Archives

“Sit down!”: My moment with Musharraf

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, On The Road on Mar 23, 2009

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf answering my question at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi

Some people back-pack in India. Others join meditation retreats. A lot of us visit relatives (because we’re in horrendous trouble if we don’t). One day, I hope to drop in on all my Aunties and Uncles. But for now, I’m satisfied with having used my India adventure to confront Pakistan’s former president, Pervez Musharraf, about honor killings.

Let me explain.

India Today — the news magazine of record in the sub-continent — invited me to speak at its annual conference, known as the India Today Conclave. My speech tackled the question, “Does terror have a religion?” (Quick answer: Terror has no particular religion, but it always has a dogma. Just ask Robespierre, luminary of the French Revolution, who hated institutional Christianity but embraced terror. As he notoriously announced, “Terror is only justice prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue…“)

Speaking at the India Today Conclave:

“Does Terror have a Religion?”

(Courtesy: Hemant Chawla/India Today)

On the final night of the conference, delegates convened for a gala dinner keynoted by Pervez Musharraf. I was seated at the head table — mere feet from the speaker as he addressed the entire ballroom. Musharraf called himself a “man for peace” and acknowledged the link between religious “extremism” and “terrorism.”

Given these statements, I had to pose a question. But how to get the moderator’s attention? After all, the majority of delegates — among India’s power players — were springing out of their seats to press Musharraf about Pakistan’s involvement in last November’s terrorist attacks on Bombay.

The moderator, India Today’s elegant editor-in-chief, ain’t no dummy. There was news to be made here. His sharp journalistic instincts compelled him to set aside the lion’s share of time for the boisterous debate about India’s 9/11.

In that atmosphere, what was I to do — knowing that my question would inconveniently change the topic?

Don’t let the look fool you: Maulana Madani, a progressive Muslim cleric, speaks after me and blasts gender bias in Islam

(Courtesy: Ravi Sahani/India Today)

Enter Pakistan’s ambassador to India, a refreshingly open-minded man who, it turns out, has defended my work since his days as Pakistan’s ambassador to Canada. (Talk about moral courage!) He waved to the moderator and directed his sight to me. The ambassador, God bless him, had no idea what I would ask. All he had was faith that it would be worth hearing. I tried to make it so.

Standing up, I broke with the barrage of hostility aimed at Musharraf and began, simply, with “salaam alaikum.” I wanted to assure him that I’m asking my question as a fellow Muslim – and a faithful one, at that. He let slip a smile of relief. The smile wouldn’t last, as my question came next:

Since you’ve emphasized the connection between extremism and terrorism, and since you’ve been respectfully challenged to find a post-presidential role for yourself as a “man for peace,” will you let me help you find a role in supporting the many Pakistani human rights activists who are working against the epidemic of honor killings in your country?

Musharraf paused. “Would you like to ask another question?” he retorted. No, I replied. Honor killings are an important issue, and this is a golden opportunity for you to declare before an august audience that you mean what you say.

At which point, Musharraf whipped out the cultural club. “Sit down!” he ordered.

I guess even retired generals never really hang up their army fatigues. For the sake of results, I did as he decreed and took my seat.

Musharraf launched into a defensive dissertation about women’s inequality being a problem all over the world, not just in Pakistan. He then insisted that his government took steps to end discrimination against women. (To an extent, he’s right, and I wrote about these efforts almost three years ago in the Los Angeles Times. Facing a robust campaign waged by Pakistani civil society, Musharraf did more to loosen the grip of strict Sharia than the late Benazir Bhutto ever did.)

But to those women who aren’t satisfied with what he’s already done, Musharraf said this: If you try to climb a ladder too fast, you’ll fall off. (Perhaps he should read the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, in which Martin Luther King Jr. writes, “For years now I have heard the word ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’”)

Musharraf wrapped his reply by admitting that he’s really not sure what he can do now that he’s no longer president, but that “even in my present capacity if I can do anything, I would like to do it.” You gotta take victories where you can get them. I interpreted his parting words, however grudging and grumpy, as an invitation to send him ideas.

Daila Lama opens the India Today Conclave

Later, I told my new diplomatic BFF, the Pakistani ambassador to India, that by no means was I singling out Pakistani women as the only victims of male violence in our messed-up world. In fact, I’ve recently blogged about the anti-female ferocity of Hindu nationalists in India.

