A renewed hateful spirit

TH E R E is a new spirit of Islamophobia abroad, which has made the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden merely one of a number of incidents, though it remains the most hurtful to Muslims and is clearly the one motivated by Islamophobia The others may be brushed off as violence against Muslims which is often enough the result of Islamophobia but need not be

While hackles of Muslims rose at the other incidents of Islamophobia out of solidarity, and which all merely confirmed existing stereotypes, the Quran burning in Stockholm evoked a more visceral reaction just as the blasphemous cartoons depicting the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in 2005 did It was not just a sense of the West being unfair but a visceral feeling of being assaulted As believers have some sort of personal relationship with the Prophet (PBUH), there was a personal edge to the feeling

The Holy Quran is the source of a Muslim’s faith

In many Muslim households it may be the only book or maybe there might be a commentary or two along with it Burning it is not just a challenge to their beliefs but also a reminder of the Nazi book burnings

The Quran banishes ignorance, so destroying it means taking away that light

The complicity of the Swedish state was also noticeable It was not total The police had tried to stop the protest but had been overruled by a court However the police had not changed the location or the timing of the protest which coincided with the Eidul Azha congregation at the city s central mosque

The protester, an Iraqi Christian migrant, had acted to irritate, tearing the Quran, using the pages to wipe his shoes, wrap bacon in them, and then burn them Clearly this was a provocative act It was not political as was the burning of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy by a far-right politician who was protesting Turkey s blocking Sweden s membership of NATO

However, one of the problems with such acts is that they do nothing but provoke What do they provoke to? Muslims may be angered, but they can’t very well retaliate though there have been requests filed with the Swedish police for permission to burn the Torah In fact the blasphemer is to be punished if not by the state then by an act of private vengeance

The whole affair seems to be an attempt to exploit Western ideals of free speech, of which Sweden is a leading exemplar, to score points in a debate occurring elsewhere Whatever points against Muslims an Iraqi Christian wished to score he was doing so in a country which is eone s considered one of the most irreligious in the world with various estimates of atheism randing between 45 percent and 85 percent

Pehaps, in a paradoxical kind of way, it is that lack of religiosity which is behind the concept that burning any sacred scripture including the Quran should be banned Almost as a substitute for Christianity humanism demands a due regard for people s feelings Freedom of speech has to be retrained As the saying goes, My freedom ends at the beginning of your nose The Quran (and other sacred books) must be protected from desecration because that desecration hurts someone’s feelings, not because it is what Muslims believe it is the Word of God the speech of the Creator This could be problematic Who determines which book is indeed sacred? For example, Muslims do not believe the Bible is a sacred book, though it does contain (although distorted) Revelations made to Moses David and Jesus Christians believe it is Divine Revelation Not all Christians do Presumably not the ones who also identify as atheist Then what is the position of the Book of Mormon which Mormons believe is the word of God but which other Christians do not Why go any further than Catholics and Protestants? The latter do not accept the Books of the Apocrypha as part of the Old Testament; the latter do There is an element of racism in Islamophobia, but this incident had an Iraqi commit the desecration, so that cannot be said here The Quan burning in January was by a far-right politician who has advocated deporting all Muslims There is a strong element of racism in that demand, for Muslim migrants are racially different from the Swedes The racism evident in the riots in France came from the fact that the riots were set off by the police gunning down of an Algerian-descent teenager Nahel Marzouk, during a traffic stop, for driving down a bus lane, and trying to run down the cop who fired Traffic policemen in France have been allowed to shoot at traffic offenders since 2017, in which Frenchmen of colour have been disproportionately killed These were not the first riots in France with this cause

T h e r e a c t i o n t o M u s l i m m i g r a n t s i s n o t p u r e ly e c o n o m i c T h e r e a c t i o n o f

We s t e r n E u ro p e a n s t o E a s t

E u ro p e a n s w h o h a d m ov e d

But perhaps the most brutal example of both Islamophobia and racism was the latest attack by Israel of the Jenin refugee camp The whole operation, at the centre of which was the Israeli military occupation of the refugee camp on July 3 took place in the background of renewed occupation of land by settlers Jenin is at the front line of the resistance to Israel not just physically but also in terms of the great fortitude of the fighters in Jenin Israel, both people and state, have been racist and Islamophobic for a long time The real reason is their need g Palesitinto replace the Palestinians who do not want to abandon their land However the origins of Zionism in the USA have made Israel racist and thus anti-Arab That racism has created difficulties even for Sephardic Jews, and especially the Falashas from Eritrea and combines with an Islamophobia that originates in that racism One result is that there has been the first Israeli aerial bombardment of the West Bank since 2004 w i t h i n t h e E u ro p e a n U n i o n w a s mu ch m i l d e r t h a n i t w a s t o m i g r a n t s , v e r y o f t e n

M u s l i m , f ro m fo r m e r c o l o n i e s . I n d e e d , t h e e c o n o m i c a rg u m e n t s o u n d s l i k e a b i t o f s p e c i a l p l e a d i n g . I s l a m o p h o b i a i s a m a n i fe s t a t i o n o f t h e cl a s h b e t w e e n C h r i s t i a n i t y a n d I s l a m .

