The Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen threatens to turn what has been a civil war between competing branches of Islam into a wider regional struggle involving Iran. It could also destroy any hope of stability in Yemen. Even before the Saudis and their Arab allies started the bombing, Yemen was in severe distress; on Tuesday, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights warned that it is now on the brink of collapse.
Rather than bombing, Saudi Arabia should be using its power and influence to begin diplomatic negotiations, which offer the best hope of a durable solution. Saudi Arabia intervened last week after the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, overthrew Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and captured large chunks of land. The Sunni-run government in Saudi Arabia has watched with growing alarm as Shiite-majority Iran has gradually extended its influence throughout the region, from Lebanon to Syria and Iraq, and fears Iran is poised to do the same in Yemen, a Sunni-majority nation.
The possibility of a deal between the United States, other major powers and Iran to limit Iran’s nuclear program has alarmed Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states even more, prompting them to talk openly, and irresponsibly, about developing their own nuclear programs. The Saudis have also joined with other Sunni nations to form a military coalition, anticipated to include a 40,000-troop army, to counter Islamic extremists and Iran, which is likely to further increase tensions.
Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states have reason to worry about Iran’s disruptive, sometimes brutal, policies, including its help in keeping President Bashar al-Assad in power in Syria despite a civil war that has killed more than 200,000 people, most of them Sunnis. Even so, the Arab states have their own checkered history in fueling extremists and regional unrest. The Saudis appear to be overreacting to Iran’s role in Yemen, which involves financing the Houthis but little else, according to American officials.
Yemen has been a problem for decades, and the threat there is growing more complicated. For several years, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been based in Yemen and is one of Al Qaeda’s most active and lethal affiliates.
Unlike that Qaeda affiliate, the Houthis are indigenous to Yemen and won’t be defeated militarily, or at least not without destroying the country. The Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, on Tuesday foreshadowed an open-ended commitment, saying the Saudi-led offensive would continue until Yemen was “returned to security, stability and unity.” Yet airstrikes alone won’t do the job. Saudi Arabia has not ruled out a ground invasion, even though its troops are inexperienced in such combat and would be at a particular disadvantage against Houthi fighters, who are battle-hardened and know the country’s forbidding terrain.
The Houthis have fought a half-dozen civil conflicts since 2004 and are still standing. The Saudi bombing may have already had one especially tragic outcome: Humanitarian workers said a strike killed at least 40 people at a camp for displaced people.
It would be a catastrophic mistake for Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to allow the Yemeni civil war to become the catalyst for a larger sectarian Shiite-Sunni war with Iran. President Obama should press this fact upon the Saudi leadership. As one of Saudi Arabia’s most reliable allies, he should use his influence to encourage all sides to work toward a political solution — both to prevent a wider conflict and to give Yemen a chance at stability
Whenever I hear these empty notions of ‘No Space for Extremism Left’ so confidently floated in wake of Peshawar Attack, I remain unconvinced.
My doubts about these ‘Anti-terrorism’ measures strengthen when I give a cursory look at the present unchecked activities of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI).
The national consensus against extremism means nothing when you know that Saudi’s takfiri ideology is being expanded every day, inch by inch, into small towns of KPK and Punjab with the launch of IIUI Schools & Colleges.
I studied Environmental science in IIUI. Among the 46 courses that I took over the period of 4 years, I also had to study Arabic, Sharia and Law, Pakistan studies, and Islamic studies. Environmental economic teacher used to patiently wait outside our class; he would cough and clear his throat loudly and wait until our Class Representative (CR) would come out and assure him that every girl in the class had their ‘nangey sar’ covered with dupatta.
Pakistan studies teacher used to write the contact number of Al-Huda in addition to writing Hadiths and Quranic verses on white broad whenever she took the class. Class discussions in Social Studies would invariably divert to state of Islam and purdah in Pakistan.
Chemistry teacher would start talking about water cycle and move swiftly to discussing the scientific miracles of Quran and the number of times water cycle is mentioned in Quran. Because chemistry in Quran was a miracle, so we were to memorize the ‘facts’ of both the world and incorporate them into one single comprehensible answer in order to get credit hours for that course.
