Date: Friday 20 May 2005
Subj: Lebanon: Elections will entrench Christian marginalisation.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
Lebanon's Christians have been marginalised by a programme of Islamisation. This has included the pro-Syrian regime's Naturalisation Decree of 1994 that naturalised hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Palestinians while disenfranchising the predominantly Christian diaspora.
Now, at the insistence of the UN, the USA and France, Lebanon will go ahead with parliamentary elections commencing 29 May, despite Lebanon's Christians being further marginalised by the unjust, discriminatory election law enacted by the pro-Syrian regime in 2000.
This experiment in Christian-Muslim co-existence is yielding tragic results for Lebanon's once prosperous Christians, and will continue to do so while these injustices remain.
CHRISTIANS MARGINALISED BY ISLAMISATION
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Arab Muslims sought an Arab super-state where Jews and Christians would remain a repressed minority under Muslim domination in Islamic territory.
While Israel was created as a Jewish state, Lebanon was created not as a Christian state, but as a secular Arab state to showcase to Christian-Muslim co-existence.
The creation of Lebanon, independent and separate from Syria and Palestine, with a prosperous, pre-eminent Christian majority and religious freedom, was a painful blow for many Arab Muslims, and something they could not tolerate.
Arab Muslims who become apoplectic at the very thought of a Jewish state existing in what they regard as the dar-al-Islam (land of Islam) are equally opposed to the presence of a secular state, especially one dominated by Christians, and offering full religious freedom.
The program of Islamisation that ensued has been advanced by Muslims both inside and outside Lebanon. As Muslims have poured in, tensions have escalated and Christians have poured out. Christians are now a minority, around 30%-40%. Furthermore, the Naturalisation Decree introduced by the pro-Syrian regime in 1994 granted citizenship to some 400,000 mostly Syrians and Palestinians (80% of them Muslims) whilst denying the Lebanese diaspora (who are mostly Christian) their citizenship right. This illegal decree, which increased Lebanon's population by around 10% almost overnight, was opposed by Lebanese of all faiths as not being in the national interest.
CHRISTIANS MARGINALISED BY ELECTORAL LAW
Lebanese will soon head to the polls. Voting will take place over four consecutive Sundays from 29 May to 19 June, and will be done in accordance with the electoral law enacted in 2000 by the pro-Syrian regime to ensure the election of pro-Syrian candidates. Lebanese Christians have opposed the pro-Syrian electoral law since its inception, as it entrenches the marginalisation of Christians through a gerrymander whereby Christian constituencies were divided up and redistributed amongst large Muslim constituencies, severely diluting the Christian voice.
In accordance with the 1989 Taif Accord, Lebanon's 128-member legislature is split equally between Christians and Muslims. However, the 2000 electoral law ensures that Muslims elect about 49 of the 64 Christian seats.
Lebanese Christian leaders fear that if elections are held using the unjust, discriminatory 2000 electoral law, it will be a decisive blow to Christian-Muslim co-existence. Lebanon's Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir has rejected the 2000 electoral law as unfair and requested that it be revised before the parliamentary elections. According to Lebanon's 'Daily Star', it would be possible to delay the parliamentary elections. "Former Speaker Hussein Husseini told The Daily Star: 'Any MP could propose a draft law that demands the extension of the Parliament's term.'" (Link 1)
However, pressure is being exerted from the UN, the USA, and France to proceed with the elections on time despite the electoral law being discriminatory.
Lebanese Muslims on the other hand, are generally unconcerned about the injustice of the electoral law because it is not the Muslim voice that is diluted. What's more, they are confident, given the huge swell of nationalism, that they will defeat the pro-Syrian candidates at the polls, except in the south where Hezbollah is entrenched and dominant. (See link 2)
While the current Parliamentary Speaker, Nabih Berri, has acknowledged that the country's current election law is unjust, he is not complaining. Berri, leader of the pro-Syrian Amal militia, is teaming up with the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah for joint tickets likely to sweep votes in south Lebanon and return many of Syria's allies to parliament. (Link 3)
When Lebanon's Maronite Bishops Council recently criticised the pro-Syrian election law, warning that it "violates coexistence between Christians and Muslims and does not allow for fair elections", Beirut MP Atef Majdalani, a member of Hariri's parliamentary Dignity Bloc, responded by labeling the Maronite Bishops Council's "strong words" as a "violent reaction" and "sectarianism". (Link 4)
A CALL TO INCLUDE THE DIASPORA
As noted by the Christian Science Monitor, "The Lebanese abroad, who are as a whole, rich, educated and influential, are not allowed to vote in the Lebanese elections. The majority of the Lebanese diaspora is Christian.
