Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan’s polemical take on politics, economics and foreign affairs

“Why do they pick on us Pakistanis?”

A brilliant and brave answer from one of the country’s leading academics.

By Mehdi Hasan Published 05 January 2011 18:01

The news of the death of Salman Taseer, the secular Muslim governor of Punjab Province, came as a profound shock. Not because of the killing itself, as such acts of murder and violence have tragically and depressingly become part of daily life in the self-proclaimed "Islamic Republic" of Pakistan, but because he was slain by one of his own bodyguards.

As the Guardian's Declan Walsh notes, the killing has exposed:

. . . a vein of deep-rooted extremism that has infected even the senior security forces.

Taseer was shot 27 times yesterday by one of his own bodyguards, who was reportedly enraged by Taseer's opposition to Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws.

The Quilliam Foundation's briefing on the assassination observes:

Taseer's murder by a trusted member of an elite counterterrorism unit (who believed that he nonetheless had a divine duty to kill the governor for criticising Pakistan's blasphemy laws) shows that extremism in Pakistan is driven by ideology as well as by organised militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban. Extremist takfiri ideology, a relatively modern import to Pakistan, has now affected many aspects of Pakistani society and culture and continues to spread through schools, mosques, universities and television channels. Similarly, the belief that any Muslim individual can spontaneously take violent action in order to "protect Islam" is also becoming ever more widely accepted in Pakistan – independent of the activities of jihadist groups.

This is a worrying trend. Regular readers of this blog will know that I don't always agree with the Quilliam Foundation but I do believe, on this occasion, that Muslims can no longer do their best impressions of ostriches and keep their heads in the sand. Denial is not an option. That such murders have become regular occurrences in the world's second-largest Muslim country is sickening and appalling, and needs regular and repeated condemnation from Muslim groups and, in particular, Muslim ulema (scholars) across the world. What on earth are thousands of so-called Muslims doing joining up to a Facebook page supporting Taseer's killer? How can the Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Pakistan group, representing the mainstream Barelvi school of Sunni Muslims, justify telling people not to offer funeral prayers for Taseer?

I've long believed that we British Muslims must be at the forefront of campaigns against takfiri and jihadist violence, against killings, shootings and bombings in the name of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam. To borrow a line from Robert Kennedy (or was it Rabbi Hillel?): if not us, who? If not now, when?

My advice to the Muslim Council of Britain, for example, would be to get a "not-in-my-name"-style press release out to domestic and foreign journalists as soon as possible. Silence is not an option. As I argued in a blog post in August 2009, we Muslims expose ourselves to the charge of double standards when we bleat about killings of innocent Muslims at the hands of non-Muslim armies in Palestine or Afghanistan or Chechnya, but then keep schtum when Muslim crazies start shooting and beheading non-Muslims, as well as other Muslims like Salman Taseer, and do so in the name of God and His prophet. And, above all else, where is our humanity? As I wrote back then, "Islam is a humanitarian, not a sectarian, religion and so selective outrage will not do."

On a related note, as more gloomy news emerges from inside Pakistan, I spotted, via Twitter, a piece by the brilliant and brave Pakistani physicist and commentator Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy; in fact, it's a transcript of remarks he made at a recent talk in Washington, DC to Pakistani professionals settled in the United States of America, entitled "Why do they pick on us Pakistanis?"

Hoodbhoy argues:

If Pakistani Americans wish to feel welcome in the country they have chosen to live in, then, they must judge the west and Pakistan using exactly the same criteria, and expose three popular falsehoods.

First, it is a lie that American Muslims are victims of extreme religious prejudice. Certainly, no country is free of religious discrimination. But, the secular west is infinitely less discriminatory than any Muslim country. How many churches are there in Saudi Arabia? Yet Muslims have built hundreds of new mosques in America – with Saudi money – and many after 9/11. New churches or temples are impossible in Pakistan; even old ones are burned down by rampaging mobs.

In America, Muslims successfully use the legal system to seek damages if there is discrimination in matters of employment, housing, or access to public facilities. But in Pakistan, if you are a Christian, Hindu or Ahmadi, you simply accept your fate.

Second, it is a lie that US Muslims are physically endangered. In fact, Muslims are far safer in the US than in Pakistan. Does one see Kalashnikov-toting guards during Friday prayers outside a mosque in the west? Yet if you are a Barelvi or a Shia in Pakistan, your life may end at your place of worship. Scattered body limbs and pools of blood at Data Darbar, Abdullah Shah Ghazi and the Pakpattan shrines testify that the cruellest of Islam's enemies come from within.