But surely it’s reasonable to expect Pervez Musharraf, as the former prez of Pakistan, to care about the plight of women in Pakistan. Imagine the impact that his voice could have: A high-profile (and, let’s face it, authoritarian) Muslim male, publicly protesting honor crimes, could give so many other Muslim men the permission to ally with women activists.

On top of it all, months after 9/11, Musharraf famously spoke about the need for Muslim enlightenment. By visibly opposing the abuse of faith that honor crimes brutally and blatantly represent, Musharraf would do his stated vision of Islam a huge service.

Over dinner, the ambassador introduced me to his daughter, a soft-spoken and whip-smart Muslim who, it turns out, has been immersed in the Pakistani struggle against honor killings. She thoroughly understood the purpose of raising this issue with Musharraf, especially in light of the privileged access we had to him that night. Above all, she volunteered to put me in touch with Pakistani advocates who would know how — or if — the former president ought to get involved.

Since then, India Today’s broadcast arm has aired my encounter with Pervez Musharraf, sparking a certain emotionalism:

“Its hard for me to express in words how outraged I was when I saw you on TV [with] Retired General Pervez Musharaf and questioning how you can help him change the customs that trouble not just Pakistan, but India as well (i.e honour killings)… My question to you is: How can I help you help the women in India?? How about the fact that there are 500,000 female fetuses aborted in India every year? Is that number a bit low for you? How about 20 million female fetuses aborted in India alone in the past 20 years. Please tell me how I can help you lessen the number of female fetuses killed by your innocent people of India?

There are NGOs in Pakistan functioning for the empowerment of women. As I’m sure there are in India as well. But please, stop acting like India is the creme brule when it comes to women’s rights and fix your own problems first. The best part of that segment was when Musharaf told you to ’sit down’.” - Dr. Said A. Chaudhry, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan

And sit down, I did. But when will educated men like this stand up — and set an example for other countries by improving their own? Maybe if Pervez Musharraf made noise about honor killings, the fine Dr. Chaudhry would too. Maybe. It’s a possibility that begs to be pursued.

Peace out, people, and “Jai ho!” to human rights activists everywhere

(Ravi Sahani/India Today)

Feminist Quran?

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements, Q & A on Mar 19, 2009

Rev. Della Fahnestock, president of the Alliance of Faith & Feminism, emailed me this question: “Has the feminist version/translation of the Koran been published yet? Please keep us posted.”

Gals of God, I’ll go one better: Rather than just keeping you posted, I’m posting a progressive translation of the Quran for free-of-charge download right here on irshadmanji.com.

This translation could have been available three years ago. You’ve likely never heard about it because the translators — two women and a man, all of them Muslim-Americans — have had a helluva time getting published. They reached a deal with a major U.S. publishing house. But after the Prophet Muhammad cartoon riots, the publishing house bailed on its contract.

Fear didn’t stop the translators, though. They self-published and have given me the permission to make their translation accessible to all who visit this site. (See the box entitled “Reformist Quran” in the lower left-hand corner of your screen.)

To be honest, I’m not sure you can call this version of the Quran “feminist.” After all, feminism is as much a matter of interpretation as faith is.  What I will say is that this translation exposes just how orthodox the “moderate” and “mainstream” renditions of the Quran actually are.

Does that make reform-minded translators whack-jobs? Judge for yourself: One of the translators — a Turkish-American scholar named Edip Yuksel — recently co-founded a group called “Muslims for Peace, Justice and Progress.”  The MPJP has written a well-reasoned letter to President Obama, asking him to work with Muslims in the West to restore America’s moral authority worldwide.  The letter criticizes Israel.  Hardly whacko by Muslim standards.

What the letter doesn’t do is reduce Islam’s ailments to Israel’s existence. Whaaa…? Whoa. Whackeeee.

I’ve signed the letter. So has a growing list of Muslim intellectuals and activists. You can, too.

But if we Muslims are to acquire any moral authority on human rights, we can’t merely gripe about the United States and Israel. As I document in The Trouble with Islam Today, our problems began well before either country was born. Deny that and you’re denying the notion of Muslims as human beings with agency of our own. Thanks.

To have credibility preaching to others, we first need to act upon the message in this reformist translation of the Quran. Now that it’s posted here for free, how many of us will accept the challenge to read it?

One thing you can do

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Mar 13, 2009

Me and Mo (far left) with other students at Miss Porter’s School

(Photo: Laura Danforth)

Last week, I posted three emails on this blog — one from a non-Muslim who lauds the “universal values” of courage and liberty that I advocate, one from a Muslim convert who fantasizes about beheading me (dude needs to grab a life), and one from a young Egyptian Muslim who desperately wants to know what he can do to advance the campaign for Muslim reform and moral courage.

