Actually Pakistan is very bit like India, if not worse. Cases here are just not given enough attention. Are you an expert in how exactly to divide up India? No right? Most Indians here are the same
That post made me laugh. One-third of people in Pakistan want to leave the country
A state for Muslims.
You seem angry, it is okay to be angry my friend. I do not know you so I cannot comment on why you feel so much anger towards your nation-state, but I think I have an idea, For just like you, we all want to see Pakistan prosper and grow and bloom into the vision our forefathers dreamt about and strived harder than anyone to secure a foothold for us.
This nation and all that it stands for is more than just a footnote in history, the problem stems from the fact that many of us, feel dare I say it, that faith has no place in our homes and our hearts anymore. The guile of science has brought us closer, but it has also shut us in.
You see, your post and the ideas you propose carry merit in so much that yes retrospectively and introspectively we have a duty to those who came before us and those who will carry the mantle after we are gone to reflect and review and see what we can do better, it is only logical.
I suppose you are disillusioned and feel forlorn by what you possibly read, hear, see in todays chaotic world, rest assured the practices of these Khawarij are not that of Islam and the message of our beloved prophet (SAW), the proof can be found in an account written in history:
I heard Allah's Apostle (pbuh) saying, "There will appear some people among you whose prayer will make you look down upon yours, and whose fasting will make you look down upon yours, but they will recite the Qur'an which will not exceed their throats (they will not act on it) and they will go out of Islam as an arrow goes out through the game whereupon the archer would examine the arrowhead but see nothing, and look at the un-feathered arrow but see nothing, and look at the arrow feathers but see nothing, and finally he suspects to find something in the lower part of the arrow." - Virtues of the Qur'an: Bukhari :: Book 6 :: Volume 61 :: Hadith 578
So you see, what you say carries merit insomuch that we must review and reflect and correct our direction to match that which was laid down by our forbearers, one based on a modern disciplined nation based on Islamic values and principals, not a theocracy NO but a true Democracy.
Our reflection must include forgetting the blame game and not blaming X, Y or Z rather looking inward and seeing what can "WE" do to make our nation great, as those who came before us with misty eyes and eager hearts had envisioned, as just restitution for the labours of our forefathers for all our efforts today are not equal to the sweat of their brows.
Politics like that hearts of men is fickle, and people can more from leader to leader and party to party, but faith, in faith lies our true identity, and I remember watching George Galloway's speech back in early 2000's, where he summed this up perfectly:
In your opening post you mentioned who we as Muslims of Pakistan want women to "cover up", is this practice of modesty and discretion limited to our borders and our faith alone?
Let me provide you with an example of one of the most progressive nations in Asia, one of Japan:
" In an attempt to explain the so-called ‘traditional ideas’ in Japan, Hendry mentioned the correlation between Confucian principles and Japanese society. According to him, it is related to ‘the
indigenous family system where men were superior to women, who were expected to attend to [man’s]
every need’.
This idea still encourages Japanese women to stay home, do the housework and care for their families, while the men are considered as the financial supporters.
Since Japanese society is based on this notion, women’s work patterns are unique when compared to those of women in Western industrial countries.
A vast majority of Japanese women want to stay at home after getting married because they believe that being mothers and wives is their responsibility. Moreover, most husbands still want their wives to adhere to this traditional idea. This generates gender inequality at the workplace and home." : Source: http://www.bunkyo.ac.jp/faculty/lib/slib/kiyo/Int/it1901/it190105.pdf
Funnily enough in 2012 half of Japanese women surveryed responded that they would prefer to be home-makers. Source: Japanese women and work: Holding back half the nation | The Economist
I have highlighted the part in pink to bring to your attention, why is it that in the developing world our "litmus test" for success and "model" development must mirror the west, why is an apple green and an orange, well "orange"? Something's are dictated by nature.
But I digress, coming back to Pakistan, according to the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS) 2001-02, at the end of the 1990s, only one in four adult women (aged 10 and older) participated in the labour force, a far lower rate than the nearly 70 percent participation rate for men.
Women’s rate of labor participation is higher in rural areas (30 percent) and
lower in urban areas (15 percent), while male participation rates are close to 70 percent in both regions.
An ILO report in 2013 stated that though the female labour force participation rate has increased in recent years, converging with the South Asian average, it ranked tenth lowest out of 189 countries in the world.7
Source:
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/pu...lamabad/documents/publication/wcms_222834.pdf
The common argument levied against Pakistan and many other Muslim countries is that female participation outside the home is low and this has a detrimental impact on development, growth and contradicts the need for "Self Actualisation" - as suggested by Abraham Maslow. But how does one measure "self actualisation"?
Year upon year we have seen women moving into roles that were traditionally the domain of men, if this is not progress than what is? But in our desire to bring equality and justice, let us reflect on our time honoured traditions and our own internal dynamics.
Women have and continue to play a pivotal role in society, I may be thought of as old fashioned but I do feel that this watering down of the role of the homemaker is actually detrimental for society, modesty and discretion are respectable values to adhere to and protect women from the insufferable attitudes of men.
People often use the example of the WEST to put down the EAST, but consider this:
The UK has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe(Source:
http://www.fpa.org.uk/sites/default/files/teenage-pregnancy-factsheet-august-2010.pdf), young women living in socially disadvantaged areas are less likely to opt in for abortion. This creates a trend whereby you have a young person who is unable to continue her education, a new study from Sheffield University has found that a shocking 17% of teenagers are leaving school functionally illiterate and unable to cope with the challenges of everyday life. (Source:
17% of school leavers 'functionally illiterate'
* Source:
BBC News - Female unemployment rises to a 20-year high of 8.3%
This then creates a trend where the young person will have no transferable skills, will have to intermit further education for sake of child care and as a consequence will fall out of the labour market, relying on public funds "social support" to sustain the family. Not only is this trend negative for the labour market of the country as suggested in the unemployment statistics of 2012: Female unemployment rises to a 20-year high of 8.3%*, it also creates a barrier for social mobility for the parents and the children.
This in turn creates a household where education may not be valued, where the child may not get a nurturing environment and the child may mirror the actions of the parent(s), thus creating a void of skilled vocational and highly educated labour force.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3448602-aa1e-11e3-8bd6-00144feab7de.html#axzz3O7AbVPL9
And their lord hath heard them (and He sayeth): Lo! I suffer not the work of any worker, male or female, to be lost. Ye precede one from another. - The Qur’an, verse 3:285.
In closing, yes OP we should review and correct our direction. However abandoning the very "IDENTITY" that we are born into is like splicing the umbilical cord from an fetus in the womb of it's mother.
No matter what you read, what you see, NEVER forget your true identity, these worldly accolades, titles, designations will remain on this earth and we will return to our maker one day, and on that one day let us be judged for what "WE" have set before us, and not what our ancestors sent before them. Ameen
"The kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything in them belongs to Allah. He has power over all things." ( Surat al-Ma'ida: 5:120)