Hearsay, conjecture, call it what you will, but according to this one observer there has been a strong relationship between the price of oil…
Posts Tagged ‘Islamic’
Raymond J. Learsy: The Subjugation of Islamic Women and the Price of Oil
July 21st, 2009 |
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Constitution hotchpotch of two systems, says Gilani
July 12th, 2009 |
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ISLAMABAD – Terming the present Constitution an amalgamation of presidential and parliamentary systems, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that his party would revert to the true parliamentary form of government and amendments would be introduced in the Constitution in this connection.
Responding to the questions of students after addressing the 7th Convocation of the International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), the premier said there would be no clash if all the institutions function under constitutional limits.
He further said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto envisioned parliamentary form of government for the country and if all state institutions work according to the Constitution, there will be no confrontation between them.
Prime Minister said that the current system in the country is neither parliamentary nor presidential rather it is hotchpotch of the systems.
To another question, Gilani said that the government was focusing its efforts on sectors of education and health and has especially asked the Friends of Democratic Pakistan to make funding for education.
He said Pakistan believes in excellent relations with its neighbouring countries, India, Afghanistan and Iran.
“A stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan, which has attended conferences and held Jirgas to arrange financial assistance and better bilateral relations with its neighbour,” he added.
He said that the government believed in democracy and free press and did not want to put any curbs on the media.
To a question, he said that terrorists were working on a foreign agenda to destabilise Pakistan and Afghanistan economically and politically.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis would be establishing contacts with other countries for export of manpower, he said adding the government was making its best efforts to control law and order situation for creating conducive environment for investment and job growth.
He said that the internally displaced persons would start going back to their respective areas from July 13.
Earlier, addressing the 7th Convocation of Islamic International University Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said, “Illiteracy and ignorance are root causes of terrorism and extremism, which pose great threat to the Islamic world and brings it in direct confrontation with other civilizations.
He said that terrorism also had its roots in the misinterpretation of the spirit of Islamic injunctions and teachings by those who practise this destructive ideology.
“The challenge of extremism facing the Muslim Ummah can only be tackled through education with the more enlightened perspectives on the Islamic teachings,” he added.
He said institutions like International Islamic University, can make a significant contribution in restoring the image of Islam as the most enlightened and progressive way of life and in promoting rift-free relations with other civilizations.
Gilani said education is a religious duty of every Muslim and it not only helps in refining and harnessing human faculties but also acts as an agent of change and progress.
“It is a best defence against the forces of ignorance and the only answer to the challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah,” he said adding the scourge of religious extremism and terrorism had been perceived unfairly by the world as a face of Islam.
Gilani said, the present government is a strong proponent of education and is striving hard to translate into reality the vision of the great leader late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto for human deliverance and progress through education.
He lauded the expansion and inclusion of modern disciplines, especially science and technology, engineering, computer sciences and social sciences in the university curriculum.
The Prime Minister also appreciated the endeavours of the university for providing equal opportunities to the female students so that they can have unhindered access to higher learning.
He said the emphasis on research based education and promotion of international dialogue amongst eminent scholars from different countries is an imaginative initiative by the university, which will create better understanding of Islamic values and remove misgivings about Islam.
He said the university is developing into one of the best international centres of learning for the students from all over the world, especially from the brotherly Muslim countries besides establishing its role as a think-tank for the Muslim Ummah.
“In spite of the fact that we have inherited a crippled economy and are engaged in the struggle against religious extremism and militancy within our borders leading to a big drain on our resources, the government has increased the budgetary allocation for education from Rs 24.4 billion to Rs 31.1 billion in the current budget”, Prime Minister Gilani said.
“Higher Education has also been given due priority. Development funding to Higher Education Commission has been enhanced by 60 per cent to Rs 22.5 billion in addition to Rs 21.5 billion for the current budgetary provision, representing an increase of 26 per cent over the previous year,” he added.
He called knowledge a common human heritage, which must be shared among all nations. “No nation can conceive of any tangible progress without advancement in scientific and technological knowledge and without appropriate investment in the development of human resources.”
“I am aware of the fact that successive governments in Pakistan have been spending less than three per cent of the GDP on education as compared to five to seven per cent being spent by the developed countries. That, however, is going to change,” he added.
