Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, renowned nuclear physicist and disarmament activist, who teaches at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, recently visited the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and delivered a talk, the title of which was: Sacred Terror – Theirs and Ours. I was fortunate enough to find out about this and actually attend the lecture. I will attempt to summarize what Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy said, since I thought most of our Pakistaniat readers would like to know what he had to say on the extremely divisive subject of global terrorism, which has become extremely important after 9/11.

Dr. Hoodbhoy started the talk by giving the audience a definition of terrorism.

“Terrorism is the deliberate targeting of non-combatants with the intention to kill or wound.”

If this, indeed, is the definition of terrorism, then it leads us to re-examine some of the events that took place some time ago, but which have all had an impact on history. While much has been written about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they have not really ever been referred to as acts of terrorism. In 1971, when the West Pakistani Army slaughtered close to 100,000 Bengalis, Dr. Hoodbhoy thinks that sort of brutality can also be seen as terrorism, but of course as we all know, history has not recognized it as such.
We all remember the Munich Olympics of 1972, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian group “Black September,” a group which had ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization. By the end of the ordeal, the group had murdered 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer. Of course, the Palestinians thought they were merely taking their revenge from people who were representatives of the country that had deprived them of their homeland. Dr. Hoodbhoy calls this an act of terrorism as well.

There are numerous other similar incidents in history. Dr. Hoodbhoy, very interestingly, talked about former President Ronald Reagan, who on one occasion was quoted as saying, “I am a Mujahideen” while posing for pictures with Afghan Mujahideen including Gulbadin Hikmatyar Apparently, at that time, President Reagan had also said about the Mujahideen that “they were the moral equivalent of the founding fathers of America.”

So as you can see, terrorism is a very complex subject, and its definition depends, to some extent, on which side you belong to. Yesterday’s freedom fighters have become today’s terrorists. After 9/11, while the US was engulfed by insurmountable grief, one is ashamed to admit that there was jubilation and actual celebration in most of the Muslim world. Whereas one’s initial reaction is to feel appalled at such apathy at the death of innocent people, it is important to point out that the Muslims are not the only “bad guys” in the world. Recently, Dr. Hoodbhoy saw CNN coverage of the bridge collapse in Minnesota where 13 people died and approximately 100 were injured, and while it was very tragic to hear the stories of the survivors and those of the families who had lost loved ones, Dr. Hoodbhoy says he was reminded of the beginning of the Iraq war, where the very same CNN was simply ecstatic at the collapse of a similar bridge. CNN was going on and on about the precision with which the United States attacks its targets, and there was no sorrow at the loss of innocent lives that accompanied this feat.

Terrorism is born and flourishes when the world gets divided into “us” and “them” and this is a mind-set that is rampant in today’s world.

“The essence of terrorism rests on the psychological detachment from its victims and a contemptuous indifference to their suffering.”

Left unchecked, the negative stereotyping of all Muslims as terrorists will have dire consequences. So what can be done to stop the growing confrontation between the U.S and the Muslims? Dr. Hoodbhoy used the very imaginative allegory of a modern day Moses to whom 10 new Commandments are revealed – 5 of the 10 Commandments are for the U.S and the other 5 are for the Muslims. I will summarize them here for the benefit of our readers.

1. The United States must stop behaving as if planet Earth belongs to them and that they are the world’s policemen. There is U.S. military presence all over the world and the U.S. dominates the land, sea, air and space. They spend a staggering half a trillion dollars on defense, which is more than the defense budgets of the next five countries.

2. Live by the law. When international agreements have been signed and agreed to by the U.S., they should be obeyed. U.S. does not live by the NPT (non-proliferation treaty). Currently, they have agreed to supply nuclear material to India (who as we all know, has not signed the NPT). So the U.S. is in clear violation of the NPT. Interestingly enough, Iran’s nuclear program (which is the reason behind the current threat of bombing Iran) was started by the U.S. itself at the time of the Shah of Iran in the 1970’s.

3. Do not use rhetoric of democracy unless you mean it. The two main reasons for invading Iraq were, of course, the elusive WMD’s and secondly to establish democracy over there. This is very transparent hypocrisy on the past of the U.S., especially since they have supported several dictatorships around the world. All four military dictators in Pakistan have had the full support of the U.S.