"The international diaspora is vital to Lebanon's future. There are as many Lebanese outside the country as there are in it, if you consider the last number of Lebanese who have emigrated over the past three or four generations. Expatriate Lebanese are hesitant to invest heavily in their country as long as its future is in great doubt.
"The Lebanese reform movement of the winter and early spring has weakened. There has been a rapid softening of political demands of nation building: elimination of militias, control on the escalating national debt, dealing with corruption and communal reconciliation. The approaching elections are fueling sectarian tension rather than serving as an opportunity for the empowerment of the state.
"There are no easy ways to deal with sectarian power sharing since religious and family loyalty rival interests of the state in Lebanon and the entire Middle East. But there are ways to make representation of the various religious communities fair and communal rather than a zero-sum destructive game.
"Creating a rotating formula for a 'cabinet of presidents' (a smaller group that would take turns as president) representing the major religious communities may reduce sectarian rivalry. Allowing the diaspora to vote would reduce demographic tension within Lebanon itself.
"A gradual formula of secularization of the country through popular education, civil marriage, and party-based representation are some long-term measures that the Lebanese should discuss to free their country from structural and attitudinal barriers to nation building. Finally, Lebanese politicians would do well to listen to the voices of the youth, who are determined to change the nature of current tribal politics." (Link 5)
- Elizabeth Kendal
rl-research@crossnet.org.au
Links
LEBANON: A CALL TO PRAY FOR ITS FUTURE
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - No. 325 - Wed 11 May 2005
1) Lebanon can still delay polls
By Nada Raad, Daily Star staff, 12 May 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=15024
2) Lebanon Church Seeks New Election Law
By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon, 11 May 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4999463,00.html
3) Lebanese Parliament Speaker Calls Election Law Faulty,
Says He Will Run in Legislative Elections
By ZEINA KARAM, The Associated Press, 15 May 2005
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=758322
4) Lebanon's Maronite Bishops slam 'unjust' electoral law
12 May 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=15023
5) The invisible occupation of Lebanon
By Ghassan Rubeiz, 18 May 2005
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0518/p25s01-cogn.html
Friday, May 20, 2005
Thursday, April 7, 2005
Pakistan: submissive government emboldens Islamists.
Date: Thursday 7 April 2005
Subj: Pakistan: submissive government emboldens Islamists.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
---------------------------------------------------
PAKISTAN: SUBMISSIVE GOVERNMENT EMBOLDENS ISLAMISTS
---------------------------------------------------
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) held a conference in Cairo between 22 March – 2 April 2004, under the theme of 'Managing Security Challenges to Facilitate Air Transport Operations'. There the ICAO recommended that for the purposes of standardisation, aviation security, and combating terrorism and identity theft, all 188 ICAO member states should adopt Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) by 2010 in accordance with ICAO specifications.
On 26 October 2004, President Musharraf, along with his ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PMLQ), introduced Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) to Pakistan. In line with international standards, the MRPs do not have a column for religious affiliation. And why should they? They are merely travel documents to facilitate the secure travel of citizens. However, previously in Pakistan passports did identify the religious affiliation of the holder.
RELIGION COLUMN RE-INTRODUCED TO PASSPORTS
The omission of a religion column from the MRPs enraged Pakistan's Islamists. Muslims leaders accused President Musharraf of threatening the Islamic identity of Pakistan.
The Islamic parties began organising a series of rallies to protest the omission of the religion column and what they regard as a Western conspiracy to secularise and Westernise Pakistan. On 5 January 2005, in response to Islamic agitation, the government set up a five-member cabinet committee to look into the issue of the religion column and report back to the federal cabinet.
On 24 March the cabinet overwhelmingly approved the committee's recommendations: that the religion of the passport holder be stamped on all MRPs already issued, that the religion column be restored to the passports, and that the words "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" be printed on the passport cover.
On Monday 28 March, the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) started issuing MRPs that included a column for religion.
GOVERNMENT SUBMISSION ENCOURAGES MMA
On 24 March the PakTribune reported that those MPs who voted against the restoration of the religion column expressed their concern that if the government simply caved in to pressure from the MMA then it would be under pressure to yield to the demands of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA: a coalition of six Islamist parties) on a whole range of issues.
The Information Secretary of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, condemned the decision to restore the religious column in National Passports, noting that religion and nationality were two different issues. The PakTribune reported, "Quaid e Azam [Pakistan's founding father] had made it clear that all Pakistanis would be treated equally before the law irrespective of their religious affiliation. By including the religious column in the passport, which is not done in most Muslim countries, the regime was allowing bigots and fanatics information they could use to harass, discriminate and otherwise mistreat minorities in the country." (Link 1)
All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) Chief, Shahbaz Bhatti, also commented that the decision to include the religion column in the MRPs suggested that the government has simply 'knuckled' under pressure of extremist and hardliner religious forces.