Ecology teacher talking about human population curves and population boom would dutifully remind us that we are Muslim so there is NO concept in Islam about population control, and some ‘Islamic scholars’ even consider use of contraceptives haram- “No wonder that there are going to be more women burning in fiery depth of hell”- she would laughingly chirp later as an afterthought.
Burqa catwalk was a real event. Notice boards were sometimes liberally used as JI and Al-Huda activity promotion board. Canteen walls were amply plastered with warnings and premonition of hell for those who were not careful enough and brought Shezan juice.
In the morning, when university buses poured-in from all parts of twin cities, the campus entrance would often be dotted with burqa cladded women distributing pamphlets. No one was missed; everyone got a copy of her Al-Huda course announcement advertisement paper, or a pamphlet bemoaning the cruelty of state against the innocent students of Lal Masjid.
Pamphlets that cursed America and wanted Afia Sadiiqa back and pamphlets warning bey-purdha immodest women about fiery depths of hell were also shoved into hands.
Pamphlets told us every day that Blasphemous cartoon makers should be killed. All blasphemers should be killed. Salman Taseer should be killed.
Some papers demanded justice for students who were arrested form hostels in ‘alleged’ connection with the terrorists.
Piety came before curiosity. That was the lesson overriding all other lessons. Learning did not mean that one had to abandon moderate behavior.
Women campus and Men campus might have been a separate universe, but news often came floating one way or other. Women campus once held a festival, ferris wheel and merry-go-rounds were installed, students shrieked in excitement as the amusement ride caught speed. But then sounds waves could not be contained and males who existed beyond the barbed wires of female campus heard the shrieks.
Modesty came under a threat instantly. JI came into action and women happy shrieks potentially became a means of sexual arousal for some males.
Sickness of thought came over everyone, everyone was ashamed. The rides had to be dismantled. Modesty had to be restored. So the festival was cut-short and modest Islam reigned again.
If you wanted your transcripts on emergency basis then you were in for a churning that would take every ounce of your best temperament.
It took me almost three weeks to sort-out office formalities and get my transcripts, after the sum total of getting four page fees clearance documents signed.
Why? Because it was the Holy month of Ramzan, and the holiest of the places, i.e. an education institution was under siege by holy men and women, not doing their duty but attending Quran and Hadith dars, all in Al-Huda and Tableeghi style.
During those three weeks I would come to the university, and would often go back, without moving an inch forward in my desperate efforts to get my degrees and transcripts. Upon reaching the administration office, I would find offices desks and chairs stacked neatly close to the wall- making a space in the middle of the office hall room- white chadder laid out and all women employees sitting on floor, with one pious lady giving them dars and educating them about the fazaail of prayer in Ramzan.
Some were listening silently and some women were crying (may be out of sheer exhaustion and hunger) but none were found at their desks doing their job.
I don’t know if those women found blessing of Ramzan, but I was certainly showered with all the blessing of the holy-month that one could hope for.
Not to mention that these employees were sure to draw their halaal salary that month.
Conspiracy was juicy. Conspiracy gave legitimacy to claims that IIUI is serving Islam and is under attack by liberal forces all the time. Any change in the faculty was taken a conspiracy against Islam.
Once a teacher was inducted in Sharia and Law department, nothing unusual about hiring a teacher. No one would have known that the newly inducted teacher was slightly liberal until a spat with Sharia students got intensified and one day that poor ‘liberal’ teacher was thrown down stairs for being part of an Amereekan conspiracy.
So I could totally understand the fears of one visiting faculty teacher who taught us Globalization and Foreign Policy, as he often used to stop him-self short during a lecture and would say that he cannot carry-on the discussion further because his opinions on politics should remain outside the boundary of this Fort of Islam i.e International Islamic University Islamabad.
If Pakistanis are really serious about eradicating extremism and terrorism, this University (IIUI) and the likes of it should sever ALL links with Saudi Arabia.
The administration of IIUI must go directly under the authority of government of Pakistan.
A foreign Arabic speaking Saudi national should not be the overseer i.e. Pro-chancellor of this university.
The funding of this university has to be checked. The spread of extremist ideology under the cover of promoting ‘modern’ education needs to be checked by HEC. The course contents should be standardized and modernized.