In response to that third email, I said that would soon introduce an idea for further action, along with the person who embodies how well this idea can succeed.

Here’s the idea: If you live in a country that censors dissidents, as Egypt does, reach out to everyone you know in your country about signing the pro-freedom, pro-human rights and pro-secularism petition on this website.

But first take a few hints from Mo Yang, a student from China who currently attends Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut. After I spoke at the school, Mo wrote to me with the same question as the Egyptian Muslim:

How can I, as an individual with a limited amount of power, help your mission?

I suggested that she urge all of her school mates to sign the petition. Mo did that (and the updated list of signatures now includes many students from Miss Porter’s).

Then, Mo went the extra mile — literally. She began contacting people in her native China, as well as Chinese living in Western countries. And lemme tell ya, it hasn’t been an easy sell.

Read Mo’s email exchange with two young Chinese men living in Italy, one of whom insists that changing the world wastes time. He prefers “sleep, sun spa and bars.” Mo compels him to think:

#1:
What petition?

Mo:
It’s about Islam reform… against violence and religious radicals… support human rights, women’s rights…etc…check it out yourself. She’s well-known overseas. It’s a good cause.

#2:
Women’s rights?

Mo:
So?

#2:
Islamic countries are for men. No place for women at all.

Mo:
That’s why changes are needed.

#1:
Not interested…

Mo:
Then make it an interest.

#2:
Impossible.

Mo:
At least it’s a start. Are you guys going to help or not?

#2:
I’ve been to a Muslim’s house. The male master would get mad if I look at or have eye contact with his wife.

Mo:
That’s why it’s called a reform.

#1:
I’m still not interested. Sorry.

#2:
Don’t tell me you are a Muslim?!

Mo:
Nope, I’m not.

#2:
They can’t eat pork nor have alcohol. So depressing. I think they are so self-closing and stubborn, unable to communicate.

Mo:
That’s why to reform!!!

#2:
It’s not just exclusive, it’s that religion means everything to them. I like not having a religious belief.

Mo:
But I want to help.

#2:
Why?

Me:
Because there are Muslims in Xinjiang as well.

#2:
What can you do? It’s extremely hard to change them.

#1:
I support you! [Mo’s side note: he agrees w/ me on the Xinjiang part only, I think.]

#1:
But I’m still not interested.

#2:
Or put it another way, not quite possible.

Mo:
At least I’ll give my best try.

#2:
I don’t do impossible things. Why not save that time and do what I want to do, like sleep, sun spa, and bars. Enjoy what Italy offers, and the delicious food too.

Mo:
If you give your best try, it’s going to increase the possibility, and if everybody does that, then it will be a success. Start with the petition now, and it only takes a few seconds. You lazy people.

#2:
Why bother to sign the petition? What is it going to do? That’ll make the change?

#1:
If signing it is against your will, that’s just useless.

Mo:
If it’s against your will, I’m not going to force you sign it. But it’s important to get support from every corner around the world.

#2:
I will sign it. To show some support. I’ll also ask my Muslim friends sign it.

Mo has learned that doing morally courageous work — which involves defeating the apathy all around us — demands persistence. In her own words, “It takes mental toughness, time and patience. It’s a commitment.”

Which brings me to why any of us should bother rallying our fellow citizens to sign this petition. After all, Mo herself asked me, what jihadi will actually care about the signatures? Will the Muslim convert who threatens to decapitate me read the petition, see that its defenders fan out from all over the earth, and magically rethink his gruesome desires?

Of course not. But the petition isn’t meant to change the minds of the irrational. By definition, irrationality can’t be reasoned with.

Rather, this petition is meant to change the minds of the timid — people across the globe who feel either alone or powerless to use their voices for good. This petition shows that, in fact, they are not on their own. An international community of non-violent, freedom-loving warriors exists, and is growing. We who claim to believe in human rights and diverse expression will never win this crucial struggle until we convince our side to become as vocal as freedom’s adversaries are.

What a statement it would make to show that our petition is also circulating in countries that value communal conformity more than individual creativity. If we can prove a breath-taking spectrum of support in places known for censorship, then there’s absolutely no excuse for any of us in open societies to lapse into laziness, victimhood, or sheer indifference when it comes to fighting for freedom of conscience.

