Vision 21
Posted by: vision 21 on: May 24, 2009
Vision 21 is Pakistan based non-profit, non- partisan Socio-Political organisation. We work through research and advocacy. Our Focus is on Poverty and Misery Alleviation, Rights Awareness, Human Dignity, Women empowerment and Justice as a right and obligation.
We act and work side by side with the deprived and have-nots.
We invite you to join us in this mission. We welcome your help. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you are interested in writing on Awaam, please contact us at: awaam@thevision21.org
The principle of modesty
Posted by: vision 21 on: February 8, 2010
- In: Hadith| Islam| Quran| women| women's rights
- Leave a Comment
Dr. Riffat Hassan is a Pakistani-American who is a Professor of the Religious Studies Programme at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. She is an Islamic feminist who is considered as one of the pioneers of feminist theology in the context of the Islamic tradition. She has written extensively on rights of women in Islam. Women’s morality has been a subject of debate and controversy in all human societies. ‘The project’ has been about shaping women’s attitudes to suit the interests of others, those who hold power at a given point in time.
Sadly though, among all these artificial constructs of morality, the real woman has remained missing. Left out intentionally. The one who is not a mother, a wife, a daughter or a sister. Rather the one who is a person with her own hopes and ideals about life. It is always refreshing to come across articles that talk about women from women’s perspective. That is they are written by women who have experienced, in one way or the other, the feeling of living under burdensome and despotic ideologies about their own moral identity.
Dr. Hassan, in this article has pointed out a crucial dilemma facing our society at large. Dressing norms have, for centuries, acted as a powerful method of controlling women; their body language, thinking patterns, level of freedom and standing in society. Generally religion, and Islam in our case, has been the most effective and widely used tool for justifying these controls.
Hence, the need of the hour is an honest and progressive reinterpretation of our Islamic ideals that can help us reorient our lives in truly modern sense. Or may I say reorient in Quranic sense, as seen through the eyes of a woman, standing in front of her Creator, asking for no more but what is due to her
______________________________________________________________________________________
By Dr. Riffat Hassan
IN the context of proper attire and conduct, the Quran lays down one basic principle, namely, modesty which is stated in Surah 24: 30-31: Tell the believing men to lower their gaze (avoiding its concentration on a person’s body, or a certain part of it) and to be mindful of their chastity; in this they will be more considerate for their own well-being and purity, and surely God is fully aware of all that they do. Read the rest of this entry »
Thousands attend funeral as death toll rises to 31
Posted by: vision 21 on: February 6, 2010
Dawn-Saturday, 06 Feb, 2010
Pakistanis attend a funeral prayer of the victims of Friday's bombing in Karachi, Pakistan on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. – AP
Thousands of people Saturday attended the funeral of 14 people killed in Friday’s double bomb attack in Karachi, as the death toll from the assault rose overnight to 31.
“Six more people died overnight, raising the death toll to 31,” provincial government spokesman Jameel Soomro told AFP.
He said at least 170 wounded people were being treated at various hospitals around Karachi.
At a funeral Saturday for some of those killed, thousands of mourners beat their chests and cried loudly as the bodies of 14 victims were brought to a Karachi sports field. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle begins to win over Taliban to Karzai’s court
Posted by: vision 21 on: February 3, 2010
Cautious interest as Afghan government seeks to draw all parties to the table
By Julius Cavendish in Kabul
AFP/GETTY IMAGES Taliban fighters are to be offered inducements to change sides, but they demand preconditions before talks
he Taliban fighter sitting in the front of the car was expressive, engaging, and dismissive of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s pleas for men like him to lay down their guns. Omar Khel, a tribal militant from Wardak province outside Kabul, is exactly the kind of reluctant rebel the Afghan government and the international community want to bring in from the cold.
“I am not in favour of fighting,” Mr Khel, a chubby man with strong features and grey-flecked hair, said. “I don’t have
enmity with the Americans. I have enmity with Fahim, with Khalili, with Dostum. We are fighting them.” He had named the three most notorious warlords in the new Afghan government. Read the rest of this entry »
Reversing history
Posted by: vision 21 on: February 2, 2010
So what will it take for history to reverse itself? Other nations with bleak histories have shown that reversals are possible. Indonesia is the most recent example. Can Pakistan, acting on the Quaid’s motto of ‘unity, faith and discipline’, put together a sustained recovery that would put the purveyors of doom and gloom to shame?