But of course we are busy fighting a war on extremism, and all our fights will be fought on wrong fronts.
We are a poor country, we need money. So let the money pour in from all shady sources and let us produce a brainwashed educated middle class that likes to sit on the fringes and silently watch Taliban wreak havoc in Pakistan.
Gorakh hill station, Dadu Sindh (Credit: pak101.com)The land of Shah Latif bleeds again.
The seven queens of Shah Latif’s Shah Jo Risalo – Marui, Sassui, Noori, Sorath, Lilan, Sohni, and Momal – have put on black cloaks and they mourn. The troubles and tribulations are not new for the queens.
After the sack of Delhi, Nadir Shah (Shah of Iran), invaded Sindh and imprisoned the then Sindhi ruler Noor Mohammad Kalhoro in Umarkot fort. Shah Latif captured it in the yearning of Marui for her beloved land when she was locked up in the same Umarkot fort.
If looking to my native land
with longing I expire;
My body carry home, that I
may rest in desert-stand;
My bones if Malir reach, at end,
though dead, I’ll live again.
(Sur Marui, XXVIII, Shah Jo Risalo)
The attack on the central Imambargah in Shikarpur is as ominous in many ways as it is horrendous and tragic.
The Sufi ethos of Sindh has long been cherished as the panacea for burgeoning extremism in Pakistan. Sufism has been projected lately as an effective alternative to rising fundamentalism in Muslim societies not only by the Pakistani liberal intelligentsia but also by some Western think-tanks and NGOs.
But the question is, how effective as an ideology can Sufism be in its role in contemporary societies?
To begin with, Sufism is not a monolithic ideology.
There are several strains within Sufism that are in total opposition to each other, thus culminating into totally opposite worldviews. The most important of them is chasm between Wahdat al-Wajud (unity of existence) and Wahdat al-Shahud (unity of phenomenon).
The former professes that there is only One real being not separated from His creation, and thus God runs through everything. While Wahdat al-Shahud holds that God is separated from His creation.
Take a look: Shikarpur blast: SHO suspended, investigation underway
While the distinction between the two might seem purely polemical, it actually leads to two entirely opposite logical conclusions.
Wahdat al-Wajud sees God running through everything. Thus apparent differences between different religions and school of thoughts vanish at once. In diversity, there lies a unity thus paving way to acceptance of any creed, irrespective of its religious foundations.
Ibn al-Arbi was the first to lay the theoretical foundations of Wahdat al-Wajud and introduce it to the Muslim world.
On the other hand, the Wahdat al-Shahud school of thought was developed and propagated by Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi, who rose to counter the secular excesses of Akbar. He pronounced Ibn al-Arbi as Kafir and went on deconstructing what he deemed as heresies.
Wahdat al-Shahud in its sociopolitical context leads to separation and confrontation. The staunch anti-Hindu and anti-Shia views of Ahmed Sirhindi are just a logical consequence of this school of thought. Ahmed Sirhindi is one of the few Sufis mentioned in Pakistani textbooks.
Historically, Sufis in today’s Pakistan have belonged to four Sufi orders: Qadriah, Chishtiah, Suharwardiah, and Naqshbandiah.
It is also interesting to note that not all of these Sufi orders have been historically anti-establishment.
While Sufis who belonged to the Chishtiah and Qadriah orders always kept a distance from emperors in Delhi and kept voicing for the people, the Suharwardia order has always been close to the power centres. Bahauddin Zikria of the Suharwardiah order enjoyed close relations with the Darbar and after that leaders of this order have always sided with the ruler (either Mughals or British) against the will of the people.
Sufism in the subcontinent in general and Sindh in particular, emerged and evolved as a formidable opposition to the King and Mullah/Pundit nexus. Not only did it give voice to the voiceless victims of religious fanaticism, but also challenged the established political order.
To quote Marx it was ‘the soul of soulless conditions’.
A case-in-point is Shah Inayat of Jhok Sharif, who led a popular peasant revolt in Sindh and was executed afterwards. Shah Latif wrote a nameless eulogy of Shah Inayat in Shah Jo Risalo.