Iqbal Haider, a former law minister and secretary general of the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told Reuters, "The most tragic aspect of this [back-down over passports] is that he [Musharraf] has done it under the pressure of obscurantist and extremist forces. Once you withdraw a positive decision, it encourages the militant and extremist forces to press ahead with their other reactionary demands." (Link 2)
Reuters also reported that the PPP accused the government of "allowing bigots and fanatics information they could use to harass, discriminate and otherwise mistreat minorities."
Johnson Michel, chairman of the Bishop John Joseph Shaheed Trust in Pakistan expressed his fears to AsiaNews: "This is not the first time that the Pakistani government buckles under the pressure of Islamic extremists. It will inevitably influence Pakistan’s relations to other countries. For the moment, the situation worries us because I am convinced the extremists will keep up their pressure on other issues as well since the government has given in on several of their demands." (Link 3)
President Musharraf has buckled under Islamic pressure on several issues over recent years, including blasphemy laws, hudood laws (see link 4), madrassa reform, education reform, and the religion column in passports.
Indeed, the MMA regards the government back-flip over the MRPs as yet another decisive victory encouraging them to press ahead with their Islamic agenda. At a "Million Man March" in North West Frontier Province on 29 March, an emboldened MMA central leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman boasted and declared that the reins of power would soon be in the hands of clergy despite US attempts to keep them out of politics. (Link 5)
The most distressing aspect of all this is that the MMA does not appear to have the widespread popular support they claim with such hyperbole. Their recent "Million Man March" only attracted some 20,000 marchers, and the MMA's 2 April nation-wide "wheel jam" strike was met with a very mixed response and could not be regarded as successful. It is the government's perpetual submission that gives them hope and encourages them to pursue their repressive Islamic agenda.
MMA ACTIVIST PURSUING THEIR ISLAMIC AGENDA
On Sunday 3 April, MMA activists violently disrupted a mini-marathon being held in Gujranwala, a town in eastern Punjab province, deeming it un-Islamic to have women involved in public sports. Some 2,000 men, women and children were competing in the 3km event. Around 200 MMA activists armed with petrol bombs, clubs, stones and bricks attacked the event after authorities refused the MMA's demand to drop the women's race from the program. The Islamists rioted, torching 12 cars and 7 motorbikes outside the Jinnah Stadium. A dozen MMA activists, along with eight policemen who intervened to protect the runners, were injured. Twenty MMA rioters were arrested.
MMA spokesman Riaz Durrani said, "We had warned them in writing not to hold the race because it is against Islam. But despite that, this happened. They want to undress the entire nation." (SMH 4 April). Khaleej Times (5 April) quoted Asghar Gujjar, the MMA representative on the Punjab assembly, as saying, "We don’t want our mothers and sisters to run on the roads. As long as we have a drop of blood left in our body, we will not let happen this vulgarity to happen."
As a result, out of concerns for security, women athletes will not be permitted to compete in a similar event to be held in Sargodha, another town in Punjab, this Friday.
DILUTING "ENLIGHTENED MODERATION"
President Musharraf is playing politics, brandishing his banner of "enlightened moderation" in the direction of the West, upon whom he depends for aid and legitimacy, while submitting to the demands of pro-Taliban, pro-Sharia, hard-line orthodox Islamic bigots, who hold the balance of power in parliament and upon whom he depends for political survival. But Musharraf's perpetual submission to Islamic demands exposes his "enlightened moderation" message as a farce. Musharraf will do whatever is required to stay in power, even if it means selling out religious minorities, women, and all of progressive Pakistani society. These groups, who together form the majority, are fast becoming disillusioned.
According to a staff report in Pakistan's Daily Times (27 March), intellectuals and academics in Pakistan are saying "that the concept of 'enlightened moderation' espoused by President General Pervez Musharraf was becoming dilute with the passage of time and the present military government was fast retreating in the wake of mounting pressure from the clergy and reactionary forces."
The Daily Times writers charge that President Musharraf's "enlightened moderation" slogan is brandished purely for International consumption as it clearly has nothing to do with policies on the ground. Concerning the passport issue, Pakistan Association for Mental Health President Prof. S. Haroon Ahmed is quoted as saying, "The mention of religion in the passport is an extremely retrogressive step, negating everything that has been said about enlightened moderation." And leading political analyst Dr Jaffer Ahmed is quoted as saying, "General Musharraf has raised the slogan of 'enlightened moderation' but it has not gone beyond slogan mongering." Dr Ahmed is convinced the "enlightened moderation" rhetoric is purely for the purpose of securing Western support. (Link 6)
"LET THE MUSHARRAF GOVERNMENT BEWARE"
On Wednesday 6 April, the Daily Times (Pakistan) published an opinion piece by freelance commentator Rashed Rahman who comments: "Religious extremists and their parliamentary face, the MMA, want to bring about a political, ideological, theological and social change according to their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. They therefore are always on the lookout for opportunities to assert their own agenda. It is unfortunate that despite all [Musharraf's] rhetoric about 'enlightened moderation', when confronted by pressure from the religious right, the regime has a tendency to cave in."
