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A blog is a personal online diary maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary and description of events. The term blog came from the word "web log" which was coined by John Barger in 1997. Peter Merhloz broke the word web log into the phrase "we blog" in 1999 and then the word became popular as both a noun and verb. Everyday bloggers are writing about 200K posts around the world on various topics ranging from personal diaries to world polictics. Blogging has become so popular in India that our Bollywood actors have also started unveiling their thoughts through their personal blogs. Author Blog pakistani Child Expelled for blasphemous Spelling ErrorPosted by bigman on 15 October, 2011
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Theres no shortage of reminders nowadays of how dangerous Pakistan has become.
Kidnappings are rampant, suicide bombers strike crowded markets, and sectarian violence is commonplace. Even sitting for a school exam comes with risks. In the Pakistani village of Havelian, a Christian Grade 8 student named Faryal Bhatti has been accused of blasphemy after making a spelling mistake on a test, a miscue that has had drastic and life-changing consequences for her whole family. Bhatti's case is the latest in a string of incidents that highlight the growing influence of radical Islamists in Pakistan, and it also serves as a reminder of the government's frequent inability or unwillingness to curb them. We live in dangerous times, one Lahore-based scholar told the Star recently. The threat of someone accusing you of blasphemy is like the Salem witch trials. They kill you first and ask if you're guilty later. In January, Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's Punjab state, was assassinated by his bodyguard shot 27 times in the back after Taseer promised to repeal or at least tone down the country's blasphemy laws. His killer, a police officer named Mumtaz Qadri, was recently sentenced to death by hanging. My dream has come true, Qadri reportedly said with a smile as the verdict was announced. He took time to thank his judge, who, immediately after reading the verdict, took an indefinite leave of absence from his position and went into hiding. That may sound like a good plan to the 13-year-old Bhatti. School authorities say Bhatti recently misspelled a word in Urdu in a poem written to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad. Instead of the word Naat, which meant a poem of praise, Bhatti misplaced a letter with a dot and instead wrote the word Laanat, which means curse. Bhatti's teacher reportedly beat her in front of her class and then referred the case to the school's principal. As news of Bhatti's infraction spread through the village, close to Abbottabad, the city north of Islamabad where Osama bin Laden hid in plain sight for years, religious clerics rallied locals to protest in the streets. Bhatti should be expelled, they demanded, and her family evicted from their home. Protestors chanted slogans against the student, her family, and Christianity, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. Her case was a conspiracy against Islam, clerics said in Friday sermons, according to the newspaper. At a packed meeting of clerics, school staff and scholars, Bhatti apologized and said there was no malice in her mistake. I am still unclear of Faryal Bhatti's intentions, Maulana Syed Ejaz Ali, a cleric from the Jamia Masjid reportedly told the meeting. The eyes filled with tears show her innocence, but her dot made the word derogatory and this is a good enough reason for a consequence and she should never in her life dare to think anything against Islam. Bhatti was expelled. But clerics weren't done. Local government administrators agreed to have Bhatti's mother transferred from her government job as a nurse and the family evicted from their home in a cantonment area populated by public servants. The high-profile case has further polarized news media and religious leaders alike in nuclear-armed Pakistan. I protest against the decision of expelling the child and transferring the mother, said Maulana Mehfooz Ali Khan, an Islamabad-based cleric. This action by the committee has printed a very negative image about Islam on the child's mind, we want the people to learn about Islam, not to make them hate it. Several English-language newspapers decried the case. Shyema Sajjad, a deputy editor with Dawn newspaper, wrote in a blog posting that Bhatti's case is a reminder of the new realities facing Pakistanis. Tolerance and respect are two virtues that were kidnapped a long, long time ago, they remain missing even today, Sajjad wrote. But who is going to point these things out? The government's too busy fighting international threats to focus on the internal ones breeding throughout the country. The few who do take a stand are shot down and although they might not be forgotten, their sacrifices often are. We cause a hue and cry about educating our children and spreading awareness but who needs this education if all it does is create hatred and differences? source: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1067390--pakistani-child-expelled-for-blasphemous-spelling-error
Comments (12) Login to post your comment DannyM wrote on 15 October, 2011
The above mentioned news depicts the true face of Islam and the barbaric acts prescribed by the "world's only and true religion ".Every Mulslim dominated country is bleeding profusely. Innocent people are getting killed. Muslims have become their own greatest enemies. People are getting killed in mosques after the Friday prayer.The hydra headed monster is looming large on the life of common people with all it's tentacles exposed.In the name of Blasphemy innocent people are given punishment.Every Islamic state is the breeding ground of terrorism. Life is uncertain.If you live in a Islamic country you don't know may be your next door neighbour or your co passenger is a fedayeen, ready to blow him out with a false hope of enjoying the virgins in the heaven after death. Intolerance towards other religions is the hallmark of greatness of Islam.If they have power in their hands, then they would use it to dominate and sometimes crash the believers of other religions.
cosmicbomber wrote on 17 October, 2011
This can only happen in Pakistan claimed to be a role model of a progressive Islamic state!