4. Ensure that a Palestinian State is created very soon. Despite involving a relatively small land area and number of casualties, especially compared to the genocide in Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia, the Palestinian issue has become a very important one for the Muslim psyche. Muslims feel they are being victimized by the Christian West, and Palestine has become a symbol of the injustice done to Muslims in today’s world.

5. Exercise soft power. The wealth and resources of the U.S. MUST be shared with countries that need them. The U.S. helped very generously at the time of the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 and also they played an important role in the relief efforts when the earthquake hit northern Pakistan two years ago. These kinds of actions promote goodwill and will go a long way in easing tensions between the Muslims and this country.

And now we come to the 5 Commandments addressed to the Muslims.

1. Muslims must STOP blaming the West (or the “infidels”) for everything that is wrong with them. Out of the 48 Muslim countries of the world, not one can be called a democracy in the pure sense of the word. Sadly, there has been NO significant scientific achievement in the last 700 years or so, whereas between the 9th and the 13th centuries, during the golden period of Islam, it was only the Muslims who kept the light of knowledge burning. The causes of Muslim decline have all been internal, and NOT the result of conspiracies. If Islam is to become a positive, constructive force in the 21st century, it must change from within, and worldwide opinion will follow.

2. Whenever and wherever there is an act of terrorism, condemn it LOUDLY and fully. The West has taken the majority of the Muslim communities’ lack of anger at 9/11 as tacit approval of militant Islam. Unfortunately Islam has become synonymous with violence and terror, and many moderate, peaceful Muslims have now become victims as well. The moderate Muslim community must fight against the hijacking of Islam.

3. Stop dreaming of theocracies and the reinstating of the Shariah law. Such ideas belong to the past, and are not compatible with the continuously evolving society and environment to which we belong. Insistence on such ideas can only drag the Muslims further into a medieval abyss.

4. Accept the fact that others do not see morality the way you do. Muslims have been brought up to believe that the only morality worth upholding is sexual morality. Other religions and cultures may not place so much emphasis on sexual morality, but that does not necessarily make them inferior human beings.

5. The last Commandment is for Muslims who have chosen to live in countries other than their homeland. Integrate. Do NOT try and stand out. Do NOT try and be different. And yes, it is possible to do all this AND maintain one’s individual identity, and without compromising principles and values we have grown up with. We must take more of an interest in our surroundings, in politics, and not just national politics but starting at the grassroots level.

To conclude, it is the need of the hour to understand that it was okay to be tribal in the early days, but certainly not so in today’s world. We human beings are similar in a lot of ways and we must strive to become global citizens, and try not to be locked into narrow nationalism. This is a challenge for all of us and we will all have to consciously work at it to survive.

A ROAD TO THE MAKKAH

I am most pleasantly surprised that readers have so quickly figured out the mystery man in our latest ATP Quiz. Since they have, let me add a little more information and let the discussion continue.

I am not sure, however, how many readers know of Muhammad Asad or of his connection to Pakistan. Let me confess that until fairly recently I did not; at least not of the Pakistan connection. As I have gotten to know more about this connection, I have gotten more and more intrigued - all the more so because there is relatively little in his own writings or that of others about this.

But lets start from the beginning.

Asad was born in 1900 as Leopold Weiss to Jewish parents in Lvov (then part of the Habsburg Empire, now in Ukraine). He moved to Berlin in 1920 to become a journalist and traveled to Palestine in 1922. It was there that he first came into contact with Arabs and Muslims and began a long journey into Muslim lands and minds that eventually led to his embracing Islam in 1926. His bestselling autobiography Road to Mecca (published 1954) recounts these years in vivid and captivating detail., including his adventures in Arabia and in working with King Ibn Saud and the Grand Sanusi, amongst others.

Later in his life, after retiring in Spain, he spent 17 years working on an English translation of the Quran which was first published in 1980. Many consider this to be one of the finest English translation of the Quran - some argue this is because he himself was fluent in bedouin Arabic which is closest to the Arabic in the Quran, others suggest that since he was himself a European and wrote in more understandable idiomatic English his translation is most accessible to non-Arabic speakers.