In commenting on the MMA victory regarding the re-insertion of the religion column into the passports, Rahman writes, "Every such 'victory' further emboldens the religious extremists to up the ante and keep the authorities on the run. Let the Musharraf government beware. If it fails to jettison the remnants of its long-standing nexus with religious extremism while pretending to be 'enlightened' and 'moderate', it will find more on its hands than it anticipated in terms of a continuous escalation of the MMA's campaign to bring about the overthrow of the present dispensation." (Link 7)
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Cabinet approves restoration of religion column in MRPs
24 March 2005. ISLAMABAD
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=98988
2) Religion Back in Pakistan Passports After Protests
By Zeeshan Haider, 25 March 2005, Reuters.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/050324/15/tnuj.html
3) Government buckled under extremist pressure, Pakistani Christians say. by Qaiser Felix, 25 March 2005 PAKISTAN
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2873
4) Pakistan rejects ro-women bill
2 March, 2005. BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4311055.stm
5) Million Marches to force Musharraf to take off both hats: Fazl
29 March 2005. Peshawar.
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=99455
6) 'Enlightened moderation' becoming dilute
Daily Times, staff report, 27 March 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-3-2005_pg7_34
7) VIEW: MMA strikes —Rashed Rahman
Daily Times, Wednesday 6 April 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-4-2005_pg3_6
Subj: Pakistan: submissive government emboldens Islamists.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
---------------------------------------------------
PAKISTAN: SUBMISSIVE GOVERNMENT EMBOLDENS ISLAMISTS
---------------------------------------------------
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) held a conference in Cairo between 22 March – 2 April 2004, under the theme of 'Managing Security Challenges to Facilitate Air Transport Operations'. There the ICAO recommended that for the purposes of standardisation, aviation security, and combating terrorism and identity theft, all 188 ICAO member states should adopt Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) by 2010 in accordance with ICAO specifications.
On 26 October 2004, President Musharraf, along with his ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PMLQ), introduced Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) to Pakistan. In line with international standards, the MRPs do not have a column for religious affiliation. And why should they? They are merely travel documents to facilitate the secure travel of citizens. However, previously in Pakistan passports did identify the religious affiliation of the holder.
RELIGION COLUMN RE-INTRODUCED TO PASSPORTS
The omission of a religion column from the MRPs enraged Pakistan's Islamists. Muslims leaders accused President Musharraf of threatening the Islamic identity of Pakistan.
The Islamic parties began organising a series of rallies to protest the omission of the religion column and what they regard as a Western conspiracy to secularise and Westernise Pakistan. On 5 January 2005, in response to Islamic agitation, the government set up a five-member cabinet committee to look into the issue of the religion column and report back to the federal cabinet.
On 24 March the cabinet overwhelmingly approved the committee's recommendations: that the religion of the passport holder be stamped on all MRPs already issued, that the religion column be restored to the passports, and that the words "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" be printed on the passport cover.
On Monday 28 March, the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) started issuing MRPs that included a column for religion.
GOVERNMENT SUBMISSION ENCOURAGES MMA
On 24 March the PakTribune reported that those MPs who voted against the restoration of the religion column expressed their concern that if the government simply caved in to pressure from the MMA then it would be under pressure to yield to the demands of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA: a coalition of six Islamist parties) on a whole range of issues.
The Information Secretary of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, condemned the decision to restore the religious column in National Passports, noting that religion and nationality were two different issues. The PakTribune reported, "Quaid e Azam [Pakistan's founding father] had made it clear that all Pakistanis would be treated equally before the law irrespective of their religious affiliation. By including the religious column in the passport, which is not done in most Muslim countries, the regime was allowing bigots and fanatics information they could use to harass, discriminate and otherwise mistreat minorities in the country." (Link 1)
All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) Chief, Shahbaz Bhatti, also commented that the decision to include the religion column in the MRPs suggested that the government has simply 'knuckled' under pressure of extremist and hardliner religious forces.
