Yesterday when I heard the news that a teacher had been arrested after the children she was teaching had named a stuffed toy Mohamed, I was not even sure if this was something real or a joke. In a way my initial reaction was correct, as it was true and a sick joke.
The more I discovered the more I could see that Gillian Gibbons was and is completely innocent. Had it been that she had imposed the name without regard for the culture or sensibilities of the people of Sudan, then she could have been seen as foolish or arrogant, but that is not what happened. It was the children who made the choice of the name.
All this happened in September and it was only after a recent complaint from a parent that this poor teacher was arrested. As a spectator on life, I could see that naming a teddy bear after the prophet in an Islamic country was likely to cause a problem. However, I suspect that the teacher felt that as it was the children who made the choice it was an act of praise.
Whatever the reasons to then charge this teacher with blasphemy is childish, however the punishment she faces is far from childish. Gillian Gibbons faces six months in prison or forty lashes.
Personally I have a real problem with all religions, especially when they are so intolerant. If naming a bear is so insulting then so should it be insulting to name your children Mohamed. I really wish that people would grow up and realise that others may not share your faith in a mythological higher power. I don’t advocate anyone being deliberately insulting, but I wish they would grow up.
Far to often religious leaders are repressive of any other view or prospective. Further, religion is often utilised as a tool to repress women and strip people of there human rights. This story comes hot on the heals of another where a victim of rape was prosecuted and sentenced to two-hundred lashes for sexual misconduct, she allowed herself to be raped according to the Islamic law, in Saudi Arabia shows just how dangerous religion is.
Tuesday 27 November 2007
Saturday 24 November 2007
Pakistan and General Masharraf
While I was disturbed to hear the in Pakistan that General Masharraf had suspended and arrested the judiciary as well as imposing marshal law. While I was concerned that the reason for this, as claimed by the opposition, was that the judiciary were about to rule that it was unconstitutional for the head of the military to also be the head of the country. However, I wanted to look at the reality before making any comment, as General Masharraf was claiming that it has only been done to stop Islamic militants from gaining control of the country.
As when one of the opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto, returned to Pakistan from exile there was a bombing attempt on her life, it looked as though there could be some truth in the general’s claim.
However, having looked at the situation it looks more as though he has imposed this state of emergency purely to retain power. It was looking as though his attempt to stand for president was going to be declared unlawful, so by imposing a state of emergency, arresting the judges then appointing his own judges, suddenly its declared legal.
The General does have a history of not keeping his word and allowing the electorate to decide who rules their country. Going back to when he first ceased power, when George Bush was seeking election to the presidency, George W rather famously didn’t know the General name. Well George W knows his name well now, perhaps he even learnt from him how to stage a coup, remember Florida and the hanging chads?
Then the General was saying that he would step down as head of the Army and would move to proper democratic elections. That still has not happened and it increasingly looks as though the elections that are due in Pakistan will have an inevitable outcome, the general gets elected.
This all makes the lack of condemnation by the British government and more importantly by the American Bush regime appear odd at least. In the past the UK and the US supported dictators only to rue the day. Iraq and its support is the most obvious example. At that time the US in particular thought that Iraq would destroy or at least seriously damage Iran. This proxy war ended up with the debacle we have now.
The parallels here is stark, the UK and US see Pakistan as an important partner in the “War on Terror”. But unlike the Dictator in Iraq, General Masharraf already has Nuclear weapons. If we don’t ensure that yet another dictator doesn’t take power again, in a few years time we could be looking at an even more serious war.
As when one of the opposition leaders, Benazir Bhutto, returned to Pakistan from exile there was a bombing attempt on her life, it looked as though there could be some truth in the general’s claim.
However, having looked at the situation it looks more as though he has imposed this state of emergency purely to retain power. It was looking as though his attempt to stand for president was going to be declared unlawful, so by imposing a state of emergency, arresting the judges then appointing his own judges, suddenly its declared legal.
The General does have a history of not keeping his word and allowing the electorate to decide who rules their country. Going back to when he first ceased power, when George Bush was seeking election to the presidency, George W rather famously didn’t know the General name. Well George W knows his name well now, perhaps he even learnt from him how to stage a coup, remember Florida and the hanging chads?
Then the General was saying that he would step down as head of the Army and would move to proper democratic elections. That still has not happened and it increasingly looks as though the elections that are due in Pakistan will have an inevitable outcome, the general gets elected.
This all makes the lack of condemnation by the British government and more importantly by the American Bush regime appear odd at least. In the past the UK and the US supported dictators only to rue the day. Iraq and its support is the most obvious example. At that time the US in particular thought that Iraq would destroy or at least seriously damage Iran. This proxy war ended up with the debacle we have now.
The parallels here is stark, the UK and US see Pakistan as an important partner in the “War on Terror”. But unlike the Dictator in Iraq, General Masharraf already has Nuclear weapons. If we don’t ensure that yet another dictator doesn’t take power again, in a few years time we could be looking at an even more serious war.
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Trading with tyrants
In the US and in the UK and Europe, we have all been enjoying the effects of a liberalised Chinese Economy, cheap goods from china now proliferate the shelves of most shops. It is in fact the economic boom in China that has funded the American economy, including tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As America needs to borrow more, don’t forget it has a borrowing requirement of three trillion dollars and the whole of the annual tax revenue goes to pay for the tiny federal Medical Care system, most of that borrowing has to come from China.