While Pakistan's terrified religious minorities live in fear of an intolerant majority, American Muslims get protection both from its people and the state. A personal example: the day after 9/11, I was appalled by the wild joy among my students. Worried about my former students, now studying in various US universities, I emailed them. Their return emails were reassuring. White American students had formed defence committees; no Muslim student was ever harmed on any campus. So even though George W Bush – a religious zealot – was preparing to invade Iraq, ordinary Americans were largely decent.

Third, the nauseating hypocrisy of Pakistan's radicalising west-hating, west-baiting leaders needs to be exposed. For example, Imran Khan – who speaks of the west as the fountainhead of evil – prefers to keep his family in London and New York, owes his fame to a game invented by British colonialists, and employs real doctors rather than hakeems for his cancer hospital.

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Tags: islamism America Islam Pakistan

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69 comments

Fri, 2011-01-07 19:26 — Daniele1

Musafir, you are right!
Neil's comment is the most relevant and interesting and should provide food for thought for Muslims, including medhi.

Thu, 2011-01-06 15:03 — Neil6

Mehdi, I'm an admirer of your politics and ability to frame and argument, but religion is where you lose me. You, and many others like you, can continue to refer to yourself as muslims and define "muslim" to suit your lifestyle and beliefs, but the overwhelming number of muslims, yes even educated muslims in western countries, do not agree with you. "Muslim" for a large majority of its followers means something else entirely - religious observance, religious outrage at the slightest offence, "defending" religion by aggression and seeing people who do not agree with you as idol worshippers, blasphemers, or even worse, heretics and apostates.

Firstly I'm amazed that a man of your obvious intelligence can still refer to himself as a muslim, except as a cultural identifier. Believing in a god is one thing, but believing in "God and His prophet" in the face of all evidence is something else entirely, and hopefully you'll forgive me for saying it really doesn't suit you. Secondly, while I like your argument, I think you're pissing in the wind, the chance to stand up and refute the liars and opportunists who lead the call to jihad is long gone, You're 20 or 30 years too late. A better service to the world would be for people like you to either denounce Islam and become an apostate, or do a Luther and instigate a reformation. Although it could be argued that the rise of the Saudi version of Islam and it's consequent jihadism is the reformation movement, and a successful one at that.
I spent many hours arguing with educated British muslim colleagues over two years in my last job, and found that rather than being in the minority, the offensive (to secular westerners) views of the "extreme" wing are actually much more common, and in my experience, form mainstream majority opinion.
Personally I think that a bit of socialism, or at least social democracy would help in a lot of muslim countries, but a) that's not going to happen any time soon, and b) even if it did, the association with secularism would kill it quickly.

Thu, 2011-01-06 15:47 — Robert Taggart

'We' westerners and even more so Brits, have some awful and draconian laws which prevent us from voicing our true feelings.
To sum up Pakistan / Pakistanis you need to have seen the BBC's Newsnight programme some weeks back, last year. A Pakistani politician talking on a Pakistani television programme said "it is our right to be corrupt". Enough said !

Fri, 2011-01-07 20:27 — dillon (not verified)

allah hu akbar.

Fri, 2011-01-07 20:56 — stuart (not verified)

i dont usually agree with what medhi hassan says on grounds of him being a bit of a drama queen and paranoid,but as a non muslim this article he has wrote here shows to me he has got true leadership qualitys in his community.for his fellow muslims to disagree with his article here is a bit harsh to say the least.

Fri, 2011-01-07 21:03 — MAKootage

Lucid, cogent journalism- I'm a fan of yours, Mr Hasan.

Fri, 2011-01-07 22:06 — historybuff

At last, some sense from Mr Hasan, but as Neil says, it's probably too late, we are already on a path none of us are looking forward to except the fanatics themselves. Part of the problem is that many on the Left in the UK also go along with the extremists demands and interpretation of Islam. Examples of these demands; bans on naked showering at swimming baths, Korans used in prisons and schools being wiped clean if they have been touched by a non-Muslim before being handed to a Muslim; a ban on any pork product or non-halal product even being cooked in the same facilty wher Muslims may eat; the list goes on...all these things have been agreed to and implemented by local councils and public bodies up and down the country. It's time to say 'enough is enough', otherwise relations with the mainstream British population will continue to deteriorate.

