The Death of Dialogue in Pakistan

( This article, published at Daily Times Pakistan on April 6, 2014, examines the state of freedom of expression and speech in Pakistan. )

The Death of Dialogue in Pakistan
Written by Qasir M. Chaudhry


Freedom of expression is as central to a democratic society as the Sharif family is to the PML-N. It is the essence of any democratic system and thus enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan. Practically, it seems to be the last thing our governments and leaders care about. This is the only item of the agenda where major political parties find themselves on the same page; the less the people have the opportunity to express their thoughts freely, the better.


But, the problem with the democratic system of the government is that it needs certain ingredients to prosper. It is the dialogue among horizontal and vertical layers of the society which brings different groups and classes in harmony to achieve common objectives. An effective dialogue can not occur if the participants do not have a chance to share views without any fear.


For an effective dialogue among various layers of the society, freedom of speech and expression is a primary requirement, among others. If we take into account continuous and repetitive attacks on media personalities and opinion makers, it is no secret that speaking the truth and expressing an opinion is becoming more and more difficult. During the PPP government, under the visionary leadership of Mr. Zardari, the fundamental human right of expression and speech was badly exposed to the Talibanized justice.


During the tenure of the last government, standards of cowardice reached new and record heights. Unlike the current government , it was very focused and clear headed. It had one point agenda, to complete its tenure for five years. The rest, country included, could go to hell. And it did.
Salman Taseer, former Governor of Punjab, had a personality quite opposite to most of his fellow politicians. He was bold, outspoken, visionary and brave. He had his own opinion and was never shy to share it. Like the majority of educated Pakistanis his understanding of Zia’s introduced laws, under Islamic labels, was different from those of extremist outfits. But, unlike most of the Pakistani intelligentsia, he said it loud and clear. In addition he went out of the way to support a Christian lady, who was charged with blasphemy, but in fact seemed innocent to him. When his own bodyguard showered bullets on him and took his life, the PPP leadership was completely lost. His killing in January 2011 was followed by the murder of Shehbaz Masih, Minister for Minority Affairs. Both these people could have been heroes for the party which would have steered the course of events in the right direction, but the party leadership threw these high profile sacrifices in the dust bin, completely surrendered before extremists and became focused on its single point agenda. Thus, at the end of the five year term, freedom of expression and speech was already in a critical stage and on a ventilator.


In the general election of 2013 the soul of the PPP took the body of the PML-N, which emerged as victorious. The first thing the Nawaz led government did was to renounce all promises made during the election campaign. Then, it shook hands with enemies of any sort of freedom and removed freedom of speech from the ventilator. The patient succumbed to death immediately. The authorities might have recorded the time of death, but it was not communicated to the general public which still believes it to be alive. This corpse now lies in some unknown morgue in Lahore. In the darkness of an unmarked night the coffin of freedom of speech will be interred deep in the soil. The nation is proud to be blessed with a free and awake media, but still no one knows who gave 1.5 billion dollars to Pakistan and why. Thus, in all likelihood, the nation will never know when the death of freedom of speech occurred, the time it was buried and where.


The incumbent family dictatorship, which insists on being considered a legitimate democratic government, came into power facing major challenges such as terrorism, religious extremism, power shortage, rising inflation and unemployment, all requiring immediate measures. To curb terrorism and improve the law and order situation in Karachi the government came up with its best policy of action, do nothing at all. Then, it started operations in Karachi. To this day, both the operations and killing of innocents is going hand in hand. To tackle extremism and the Talibans, it came up with another excellent policy; beg terrorists for talks. Now both sides are playing at negotiations to arrive at already obvious results. If the government does not want to live with such paradoxes, then the question it is facing is quite simple. Can we allow any person or group to use force to impose their so called Islam on a population of 180 million?


However, like its predecessors, either our political leadership lacks the guts to address ruthless challenges or it is pondering on how to benefit from a Talibanized state. Our religious leadership, on the other hand, is doing even worse. The nation is facing a direct threat to its existence of integrity, while our scholars of the Islamic Ideological Council are telling husbands that they do not need to seek permission from the first wife to re-marry. In addition, IIC also says that Islam does not put an age limit for the marriage of a girl. And, in the name of Islam, we are being forced to accept such interpretations as they are. Any question or difference of opinion can put us on the wrong side.