However, the socio-political conditions that gave rise to Sufism in the subcontinent are not present anymore. The resurrection of Sufism as a potent resistance ideology is difficult if not impossible. Sufis emerged from ashes of civilizational mysticism, independent of organised religion and political powers.
Today, however, the so-called centres of Sufism known as Khanqahs are an integral part of both the contemporary political elite and the all-powerful clergy. On intellectual front self-proclaimed proponents of contemporary Sufism – Qudratullah Shahab, Ashfaq Ahmad, Mumtaz Mufti, et al – have been a part of state apparatus and ideology in one form or another.
Sufism is necessarily a humanist and universal ideology. It is next to impossible to confine it to the boundaries of modern nation states and ideological states in particular, which thrive on an exclusivist ideology.
Mansoor al-Hallaj travelled extensively throughout Sindh. His famous proclamation Ana ‘al Haq (I am the truth) is an echo of Aham Brahmasmi (I am the infinite reality) of the Upanishads. There are striking similarities between the Hindu Advaita and Muslim Wahdat al-Wajud.
These ideologies complement each other and lose their essence in isolation.
Punjab has been a centre of The Bhakti Movement – one of the most humanist spiritual movements that ever happened on this side of Suez – but all the humanist teachings of the movement could not avert the genocide of millions of Punjabis during the tragic events of the Partition.
The most time-tested peace ideology of Buddhism could not keep the Buddhists from killing Muslims in Burma.
Such are the cruel realities of modern times that can overshadow the viability of any spiritual movement.
Sufism in Sindh exists today as a way of life and not an ideology.
It is an inseparable part of how people live their daily lives. In Pakistan, however, to live a daily life has come to be an act of resistance itself.
Sindh bleeds today and mourns for its people and culture that are under attack. Bhit Shah reverberates with an aggrieved but helpless voice:
O brother dyer! Dye my clothes black,
I mourn for those who never did return.
(Sur Kedaro, III, Shah Jo Risalo)
It wasn’t long ago that President Obama touted Yemen as a success in the fight against terrorism. “This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years,” he said in a major speech in September, outlining his approach to defeating Islamic State. Within weeks of that pronouncement, the Iranian-backed Houthi militia occupied the capital city of San’a. Now matters are getting worse.
On Tuesday Houthi forces seized the presidential palace along with the headquarters of the presidential guard, taking dozens of hostages and seizing an arsenal of tanks and artillery. The country’s nominal president, the U.S.-backed Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was last seen inside his residence; his fate wasn’t clear as we went to press. The U.S. Embassy in San’a reported that Houthi gunmen fired on one of its diplomatic vehicles, though nobody was injured.
This comes days after the West was brutally reminded in Paris that it cannot remain indifferent to chaos in a poor Arab country. At least one of the Kouachi brothers had weapons training in Yemen, and the Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda took credit for sponsoring the attack on the editorial offices of Charlie Hebdo. If the Houthi have now overthrown our partner government in Yemen, we’ll need either a new partner or a new strategy.
The Houthi are often described as a sect or a tribe. But it’s more accurate to say they are a radical Shiite political movement similar to Hezbollah, whose guiding slogan is “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam.” Last year, the Houthi gained control of the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah, just north of the Bab El-Mandab strait separating the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean. Along with the Strait of Hormuz, this gives Iran the ability to threaten both maritime chokepoints surrounding the Arabian peninsula.
One temptation will be to see a silver lining in the Houthi takeover, on the theory that the Shiite group is at war with al Qaeda and its radical Sunni affiliates. But the “let Allah sort it out” approach to foreign policy espoused by Sarah Palin won’t work, given that neither side is likely to defeat the other and a de facto partition of the country into two radical camps would complicate and multiply the dangers. The Hadi government cooperated with U.S. forces targeting al Qaeda in Yemen, but the Houthi won’t do the same. We could face two terrorist havens.
What should the U.S. do? The Obama Administration should insist that the Houthi guarantee Mr. Hadi’s safety and release him if he’s in custody. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia may also need to coordinate a strategy to dislodge the Houthi from San’a. The collapse of Yemen is another reminder, along with Iraq, that counterterrorism-lite doesn’t work, and that the U.S. has to do more to prop up its allies, if necessary with troops on the ground.
