery in Sudan

 

The enslavement of the Dinkas in southern Sudan may be the most horrific and well-known example of contemporary slavery. According to 1993 U.S. State Department estimates, up to 90,000 blacks are owned by North African Arabs, and often sold as property in a thriving slave trade for as little as $15 per human being.

"There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims."

 

—from an ASI report on Sudanese slavery

 

 

Animist tribes in southern Sudan are frequently invaded by Arab militias from the North, who kill the men and enslave the women and children. The Arabs consider it a traditional right to enslave southerners, and to own chattel slaves (slaves owned as personal property).

 

Physical mutilation is practiced upon these slaves not only to prevent escape, but to enforce the owners' ideologies. According to an ASI report: "Kon, a thirteen-year-old Dinka boy, was abducted by Arab nomads and taken to a merchant's house. There he found several Dinka men hobbling, their Achilles tendons cut because they refused to become Muslims. Threatened with the same treatment the boy converted."

 

In a detailed article by Charles Jacobs for the American Anti-Slavery Group (ASI), Jacobs recounts how a 10-year-old child was taken in a raid on her village in southern Sudan, and branded by her master with a hot iron pot."

 

I would expect the folks in this forum and their ideological contemporaries outside of it to argue that given A) the history of slavery in America and B) The fact that we have failed to pass a national "Living Wage Law," we are in no position to criticize this practice - since our own forms of nominal wage/debt slavery are really not that much different than the actual slavery depicted in this article, and that until we address our own shortcomings in this regard we should refrain from rendering moral judgments on those who engage in this practice.

 

 

[archenemy]

The cool thing is that we can voice our opinions no matter what. We are in the position to do so because we live in America. Some of us have even been in the service, and they get to voice their opinions even more.

[tvashtarkatena]

I can buy a slave for 15 bucks? Do they have a website?

[archenemy]

I was thinking the same thing.

[foraker]

I can buy a slave for 15 bucks? Do they have a website?

 

That's just for your Basic Slave service. If you want High-Definition Premium Slave service, that's 129.95 (not including state and federal taxes and surchages

[archenemy]

They always get you with the small print.

 

Can I start with the basic service and upgrade later if I chose? And how will I know if my upgrade will be compatible? Where can I view the slave SLA?

[Clavote]

Such a peaceful group.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1414137.ece

 

 

 

Female Pakistani minister shot dead for 'breaking Islamic dress code'

(Rahat Dar/EPA)

 

Zilla Huma Usman was an ally of General Musharraf and promoted rights for women in Pakistan

Devika Bhat, and Zahid Hussain in Islamabad

A Pakistani minister and woman’s activist has been shot dead by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil.

 

Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said.

 

Mrs Usman, 35, was wearing the shalwar kameez worn by many professional women in Pakistan, but did not cover her head.

 

The attack happened in Gujranwala, 120 miles southeast of Islamabad, where the minister’s office is based. As Ms Usman, 35, stepped out of her car – where she was greeted by her co-workers throwing rose petals - the attacker pulled out a pistol and fired a single shot at close range, hitting her in the head. She was airlifted to hospital in the provincial capital Lahore, but died soon afterwards.

 

The gunman, Mohammad Sarwar, was overpowered by the minister’s driver and arrested by police. A stone mason in his mid 40s, he is not thought to belong to any radical group but is known for his fanaticism. He was previously held in 2002 in connection with the killing and mutilation of four prostitutes, but was never convicted due to lack of evidence.

 

Mr Sarwar appeared relaxed and calm when he told a television channel that he had carried out God’s order to kill women who sinned. “I have no regrets. I just obeyed Allah’s commandment,” he said, adding that Islam did not allow women to hold positions of leadership. “I will kill all those women who do not follow the right path, if I am freed again,” he said.

 

“He is basically a fanatic,” Raja Basharat, the Punjab Law Minister, said. “He is against the involvement of women in politics and government affairs.” A police statement added: “He considers it contrary to the teachings of Allah for a woman to become a minister or a ruler. That’s why he committed this action.”

 

“He killed her because she was not observing the Islamic code of dress. She was also campaigning for emancipation of women,” said Nazir Ahmad, a local officer.

 

Ms Usman, a married mother of two sons, joined the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League after being elected in 2002. A strong supporter of the President’s policy of “enlightened moderation” - designed to tackle extremism - she was appointed to her current post in December last year according to her government biography.

 

In April 2005, she encouraged the holding of a mini-marathon involving female competitors in Gujranwala – an event which led to riots after police intervened to stop armed Islamic activists from disrupting the race. She also ran a small fashion business from her base in the town.

 

Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister, paid tribute to the minister, describing her as a “committed and dedicated politician”. “During her short span as minister, she took several steps for the welfare of the people of Punjab,” he said. Zobaida Jalal, the federal Minister for Social Welfare, added that Ms Usman’s death was an “unbearable loss to the cause of women rights and their empowerment”.

 

General Musharraf, whose support for the US-led war on terror has caused consternation among Pakistan's hardline elements, has promised to address women’s rights as part of his more moderate agenda.

 

But analysts said that the murder of the female minister highlighted the failure of his government in curbing Islamic extremism. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a recent report said that violence against women had increased alarmingly, with some of the incidents incited by Mullahs opposed to women’s emancipation.

 

Islamists also campaigned against the Women Protection Bill which was recently passed by parliament, which seeks to provide protection to women who have suffered discrimination under Islamic Sharia laws.

 

Women make up just over 20 per cent of the lower house of parliament, according to the country’s main human rights group, and there are three women ministers in the cabinet of the federal government.

 

But widespread discrimination against females continues to be a problem in what remains a male-dominated society, particularly in the countryside, where most Pakistanis live.

 

 

 

Thanks for this informative little piece.

 

I bet last night you would drop another controversial piece and "cut and run" like the pussy you are. Or maybe you prefer the comfort or a bunker.

 

In any case, I now know that the voice is god and I can ignore his ass when he wants me to kill women or blow up federal buildings. Christians are so EVIL too. I guess God didn't really discriminate when he made every group full of assholes.

 

 

[tvashtarkatena]

Will I need to provide a retirement plan for my slave?

[archenemy]

Where are all the outraged Islamic men expressing their horror over this?

[foraker]

They always get you with the small print.

 

Can I start with the basic service and upgrade later if I chose? And how will I know if my upgrade will be compatible? Where can I view the slave SLA?

 

You'll take what we give you and like it.

 

[archenemy]

And charge me for it. I like that business model; where can I invest?

[tvashtarkatena]

Where are all the outraged Islamic men expressing their horror over this?

 

Lakalakalaka jihad!!!!

[foraker]

Will I need to provide a retirement plan for my slave?

 

Only if you're a progressive free-trade shade-grown metrosexual type. Otherwise, no.

[archenemy]

Will I need to provide a retirement plan for my slave?

 

Only if you're a progressive free-trade shade-grown metrosexual type. Otherwise, no.

[Weekend_Climberz]

They might have weird beliefs, but they did invent a lot of cool stuff

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17284416/

[archenemy]

Yeah, like Honor Killings.

[tvashtarkatena]

If my slave is a conservative Muslim woman, can I hate her while at the same time trying to save her from her violent faith, only to discover and come to admire her simple wisdom and inner peace so rare in modernity's frenetic rat race, undergo a transformation, write an award winning screenplay about the story, then use the proceeds to buy her freedom from myself?