The Prime Minister announced Rs 450 million for the construction of a boarding house of the university. He also announced Rs one million for the students who topped in the examinations.
The Prime Minister awarded gold medals among the top students in different subjects of masters and doctorate degrees.
Speaking on the occasion, Rector International Islamic University Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik and President Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqui highlighted the progress made by the Islamic University and described its future strategy for promotion of higher education in the country.
David Paul: Who Will Win the Next Phase in Iran, Ahmadinejad or Iraq’s Ayatollah Ali Sistani?
July 12th, 2009 |
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We have yet to see what the Iranian regime will be prepared to do in the face of real opposition. After all, the leaders of…
Rafsanjani raises the stakes
Rafsanjani’s speech was the most dramatic in recent history. It gave the lie to those who think the opposition is finished
In the most dramatic Friday sermon in the history of the Islamic republic of Iran, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani slammed the results of the presidential elections, called for the release of political prisoners and set out the most formidable challenge to the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei.
During the reformist presidency of Khatami the idea of “red lines” was a mainstay of Iranian political discourse. The press, arts, and political comment were all free up to a point. But red lines were drawn around the legitimacy of the basic tenets of the Islamic republic and they and the person of the supreme leader were deemed to be above the cut and thrust of political debate. Although we all suspected the sympathy of the leadership for more conservative political elements, on the surface and in mixed company Khamenei managed to maintain a degree of even-handedness that allowed him at least the illusion of non-partisanship. By his unreserved, premature and unconstitutional endorsement of the results Khamenei threw his hat into the political ring. By siding with the Ahmadinejad clique, he finally stepped off his apolitical pedestal.
If Rafsanjani’s criticism was biting in its rhetorical sharpness, its real power came in the context of its delivery. At the inception of the Islamic republic Friday prayers were instituted and led by Ayatollah Taleghani on what used to be the football pitch of Tehran University. It was designed to be a means of bringing together the brains of the revolution represented by the university students and its heart in shape of the religiously devout who flooded in from impoverished neighborhoods. Taleghani was the last Ayatollah who commanded almost universal national support across the political spectrum, whose legitimacy if not seniority could only be rivalled by Khomeini himself. Imprisoned and tortured by the Shah, he was elected to parliament as first deputy for Tehran in a landslide and was one of the most influential authors of the constitution whose very principles are now being contested in the streets of Tehran.
Ayatollah Taleghani, whose sudden death deprived the revolution of a counterweight to Khomeini’s power, was to many Iranians the conscience and soul of the revolution. It would be a mistake to regard him now as some obscure historical figure, as those participants in the Friday prayers who carried his portrait, prompted by instructions on opposition websites, testify. His deployment as the latest symbol for the green movement at the site of Friday prayers delivered a withering blow to the stature of the supreme leader on the subject and at the place where it might hurt him most. The slogan “Where is my vote?” seems to have extended its remit to “Where is my revolution?” and “Where are my Friday Prayers?”
Rafsanjani’s long sermon ended with 10 devastating minutes that went to the heart of the matter: the government of the Islamic republic can’t stay Islamic if it stops being a republic. He quoted both the founder of Islam as well as the founder of the Islamic republic. The gist of both the hadith from the Prophet Mohammed and his recollection from a conversation with Ayatollah Khomeini (coming as it does from Khomeini’s most consistent and trusted lieutenant), made the same point. Leadership in Islam isn’t a matter of force, not even a matter of who has the best qualifications. In Islam, without popular mandate, leadership is meaningless.
The people who surrounded his car on his arrival at the prayers were chanting “silence is betrayal”. He didn’t disappoint them, and according to many who I spoke to he delivered over and above what they had hoped for. The blood if not the resolve is slowly draining from organisers of the election fraud. The coup’s leaders are slowly coming to the realisation that they may have established order, but that is far from being the law.
The most formidable coalition of forces is lining up behind Mir Hossein Mousavi in recognition of his position as the legitimate president of the republic. A green grassroots movement is growing, based on a denial of the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad and the orchestrators of the coup. Though it lacks familiar characteristics, a potent political force is on the march. At times the movement itself seems to be leading its leaders and prompting them to action. Those who thought that the opposition had failed will surely see now that we are still in the opening stages of this drama.