Anwar Ali Merchant Congratulates the Cabinet of Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani

noreply@blogspirit.com (Pakistan Islamic Republic) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:15:00 +0200

Anwar Ali Merchant Congratulates the Cabinet of Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani

Press Release
For Immediate Release

Text of the message of congratulations for Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani:

Islamabad, March 31, 2008
Excellency Yousuf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister
Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Sir,

On the happy occasion of your 24-member cabinet sworn in by His Excellency President Musharraf, I send you my warmest hearty congratulations with prayers for success in all your future endeavors.

I send my hearty felicitations and best wishes individually to each of the honorable ministers sworn in today:
Shah Mehmood Qureshi (Foreign Minister), Sherry Rehman (Information Minister), Syed Naveed Qamar (Minister for Privatisation/Port and Shipping-additional), Raja Pervez Ashraf (Minister for Water and Power), Syed Khursheed Shah (Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis), Qamar Zaman Kaira (Minister for Kashmir Affairs), Senator Farooq Naek (Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights), Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar (Minister for Defence), Nazar Muhammad Gondal (Minister for Narcotics), Najamuddin Khan (Minister for States and Frontier Region) and Mir Humayon Aziz Kurd (Minister for Population Welfare), Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan (Senior Minister), Senator Ishaq Dar (Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Commerce), Ahsan Iqbal (Minister for Education), Tehmina Daultana (Minister for Women Development), Sardar Mehtab Abbasi (Minister for Railways), Khawaja Asif (Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources), Rana Tanveer Hussain (Minister for Defense Production), Shahid Khakhan Abbasi (Ministry of Trade), Khawaja Saad Rafiq (Minister for Youth Affairs), Ghulam Ahmed Bilour (Minister for Local Government and Rural Development), Khawaja Mohammed Khan Hoti (Minister for Social Welfare), Rehmatullah Kakar, Hameedullah Jan Afridi, and Rehman Malik.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate President Musharraf for having successfully put Pakistan on the roadmap of democracy and welfare of the people of Pakistan.

Excellency, once again I congratulate you and the honorable ministers from the bottom of my heart with prayers for welfare, happiness, independence and sovereignty of our great nation – Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Anwar Merchant
Founder Chairman – President
Muslim Democracy League

Islamabad 44000
Pakistan
+923455086313
Email: muslimdemocracy@gmail.com

NOTES:

Formed on the auspicious birth anniversary of Holy Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him and his family] Rabi ul Awwal 12, 1429 ME, Friday March 21 2008, Muslim Democracy League is the political forum and thinktank of Pakistan, contributing knowledge, consultation and insight related to promotion of faith based consensus democracy in Pakistan.

The norms and assumptions that characterise belief and action in Islam have their initial inspiration in two foundation sources. One is the message revealed by God to the Holy Prophet [peace be upon him and his family] and recorded in Quran. The second is Sunnah, the recording of the Prophet's life, his words, actions and habits, his character, struggle, piety, modesty and success that has come in time to represent for Muslims, a timeless pattern for daily life. And this is true both for the state and the individual. Accordingly, Muslim Democracy League supports to enhance theological and political consensus among different stake holders for the development of good governance in Pakistan.

Muslim Democracy League is the continuation of the original theme and format of Muslim League [1906]. It works to build confidence between West and Muslims, and facilitates collaboration between people, civil society and government to address some of the development needs in Pakistan today.

Muslim Democracy works to historically deliver, both for Pakistan and world community so to speak about civil society and democracy, knowledge and learning, health, housing and economy, technology, industry and commerce, heritage and environment, alleviation of the sufferings of the poor, the sick and the needy, women emancipation and good governance, theological and political consensus, protection and welfare of minorities, support for responsible media, independence of judiciary, indigenous rule of the people, dignity and integrity of the government, Muslim Caliphate, Armed Forces, Law Agencies, and Islamic ethics of discipline, tolerance, knowledge, development, pluralism, interfaith harmony and global peace.

Fate of Pakistan Pivotal For The Future Of The World - Historian Karen Armstrong

noreply@blogspirit.com (Pakistan Islamic Republic) — Sat, 9 Feb 2008 10:44:08 +0100

Fate of Pakistan pivotal for the future of the world- historian Karen Armstrong

03 Feb 2008 09:53:26 GMT
Source: Reuters

ISLAMABAD, Feb 3, 2008 - The future of Pakistan, and how it balances the need for Muslim symbols with the secularism needed to run a modern state, will be important for the future of the world, according to historian and theologian Karen Armstrong.

Nuclear-armed and reaping the grim harvest of "extremism" resulting from the West's support for a religious war to drive the Soviet Union out of neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan has a big question to answer, says Armstrong. "How do you become a secular Muslim state?"

Last Thursday, Armstrong, whose writings have highlighted the tolerant and pluralistic nature of Islam, met President Pervez Musharraf, who hoped to change Pakistan into a state where "enlightened moderation" prevailed.

"Pakistan is on the frontier of this present struggle," Armstrong told Reuters during a visit to Islamabad to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Aga Khan, Fatimid Imam Caliph of Islam.

"I think it is not so much important for the future of Islam as important for the future of the world," said the 63-year-old Briton, whose book "The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam" was released a year before 2001 attacks on the United States.

"What happens here will be very decisive in how the so-called war against terrorism proceeds in other regions."

"The kind of conversations I have about this topic remind me very much of conversations I had in Israel, another secular state born out of displacement and tragedy."

Armstrong said Israelis faced a similar struggle between secularists in tune with the vision of their country's founder, David Ben-Gurion, and ultra-orthodox Jews, some of them militant.

Even Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, realised the need to have a degree of secularism in order to run a modern state, she said. Khomeini, just before he died in 1989, told mullahs not to meddle in defence and economic policies, she said.

CORNERED BY SECULARISM
The separation of religion in the state represents a modern, major change in societies where religion is a way of life. When it happens too quickly, people feel threatened and if attacked through the media or by force, they become aggressive, said Armstrong, a former nun who describes herself as a "freelance monotheist". "Most of these extreme movements are rooted in profound fear, a fear of annihilation," she said, stressing that the same dynamics play out in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. "In small-town America there are Christians who believe they are going to be wiped out by a so-called liberal establishment."

During the interview, Armstrong cited the example of Sayyid Qutb, whose writings from an Egyptian jail in the 1950s and 60s helped craft a strain of Sunni Muslim fundamentalism that spawned the global jihad of al Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.

People should study Qutb's texts rather than the Koran if they wanted to understand al Qaeda, she said. But they had to be read in the context of the torture Qutb suffered and his reaction to efforts to secularise Egypt, she said. Attempts to introduce secularism, which took centuries in the West, has been done too quickly in the Middle East, according to Armstrong, resulting in religious movements that tend to become lethal if they occur in regions where violence is endemic.

Armstrong didn't see militancy in Pakistan's tribal lands, or Hamas or Hizbollah movements, or even bin Laden's al Qaeda, as being motivated principally by religion. It is more of a kind of political followup.

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Anwar Ali Merchant Congratulates the Cabinet of Excellency Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani

Fate of Pakistan Pivotal For The Future Of The World - Historian Karen Armstrong