Fri, 2011-01-07 23:17 — Des Demona (not verified)

The problem with Islam and Islamists is that it goes against the grain of secular liberal democractic opinion, which the West has had for considerably longer than the generally ill-educated, or perhaps more accurately religiously indoctrinated Muslim countries. These rights were hard won, and what the Muslim fanatics will never realise is that those rights will never be given up. The question is should we have a two tier world? Should we leave those who believe in violence and death to protect some belief in a diety to just get on with it and put up with the odd atrocity on our tube system or skyscraper or should we say no, enough is enough?

Mon, 2011-01-10 14:12 — Axmed

Salaam all, I agree with Mehdi's article up to the point. But we should be aware of Quilliam Foundation because they are a bunch of fake people who do not care about Islam and Muslims nonetheless, their own interest and therefore they please the western officials. They do not represent the vast majority of the Muslims in the UK. We, Muslims, need to understand until we are united in the name of Allah we won't go to far, until we are blocking education access we won't too far, until we recognise the moniroties' rights. I think we should forget about Sunnis, Shia, Ahmediya and so on and be a Muslim like Prophet Mohamed (SCW.

Thu, 2011-01-06 18:20 — praha7 (not verified)

Professor Hoodbhoy,s article was very impressive.
However I wonder if it had been written by a white American or European whether Mehdi Hassan would have found it as acceptable?
I have often seen similar sentiments expressed in the media by non- muslims and the usual response is to denounce the writer as an Islamophobe.

Thu, 2011-01-06 18:20 — Zaid Malik (not verified)

I think you'll see if you are British you are treated with contempt by your so called Pakistani cousins. I was born in UK and my parents came from Pakistan. when they pass on - the element of Pakistan will die with them. Me my loyalty is to the land where I was born and yes I am a Sunni muslim.

Thu, 2011-01-06 18:23 — praha7 (not verified)

Please excuse my misspelling of your name Mr.Hasan.

Sat, 2011-01-08 03:12 — Alibaba (not verified)

Mehdi, They pick on you because you pick on yourselves! You suffer from what I call the 'triple complex' that makes you hate everyone; and in turn this makes everyone hate you!

Firstly you suffer from a 'colonial' (we were ruled by the white man) complex, secondly from a 'good Muslim' complex (whereby you view yourselves as good Muslims) whereas Arab Muslims regard you as second class and thirdly, the 'insecurity' complex versus India (a smarter and mighty superpower).

One answer to your question lies in loving yourselves a bit more and adopting the view that Islam is a religion; not THE religion. Perhaps you need to go back to being Pakistan before the days of General Zia?

And finally non Muslims need to stand up for their own values; instead of listening to leftwing ideas like political correctness and multiculturalism. Ali

Mon, 2011-01-10 17:03 — EnragedBrit (not verified)

Ismail - Be a Muslim like "Prophet" Mohamed? What, capture girls and keep them as slaves? Order the assassination of opponents? Hack off the heads of defenceless Prisoners of War?
No thanks, mate!

Mon, 2011-01-10 18:39 — Axmed

EnragedBrit - It's a wise idea to ask many questions rather than putting out our views about something we do not know at all.
If you hold that Prophet used do what you write then, we would like to hear it. With proof?
For the record, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), when he sent the army to fight the oppressors and aggressors, he ordered his companions not to kill an old man, or a child or a women, not to cut trees, or destroy buildings, not to slaughter animals, but only for foods. He also ordered them not to disturb the monks, and leave then alone in their hermitages. I hope you’re open to the truth. Think for yourself and check me out on http://www.inspiredbymuhammad.com/muhammad.php

Mon, 2011-01-10 18:41 — Axmed

Mehdi - well done again. Thanks bro.

Mon, 2011-01-10 18:56 — Sean (not verified)

EnragedBrit- Colin Blanchard, a white british paedophile whith 4 white women associates? have you got anything to say about that?

I think you will find most paedophiles and sex abusers in our prisons are white english men- so please stop your racist rant and preaching your fasict ideology.

Mon, 2011-01-10 19:14 — Axmed

Colin Blanchard and EnragedBrit - can you support your bigotry views on the Prophet Mohamed? Do you know the history of the Prophet Mohamed? I doubt it.

Sat, 2011-01-08 13:44 — jim

'“Why do they pick on us Pakistanis?”

Could fill volumes,politicians,a country where corruption is a way of life even including their cricketers,forced marriages, child marriages,female genital mutilation,women treated like third class citizens and then in the UK we get terrorism and this week the control of child prostitution in large parts of England courtesy of the Pakistani ethnic community.