Then there was the assault on State Representative Maryam Khan the Connecticut House of Representatives member Maryam Khan, the first Muslim elected to the Connecticut House, when she was leaving an Eid gathering in Hartford, the state capital, by a white man with a history of mental issues The Islamophobia in this incident was clearly intertwined with racism

P a k i s t a n ’ s b r e w i n g m o n s o o n c o n u n d r u m

MoMMeN KhAN

PA K I S TA N is significantly prone to climate change effects due to several factors including its geographical location high reliance on agricultural and water resources, an inefficient emergency preparedness system, and the limited adaptive capacity of the general populace

Despite having a contribution of less than one percent to global carbon emissions it is ranked as the most vulnerable country to climate change effects A year after the devastating floods of 2022 Pakistan is still struggling to recover with 1 8 million people residing close to floodwater that is contaminated and stagnant Moreover, another monsoon season is around the corner to worsen the situation The most recent record-level rain of 291mm in Lahore and its outskirts is a reflection that worse is still to come

The most concerning fact is that it has increased the vulnerability of its already underprivileged population, affecting 33 million people, and areas already having the lowest score on the Human Development Index have been the hardest hit

The loss of 1500 human lives is an immeasurable tragedy portraying a subdued picture of human loss due to climate disasters Thus the plight of Pakistan is an utter reminder of the urgent need for global community action in fighting climate change and its distressing effects

Though the human cost is a significant one that occurred the economic fallout is another dimension of the calamitous hit with an estimated economic loss of $30 billion Substantial damage to infrastructure occurred with 500 000 km of roads and 269 bridges damaged This in turn disconnected the local communities and hindered the relief efforts of the authorities at the time and eventually the transportation cost in- creased Moreover the education of countless children is jeopardized as 18590 schools were damaged in those areas that were already facing serious educational crises Thus this will aggravate the downward spiral effect in the literacy rate in Sindh and Balochistan

Economically, agriculture is a vital lifeline for the rural populace in Pakistan Therefore, any disruption in this sector strengthens socio-economic issues The distressing floods have resulted in 750 000 livestock deaths in both Sindh and Balochistan aggravating food security and leaving the farmers of flood-hit areas in dire straits This portrays the fact that poverty will increase at a significant rate, if timely measures are not taken In addition Pakistan’s already crippling agricultural sector was further destroyed by heavy monsoon rains which covered 18 000 sq km of cropland resulting in a significant reduction of 45 percent in cotton production, a major export product of Pakistan Besides, Pakistan witnessed a 60 percent decline in mango production last season due to climate change, of which Pakistan is the fourth largest exporter in the world Thus the country is confronted with serious economic losses due to the floods

The monsoon season of 2022 has resulted in a heightened risk of disease spread The stagnant floodwater provides a favourable condition for pathogens to emerge, and a vast number of these displaced people have poor hygiene and sanitation in their impermanent accommodations Notably there has been an outbreak of waterborne diseases (cholera and diarrhea malaria skin and eye infections) across Sindh and Balochistan

Currently, the health facilities in their peripheries are not effective enough to deal with this spread, as 1460 health facilities have been destroyed by the floods which severely compromised the already inadequate0 healthcare system

As the monsoon season is impending again the country is in a serious economic crisis with a bleak picture of damage from the previous year

Earlier in June, winds and heavy rainfall killed 27 people, including 8 children and 200 livestock in four districts of Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province In the majority of areas of the country which were severely affected by the heavy rains last year there has been no progress Reconstruction of houses and water scheme infrastructure has not been completed

Besides, the health infrastructure in parts of the country, particularly in Sindh and South Punjab, is damaged, exacerbating the woes of the people

There is a great fear that the monsoon season this year will add fuel to the fire