If it can’t be reversed, the fall of Yemen takes the Mideast closer to a regional war between radical Sunnis and radical Shiites, with U.S. allies caught in the middle. It’s an illusion to think that if we withdraw the carnage will stay over there.
That question comes up every time terrorists purporting to be deeply religious Muslims carry out armed attacks that kill innocent people. Where, commentators ask, are the moderate Muslim leaders and why aren’t they decrying the horrors perpetuated by fellow Muslims?
In fact, mainstream Muslims are speaking out, clearly and consistently. Leaders around the world, many of whom I know personally through my work at the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, have issued strong and unambiguous statements virtually every time a violent attack has occurred, condemning such acts as immoral and counter to the fundamental precepts of Islam.
Yet somehow their responses are not being heard, barely registering in the public consciousness.
Recently, there were two major news stories of Islamist extremist attacks on innocent civilians — the holding of 17 hostages in downtown Sydney, Australia by a pro-Islamic State fanatic and the slaughter of 145 people, nearly all of them schoolchildren, in the city of Peshawar by the Pakistani Taliban.
The outcry against these evil acts by responsible Muslim leaders was nearly instantaneous. While the hostage drama was still unfolding at the Lindt Chocolate Café in Sydney, Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, the country’s highest Islamic office holder, said he felt devastated by the attack, commenting:
‘The Grand Mufti and the Australian National Imams Council condemn this criminal act unequivocally and reiterate that such actions are denounced in part and in whole in Islam.
Numerous Muslim scholars and community leaders have repeatedly denounced the Islamic State as barbaric and un-Islamic.
Meanwhile, the horrific mass murder of schoolchildren by the Pakistani Taliban was met with near universal revulsion across the Islamic world. Dr. Zaruful Islam Khan, President of the All India Muslim Majlise Mushawarat, termed the attack “a blot in the face of Islam,” adding, “We don’t have words to condemn such barbaric act and savagery … There is no justification of killing of innocent children. It has nothing to do with humanity, leave aside Islam.” The Islamic Society of North America repeatedly speaks out against extremism of all kinds and were among the first Muslim organizations to denounce Boko Haram.
This is nothing new. During The summer of 2014, the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza triggered an explosion of violent anti-Semitism across Europe; many acts were committed by Muslims. While the media highlighted the very real and deeply troubling upsurge of violence in countries like France, Germany and Belgium, they rarely reported on Muslim leaders who denounced the violence.
For example, after riots by a predominantly Muslim crowd in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles attacked a synagogue and Jewish businesses, the local Muslim Association sent a letter of solidarity and support to the vice president of the synagogue. National Muslim leaders took part in an interfaith ceremony that denounced the violence and called for reconciliation. French Council of the Muslim Faith head Dalil Boubakeur, who attended the ceremony, affirmed that the vast majority of French Muslims are not anti-Semitic. How could they be, he asked, when they themselves are battling racism?
Those responses should have been part of the story. But too often, Islam is portrayed negatively, and as a monolithic entity. People don’t realize that there is a diversity of opinion within Islam and that most Muslims condemn extremism and violence.
Yes, Islamist extremism is a genuine threat to world peace. But those who lump all Muslims together, and dismiss as meaningless the courageous stand of the moderate majority against extremism, aren’t helping to win that battle. Rather, they’re strengthening extremism by perpetuating a false narrative of perpetual conflict between Islam and the West. That is something which we must fight with all our might.
Placards say ‘I am Charlie’ (Credit: usa.com)LONDON, Jan 7 — The sophisticated, military-style strike Wednesday on a French newspaper known for satirizing Islam staggered a continent already seething with anti-immigrant sentiments in some quarters, feeding far-right nationalist parties like France’s National Front.
“This is a dangerous moment for European societies,” said Peter Neumann, director of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. “With increasing radicalization among supporters of jihadist organizations and the white working class increasingly feeling disenfranchised and uncoupled from elites, things are coming to a head.”
Olivier Roy, a French scholar of Islam and radicalism, called the Paris assault — the most deadly terrorist attack on French soil since the Algerian war ended in the early 1960s — “a quantitative and therefore qualitative turning point,” noting the target and the number of victims. “This was a maximum-impact attack,” he said. “They did this to shock the public, and in that sense they succeeded.”