To view the updated list of petition supporters, click here. Signatures from China are scattered throughout.

By the way, after I posted the new list, Mo sent me yet more Chinese signatures. Here they are:

* Ming Ma (Xi’an, Shanxi, China)
* Uthman/ Jiancheng Wu (Ningxia, China)
* Yubao Yuan (Shanghai, China)
* Qiang Yang (Hunan, China)
* Jing Zhong (Beijing, China)
* Hui Yao (Hunan, China/London, UK)
* Changwu, Yu (Fujian, China/Hampshire, UK)
* Jack Lau (Guangdong, China)
* Xinyi Han (Chongqing, China)
* Jingfang Xia (Hunan, China/Texas, US)
* Dan Zhao (Beijing, China)
* Chunyang Hu (Jiangxi, China)
* Helen Dong (Fujian, China/Camarines Norte, Philippines)
* AnAn Jiang (Liaoning, China)

Oh — and how cool is this? — one from Tibet:

* Sharon Wu (Llasa, Tibet)

Whether you live in Scandinavia, where individuals routinely self-censor, or in Russia, where it’s the state that regularly censors, consider serving as an ambassador for moral courage by sending the petition link to your compatriots.

That’s my advice to the young Egyptian Muslim who wants to do more: Get as many other Egyptians to sign. Doing so is an act of faith in your society. Mo emphasizes to me that she loves China. This has to be one reason she’s managed to collect so many names from a nation that I, personally, haven’t been able to crack. Go, Mo!

And thanks for teaching so many of us about the power of one.

Three reasons to fight

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on Mar 07, 2009

I get a lot of emails. A. Lot. Whether they’re hateful or grateful, your messages motivate me. If you want to know what keeps me going, look no further than these three voices.

Let me begin with a non-Muslim who grabbed my heart by invoking “universal values”:

“Irshad, we have seemingly nothing in common: I am a college student from Prague, I am a heterosexual male and I do not believe in God. Story of my life, unlike that of yours, is by no means adventurous. But still there is something we share: our love for freedom and courage. The fact that two people with so different backgrounds share these values suggests that they truly are universal.

That leads me to the first thing I want to thank you for. To me, you are the answer to the tough question: where shall we draw the line between respect for other cultures and unacceptable withdrawal from universal values? I strongly believe that all laws and all governments (whether they apply to a whole country or a small village) which try to silence people like you are wrong and should be changed. I know that you focus mainly on the Muslim world but as you surely know, even in the liberal democracies of the Western world (among which I can now count the country I live in - Czech Republic), the fight for free thought is far from being won…

This leads me to my second thanks. Reading your articles and watching your videos always reminds me that instead of moaning about human stupidity and cowardice, I should use my time to make people less stupid and more courageous. This includes me. I know you were in Prague few months ago. A week before the conference you spoke at, a friend of mine called and said: ‘I am on the organizing team and we could still use some help. Wanna join?’ I was like: ‘Maybe, we’ll see…’

I did not take that offer. Then, a day or two after the conference ended, I found out that you had been there! I could have listened to your speech, maybe even talked to you or got my copy of The Trouble with Islam Today signed. I became angry with myself and cursed my own laziness. I remain a lazy person, but thanks to you, believe it or not, I do not miss opportunities so easily now.

For all these reasons, I felt an urge to express my gratitude. Thank you Irshad. You are one of my favourite neighbours in this global village of ours.” – Michal Pecena, Czech Republic

Irshad replies: You’ve given me sweet, simple joy, you atheist infidel bum. Your talk of universal values is, frankly, jet fuel for this believer. Speaking at a school last week, I noticed a famous Gandhi quote on the classroom door: ‘Be the change you wish to see.’ Then I explained to the students that the same sentiment can be found in the Quran: ‘God does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves.’ Welcome to yet another value that transcends time, culture and situation.

Speaking of universal values, Gandhi studied a white guy named Henry David Thoreau. In turn, a black guy named Martin Luther King Jr. studied Gandhi. We would all be the poorer if each of them stuck with his ‘own’ kind. Which is why I thank you, Michal, for embracing me as a neighbor — despite my misguided love of God.