As a lay-reader who ver the years has read a number of English translations, including his, I do find Asad’s translation - The Message of the Quran - to be easier to read than those by Abdullah Yusuf Ali or Marmaduke Pickthall which are amore formal and literal translations. Unlike the translations by Prof. Ahmed Ali (my particular favorite) and by Thomas Cleary which are also in contemporary idiom and very readable, the Mohammad Asad translation has the added virtue of also having commentary and explanations, and the new edition is wonderfully presented, printed in the highest quality, and with tasteful calligraphy. All in all, Mohammad Asad’s The Message of the Quran is the translation that I now recommend to friends, Muslims as well as non-Muslims.

But I digress. Much as I like Muhammad Asad’s translation of the Quran and especially in its new printing, that is not the subject of this post. The subject of the post is his ‘Pakistani connection’ and also why we do not find much about that connection in his writings. Here is what we know.

By the early 1930s Asad had gotten rather disenchanted by King Ibn Saud and his religious advisors (see Road to Mecca) and had begun travelling Eastwards into other Muslim lands. This brought him to British India and there he met and became a good friend of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. Indeed, Iqbal encouraged him to write his book Islam at the Crossroads (published 1934); whose cover has the following testimonial from Iqbal:

“I have no doubt that coming as it does from a highly cultured European convert to Islam, it will prove an eye-opener to our younger generation.” Muhammad Iqbal.

During World War II imprisoned him in a camp for enemy aliens (because of his Austrian nationality) while his father was interned by the Nazis because he was Jewish. After the War he fervently threw his all behind the demand for Pakistan. Upon the creation of Pakistan, he saw himself very much a ‘Pakistani’ as did those he worked with (reportedly even took to wearing the achkan). In 1947 he became the director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction in West Pakistan and worked on a treatise with ideas for the Constitution of Pakistan. Many of these ideas (which were mostly related to creating a multi-party parliamentary democracy) were reproduced in his later books but he was not very successful in getting them implemented.

In 1949 Asad joined the Pakistan Foreign Ministry as head of the Middle East Division and eventually in 1952 came to New York as Pakistan’s representative to the United Nations. Here he met the woman who would become the last of his wifes (Pola Hamida). Whether it was the fact that he married her and divorced his earlier wife or the messiness of Pakistani politics, it was in this period that he fell out with the powers in Pakistan and resigned from the Foreign Ministry. He decided to stay on in New York to write Road to Mecca, which became a major success. He never really returned to Pakistan (although, supposedly, Gen. Zia ul Haq tried to get him back) and died in Europe in 1992.

It was his estrangement with the Pakistan government that pushed him back into writing and produced two amazing works - Road to Mecca and The Message of the Quran. However, here once again is a story of one who wished to give his all to Pakistan and we did not let him.

An interview with "Ali Vazirian

An interview with "Ali Vazirian" in a feature on Iranian graphic design for the A2 Arts and Culture section of The Age newspaper in Melbourne by "Dan Rule".This discussion is relevant to be released a selection of graphic works by Vazirian in Melbourne Australia.


Dan Rule: Your work seems to have less of a Western influence or aesthetic than some of your Iranian contemporaries; it seems to have more of a distinctly Iranian flavour and feel...
Would you agree?
Ali Vazirian: I will be glad if such characteristics can be found in my works, But I must say that this Iranian taste and this kind of Aesthetic that you pointed to ,is present mainly because I live in an atmosphere of a civilization and culture that I belong to it. So it is natural that some parts of my inner world reflect in my works. In fact, I have never tried to make my works purely Iranian. This happens in the inner of the artist and relates to the way of his/her life and also his philosophical look to the world around him. Being interested in a culture is far different to live on manners and customs of that culture. political personalities can keep their thoughts hide from people, say something and do something else , but the artist cannot act this way as Basically art of every single artists would depicts his world of opinion and believes.

DR: What are your chief influences?
AV: Now there's nothing. My works takes form spontaneously and based on studies and visual experience of my former. But in the past, I affected by many things .From Iranian traditional paintings (Persian painting) with pure colors and full of masterly portrait atmospheres of Gustav Kilimet and Henri Matisse and even Georges Rouault. I cannot really talk about just a specific one. But to tell the truth, what affected me more than anything and has affected the creation of my works was part of Iranian Poem and literature that is full of allegory and scenography. An inspiring treasure which never ends.