Anti-immigrant attitudes have been on the rise in recent years in Europe, propelled in part by a moribund economy and high unemployment, as well as increasing immigration and more porous borders. The growing resentments have lifted the fortunes of established parties like the U.K. Independence Party in Britain and the National Front, as well as lesser-known groups like Patriotic Europeans Against Islamization of the West, which assembled 18,000 marchers in Dresden, Germany, on Monday.
In Sweden, where there have been three recent attacks on mosques, the anti-immigrant, anti-Islamist Sweden Democrats Party has been getting about 15 percent support in recent public opinion polls.
Paris was traumatized by the attack, with widespread fears of another. “We feel less and less safe,” said Didier Cantat, 34, standing outside the police barriers at the scene. “If it happened today, it will happen again, maybe even worse.”
Mr. Cantat spoke for many when he said the attacks could fuel greater anti-immigrant sentiment. “We are told Islam is for God, for peace,” he said. “But when you see this other Islam, with the jihadists, I don’t see peace, I see hatred. So people can’t tell which is the real Islam.”
The newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, in its raucous, vulgar and sometimes commercially driven effort to offend every Islamic piety, including the figure of the Prophet Muhammad, became a symbol of an aggressive French secularism that saw its truest enemy in the rise of conservative Islam in France, which is estimated to have the largest Muslim population in Europe.
The mood among Parisians near the scene of the attack Wednesday on the newspaper Charlie Hebdo was apprehensive and angry. “There’s no respect for human life,” said Annette Gerhard.
On Wednesday, Islamic radicals struck back. “This secular atheism is an act of war in this context,” said Andrew Hussey, a Paris-based professor of postcolonial studies. Professor Hussey is the author of “The French Intifada,” which describes the tangled relations between France and its Muslims, still marked by colonialism and the Algerian war.
“Politically, the official left in France has been in denial of the conflict between France and the Arab world,” Professor Hussey said. “But the French in general sense it.”
The attack left some Muslims fearing a backlash. “Some people when they think terrorism, think Muslims,” said Arnaud N’Goma, 26, as he took a cigarette break outside the bank where he works.
Samir Elatrassi, 27, concurred, saying that “Islamophobia is going to increase more and more.”
“When some people see these kinds of terrorists, they conflate them with other Muslims,” he said. “And it’s the extreme right that’s going to benefit from this.”
In reaction to the deadly attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, President Obama said the United States would provide France with “every bit of assistance” in fighting terrorism.
The German interior minister, Thomas de Mazière, told reporters on Wednesday: “The situation is serious. There is reason for worry, and for precautions, but not for panic.”
With each terrorist attack, however, the acceptability of anti-immigrant policies seems to reach deeper into the mainstream. In Britain, for example, which also has a large Muslim population, the U.K. Independence Party has called for a British exit from the European Union and sharp controls on immigration, emphasizing what it sees as dangers to British values and identity. The mainstream parties have competed in promising more controls on immigration, too.
“Large parts of the European public are latently anti-Muslim, and increasing mobilization of these forces is now reaching into the center of society,” Mr. Neumann said. “If we see more of these incidents, and I think we will, we will see a further polarization of these European societies in the years to come.”
Those who will suffer the most from such a backlash, he said, are the Muslim populations of Europe, “the ordinary normal Muslims who are trying to live their lives in Europe.”
Nowhere in Europe are the tensions greater than in constitutionally secular France, with as many as six million Muslims, a painful colonial history in Algeria, Syria and North Africa, and a militarily bold foreign policy. That history has been aggravated by a period of governmental and economic weakness, when France seems incapable of serious structural, social and economic reform.
Several videos showing the gunmen outside the office of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, have surfaced online. The footage includes scenes of graphic violence.
The mood of failure and paralysis is widespread in France. The Charlie Hebdo attack came on the publication day of a contentious new novel, “Submission,” by Michel Houellebecq, which describes the victory of Islam in France and the gradual collaboration of the society with its new rulers from within. Mr. Houellebecq, like the well-known caricaturists and editors who were killed at Charlie Hebdo, has been a symbol of French artistic liberty and license, and his publishers, Flammarion, were reported to be concerned that he and they could be another target.