A truly vile basket case nation,still stuck in mediaeval times.

Mon, 2011-01-10 20:04 — Sean (not verified)

the police have stated that Colin Blanchards paedophie ring was busted thanks to a man called Noman Ahmed, a muslim!

Thank God for the Muslims!

Sat, 2011-01-08 17:06 — Alistair Cole (not verified)

Muhammad is a paedophile ....his second wife Ayesha was 7! Not surprised to see these Pakistani Muslim men molesting children!!

Thu, 2011-01-13 12:31 — Left Is Forward (not verified)

The world will be a better place when there is not a single Muslim left on its face.

That is not an argument for ethnic cleansing or cultural supremacy (the Christianity of Europe and America has been just as dangerous and deadly, and equally deserves to be destroyed) but an argument for rationality and the end of superstition.

Nobody should ever be killed because of their beliefs about a work of fiction that is over a thousand years old. The faster Islam vanishes into the history books, the faster this better world can be created. Mehdi's attempts to cast a "rational" version of Islam is self-contradictory - believing in invisible all-powerful sky-lords is by definition irrational thinking.

Arguing about whether said sky-lords want us to kill somebody else for "inaccuracies" in their beliefs, or whether said sky-lords just want to punish the miscreants in hell at their own leisure once the infidel clogs have popped, is not a rational discussion at all. It is a silly, stupid childish argument; and while it is being rowed over, real people are being killed and persecutes because of imaginary beliefs. The solution is to prick the bubble of faith, and see how thoroughly it disappears once burst, rather than have obscure theological discussions about what kinds of heresy are punishable and which are tolerable in the eyes of our imaginary invisible overlords.

Fri, 2011-01-07 02:03 — Ona

Salman Taseer RIP. It is brave to stand up against religious bigotry.

Sat, 2011-01-08 20:10 — Privet (not verified)

shared a flat with a Pakistani chap who was a good friend, but unfortunately the corruption comments made earlier are all too true, india and parts of Africa are the same, inevitably this culture of corruption comes into Britain along with the Pakistani community, having owned a business for many years Pakistanis where consistently bad payers and you couldnt trust their word, obviously there where exceptions, but in a large percentage of cases they would try fraud of some type. Many tradesmen refuse to deal with them, not from racism but from past bad debt experiences. Sad but true.

Their culture is very different & Im not 100% sure what they add to the UK apart from overcrowding and division, they are not an easy culture to blend with the UK.

Wed, 2011-01-05 18:11 — Subhan (not verified)

Mehdi, I read your blogs regularly and respect your opinions. Of course, murder is wrong. However, if you're really that concerned about issues in Pakistan, go back there and argue your point. Otherwise, stop getting involved in another country's matters.

If they came here and started talking to us about the things that happen in Britain, we would tell them exactly where to go! It's time we concentrated on issues in our own land rather than overseas.

Wed, 2011-01-05 18:15 — Charles (not verified)

Barelvis are basically Sufi, so I find it shocking that 500 of their scholars support this murder! Most of the Muslims in Britain are Barelvi, so I hope there are no repercussions here.

Wed, 2011-01-05 18:45 — writeoff (not verified)

Subhan, perhaps you should just stick to reading the Parish newsletter then?

Wed, 2011-01-05 18:51 — Forlornehope (not verified)

Mehdi - as a non-muslim, who has taken the trouble to read the Quran, how am I to judge who is the authentic follower of the Prophet, you or the jihadist? I'd love it to be you and the many Muslims with whom I have worked. I don't have any trouble comparing a "Christian" who rattles nukes and opposes health care provision as being out of line with the Gospel. For Muslims it's not quite so clear.

Sat, 2011-01-08 22:24 — Eddy S (not verified)

good post medhi, let's hope there is a good strong counter movement for reform, it must come from within the community.

this is probably the only way humanity will be saved.

Sat, 2011-01-08 22:50 — Roy Brown (not verified)

I do question the comment by Lou. I have not seen non-Muslims killing Muslims recently. I have heard many opinion-formers including the BBC bending over 180 degrees to not use the words "Islamic" and "terrorist" in the same sentence. Why has Lou bought into the "we are the victims" mantra when the "we" in question are killing Christians, atheists and other Muslims? Pervez Hodbhoy has smacked that nail most firmly into the woodwork. The question is, what are moderate Muslims doing to counter the increasing violence?