Iqbal Haider, a former law minister and secretary general of the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told Reuters, "The most tragic aspect of this [back-down over passports] is that he [Musharraf] has done it under the pressure of obscurantist and extremist forces. Once you withdraw a positive decision, it encourages the militant and extremist forces to press ahead with their other reactionary demands." (Link 2)
Reuters also reported that the PPP accused the government of "allowing bigots and fanatics information they could use to harass, discriminate and otherwise mistreat minorities."
Johnson Michel, chairman of the Bishop John Joseph Shaheed Trust in Pakistan expressed his fears to AsiaNews: "This is not the first time that the Pakistani government buckles under the pressure of Islamic extremists. It will inevitably influence Pakistan’s relations to other countries. For the moment, the situation worries us because I am convinced the extremists will keep up their pressure on other issues as well since the government has given in on several of their demands." (Link 3)
President Musharraf has buckled under Islamic pressure on several issues over recent years, including blasphemy laws, hudood laws (see link 4), madrassa reform, education reform, and the religion column in passports.
Indeed, the MMA regards the government back-flip over the MRPs as yet another decisive victory encouraging them to press ahead with their Islamic agenda. At a "Million Man March" in North West Frontier Province on 29 March, an emboldened MMA central leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman boasted and declared that the reins of power would soon be in the hands of clergy despite US attempts to keep them out of politics. (Link 5)
The most distressing aspect of all this is that the MMA does not appear to have the widespread popular support they claim with such hyperbole. Their recent "Million Man March" only attracted some 20,000 marchers, and the MMA's 2 April nation-wide "wheel jam" strike was met with a very mixed response and could not be regarded as successful. It is the government's perpetual submission that gives them hope and encourages them to pursue their repressive Islamic agenda.
MMA ACTIVIST PURSUING THEIR ISLAMIC AGENDA
On Sunday 3 April, MMA activists violently disrupted a mini-marathon being held in Gujranwala, a town in eastern Punjab province, deeming it un-Islamic to have women involved in public sports. Some 2,000 men, women and children were competing in the 3km event. Around 200 MMA activists armed with petrol bombs, clubs, stones and bricks attacked the event after authorities refused the MMA's demand to drop the women's race from the program. The Islamists rioted, torching 12 cars and 7 motorbikes outside the Jinnah Stadium. A dozen MMA activists, along with eight policemen who intervened to protect the runners, were injured. Twenty MMA rioters were arrested.
MMA spokesman Riaz Durrani said, "We had warned them in writing not to hold the race because it is against Islam. But despite that, this happened. They want to undress the entire nation." (SMH 4 April). Khaleej Times (5 April) quoted Asghar Gujjar, the MMA representative on the Punjab assembly, as saying, "We don’t want our mothers and sisters to run on the roads. As long as we have a drop of blood left in our body, we will not let happen this vulgarity to happen."
As a result, out of concerns for security, women athletes will not be permitted to compete in a similar event to be held in Sargodha, another town in Punjab, this Friday.
DILUTING "ENLIGHTENED MODERATION"
President Musharraf is playing politics, brandishing his banner of "enlightened moderation" in the direction of the West, upon whom he depends for aid and legitimacy, while submitting to the demands of pro-Taliban, pro-Sharia, hard-line orthodox Islamic bigots, who hold the balance of power in parliament and upon whom he depends for political survival. But Musharraf's perpetual submission to Islamic demands exposes his "enlightened moderation" message as a farce. Musharraf will do whatever is required to stay in power, even if it means selling out religious minorities, women, and all of progressive Pakistani society. These groups, who together form the majority, are fast becoming disillusioned.
According to a staff report in Pakistan's Daily Times (27 March), intellectuals and academics in Pakistan are saying "that the concept of 'enlightened moderation' espoused by President General Pervez Musharraf was becoming dilute with the passage of time and the present military government was fast retreating in the wake of mounting pressure from the clergy and reactionary forces."
The Daily Times writers charge that President Musharraf's "enlightened moderation" slogan is brandished purely for International consumption as it clearly has nothing to do with policies on the ground. Concerning the passport issue, Pakistan Association for Mental Health President Prof. S. Haroon Ahmed is quoted as saying, "The mention of religion in the passport is an extremely retrogressive step, negating everything that has been said about enlightened moderation." And leading political analyst Dr Jaffer Ahmed is quoted as saying, "General Musharraf has raised the slogan of 'enlightened moderation' but it has not gone beyond slogan mongering." Dr Ahmed is convinced the "enlightened moderation" rhetoric is purely for the purpose of securing Western support. (Link 6)
"LET THE MUSHARRAF GOVERNMENT BEWARE"
On Wednesday 6 April, the Daily Times (Pakistan) published an opinion piece by freelance commentator Rashed Rahman who comments: "Religious extremists and their parliamentary face, the MMA, want to bring about a political, ideological, theological and social change according to their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. They therefore are always on the lookout for opportunities to assert their own agenda. It is unfortunate that despite all [Musharraf's] rhetoric about 'enlightened moderation', when confronted by pressure from the religious right, the regime has a tendency to cave in."