In the past the drainage system and infrastructure could not withstand heavy rainfall Consequently, Pakistan should learn from the experience of 2022, make the necessary preparations for mitigating disaster impacts by developing a climate-resilient infrastructure While some countries and international organizations have helped Pakistan by supplying food tents medicines and other relief supplies these are shortterm help The Country is already in a serious economic crisis with low foreign exchange reserves, currency depreciation, and a high inflation rate Amid this situation, it is difficult for Pakistan to bear this massive cost For this reason at the Geneva Conference Pakistan secured pledges of over $10 57 billion from different donors for areas destroyed by the massive floods but the aid has not reached yet due to several reasons Earlier, it was claimed that due to bad governance funds were diverted from their intended purpose Therefore good governance and proper checks and balances are prerequisites for effective utilization of any aid For the current monsoon authorities need to have a practical and implementable disaster management plan to deal with such a disastrous situation In the longer run, proper rainwater harvesting systems need to be adapted in all cities prone to flooding while transformation of agri-food systems and strengthening human capital should be prioritized to achieve equitable and sustainable development and climate resilience

The writer is an Assistant Research Fellow at Balochistan Think Tank Network (BTTN), Quetta Twitter: @KhanMommen

The problem with Islamophobia is that it is tied to racism Western racists have adopted Christianity as a suitable symbol of nationalism, so the overtly religious symbol of the Quran is being used to hurt Muslim feelings

However, that has not stopped other more traditional methods of expressing racism Such as offing blacks in France and bombing Palestinians in the West Banks The hostility that Muslims face is both religious and racial Muslims along with others want access to the West

The recent incident of the deaths of so many illegal immigrants when their boat sank off the Greek coast shows this Xenophobes object, showing it in ways that even their fellow citizens do not like Islamophobia and racism merge in a toxic mixture Islamophobia cannot be uprooted easily and cannot be at all unless racism is also uprooted The reaction to Muslim migrants is not purely economic The reaction of Western Europeans to East Europeans who had moved within the European Union was much milder than it was to migrants very often Muslim from former colonies Indeed the economic argument sounds like a bit of special pleading Islamophobia is a manifestation of the clash between Christianity and Islam It has a very long history, and will probably not end so long as both religions still have followers

The writer is a member of staff

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan Today 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan Today e x c l u s i v e l y

Drug prices affect one’s right to life

T H E prices of medicines have increased by a massive 200 to 400 per cent which is condemnable Every now and then the prices keep rising forcing people further down the poverty swamp Disappointingly, no steps have been taken by the government to stop the rot It is living in its own dreams and fantasies

While medicines even the essential ones for say heart diseases diabetes blood pressure and cancer have become expensive the injections and contrast material for computed tomography (CT) scans have gone off the shelves The patients are forced to buy injections worth Rs3 500 for as high as Rs10,000 Strict action needs to be taken against those who charge such exorbitant prices against such essential medical supplies

The ruling class is busy filling up its own coffers, already brimming as they are They have no idea about the problems of the masses Many people in the country do not have access to quality healthcare facilities Pharmaceutical companies have become completely desensitised to the reality of life in Pakistan All they bow down to is the temptation of making money and even more money

The condition of government hospitals is sad and pitiful There is nothing in the relief for the people Even free medicines that one is supposed to get at public-sector hospitals end in the hands of the commission mafia and corrupt agents in collusion with hospital staff

Forget the poor even those in the middle class cannot afford to buy medicines at the current prices The decision to increase the drug prices in a struggling economy is like playing with people s lives

The rulers certainly have no sense of what life is like for the common man The increase in the prices of medicines is nothing but a symbol of the disconnect between the rulers and the ruled It has put severe financial pressure on patients and their families Earning a livelihood is a struggle in itself due to lack of job opportunities Misery and anxiety are the hallmarks of life in today s Pakistan Intentionally or otherwise the right to life is being snatched away from the people and increasing the prices of essential necessities like medicines is a major step in that critical direction MUHAMMAD IMRAN UL HAQ

Deadly swings

T H E safety issues plaguing amusement parks in Pakistan have raised serious concerns in recent years A tragic incident at an amusement park in Karachi’s Clifton area resulted in the death of a 17-year-old, prompting questions about responsibility Some have attributed the accident to the boy s negligence in not wearing his seat belt properly and standing up on a moving ride while others have questioned the effectiveness of the security system in place

Despite the significant increase in the number of amusement parks in Pakistan, there is a noticeable lack of effective supervision and safety protocols Urgent action is needed to rectify this deficiency and prevent harm to unsuspecting individuals Regular inspections of rides are often not done which has led to worn-out components faulty safety features and compromised structural integrity increasing the likelihood of accidents and severe injuries or worse Additionally the presence of inadequately trained or inexperienced ride operators further exacerbates the risks involved Amusement parks must adhere to a set of rules and regulations State and local government norms, requirements, guidelines and standards should be followed by the management of amusement parks

To ensure that all of the rides and attractions are secure the parks should regularly be subjected to safety assessments by insurance firms Collaboration with international safety experts and organisations is strongly encouraged to adopt global best practices and improve the safety culture at the local amusement parks, providing visitors with a secure and enjoyable environment Lives should not be endangered for entertainment MALAIKA