Wed, 2011-01-05 19:17 — Lou (not verified)

Prof Pervez makes some very valid points but that alone does not answer the question - why do 'they' pick on us Pakistanis.

None of the above three points explain the hatred, the vitriol and bullying inflicted on Muslims and Pakistanis simply because of faith and colour. It could be argued that it has gone on in some ways for years but it's far more common, widespread and virulent this past decade. Why?

There's been a propaganda game going on for years called word association, words such as terrorist & Muslim associated with 9/11, Pakistan + terrorist haven, Muslims + hate our way of life, Muslims = Sharia law for UK, Muslim terrorists - want to kill western people, etc etc. It's a game constantly replayed and instilled in an uneducated populus by the gutter press and media and unhinged leaders of the free world.

There now exists an ever growing number of people consumed by a hatred, loathing and intolerance towards Asians and Muslims which has come about largely through this message played over and over again by the media & by western leaders - us good, them bad - and we need to start paying some serious attention to what is lurking beneath in these xenophobic people as it's far more inherent and insidious than the statistics portray.

Tue, 2011-03-01 21:39 — RABIA SARFRAZ CHOUDHRY (not verified)

i saw you on bbc debate on hijab and i really admired you and you were also right there but brother,salman taseer's matter was very sensitive.just tell me who gave him a right to speak for a women who insulted our beloved PROPHET SAWW.and he used to speak against blasphemy laws of PAKISTAN as black law then tell me this law is in QUR'AN E HAMEED and qur'an is light and peace.he was speaking for asia but he never spoke for Dr.AFIA.He spoke for her two little daughters but he never spoke for our AFIA'S 8 months old SULEMAN that who murdered him in america and how and where is his deadbody.for 7 years where her son AHMED lived and after 8 years how MARYAM came.such so called leaders should be murdered more dreadfully than taseer.for your kind information those who don't show respect to PROPHETS thier punishment is only dreadful death.i know after reading my comment u will say that i m a typical extremist of PAKISTAN so what i will not make any difference for me.PAKISTAN is an islamic state and build for muslims on 6 million deadbodies of muslims it's not any secullar state where one can do averything.

Wed, 2011-01-05 19:21 — swatantra nandanwar

He may have a point. The finger definitely points to the Saudis Lybians Syrians Iraqis Somalis the Afghans the Kosovans the Albanians ... etc, but its the Pakistanis that get the blame.
Part of the problem is that all previous Pakistani Govts covertly encouraged and supported the spread of Isalmic fundamentalism and did litle to clamp down on its own internal fundamemntalists, who used and still use, their madrasas and mosques as arsenals to foment hatred and violent action. The madrasas and mosqus should have been cleansed, by force if necessary, a long time ago.
So the Pakistanis have brought it all on themselves.
Secondly its ok for Pakistanis here to hold an opinion of events in Pakistan, but its not ok for them to take violent action. We don't want the politics of Pakistan spreading on the streets of Britain,or the USA or anywhere else, thank you.
The same argument would go for any other community that has settled here and benefited here in the safe borders of Britain.

Wed, 2011-01-05 19:23 — Hassan Maitla (not verified)

@Subhan: I will have to agree with Mehdi Hasan that being British Muslims we just can not let wayward 'Mullahs' to malign the very roots of Islam. If someone disagrees with another person's idea, he should counter it with intellectual rigour not violence. Didnt the Prophet Muhammad say: "The ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of martyr"?

Fri, 2011-01-07 10:35 — Twaddle (not verified)

The events happening in the said countries is wrong, yes, and is the result of corruption and lawlessness that prevails due to a lack of accountability of public institutions and officials. So why is it that these are the very countries that Britain supports? Why is it that Britain is not using its political and diplomatic leverage to improve the humanitarian situation rather than what it's currently doing - push for more conflict?

If you can't see how bad the situation is getting here for Muslims, you need to open your eyes. The argument of "suffering a little oppression here is better than suffering a lot of oppression over there" is rubbish - it doesn't justify the oppression here, which is what this article is implying.

Wed, 2011-01-05 19:32 — murmur55 (not verified)

Excellent piece on the need for rationality. Peace to you.