In commenting on the MMA victory regarding the re-insertion of the religion column into the passports, Rahman writes, "Every such 'victory' further emboldens the religious extremists to up the ante and keep the authorities on the run. Let the Musharraf government beware. If it fails to jettison the remnants of its long-standing nexus with religious extremism while pretending to be 'enlightened' and 'moderate', it will find more on its hands than it anticipated in terms of a continuous escalation of the MMA's campaign to bring about the overthrow of the present dispensation." (Link 7)
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Cabinet approves restoration of religion column in MRPs
24 March 2005. ISLAMABAD
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=98988
2) Religion Back in Pakistan Passports After Protests
By Zeeshan Haider, 25 March 2005, Reuters.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/050324/15/tnuj.html
3) Government buckled under extremist pressure, Pakistani Christians say. by Qaiser Felix, 25 March 2005 PAKISTAN
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=2873
4) Pakistan rejects ro-women bill
2 March, 2005. BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4311055.stm
5) Million Marches to force Musharraf to take off both hats: Fazl
29 March 2005. Peshawar.
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=99455
6) 'Enlightened moderation' becoming dilute
Daily Times, staff report, 27 March 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_27-3-2005_pg7_34
7) VIEW: MMA strikes —Rashed Rahman
Daily Times, Wednesday 6 April 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_5-4-2005_pg3_6
Thursday, March 31, 2005
PAPUA: CHRISTIAN LEADER FEARS GENOCIDE
Date: Thursday 31 March 2005
Subj: Papua: Christian leader fears genocide.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
In Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Eastern Indonesia, a quiet, hidden, atrocious campaign of ethnic cleansing is in progress. Unless there is radical policy change and reform, Papua will soon become majority Javanese and majority Muslim through the genocide of the predominantly Protestant indigenous Papuans. It is appalling hypocrisy that many Western governments that espouse the high principles of human rights seem content to disregard the genocidal policies of the Indonesian government, and the genocidal atrocities perpetrated by the systemically corrupt Indonesian military (TNI) against indigenous Papuan civilians – policies and atrocities enacted with the sole aim of attaining unhindered access to Papua's vast resources for the purpose of exploitation. Through joint military training agreements, governments will ensure that the TNI is as professional a well armed human rights-abusing killing machine that it can be. These governments will be judged by history as complicit in this genocide, regardless of their human rights rhetoric.
-------------------------------------------
SBS Dateline (Australia) recently aired a report on Papua by Nick Lazaredes. (Link 1)
The report comprised film footage smuggled out of Papua, and interviews with a milita informant, a human rights activist who infiltrated the Laskar Jihad, and Papuan Baptist minister Sofyan Yoman. Pastor Yoman expresses his deep fear for the future of the predominantly Protestant indigenous Papuan people as Indonesia implements a policy of transmigration, shipping in massive numbers of Muslim immigrants to alter the racial and religious demographics of Papua. He says that six ferry loads of Muslim immigrants and soldiers arrive each day.
Pastor Yoman also alleges that special autonomy funds to the value of 2.5 billion rupiah (around US$260,000), meant for humanitarian purposes, have been diverted to the Indonesian military (TNI) and are being used for military operations and atrocities against indigenous Papuans. These is great concern for large numbers of indigenous Papuans who have been driven from their homes by TNI operations. Photos shown on SBS Dateline pictured the aftermath of a TNI attack in late February on the remote highland village of Wunin, where elderly villagers were murdered and schools and churches were burnt to the ground. It is estimated that some 20,000 Papuans are struggling to survive in the jungle. Many are dying of disease and starvation in an unseen campaign of ethnic cleansing.
TNI – TRAINING MILITIAS
SBS Dateline obtained information that indicates the aid funds are being spent by the TNI primarily in funding and training militias. A militia informant told SBS Dateline, "I can tell you here and now that in Manokwari the military are establishing and organising militias, which are known as Satgas Merah Putih. They have established two bases in Manokwari, in transmigrant areas where there [are] many Muslims."
According to the informant, the pro-Indonesia Satgas Merah Putih (Red and White militias) are being armed in preparation for an ethnic cleansing campaign against the indigenous Papuans. The informant continues: "Large numbers of bullets in boxes are being stored in workshops in food stalls and by the road. What is the motive or reason for this? So I am convinced that the military is organising militias in these two places and at some stage these militias will become a force used to attack the community as happened in East Timor."