For all your laziness, at least your brain is power-producing ideas. Not so with the next email. Here’s a texbook example of utter intellectual lethargy. When I receive messages like this, it’s screamingly clear why my conscience kicks into gear:

I HOPE YOU FUCKIN BURN IN HELL IRSHAD YOU BASTARD OF A BITCH MOTHERFUCKER

IM A MUSLIM, YOUR A FUCKIN FLOP, YEAH I HOPE YOU FUCKIN READ THIS YOU BITCHFACE MOTHERFUCKER

YOU MAKIN MONEY OFF SELLING GAY BOOKS TOO, ALLAH IS PATIENT WITH YOU FOR NOW, INCASE YOU MIGHT CHANGE AND OPEN YOUR GAY EYES

YOU THINK YOUR SOO BIG WITH YOUR ACTIVISM BULLSHIT, IF OOONLY YOUR WERE IN FRONT OF ME RIGHT NOW, I SWEAR I CUT YOUR HEAD IN THE NAME OF ALLAH SOO THAT HE MAY FORGIVE YOU

IM A TRUE MUSLIM, I CONVERTED MY FRIEND, I KNOW GAYS, LET THEM LIVE (I GUESS??), TEACH THEM, ITS WRONG!!!!—– BUT YOU YOU BEAVER LICKIN MONGOLOID FRUIT PICKIN RAINBOW REACHING DUMB FUCKO—- YOU KNOW IT IN YOUR GAY SUBCONSCIENCE THAT YOUR SOOO WRONG AND PROUD OF YOUR GAYSELF YOU UNMODEST UNHUMBLE GAY ANTI-MUSLIM OUTCASTED BATTYGAL

YOU WANT TO SEEK HELP??? COME TO ME MAYBE I CAN UNGAY YOU——

STAKH-FHIRUULLLA [A badly spelled version of “God forgive me”]
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA
STAKH-FHIRUULLLA”
– Mahin Rahman

Irshad replies: Rather than dignify the previous email with an analysis, I’ll end with an email that comes from another Muslim:

“Hello our beloved Irshad,

It is great honour to me to write this email to you and hoping that you be in a good health. First of all I am Ahmed from Egypt who loves and adores your efforts to teach Islam reform & moral courage. You as a pioneer must tell your thoughts to your students and i want to be your student and servant because i want to learn from you but i do not know how to start? Please help me to be reformed within real islam. I know that I am being too heavy for you but i think you as the first teacher must lead me to right way. Please help to be your student asap.” – yours/Ahmed

Irshad replies: Ahmed, my brother, you are indeed a servant. But you don’t serve me; you serve your non-violent conscience and the creative force that dwells restlessly within it. If this is understood, then here’s a starting point: Please answer the 4 questions posted on the Moral Courage Project page. These questions will help you clarify what, exactly, you feel the need to change in your community. You can then focus your efforts and increase your chances of having an impact.

But I have another idea, too. A few days from now, I’ll introduce a student who, like you, comes from a culture that values conformity. Yet she did something for the cause of Muslim reform and moral courage that I think is non-conformist, brave and useful. You can do it, too, and in my next blog entry, I’ll reveal this idea.

Why wait until then? Because you’ve got homework, young man! (I’m waiting for your answers to the 4 questions…)

For now, remember: This is why we fight.

“Madame” Amanpour and our Moral Courage Convo on YouTube

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Mar 02, 2009

Christiane Amanpour and I explore the need for moral courage in journalism.

(All photos: Joyce Culver)

Wait. Before anybody assumes that Christiane Amanpour insists on being addressed as “Madame,” let me explain the title of this post.

It’s Bill Clinton who — in icy tones —called Christiane “Madame.” She’d just challenged him on his administration’s “flip-flops” over the genocide in Bosnia. He denied any dithering, and made his displeasure with Christiane quite clear. For starters, the President refused to invoke her real name.

“Everybody called me ‘Madame’ for years after that,” she chuckled to me and the 1,000-member audience at the Moral Courage Conversations.

Christiane then tackled my own prickly questions about what journalists should do in an era when they — and their employers — face enormous pressures to avoid offending; when the spokespeople of religious and cultural groups routinely scream “discrimination!” if confronted with inconvenient facts; when journalism school profs increasingly chill the minds and spines of their young charges by preaching sensitivity to communal esteem instead of to the truth.

How did Christiane answer? Hell, I ain’t telling you. Watch for yourself. The entire event is on YouTube.

What I will give you are a couple of highlights, starting with how she feels about that tense encounter with Clinton:”You have to ask the rigorous questions. That’s what the audience expects, that’s what we [as journalists] expect of ourselves. You have to be willing to risk access, to risk people being angry with you, and to realize that you just have to do your job no matter where the chips may fall.