By Ahmad Faruqui- Dawn
Leszek Kolakowski, the Polish-born Oxford philosopher who passed away last year, left behind a striking insight: “We learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are.” This is a message of tough love for countries such as Pakistan to whom history has not been kind.
Admittedly, Pakistan’s rulers are in good company. Like France’s Bourbons and Britain’s Windsors, they have “forgotten nothing and learned nothing”. But this serious cognitive weakness did not prevent France and Britain from attaining greatness. So there are grounds for hope. Read the rest of this entry »
Petrol to cost 9 per cent more
Posted by: vision 21 on: February 1, 2010
By Khaleeq Kiani- Dawn
After the latest hike, the govt will now earn 50 paisa to Re1 per litre additional GST and dealers and OMCs will earn 20-30 paisa per litre higher profit on various products. -File Photo
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) increased prices of petroleum products on Sunday by Rs3 to Rs7.4 per litre, or up to 9.37 per cent, with immediate effect in line with a rise in the international market.
According to a notification issued by Ogra, the price of petrol was increased by Rs6.10 per litre to Rs71.21 from Rs65.11, up by 9.37 per cent. High octane blending component (HOBC) price went up to Rs86.84 from 79.43 per litre, by Rs7.41 or 9.33 per cent.
The ex-depot sale price of kerosene was jacked up to Rs64.07 from Rs60.75 per litre, up about 5.5 per cent or Rs3.32. The price of light diesel oil was increased to Rs61.07 from Rs58.10, by Rs2.97 per litre or 5.11 per cent.
Oil marketing companies were asked to increase the price of high speed diesel to Rs71.89 per litre from Rs68.56 by Rs3.33 or 4.86 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »
An Image…
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 29, 2010
We see many trash picker children around our homes and streets daily. Chatting and giggling while digging through the massive garbage dump at every corner to support themselves and their families in most cases.
I never saw anyone stopping for them and asking why they have got to do all this and at such early ages? Where do they come from? What are their names? No one ever asked. Because it does not matter. We as a society have absorbed the fact that at every garbage heap there must be a few little children probing it, picking from it, and the worst eating from it. It’s a shame that it is not shocking to see it happening.
Abeel, a 12 years old boy, is also one of those many children. I saw him this morning from through the window while sitting in my office, doing something after which I could not resist but to go to him and ask him why has he to do this. He had lit fire in the stove which he had made from the bricks and stones near the trash container and was cooking something in a mud pot. When I went near I saw it was maggy noodles boiling inside it. Read the rest of this entry »
Tony Blair and the imperial temptation in Britain and America
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 29, 2010
Thomas Ash- OpenDemocracy
Why did Tony Blair decide to go along with, and even cheerlead for, the invasion of Iraq almost seven years ago? I don’t pretend to know the full explanation. But ahead of his testimony to the Chilcot Inquiry on Friday – which I would guess is more likely to devolve into a media circus than to provide a truly satisfying answer to this question – it is worth considering one factor many informed commentators consider key. I have in mind the imperial temptation in British politics – the desire to “punch above our weight”, reshape the shaken kaleidoscope of the world, or whatever description you favour (there is no shortage of purple prose to choose from). In his illuminating history of twentieth century UK politics, Britain Since 1918: The Strange Career Of British Democracy, David Marquand illustrates how leader after leader has fallen prey to this temptation, Blair included.
I was reminded of this history by a recent exchange in the higher-browed reaches of the American blogosphere which is well worth your time. The debate was prompted by a thoughtful but flawed essay by conservative Jim Manzi in the journal National Affairs which made the following claim: Read the rest of this entry »
Women’s bills revisited
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 28, 2010
By Zubeida Mustufa
Hats off to the women who lobbied for the two bills on sexual harassment, and managed last week to move them a step further towards becoming the law. At long last the ruling coalition partners mustered enough courage to take a stand on women’s rights in this matter.