But the atmosphere has been heightened by the rise of the National Front and its leader, Marine Le Pen, who runs ahead of the Socialist Party in the polls, campaigning on the threat Islam poses to French values and nationhood.
There was much recent attention to another best-selling book by a conservative social critic, Éric Zemmour, called “The French Suicide,” attacking the left and the state for being powerless to defend France against Americanization, globalization, immigration and, of course, Islam. Another new novel, by another well-known French writer, Jean Rolin, called “The Events,” envisions a broken France policed by a United Nations peacekeeping force after a civil war.
“This attack is double honey for the National Front,” said Camille Grand, director of the French Foundation for Strategic Research. “Le Pen says everywhere that Islam is a massive threat, and that France should not support attacks in Iraq and instead defend the homeland and not create threats by going abroad, so they can naturally take advantage of it.”
The military-style attack on Wednesday creates major security questions for France, said a senior French official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on such a delicate matter. “We knew this would happen,” he said. “But we didn’t know how efficient it would be.”
Speaking in both English and French, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed solidarity with France against an attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 people.
After a series of three apparently lone-wolf attacks on crowds around Christmas in France, and other attacks in Ottawa and in Sydney, Australia, there was speculation that this attack might also be a response to the September call of a spokesman of the Islamic State, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, for supporters to strike at domestic targets of the countries attacking the Islamic State.
Mr. Grand noted that at least 2,000 young French citizens have traveled to fight with the militants in Iraq and Syria. “So how do we manage our Muslim population?” he asked. “This kind of attack is very difficult to detect or prevent,” he said, adding that the state must not overreact, which is what the radicals want.
Still, he said, even given that the number of radical Muslims is a tiny minority in France, “there are definitely more than 50 crazy guys,” so it will be important to know whether the attackers had been to Syria or “wanted to go and did this instead.”
François Heisbourg, a defense analyst and special adviser to the Foundation for Strategic Research, in Paris, said that the professional military acumen of the attack reminded him of the commandos who invaded Mumbai, India, in July 2011. “This is much closer to a military operation than anything we’ve experienced in France, and that may limit the political impact,” he said.
“Between this attack and whatever real societal problems we have in France, there is a great gap,” Mr. Heisbourg said. “These were not corner-shop guys from the suburbs.”
The mood in Paris, near the scene of the attack, was both apprehensive and angry. Ilhem Bonik, 38, said that she had lived in Paris for 14 years and had never been so afraid. “I am Arab, Tunisian, Muslim, and I support the families, the journalists and all the people involved,” she said. “This is against Islam.”
When journalists are killed for expressing their views, it is one step away from burning books, said Annette Gerhard, 60. “It’s like Kristallnacht,” Ms. Gerhard said, noting that her family had died in Nazi deportations. “There’s no respect for human life.”
Rachel Donadio and Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting from Paris, and Alison Smale from Berlin.
Volleyball players killed (Credit: naharnet.com)PESHAWAR, Jan 4: At least five people, including some football players were killed and 11 injured on Sunday in a bomb attack in Pakistan’s restive north western tribal region during a match, officials said.
A bomb exploded at a playground in Kadda Bazaar area of Kalya, the main town of Orakzai district today, killing five and injuring 11 people, Khiasta Akbar Khan, a local official said.
“Five people were killed and 11 injured in the bomb explosion,” he said.
The officials said that the attack took place when the spectators were watching a volleyball match but Radio Pakistan reported that a football match was in progress during the attack.
No militant outfit has taken the responsibility of the attack so far.
Nazim Ali, Waseem and Sarfraz Ali are some of the players among the dead, officials said.
Initial reports have shown that a planted device was used in the explosion.
The security forces have cordoned off the Shia-dominated area and started search operations.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the blast and deplored the loss of lives.
He emphasized on the government’s resolve to eradicate the menace of terrorism and extremism.
The bombing comes as the first major terror attack on Pakistani soil in the new year.
The country witnessed one of the deadliest attacks last month, when Taliban killed at least 149 people, mostly children at an army-run school in Peshawar.