It wasn’t easy for someone like me, who grew up in a very sheltered and respectful environment. I grew up in the Shah’s Iran. You didn’t question authority. And I know, certainly, that my parents and many of their friends were quite horrified that I’d been so publicly rude to the President of the United States. (I didn’t think I was being rude, by the way.)…

If you’re not prepared to put yourself on the line for what you believe in, or for your profession, then it’s very difficult to do this job with any credibility or integrity.”

Speaking of doing her job, Christiane revealed that she entered journalism quite by accident:

“I thought I wanted to be a doctor but to be very frank, I failed the exams that would get me into medical school and I ended up in Iran during the [Islamic] Revolution. That made me realize I wanted to be part of the cataclysmic world events, but not as a participant or victim, but as somebody who could in fact try to explain those events to the rest of the world.

I’d come to London, England — my mother’s home country — as a way to get out of Iran. And my younger sister had joined, out of the blue (who knows where it came from?) a journalism college in London. After a few weeks, she decided that it wasn’t for her.

We were quite ’scint’ — that means low on funds — and I went there and asked for the [tuition] money back because we needed it. They said no. So I said, ‘Ok, well, I don’t like to waste money. May I take her place?’ That’s what set me on the road to journalism…”

See what wonders can unfold when you’re scint? It’s a scintillating lesson for these economically depressed times. Which brings me to the theme of my next event — “Moral Courage in the Money Industry: Pipe Dream or Key to the American Dream?” Stay tuned for more details.

Meanwhile, click here for the premiere Moral Courage Conversation, with my special guest Salman Rushdie. He ain’t no Madame, but he’s a fine Sir.

And to my Facebook fans: You’ve now got exclusive access to pix of me and Christiane backstage. Happy viewing!

Podcast: From innovation to impact

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Feb 26, 2009

NYU student has a message about social change

(Photo: Theresa Newhard)

Advancing Social Innovation and Pattern-Breaking Change by Connecting People through Dialogue and Action: That’s the mandate of a dynamic student group called Bridge, based at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. (Yep, where the Moral Courage Project is also housed.)

Recently, Bridge organized a conference called, “From Innovation to Impact.” I delivered the keynote address. Afterwards, Chris Collins, a student, interviewed me and turned our conversation into a podcast.

If you’ve signed up to my fan pages on Facebook or MySpace, you were the first to get this link. Membership has its privileges!

For the rest of you, click here to access the podcast.

(BTW, I’m posting another treat on Facebook and MySpace today — Thursday, February 26. Check it out after 5 pm New York time…)

NOW calls it an honor killing; when will the rest of us?

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Feb 22, 2009

A light-hearted moment with

New York City Councilwoman Helen Sears

A few days ago, I shared a stage in New York with a group of gutsy dames. We received the 2009 Susan B. Anthony Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Despite the laughs you see in the photo above, I unexpectedly wept during my acceptance speech. My tears expressed shame over the honor killing of Aasiya Hassan. A young Muslim mother who lived in Orchard Park, New York, she helped her husband launch Bridges TV, the channel dedicated to promoting positive images of Muslim Americans.

Her headless body lay on the floor of the TV station only days after she filed for divorce. Police have arrested Mr. Positive Image. Or should I call him Brother Bridges-Builder?

NOW is among the few progressive groups anywhere in the U.S. to describe this gruesome act as an “honor killing,” rooted in cultural customs that assume women bring shame not just upon themselves, but upon their entire families. Frankly, NOW deserves an award of its own for having the gonads to tell the truth.

Even conservative Muslim voices are hinting that we can’t ignore the tribal tradition of honor in this case. Read the rambling statement issued by the Islamic Society of North America. ISNA is a lobby group that’s educating all of us about the diversity within Islam (which, I suppose, is why every woman on its masthead wears the headscarf. Hooray for Muslim diversity!)

Unable to neglect the sickening nature of Aasiya Hassan’s murder, ISNA pussyfooted around the H-bomb — never using the phrase “honor crime” — but we get the point:

“Women who seek divorce from their spouses… should not be viewed as someone who has brought shame to herself or her family… Therefore, to our sisters, we say: your honor is to live a dignified life, not to put on the face that others want to see.”

Will the U.S. media finally begin naming crimes like these, with or without fear of offending?

In future searches for culprits, will the FBI restore the words “honor crime” to Wanted posters instead of caving to the weapons-grade whininess of Muslim lobbyists, as has happened in the recent past?