Thus at first glance it appears odd that America should be playing host to the Dalai Lama, something that the Chinese government have criticised for happening. The spiritual leader of Tibet, who has to live in exile, will meet with president Bush, when the Dalai Lama will receives the Congressional Gold on Wednesday.
Thus at first glance it appears odd that America should be playing host to the Dalai Lama, something that the Chinese government have criticised for happening. The spiritual leader of Tibet, who has to live in exile, will meet with president Bush, when the Dalai Lama will receives the Congressional Gold on Wednesday.
Tibet was annexed by china in the 1950s and has occupied it ever since. Moving ethnic Chinese to the territory and repressing the native population. Well it represses its own population too, but that’s a whole other story.
Because of the economic links with China it seems odd for the Bush administration to risk upsetting the Chinese, but the links are a two way street, and China needs the American government to keep on borrowing from them to fuel its expanding economy. Without the US borrowing so much the rate of expansion of the Chinese economy would be less than a tenth of what it is now. Therefore beyond a bit of posturing nothing will happen that will really do anything to help Tibet, its people or even the Chinese people.
Therefore, buying Chinese goods keeps Tibet repressed, it helps prolong the war in Iraq, and more importantly it is helping to turn China into a global super power. One day we will learn not to trade with repressive regimes and more importantly stop allowing them to develop into global threats.
Monday 15 October 2007
Burma
It was this issue that spurred me on to creating this on line journal more than any other story in the news. For years I have despaired at the fact that any country could have a craving for freedom yet have their rights so repressed. However it’s the fact that unlike so many other conflicts or disputes around the world, here the protestors have always been peaceful.
The greatest mistake that most groups or organisations make when calling for democracy or freedom is to use violence. No matter how noble the cause is, as soon as violence is used in or for that struggle towards freedom, they loose the support of so many people around the world. Also, it provides governments across the globe the excuse for doing nothing, as they can then argue that the protestors used criminality to provoke a reaction from whatever regime it is. However, here in Burma the protests were and always have been peaceful. The only real violence has been from a military dictatorship that has used its troops to kill its own people.
While the situation in Burma is no longer on the front pages, the repression still continues and the people who lined the streets and just clapped as the Monks walked past are being arrested, beaten and tortured.
We cannot allow yesterdays news to be forgotten, the last time there was a substantial call for freedom in Burma, and it ended with three thousand civilians being shot dead. This was not in one single event, but spread out over an eight-month period as troops went around liquidating opposition.
Even the thought of that makes me shudder, and can you imagine what it must be like to live in a country where just by speaking out against your government, you risk being murdered? That demonstrates the bravery of the monks that took to the streets in Rangoon, we owe them our support.
A Spectator on the HUMAN RACE
For some time now I have felt that my other environmental on line journal did not allow me the scope to comment on all that was going on in the world. This is partly because I do try to keep that one focused upon the positive side of practical conservation work and my observations of the wildlife within my own little patch of the countryside. However, my concerns and interests extend far beyond what is happening in conservation and to the environment, as while we all have to learn to share our planet with the natural flora and fauna, ultimately it is how we share the planet with our own species that is vital.
Ever since I was a child I have despaired at the wars, the killings and the cruelty of man. I even drew a map of the world that I could stick pins in so that I could see, visually, where all these wars and conflicts were. I was only about ten when I did this, and while I am in my forties now, I can see even more cruelty and conflict in the world. The difference is that I now see what’s going on in the world much more clearly than I did when I was a child. While I know that had the internet existed when I was using pins in a map to try to understand what was happening I would have been utilising the web to garner information I doubt that anything I said or wrote then would have changed anything.
However, the internet has and does provide a clear open window on what’s going on in the world, and unlike the periods in recent history where dictators and despots could conceal the truth from the wider world, the technology now means that repression can be exposed.
As the readers of my other Blog will know, I moved to blogger.com after discovering that Yahoo in China had directly aided the Chinese authorities in helping to arrest dissidents in china. This included a Journalist who was just trying to find out the truth on a particular story, and is now serving a ten-year sentence.
I have no idea if anyone will read this Blog, nor if it will do anything to help change the world for the better, but even if it only records the depravity of the Human Race, then so be it.
Ever since I was a child I have despaired at the wars, the killings and the cruelty of man. I even drew a map of the world that I could stick pins in so that I could see, visually, where all these wars and conflicts were. I was only about ten when I did this, and while I am in my forties now, I can see even more cruelty and conflict in the world. The difference is that I now see what’s going on in the world much more clearly than I did when I was a child. While I know that had the internet existed when I was using pins in a map to try to understand what was happening I would have been utilising the web to garner information I doubt that anything I said or wrote then would have changed anything.
However, the internet has and does provide a clear open window on what’s going on in the world, and unlike the periods in recent history where dictators and despots could conceal the truth from the wider world, the technology now means that repression can be exposed.
As the readers of my other Blog will know, I moved to blogger.com after discovering that Yahoo in China had directly aided the Chinese authorities in helping to arrest dissidents in china. This included a Journalist who was just trying to find out the truth on a particular story, and is now serving a ten-year sentence.
I have no idea if anyone will read this Blog, nor if it will do anything to help change the world for the better, but even if it only records the depravity of the Human Race, then so be it.
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