Balochistan crackdown (Credit: dawn.com)QUETTA, Jan 3: Police and Frontier Corps (FC) on Saturday launched a crackdown against shopkeepers selling hate material in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta, Razzaq Cheema stated that 40 suspects were apprehended and twenty shops were sealed during different raids in Quetta.
Police also recovered 715 detonators, walkie-talkie sets and other materials from the sealed shops.
Since the Peshawar school attack, security forces have been conducting raids in different parts of Balochistan and arresting suspected militants.
FC also conducted raids in Chaman, Killa Abdullah, Khuzdar, Turbat and other districts of Balochistan and recovered hate materials including books, pamphlets, CDs and literature.
Spokesman FC in a statement stated that the crackdown was launched after approval by the federal government.
CCPO Quetta Razzaq Cheema stated that raids were conducted in Kuchlak, Satellite Town, Pashtoonbabad and other areas and more than forty shopkeepers were arrested.
“We will not allow anyone to spread hatred,” Cheema said. Markets in Quetta have been awash with CDs and hate literature for more than a decade.
This is the first time that police and FC have launched a joint crackdown against shopkeepers.
“We are interrogating the arrested shopkeepers,” Razzaq Cheema said.
When asked about threats in Quetta, the CCPO stated that information about threats were available but police were determined to ensure peace in the province.
Taseer commemoration (Credit: pakistantoday.com.pk)ISLAMABAD, Jan 4: Some enraged people attacked the participants of a candle light vigil organized here to mark the death anniversary of former governor Salman Taseer.
People had gathered at Liberty Chowk to mark the death anniversary of ex-governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, who was shot and killed by his own guard, Mumtaz Qadri, in broad day light in December 2010 in Islamabad.
A group of four-five people showed up at the scene, snatched and tore up placards and photos of Salman Taseer before beating up the participants of the vigil.
The attackers indiscriminately kicked women and other participants. They also subjected the reporters covering the event to torture and hit threw their cameras on the road and also damaged their DSNG vans.
A TV footage captured this event and in it a reporter can be heard saying: “What is our crime?”
Geo News cameraman Badar Munir also received some blows from the attackers while window panes of the DSNG van were also smashed.
Panicked participants ran in all directions to look for cover.
Church service in Pakistan (Credit: tribune.com.pk)[/caption]>LAHORE, Dec 25: For Christians around the world “tis the season to be jolly”, but several parishes in Pakistan decided to put out their Christmas candles this year and observe festivities in a solemn manner to express solidarity with the families who lost their children in a terror attack in Peshawar on Tuesday.
Archbishop Joseph Coutts has appealed to the Christian community to reflect on the message of hope and peace, which Christmas brings with it. Human rights activist and freelance journalist Peter Jacob told The Express Tribune that 11 parishes and several churches in the city had decided to cancel or postpone some programmes and events, mostly pageants and plays, to celebrate Christmas. “Most of them have been postponed… they will be held after January 1,” he said.
In Roman Catholic tradition, celebrations for the season usually commence on the first Sunday of Advent falling nearest to St Andrew’s feast. This year, celebrations began on November 30. The following three Sundays leading up to Christmas celebrated with prayers, candles, feasting and carolling.
Lahore Cathedral Dean Reverend Shahid P Mehraj expressed sorrow and concern for the grieving families and the lives that were lost. “This is an attack on the future of Pakistan,” he said from his office at the church.
In light of the events, Mehraj said they would hold special prayers for them on the fourth Sunday of Advent and would dedicate the candle-lighting ceremony to those who lost their lives in the attack. “Christmas brings hope to the world. The birth of Christ was also marked by a massacre of innocent children by King Herod… it is in the backdrop of this bloodshed that Jesus Christ was born as a symbol of hope,” he said.
Mehraj said this was a time to spread a message of love and brotherhood. “Christmas has come at the right time.”
Since Quaid-i-Azam was also born on Christmas Day, the rest of the country should reflect on his vision and dreams for the country, Mehraj said. “This year, Christmas will focus on a message of peace,” said Jacob. This year, Christians in Pakistan will remember and say prayers for not only the innocent lives lost in Peshawar but also Sajjad and Shama, killed in Kot Radha Kishen in November, he said.