(Take a look at the FBI’s bulletin about Yaser Abdel Said, an Egyptian who allegedly killed his two daughters in Texas. Like tampering with the evidence at a crime scene, the FBI has cleansed this poster of the word “honor.” As for the link to the original poster? Here’s how far it gets you.)

Finally, will people who define their values as progressive emulate the moral courage shown by NOW?

Let’s all draw a lesson from Susan B. Anthony. In 1872, she dared to vote on behalf of American women, and she justified doing so under the U.S. Constitution itself. The judge reached his verdict before the trial — then fined her $100. Susan B. flipped him the feminist finger:

“May it please your honor, I shall not pay a dollar of your unjust penalty. All the stock in trade I possess is a $10,000 debt, incurred by publishing my paper – The Revolution – four years ago, the sole object of which was to educate all women to do precisely as I have done, rebel against your man-made, unjust, unconstitutional forms of law that tax, fine, imprison and hang women, while denying them the right of representation in the Government; and I shall work on with might and main to pay every dollar of that honest debt, but not a penny shall go to this unjust claim. And I shall earnestly and persistently continue to urge all women to the practical recognition of the old revolutionary maxim, that resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.”

To learn more about “honor killings,” click here.

What I’ll be asking Christiane

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Feb 17, 2009

Christiane Amanpour (Courtesy: CNN)

This Wednesday night, CNN’s chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, will join me on a New York stage to discuss moral courage in journalism.

Democracy demands investigative journalism. Speaking truth to power for the sake of democratizing information — uncovering it, putting it in more hands, spreading knowledge (which is power), and risking backlash for doing so — this is morally courageous journalism.

Where do we have that today? How do we get more of it? What, if anything, can citizens do to ensure moral courage in our multi-media age?

For answers, Christiane’s the go-to gal. She’s dared to outrage Bill Clinton in front or her bosses. Yasser Arafat once slammed the phone on her during a live broadcast. And Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accuses her of rudeness. All of them got questions they didn’t want to hear.

In that spirit, I know Christiane and I don’t see eye to eye about Islam. She certainly acknowledges the life-and-death threats posed by fundamentalist Muslims — watch her analysis of last week’s troubling concession to the Taliban by the Pakistani government.

But the fact is that I view mainstream Islamic practices today as more corrupted, and thus more dangerous to human dignity, than she does. This difference might lead to a disagreement about one of the moral courage challenges facing media around the globe: Can stories about Islam be covered properly, knowing that journalists will be accused of bigotry for conveying information or opinions that some Muslims don’t want to hear — and knowing that they could engage in violence to silence the journalists?

Consider what happened just last week to the editor and publisher of The Statesman, one of India’s most prestigious English-language publications. India, keep in mind, is the world’s biggest democracy. And a supposedly secular one, to boot.

The Statesman re-printed a column from the British newspaper, The Independent, about why religious notions that oppress don’t deserve uncritical reverence. Wrote the columnist, “All people deserves respect, but not all ideas do. I don’t respect the idea that a man was born of a virgin, walked on water and rose from the dead. I don’t respect the idea that we should follow a “Prophet” who at the age of 53 had sex with a nine-year-old girl, and ordered the murder of whole villages of Jews because they wouldn’t follow him. I don’t respect the idea that the West Bank was handed to Jews by God and the Palestinians should be bombed or bullied into surrendering it. I don’t respect the idea that we may have lived before as goats, and could live again as woodlice. When you demand ‘respect,’ you are demanding we lie to you. I have too much real respect for you as a human being to engage in that charade.”

Apparently, four thousand Indian Muslims didn’t reciprocate that respect for the very human columnist, or his human editor, or his human publisher. Instead, they rioted. I don’t mean to say “protested,” which is a democratic right. I mean they rushed the offices of The Statesman and called for the arrest of all involved.

Two days later, Calcutta cops charged the editor and publisher for “deliberating acting with malicious intent to outrage religious feelings.” They delinquents are now out — on bail.

If this were a freak story, I’d understand why it shouldn’t be invoked to ask about moral courage in journalism. But the reality is, stories like this are becoming legion. Read my previous post, which focuses on the perils of Hindu extremism. Even the United Nations human rights council is caving to religious censors who warn them not to raise themes such as arranged marriage, stoning, or hanging, lest they “blaspheme” religion. To hell with human rights, no? It’s a travesty I’ve tackled well before last week.