If our leadership is in a confused state then the Taliban and their sympathizers, quite clear about their objectives, are constantly moving forward to materialize the differences between civil and military relationships and to divide the nation further. Those scholars who differ with the Taliban’s interpretations of Islam and whose opinion mattered have either left the country or been killed. Those who still live in Pakistan are under threat, like writers, media and politicians. At this moment only those who express the same values and ideas as the Talibans remain safe.

At the start of this year, in January, the famous columnist and playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed was attacked. He received two wounds, but survived. Some days ago, unknowns fired on the car of a famous TV anchorman and senior analyst, Raza Rumi. His driver succumbed to injuries and his bodyguard, although injured, survived the attack. Very "active after incident" chief minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif asked for the report of the event, but it is an open secret that the report will be lost under an unattended pile of waiting reports, and the murderers will never be caught. However, the message for other writers is loud and clear; if they revisit their views they could be the next target.


To ensure the free expression of opinion is a sacred duty of every democratic government. While interring the coffin of dialogue and freedom of speech deep in the ground our rulers today must not forget that sooner or later the fire will reach their bodies too. The government of the PPP refused to learn this. If they had then today the son of Yousuf Raza Gilani, former PM of Pakistan, would not be under arrest by extremists, and Bilawal Bhutto, chairperson of PPP, would not have had to cancel his visit to Lahore. Benazir Bhutto used to say that democracy is the best revenge. Our current rulers have the chance to learn from other's mistakes and respect the democratic norms. If they refuse, democracy will take its revenge.





A Visit to Notre Dame de Paris


As I put my first step inside the world famous cathedral of Notre Dame, I wondered if I would have thought to visit this church, like many other tourists, had Victor Hugo not written his famous novel called ‘Notre Dame de Paris’. After all, there are lots of Cathedrals within the city of Paris, and I do not know many of them. Anyway, the church of Notre Dame has its own air of magnificence which attracts the visitors from all over the world.

I had long been undecided whether I should pay my respects to the said church but I was not disappointed by my visit itself. One of my friend happened to visit this church and for him the interior of the church was nothing but a complete disappointment. He then took the pain of practically discouraging all of acquaintances to pay for a visit, a sort of viral de-marketing one can say. However, in my case, the results of interior were quite on the contrary.  Amazed with the architecture of the church, I was also overwhelmed by the feeling of calmness and tranquility. 

I am well aware of the fact that pictures and videos do not substitute a real visit, but I am confident that following pictures and videos will help you an idea of the interior and when you will be actually visiting this place, your eyes will be ready to delve into further details. 











A Visit To The Louvre Museum of Paris





A few years ago, when I was almost new in Paris, one of my French said, ‘ if you want to find French people somewhere other than France, then try finding them in the nearest museum or castle near to that place you are visiting. Certainly, you shall find a few of them at least’. After my third visit to the Louvre Museum, I consider it as a personified love for Art and History of French nation.


I still remember when I first paid a visit to Louvre. It was summer and Paris, the most favorite tourist destination in the world, was packed to its capacity. Above all, it was the first Sunday of the month ( national Parisian museums offer free entrance on the first Sunday of each month ) and everyone, as it seemed, was there in the queue to visit Louvre. It took hours to get at the entry point at pyramid. Understandably, we were feeling tired even before our entry to the museum. I had decided that I will visit this museum once more in normal days to avoid that long line.


Louvre museum is full of world famous paintings and art objects. Indeed Monalisa is one of them and in each visit I found a great rush of people in front of that painting, waiting for their opportunities to get photographed in front of her magical smile. If you want to know more about the Louvre museum, then you can visit the website of Louvre Museum


For the moment, however, you may have a look on the following pictures of art objects present in Musée de Louvre or Louvre Museum. If you happen to be someone who loves appreciating the finer details of the art, then beware one day might not be enough for a detailed visit. So, if you know well beforehand what exactly would you like to see in the museum, then certainly it will help to make more out of less.