TNI – IN LEAGUE WITH JIHADISTS
SBS Dateline also interviewed a human rights activist who had infiltrated the Laskar Jihad (Islamic "holy war" militia) through the local Mujaheddi mosque in Sorong. He told SBS, "The sort of activities Laskar Jihad were involved in, in Sorong, were firstly, intimidating and killing Papuans who were involved in the Papua Independence Movement, and secondly, spreading rumours in various places, to create fear." He also described to SBS the nature of the Islamic teaching received in the mosque. "The truth of Islam had to be made concrete, so we had to wage jihad against those who wanted to destroy the Islamist community, both its people and its places of worship. We were taught how to monitor the strength of the religious groups. In particular in Sorong, we monitored places of worship. I don't just mean Christian places of worship but also those of other religions. We were also told to determine the number of neighbourhoods in Sorong where the majority of inhabitants were Christian." He also noted, "Haji Ahmad once said in the Mujaheddin mosque, our network, the Laskar Jihad in Sorong, all its activities would be reported to al-Qa'ida."
MILITARY BUILD UP IN PAPUA
In the SBS Dateline interview, Pastor Yoman comments on the link between the TNI and the militias: "Wherever there are Indonesian soldiers, the militia and the jihadists are there too. They are inseparable. They are very close." With this in mind, the news that the military is about to enlarge its presence in Papua, particularly in Sorong, is of great concern.
According to the Jakarta Post (19 March), Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Hotmagaradja Pandjaitan said on Friday 18 March, that, in line with the Army's guidelines on the development of its strength, a new division of elite troops is to be set up and stationed in Papua. The Jakarta Post reports that the plan involves the gradual deployment of up to 15,000 troops from the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) from 2005 through 2009.
"The first 5,000 troops will be recruited from Makassar in South Sulawesi," Pandjaitan told the Jakarta Post. "They will be deployed in Sorong, Papua. To bring the number up to a total of 15,000, we will also recruit troops from military commands (Kodam) nationwide."
--------------------------
The present scenario faced by indigenous Papuans is that of increased Javanese Muslim population, increased TNI presence, increased Western support (including military training) for the TNI, restrictions on foreign journalists and NGOs, and war-ready TNI armed and trained Merah Putih and Laskar Jihad militias, all in a rich land ripe for exploitation. No wonder Papuan Christian leaders are warning of impending genocide.
PAPUA ON WCC'S AGENDA AT UNCHR
The World Council of Churches' (WCC) will seek to raise awareness of the critical situation in Papua at this year's 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) (12 March-22 April ). According to the WCC press release, notable religious leaders from Papua will address a public event on Thursday, 31 March. Then from 2- 4 April, representatives of faith-based bodies attending the 61st session, including the WCC, will meet to strategise together on the human rights of the Papuan people. A study on the economic, social and cultural rights of the Papuan people commissioned by the German churches with the WCC, and undertaken by Papuan academics and human rights defenders, will also be released. (Link 2)
- Elizabeth Kendal
rl-research@crossnet.org.au
Links
1) SBS Dateline – transcript. 16 March 2005
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&daysum=2005-03-16#
2) Papua focus of WCC at UNCHR 61st session
http://www.wfn.org/2005/03/msg00213.html
Subj: Papua: Christian leader fears genocide.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
In Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Eastern Indonesia, a quiet, hidden, atrocious campaign of ethnic cleansing is in progress. Unless there is radical policy change and reform, Papua will soon become majority Javanese and majority Muslim through the genocide of the predominantly Protestant indigenous Papuans. It is appalling hypocrisy that many Western governments that espouse the high principles of human rights seem content to disregard the genocidal policies of the Indonesian government, and the genocidal atrocities perpetrated by the systemically corrupt Indonesian military (TNI) against indigenous Papuan civilians – policies and atrocities enacted with the sole aim of attaining unhindered access to Papua's vast resources for the purpose of exploitation. Through joint military training agreements, governments will ensure that the TNI is as professional a well armed human rights-abusing killing machine that it can be. These governments will be judged by history as complicit in this genocide, regardless of their human rights rhetoric.
-------------------------------------------
SBS Dateline (Australia) recently aired a report on Papua by Nick Lazaredes. (Link 1)
The report comprised film footage smuggled out of Papua, and interviews with a milita informant, a human rights activist who infiltrated the Laskar Jihad, and Papuan Baptist minister Sofyan Yoman. Pastor Yoman expresses his deep fear for the future of the predominantly Protestant indigenous Papuan people as Indonesia implements a policy of transmigration, shipping in massive numbers of Muslim immigrants to alter the racial and religious demographics of Papua. He says that six ferry loads of Muslim immigrants and soldiers arrive each day.
