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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan's new paranoia |
| 2010-03-13 |
| The hardline philosophies of the charismatic TV host Zaid Hamid have permeated the grassroots political life of Pakistan, writes Manan Ahmed. A new narrative is ascendant in Pakistan. It is in the writings of major Urdu-language newspaper columnists, who purport to marshal anecdotal or textual evidence on its behalf. It is on television, where the hosts of religious and political talk shows polish it with slick production values. The basic elements of the story -- which has often, and erroneously, been called a conspiracy theory -- are simple. Local agents (or terrorists, or soldiers, or Blackwater employees) representing a foreign power (India, or the United States, or Israel) are intent on destroying Pakistan because they fear that it will otherwise emerge as the powerful leader of the Muslim world, just as the country's past leaders had predicted. The ascendant narrative is prophetic and self-pitying, nationalist and martial; it is a way to interpret current events and a call for activism to restore the country's interrupted rise to glory. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 "Like Glenn Beck, the paranoid American TV sensation, with whom he shares many traits, Hamid is ..." Say WHAT?! |
| Posted by: DMFD 2010-03-13 13:54 |
| #1 shift the role of Islam from Zia’s strictly performative one to a more flexible mould. His acolytes, who call themselves lal topis (red hats), see a pious man who is less interested in their actual religiosity – whether they pray or not, give alms or not, wear hijab or not – and more concerned with their devotion to the idea of a resurgent, “independent” Pakistan. In other words he is a typical wanna be dictator / imperialist who would only use religion as one stepping stone as needed. I bet if you tried you could come up with a number of examples, no? |
| Posted by: Alanc 2010-03-13 12:15 |