Wed, 2011-01-26 14:59 — Julia Harris (not verified)

Islam's Latest Contributions to Peace
"He who fights that Islam should be superior fights in Allah's cause"
Muhammad, prophet of Islam

2011.01.25 (Minila, Philippines) - Abu Sayyaf militants plant a bomb on a packed bus, killing at least five passengers.
2011.01.25 (Yala, Thailand) - Nine Buddhists returning from a hunting trip are blown to smithereens by Muslim bombers.
2011.01.25 (Lahore, Pakistan) - A 16-year-old Sunni suicide bomber from the terror group Fedayeen Islam sends ten Shia pilgrims to Allah.
2011.01.24 (Moscow, Russia) - Three dozen innocent people at an airport are cut to shreds by shrapnel from two suicide bombers.
2011.01.24 (Landikotal, Pakistan) - A suspected Taliban mortar shell lands on a house, killing a young boy.
2011.01.24 (Pattani, Thailand) - A 48-year-old pickup truck driver is shot several times in the head by Islamic 'separatists' .

Wed, 2011-01-05 21:24 — andyg (not verified)

When will the world wake up to the fact that religion is used to make war and not the real cause?

Fri, 2011-01-07 11:48 — crabstix (not verified)

Worryingly in reaction to this killing the educated middle calsses seem to be coming out as extremist. Witness the outpouring of support from lawyers offering the killer a free defence, english language papers supporting the action. Facebook and twitter dominated by support for the killing. Pakistan has a very serious problem... that is that extremism is the norm and a majority position.

Wed, 2011-01-05 22:01 — Des Demona (not verified)

Well said Mehdi. Credit where it is due and no doubt because you have dared to take a different line from the likes of Jamaat-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat you will get degrees of stick varying from tut-tut to death threats.
But don't you see that by your consistent prosyletisng for Islam you are giving encouragement to these people? Your religious views should be personal.

Wed, 2011-01-05 22:12 — Daniele1

good piece Medhi!
Yes me too, I am waiting for decent Muslim people to condemn mayhem and murder in the name of Islam.
I am also waiting for the Diaspora jews around the world to condemn the crimes committed by the Israeli state against the Palestinians.
Where are all these so-called "good religious people"?
Where are all these so-called "religions of peace"?
Are they so blinded by their irrational beliefs that they can't recognise that some of their own people are committing unspeakable crimes?
Or is it that religion itself is the source of evil? religion might not be the cause of war,andyg, but couldn't it be the fuel which feeds the flames of wars?

Wed, 2011-01-05 22:54 — Robert Harris (not verified)

I think what this clearly exposes is that it is impossible to deal with these fanatics - as Israel knows only too well. Hence two states, walled off, keep Hamas the rabid dog locked up, I dont blame Israel in the slightest and they know how to deal with radicals.

I hope you Muslims having a moment of clarity regarding the situation Israel see's itself in???????

That in Islam there is no room for negetiation and the fanataics are in the plenty and will kill on a whim as they do all around the world every day.

Also I am sure we wont here a thing from leftys or Muslims when Muslims kills Israelis, thats ok and justified isnt it Medhi and Co?

Wed, 2011-01-05 23:00 — Robert Harris (not verified)

There are just too many Muslims "Misunderstanding" the religion of peace or as Mehi likes to dress it up as a 'Humanitarian' religion...is nonense.

The Koran needs to be reedited with all the violent and hateful texts cut out. Islam light is whats needed - but it AINT GONNA HAPPEN!!

Fri, 2011-01-07 12:38 — David Vinter (not verified)

Easy because New Zealanders don't let bloody bombs off if they don't like us, they just GO HOME, get it !

Thu, 2011-01-06 01:14 — Martin (not verified)

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Thu, 2011-01-06 01:39 — Tebussum (not verified)

I try as much as possible to be proud of been of Pakistani heritage but once again these crazy acts make me cringe. I agree wholeheartedly with the hypocrisy that is now institutionalised in Pakistan. What is worse is the "make it up as you go along" attitude of the so called Muslims put there.

Thu, 2011-01-06 01:41 — Tebussum (not verified)

Thu, 2011-01-06 01:54 — Robert Harris (not verified)

Of course in many many Muslim circles they are truthfully believing- it's all a Zionist conspiracy...it wasnt a Pakistani gaurd but a Mossad agent...

There is no moral clarity in Islam

Thu, 2011-01-06 02:32 — Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley (not verified)

"Why do they pick on us Pakistanis?" I'm tempted to retort it's because you wont picking on!I hasten to add however; perhaps not because you have asked to be picked on, or deserve to be picked on but one wonders if there might be something about your constitution which occasionally avails others of such a certain opportunity ie to pick on you.

Regarding the murder of Salman Taseer; perhaps it's best to think of this as another so-called employment issue, thus avoiding the burdens associated with blasphemy laws.