Vani wrote on 17 October, 2011
This is really sad if this is true but one should first verify the authenticity of such stories which are created to defame Muslims.
DannyM wrote on 17 October, 2011
Vani@ this is only the tip of the iceberg. These sort of things in the name of blasphemy is happening in every Islam dominated countries to terrorize the minorities.They only look for excuses/ issues to attack the minorities. Violence is rampant in countries like Pakistan, Afganisthan etc.This has gone beyond control.In these countries people are getting killed by suicide bombers. In Pakistan people are getting killed after offering Friday prayer in Mosques. The fighting between Shias ans Sunnis are of everyday affair.
Muslims don't require any outside forces to defame them. They themselves are capable enough and strong enough for self destruction. DannyM wrote on 17 October, 2011
Once after independence one of the Senior Indian diplomats had visited Pakistan and asked his counterpart why Pakistan was doing so much Anti India/ anti Hindu propaganda that muslims were tortured in India which were utterly false? His Pakistani counter part told that those were the need of the hour.Injecting anti India feeling was required to unite Pakistan. Then he was asked for how many years do Pakistan require to continue this anti India Propaganda? The Pakistani's replied : for five years" .The India diplomat then asked what happened if India had also done the same? The Pakistani answered" No, we are confident, you would never do this because your religion does not permit or teach you these things".
Khair wrote on 29 November, 2011
DANNYM, you did not mention the other part of the story. The Pakistan Minister then asked the Indian Minister the same question, and guess what: HE GOT THE VERY SAME ANSWER.
Both of them then shook hands, happy that they understood each other perfectly well. Moral of the story: I'll let you figure it out ... Khair wrote on 29 November, 2011
VANI, a "reformer" is a person who sees a social problem and tries to find ways to resolve the problem by informing, educating, and persuading, not by alienating and certainly not by abusing. I am happy to see a number of reformist minded people such as yourself on this site and I wish you all the best of luck.
There is another group of people, who see a social problem, and far from trying to take a step to fix it, they try to use it to create another one or more from it. They do it to satisfy their urge to belittle other people who they don't like for whatever reason. These people are called BIGOTS. Sadly, we have some of these people posting regularly on this forum too. Vani wrote on 30 November, 2011
Ya, true someone aptly said Daanym is a visiting professor of Islamophobia, LOL :P
DannyM wrote on 30 November, 2011
Khair@ Your so called "the other part of the story " is itself a false story.
Muslims find secular Hindus reformist but they don't consider people like Prof APJ Abdul Kalam as true Muslim. There are some Hindus who prefer to take side of Muslims for anything and everything. There are certain social problems that can not be fixed by simply pretending to be liberal and secular. One need to take certain harsh steps to fix those problems. Sometimes some problems become to deep rooted that they should be nipped in bud then and there only, there is no time for hanging around.If a patient requires surgery, then there is no point in treating him with medicines which would aggravate the disease and it might cause irreparable damages. It is better to be straight forward to "speak the truth". This might cause uneasiness to some people.Which is better rather than talking without sense to get pat at the back and to earn title of " liberal, reformist minded etc" Khair wrote on 01 December, 2011
DANNYM, as I suspected the moral of the other side of the story was lost on you so I won't waste further words on that subject.
I have not sought to define myself here in those terms you categorise here. It is you who in your quest to explain away any problem tend to take the divisive approach of trying to find categories for people (secular, liberal, Hindu, Muslim, etc). This makes it convenient for you to describe a social problem or an unfortunate event through the narrow lenses of your world view. It is your choice if you wan't to persist with that, but don't delude yourself that you "speak the truth" under the veneer of bigotry. DannyM wrote on 20 February, 2012
Bigman @ We wish you a very happy birth day. You have been contributing seriously and made us aware on the various atrocities committed against humanity.You deserve to be awarded "Admanya Bibhusan".
bigman wrote on 25 February, 2012
Thank you Danny. I appreciate your efforts too.
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