At one stage the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill and the Criminal Law Amendment Bill had appeared to be in the doldrums, given the resistance from the religious parties. Another bill, the Domestic Violence Bill, which was passed by the National Assembly, lapsed when it was not adopted by the Senate within the stipulated 90 days. Read the rest of this entry »
PROSPECTS FOR PAKISTAN
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 26, 2010
Jonathan Paris
This Report analyses the prospects for Pakistan over a one to three year time horizon. It looks at economic, political, security, and bilateral issues. There are three possible scenarios for Pakistan over this relatively short time horizon; Pakistan probably will avoid becoming a “failed state” and is unlikely to find a “pathway to success” but, as Pakistan confronts a myriad of vexing challenges, the most likely scenario is that it will “muddle through”.
1. Economy
Looking at the economy optimistically, in just over 20 years, Pakistan will surpass Indonesia and become the fifth most populous country and the one with the most Muslims. Its youth bulge provides it with a baby boom which, if educated and employed, could provide its economy with a demographic dividend long after the equivalent bulges in China and India have aged and retired. Pakistan has an opportunity to leverage its domestic consumer market to attract multinationals and build up competitive economies of scale in industries like food, electronics, autos and engineering for the export market. Peace with India would turn Pakistan into an energy transit point and geographic hub for a possible South Asian boom. Read the rest of this entry »
Dealing with brutal Afghan warlords is a mistake
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 25, 2010
Nick Grono and Candace Rondeaux in the Boston Globe
AS WASHINGTON rolls out its latest troop surge in Afghanistan, all eyes are on the violent south and east of the country to see whether the additional military muscle will bring stability. But outside observers are looking in the wrong place: They ought to focus on the backroom deals the United States is preparing to make with some notorious warlords, as these will determine the long-term effectiveness of President Obama’s strategy.
While the White House has paid lip service to the importance of good governance in Afghanistan, the reality is that co-opting violent warlords is at the heart of a plan that will likely result in further instability. One of the warlords who may soon star in the new US efforts to rebrand fundamentalists as potential government partners is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a brutal Afghan insurgent commander responsible for dozens of deadly attacks on coalition troops. As a mujahedeen commander during the civil war in the 1990s, Hekmatyar turned his guns on Kabul, slaughtering many thousands of Afghans, with his militias raping and maiming thousands more. Read the rest of this entry »
WEARING BURQA WILL NOW BE A CRIME?
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 21, 2010
Asghar Ali Engineer
Now a draft bill is under consideration of French Parliament imposing a fine of Euro 700 on any woman wearing burqa covering her whole body in any public place and her husband twice as much if he forces hear to wear burqa. This is for the first time that women would be penalized for wearing burqa. Earlier France had banned Muslim girls wearing hijab in schools. It argued that these religious symbols interfere with its commitment to secularism and its secular culture.
In fact nothing happens without political ideology being behind it. This measure is being championed by rightwing politicians who are exploiting anti-Islam feelings in France among a section of people under the cover of secularism. However the socialists are opposed to any ban on burqa though they are also not in favour of women wearing burqa. They feel women should be discouraged rather than banning burqa (which includes covering face). Read the rest of this entry »
Rental Power Projects to Hike Power Rates
Posted by: vision 21 on: January 20, 2010
While the minister for water and power has once again promised of zero load shedding in the next three to six months through Rental Power Projects, The Asian Development Bank [ADB] has laid the claim bared by terming it impossible.
The ADB was tasked with third party evaluation, by the federal cabinet to examine government’s agreements for additional 2250MW capacity through 14 rental power projects [RPPs]. The Bank, according to a news reports, has debunked the RPP scheme of the government in a report submitted to the government committee by saying that the agreements had been ‘signed in haste’ and without examining in detail the fiscal and contractual obligations of the government. The Bank disagreed with the claim made by Water and Power authorities that the rental tariff will range between 13-18 cent per unit, and observed that it would actually be between 14-22 cents per unit, which will make the electricity produced by RPPs substantially more expensive than what the government has claimed. Read the rest of this entry »
Recent Comments