So one of my questions for Christiane Amanpour has to be: How should journalists (and, more to the point, their employers) stand up to the accusation that they’re “disrespecting” when, in fact, they’re doing their jobs?

I have no idea how she’ll respond, but I do know what apologists for dogma would say: There’s a distinction between informing and offending. When that distinction is violated, stand back. You’ll have hell to pay, and you’ll have provoked it.

Which brings me to the all-important question:

If religious dogmatists can hold views that offend me rather than inform me, but I don’t riot over the offense I sincerely and profoundly feel, why should media coddle those who take the violent way out? Isn’t that playing politics rather than doing journalism?

On Wednesday night, we’ll investigate.

The Moral Courage Conversations are supported by the Ford Foundation, the European Foundation for Democracy and the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

Gandhi’s legacy — on the rocks and with a twist

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Feb 13, 2009

This Valentine’s Day, a movement is afoot to fill every bar in India. Called “Pub Bharo,” it’s not so much an embrace of alcohol. It’s more an act of defiance against Hindu nationalists who beat up women for “soiling” Indian culture by choosing to drink.

That’s what recently happened to college girls in the town of Mangalore — and it’s only the latest shot in the morality wars that Hindu fundamentalists are waging against pluralism and secularism in the world’s biggest democracy.

They’ve got plenty of Muslim extremists to help. Tribal titans who otherwise despise each other are miraculously clasping hands to assault chicks who dare to visit bars. No wonder one of India’s government ministers, Renuka Chowdhury, has labeled this agenda the “Talibanization” of her country.

But other young women are fighting back. A twenty-something girl has launched the Facebook page for Pub Bharo — with this as the group’s description:

Yesterday it was Mangalore
Today it is Bhopal, Uttar Pradesh
Tomorrow where?
This can come into all of our homes. Let us stand up for those who cannot speak.
Join me on Feb 14th 2009, to fill every pub across India in a show of solidarity between all religions and both sexes.

The Mangalore Pub incident was not the first of its kind nor will it be the last.

Girls have been attacked for going to ice-cream parlours. These Hindu girls who were sitting with their Muslim male friends were dragged out and take to a nearby empty building and beaten.

A bus carrying students was stopped and attacked with stones, their cell phones, purses and belongings were then stolen from the students.

20-25 separate incidents of violence have taken place in the last 10 years in what was once called ’safe’ Mangalore.

While Ram Sene [Army of Ram, a political party] Chief Muthalik claims to not know the perpetrators of the Mangalore Pub incident, he called the press and thanked them for the publicity their reporting has created for him. Victory marches have taken place after the incident.

Muthalik has said that he will attack again on Feb 14th 2009, Valentine’s Day, as this is not Indian culture.

India won its independence through non-violence. What makes India the beautiful, secular, democratic nation that it is, is our innate belief in equality and freedom of expression. While these lunatics think they can teach us a lesson by beating the women of our country, let us Indians teach them the true power of our nation that refuses to be cowered by acts of violence.

Hmmm. I appreciate the intent and applaud the pro-active impulse behind Pub Bharo. Really, I do. But does a nation-wide booze binge really send a message of liberation? Sure, it’s non-violent — until someone is, uh, “over-served.” Then all bets are off.

In any event, a lot of the participants will be getting hammered. Sloshed. Shit-faced. To prove what? That they’re more ethical than a posse of puritan thugs?

Allow me to have the courage of my confusions on this one. Tell me what I’m missing.

The winner is…

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Feb 09, 2009

In my previous post — the one informing you that my conversation with Salman Rushdie is now on YouTube — I also announced this contest: An autographed copy of my book would go to he or she who submits the funniest caption to the photo below.

(Courtesy: Joyce Culver)

A lot of you made me giggle. Some of you made me groan. Congratulations to the woman who made me do both:

“Food for thought: Irshad shows the audience her talent for catching goldfish crackers in her mouth as Salman shares his 100-calorie snack pack.” - Halina Reed

Honorable mentions:

“Irshad, and now for my last display of power: telekinetic tickling!” - Ed Wugalter

“When I say ‘puri bread,’ you’ll become an atheist…” - Aya Mishler

Finally, a rather catchy limerick:

“There once was a man named Rushdie,
Who met a brave woman named Manji,
They had a like mind,
And soon they would find,
They could laugh while defying Jihadis.” - Janis Gregory

By the way, the podcast of this event can now be downloaded free of charge from iTunes U. Enjoy!

Pages (30): Previous 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10 11 Next ... Last »