DR: Do you draw any direct inspiration from Western graphic design?
AV:Inspiration happens at the beginning or at least in my case have been so.

DR: Do you also strive to transcend national boundaries? Would you like your work to be read and understood in an international setting?
AV:Understanding of an artist works in international level is a privilege that is consistent with the essence of art. Graphic works are not created to be confined to stay in geographical bounderies or a single room. These works created to transfer the concept that designer bear in his/her mind, for being observed, for make a connection to people, so its natural that more audiences make the artist happier.

DR: Notions of globalisation possess a dominantly Western slant and could be accused of eroding cultural differences and differences in visual language.
Should artists always be aware of their own culture and where they come from?
AV: The artist job His is awareness to his native culture and protection of it. We must not ignore the fact that the global movement in the meantime is irresistible and indivisible. Globalization is attainable by uniformity of the ways of behavior .But it needs the plurality which reflects in variety of ways: national identity, ethnic identity, religious identity. A culture with spirit of invention seems fearless of the concept of globalization.

DR: Is the idea of a universal visual language detrimental to the art of specific countries?
AV: The graphic art belongs to The public not to elites who owned private museums and galleries as their resort. So the artist needs a language to reach to a wide spectrum of people with different cultures who are able to understand and communicate with it. Accessing such a language you can show the indisputable features of your visual art without ignoring the positive dimensions of other cultures. For example, I can mention a Poster which I designed for a film festival in Italy a year ago. (Enclosed with this email).

DR: Do you see Iranian graphic design as a point of resistance?
AV: There is no resistance, I don’t know why the word is used as usually the word” resist “ being used in situations like the invasion and occupation and in the field of the world graphic I don’t believe in any invasion. Graphic designers with the showing a part of their visual culture can have a part in globalization of graphic designing. Iranian graphic design is the of Iranian culture in the global culture. Any claim as the resistance of Iranian graphic against its western counterpart is not more than just a slogan. We should not forget that one of the prerequisites of globalization is about the concept of relation, with rhizomatique identity, and to accept each other with mutual valuation. Cultural relationship is no exception.

DR: What do you feel makes Iranian graphic design unique?
AV: Every single one of Iranian designers is presenting some specific sight of Iranian visual culture in their works, but specifically using traditional reliefs and Persian letters distinguishes Iranian cultures from others.

DR: Calligraphy and typography seem to hold much more of a significance to Iranian design than their Latin counterparts in the West...
Would you agree?
AV: I absolutely agree.

DR: Tell me about the significance of calligraphy and typography. They seem to play a prevalent role in your work....
AV: Basically, Iranian culture roots in religion which the miracle of his prophet, “Quran”, is a divine book. It means God speaks to their servants by words. Therefore writing its words and letters, especially calligraphy, find a special place in Iranian culture. Using Farsi letters and calligraphy rooted back before the revolution in 1979, but the Iranian artists’ inclination toward it has been increased. Anyhow I reject your emphasis that my works are dominated by calligraphy. This is only the characteristic of some of my works. Although I believe that using words and writing words give an indigenous identity toward the works, it may cause an ambiguity for an audience who doesn’t know the Farsi language, and cannot understand their meaning. And it is opposite of the identity of graphics. So because of this I believe that using of visual elements in graphic works is far more important.

DR: What effect do you feel the Islamic revolution of 1979 had on Iranian visual culture?
AV: The effect of Iranian revolution was rather in content than form just like what happened in cinema, but in the field of graphics, it made the artists focused more in their own roots of visual culture which is specifically distinguished from other Islamic nations.

DR: Do you feel that creating art in autocratic political situations has influenced your work in a particular way?
AV: I consider the field of culture premier to caduceus politics and acrobats politicians and always tried to keep the distance. Thus it cannot shadow my works.

DR:Tell me about your earliest influences to become an artist...
AV: In fact, I Haven’t gone after the art, whole my life the art have been my companion.

DR: What inspires you today?
AV: It is a while I am in the least work in graphic design and painting, because I have to spend a plenty of time on Filmmaking and literature and novel calls me more than ever.

DR: What should good graphic design do at a fundamental level?
AV: Seeking for an independent visual language to establish communication and transfer the messages without any need to use language .Plenty of visual studies on distinct international graphic works, reading poetry and novels, listening to music and….