The maps of the museum are available freely, in different languages, at the information desks. They will also help you find some of the world class art objects. The museum of Louvre has a rich collection in following departments;

A. Near Eastern collections; this represents the civilizations of the ancient Middle East, which date to seven thousand years.

B. Egyptian Antiquities; this section highlights the specific aspects of Egyptian civilization in the past.

C. Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; This department contains the work of three ancient civilizations; Greece, Etruria, and Rome.

D. History of the Louvre and Medieval Louvre; Two rooms are dedicated to present the architectural history of the palace.

E. Paintings; The collection contains the history of European painting from the mid 19th century.

F. Sculptures; Sculptures from High Middle Ages to the mid 19th century are present in this section.

G. Decorative Arts; It contains decorative objects from Middle Ages and the renaissance. Napoleon III’s apartment can also be found in this section.

H. Arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.

I. Islamic Art; you can see art objects from 7th to 19th century, originating from India to Spain.

J. The Eastern Mediterranean under the Roman Empire.

H. Paintings and Drawings


If you love going to other museums while you stay in Paris, then Paris Museum Pass will help you save some of your money and time. For more information, please read, Paris Museum Pass; The Cheapest Way To Visit Museums In Paris.


Here are some of the pictures from the Louvre.




A picture of Napoleon III apartments

A second picture of Napoleon III apartments

Mummy of one of the Egyptian Pharaohs.

Before the visit I thought that I will be able to see the real face of the mummy, but it happened the otherwise. I was told that it is necessary to keep the mummy under covers for the preservation. I hope that under the cover, there lies the mummy 


Egyptians were used to use drawings and symbols to express themselves.

Some pieces of art 


Pictures of Paris From The Top of Eiffel Tower.


Paris is a beautiful city, no matter what you angle of perception is. Today what we see as the French Capital is an old city telling us the tales that spread over thousands of years.

The sky was clear and the sun was smiling warmly, when  I arrived at the site of Eiffel Tower, the famous icon of Paris. It was not the first time to pay homage to genius of Gustave Eiffel, the man who conceived and constructed that iron structure in less than two years. But certainly it was the first time I was going to see how beautiful Paris look from the top of that tower.

On that day two lifts were working to take the visitors to the top of Eiffel Tower. One lift which took the tourists from the ground level, had a very long line in front of it. As I calculated, the queue was moving quite slow and it could take around 3 hours to arrive before the ticket window. However, on the other side, the story was completely opposite. What I saw was that people who bought the tickets they were not using the lift, rather they were climbing the stairs up. I was not sure if I could go to the top of Eiffel Tower only by stairs. So as I arrive at the ticket office, I asked if with that ticket I can go to the top.

I was told that I can go up taking the stairs to 2nd level and from there I can take free lift to go to the top. I put the required amount in front of him, took the ticket and started my journey towards the top of the tower.

It was neither too difficult nor too easy to go to the 2nd level. Instead of going up continuously, I took breaks at considerable intervals. While I stayed, I looked around, observed the construction of the structure and did photography. One can say it was a sort of fun going up as one could appreciate the symmetrical beauty of the Parisian architecture, gradually leaving behind.

Here are a few photos. If you are planning to go up on Eiffel Tower, you will have an idea how it is going to be like.

Montparnasse Tower can be seen at the end of the picture. The greenery of Chams de Mars is quite visible.

A closer look of the Montparnasse Tower.

The stairs of the tower used to go to the 2nd level.

Eiffel Tower, seen from the 2nd level of Eiffel tower. The journey to the top of the tower is yet to be finished 

On the 2nd level, one can find shops and restaurants. Even, there are toilets, free of charge.


The river seine, innocently dividing the city in right and left bank ..

Close up look from the summit of Eiffel Tower


Another look on the city of lights and love. One can see the golden dome of the place called, invalides.

Another picture of the river Seine.

On the way to the top of the tower

One of the pulleys, used to operate the lift

Communication antennas used for the transmission of the signals. This usage had been the most important reason that Eiffel Tower still stands today proudly.

You can see there are lots of antennas. But, tourists are not allowed to go to that part of the tower.

The wax statues of Gustave Eiffel and Edisson, American inventor.