Pastor Yoman also alleges that special autonomy funds to the value of 2.5 billion rupiah (around US$260,000), meant for humanitarian purposes, have been diverted to the Indonesian military (TNI) and are being used for military operations and atrocities against indigenous Papuans. These is great concern for large numbers of indigenous Papuans who have been driven from their homes by TNI operations. Photos shown on SBS Dateline pictured the aftermath of a TNI attack in late February on the remote highland village of Wunin, where elderly villagers were murdered and schools and churches were burnt to the ground. It is estimated that some 20,000 Papuans are struggling to survive in the jungle. Many are dying of disease and starvation in an unseen campaign of ethnic cleansing.
TNI – TRAINING MILITIAS
SBS Dateline obtained information that indicates the aid funds are being spent by the TNI primarily in funding and training militias. A militia informant told SBS Dateline, "I can tell you here and now that in Manokwari the military are establishing and organising militias, which are known as Satgas Merah Putih. They have established two bases in Manokwari, in transmigrant areas where there [are] many Muslims."
According to the informant, the pro-Indonesia Satgas Merah Putih (Red and White militias) are being armed in preparation for an ethnic cleansing campaign against the indigenous Papuans. The informant continues: "Large numbers of bullets in boxes are being stored in workshops in food stalls and by the road. What is the motive or reason for this? So I am convinced that the military is organising militias in these two places and at some stage these militias will become a force used to attack the community as happened in East Timor."
TNI – IN LEAGUE WITH JIHADISTS
SBS Dateline also interviewed a human rights activist who had infiltrated the Laskar Jihad (Islamic "holy war" militia) through the local Mujaheddi mosque in Sorong. He told SBS, "The sort of activities Laskar Jihad were involved in, in Sorong, were firstly, intimidating and killing Papuans who were involved in the Papua Independence Movement, and secondly, spreading rumours in various places, to create fear." He also described to SBS the nature of the Islamic teaching received in the mosque. "The truth of Islam had to be made concrete, so we had to wage jihad against those who wanted to destroy the Islamist community, both its people and its places of worship. We were taught how to monitor the strength of the religious groups. In particular in Sorong, we monitored places of worship. I don't just mean Christian places of worship but also those of other religions. We were also told to determine the number of neighbourhoods in Sorong where the majority of inhabitants were Christian." He also noted, "Haji Ahmad once said in the Mujaheddin mosque, our network, the Laskar Jihad in Sorong, all its activities would be reported to al-Qa'ida."
MILITARY BUILD UP IN PAPUA
In the SBS Dateline interview, Pastor Yoman comments on the link between the TNI and the militias: "Wherever there are Indonesian soldiers, the militia and the jihadists are there too. They are inseparable. They are very close." With this in mind, the news that the military is about to enlarge its presence in Papua, particularly in Sorong, is of great concern.
According to the Jakarta Post (19 March), Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Hotmagaradja Pandjaitan said on Friday 18 March, that, in line with the Army's guidelines on the development of its strength, a new division of elite troops is to be set up and stationed in Papua. The Jakarta Post reports that the plan involves the gradual deployment of up to 15,000 troops from the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) from 2005 through 2009.
"The first 5,000 troops will be recruited from Makassar in South Sulawesi," Pandjaitan told the Jakarta Post. "They will be deployed in Sorong, Papua. To bring the number up to a total of 15,000, we will also recruit troops from military commands (Kodam) nationwide."
--------------------------
The present scenario faced by indigenous Papuans is that of increased Javanese Muslim population, increased TNI presence, increased Western support (including military training) for the TNI, restrictions on foreign journalists and NGOs, and war-ready TNI armed and trained Merah Putih and Laskar Jihad militias, all in a rich land ripe for exploitation. No wonder Papuan Christian leaders are warning of impending genocide.
PAPUA ON WCC'S AGENDA AT UNCHR
The World Council of Churches' (WCC) will seek to raise awareness of the critical situation in Papua at this year's 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) (12 March-22 April ). According to the WCC press release, notable religious leaders from Papua will address a public event on Thursday, 31 March. Then from 2- 4 April, representatives of faith-based bodies attending the 61st session, including the WCC, will meet to strategise together on the human rights of the Papuan people. A study on the economic, social and cultural rights of the Papuan people commissioned by the German churches with the WCC, and undertaken by Papuan academics and human rights defenders, will also be released. (Link 2)
- Elizabeth Kendal
rl-research@crossnet.org.au
Links
1) SBS Dateline – transcript. 16 March 2005
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&daysum=2005-03-16#
2) Papua focus of WCC at UNCHR 61st session
http://www.wfn.org/2005/03/msg00213.html