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Showing posts from October, 2012

Blasphemy and Muslim reaction to it: irrational or logical?

(Analysis of an article ‘why do we blame the west for our weakness’ published in NEWS WEEK Pakistan on Oct 12, 2012 9 (P 26 to 30) by Husain Haqqani, intellectual of international renown and former ambassador to USA) http://www.newsweekpakistan.com/features/1895 This is the link to an article by Husain HAQQANI  You may have an experience to go through literalization of metaphor; then you might have wondered at space it gathers. There is a famous adage that encapsulates Machiavellian philosophy of communication: ‘Role of a communication is not to express but to hide’. For our purpose we coin another one ‘Role of communication is to express without expressing anything so to hide one’s true allegiance’. The article of HUSAIN HAQQANI may not read like its literalization; but is an example and more like its consummate application: explicit assertions marked by insinuations and implications to cast them into doubt without apparently doing do so or quoting someone without endorsing

There is no independent thinking

Ad from Rabtt in Newsweek of Oct 12, 2012 attracted my attention. Top right in inverted commas there was a line ‘We have the power to cause or prevent action’; then below the pictures of students there was a line ‘Rabtt believes that all students have an equal right to think, question and express’ Contextual meaning I draw of ‘We have the power to cause or prevent action’ is: make something good and bad happen and not happen respectively and there seems to be nothing wrong with it as ad implies that education vouchsafes such power. The equal right to think, question and express is the fundamental right beyond question. There are many studies on effects of urbanization such as the most famous one of Lerner’s and the common thread that runs through all is: urbanization correlates with democracy. City opens to every one an access to education and that in turns creates an orientation to democracy and beefs up democracy. If these are inevitable effects; so urbanization is universal t