Molly Hacked

In further discussion on the same status the hacker issued death threats against the cartoonist:

Norris had inadvertently started the viral “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day” when she protested death threats to the creators of South Park. However, Ms. Norris has distanced herself from “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day”, a group which was not started or endorsed by her, on a number of occasions. Her website still has disclaimers condemning the group.Furthermore, Ms. Norris promotes the group “Against Everybody Draw Mohammad Day” from her website and has joined muslim Facebook groups such as “Introduce Mohmmad Day”.

However, cycynism and suspicsions regarding Ms. Norris’ motives never died down. Several Muslims commented on her wall:

The comments above are from before Molly Norris' account was hacked.

When will Muslims start protesting people like this Hacker that bring disgrace to their faith by acting in illegal and immoral ways?

This is one of those wedge between the Muslim world and the West. Muslims view the action as an attack on their faith, validating everything that Osama Bin Ladin and his kind have been trying to tell the Islamic world. The West hates you and your prophet, they will do anything – from invasion to mockery- to stand against Islam. On the other the Muslim reaction confirms to the west thew worst stereotypes about Muslims. Muslims are intolerent, violent and seek to impose their values on the rest of the world. They have no regard for free speech.

The blogosphere is full of anecdotes that condemn Muslims for their lack of regard for the freedom of speech, and their alleged yearning for special treatment.

But are they really looking for special treatment?

I noticed that the group “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day”, which includes images that call for violence agianst Muslims, is back on Facebook after a short time offline. Incidentally, confirming Muslim stereotypes, the page was hacked by a cyber-Mujahid not taken down by Facebook.
However, the very humorous and only midly offensive group “Everbody Draw Mark Zuckerberg’s Mom”, which never called for violence, has been deleted by facebook. Not only has the group been deleted, a post on my wall discussing the page has also been deleted.

So, Mark Zuckerberg’s mom, please tell your son to play by his own rules. We all think hes a prick for refusing to yield to our privacy concerns anyway. But your spoilt brat has also proved that he is an unprincipled child.

P.S

If the creator of “Everybody Draw Mark Zuckerberg’s Mom” or anyone that has screenshots of the group is reading this, please contact me.

According to Riaz Ahmed, an academic that has been monitoring the strike, the following has occured:

“PC workers camp visited by Pakistan Peoples Party Karachi chieftains Najmi Alam and Usman Ghani (also chief of over 120 day protest camping Muslim Commercial Bank sacked workers) at about 10pm PST on March 04.

The police are threatening to remove the camped workers outside PC hotel sometime tommorow on the pretext that President Zardari is visiting Karachi and may pass through the intersection where the protesters are camping.

The PPP Karachi supremos are reportedly negotiating with the PC Hotel management that the occupiers will not be harmed once the outside camp is removed for 2-days!”

It is tragic that the President of Pakistan, who is also the co-chair of the Peoples Party which originally sought to create a socialist society, is so insensitive to workers struggle.

The President ought to consider an alternative route. The PPP government should lend all possible support to the workers strike. But instead, we see the opposite happening. The mere presence of the President Zardari is being used to break up the protest.

However the media in Karachi are pretty quiet about the situation. The PC management, chaired by the 5th richest person in Pakistan Mr Hashwani, has managed to keep the media silent, the police raids and arrests of male and female workers and their manhandling all have been hushed-up.

The only media which is reporting about the strike is the stinking right-wing press named Daily Ummat. The entire liberal, pro-democracy, pro-human rights English and otherwise ‘fighting for freedom of media and democracy’ press have managed not to report the protests, arrests and the occupation of PC workers in Karachi.

Today, March 04, 2010, Express TV crew came to cover the protest at the 2nd site of the protest ie the camp in front of PC and interviewed and filmed many agitators. Reportedly their entire story was killed by one Director named Fahd Hussain for no obvious reason. The only reason is ‘its is not allowed’.

PC hotel workers share a very tiny fraction of the billions earned by the Hashwani group. Since 2001 about 250 sacked workers have been protesting but their is no response. Now a new layer of sacked workers and those showing solidarity with them have been targeted by the rich management. It is time media wakes-up and express its neutrality about the protest.

Strike: 150 Workers Occupy Karachi PC Hotel

Over 150 workers of -star Karachi hotel Pearl Continental have occupied the basement for the last 8 days. About 50 workers have set up a camp outside the hotel. Armed guards of PC hotel have stopped media and other activists from going into the basement of the hotel. However they can be contacted by mobile. In a rapidly developing strike which started from after the sacking of 4 union activists in Karachi PC, 27 from Pindi PC and 70 from Peshawar (already closed and about to be given to Blackwater). The sacked workers first started protests 24 days ago when they protested at constitution avenue. The managment started negotiations but then backed out and thus the second phase of protests have begun in Rawalpindi PC and Peshawar PC as well.

The strike at PC is the first of such intensity after a long time. Workers have risen up to the bosses and have taken measures which are not common in Pakistani trade union struggle ie occupation. However the bosses of Pearl Continental are billionaire Hashwani group and they managed to blackout news from print and electronic media. Almost all major papers are situated at a 1 km distance from PC Karachi but none of them have reported the occupation by workers.

Two comrades of IS, Asim and Shafiq went to the Karachi PC camp and managed to talk to the occupiers on phone. They report that the occupiers are in high spirits but certainly need a large number of people to express solidarity. Outside the Karachi PC the police attacked the camp on tuesday and arrested the protesters but later released them. The attack has not deterred the protestors neither those occupying inside our those outside. Now the protesters are sitting in the open.

The strikers have asked everyone to assemble at the PC hotel at 12noon on Thursday 4 March 2010 to express solidarity.

PC workers have been fighting sackings since 2001. But the current struggle errupted in an atomosphere where the Pakistani ruling class is on an offensive. Throughout the country they have attacked occupying peasants, protesting clerks and other working class protests. However the occupiers and protesters have not taken the attack laying down. The occuption by PC workers is therefore critical to the struggle of a huge number of working class struggles, that is why the ruling class and its media are united and blocking its spread using all means of violence available to them.

It is important that the news of OCCUPATION is spread as far as possible. We can learn from the expreience of PC workers that the media is ‘free’ to report that which is in the interest of a section of the powerful, otherwise not. So it is up to the working class to mobilize support, propagate and express solidarity with its own means.
Riaz Ahmed International Socialists Karachi0333-2298922www.worldtowinpk.net

These videos are reproduced without extensive comment. I will be commenting, but just don’t have time right now.

I must add that I support religious freedoms for all, including Zaid Hamid.  I am simply pointing out that Zaid Hamid does not support secularism himself.  Perhaps people with such heterodox views should reconsider their support for a theocracy.

In fact, fairness has become an industry across the Indian sub-continent. Multi-natioal corporations such as Unilever sell “fairness creams” such as “Fair and Lovely” across the sub-continent.

Unfair Fair and Lovely Ad

So maybe I shouldn’t have been suprised when someone emailed me this image:

The joke seems to be pretty clear; since Obama is a powerful person he should have fair skin. It implies that there is something wrong with dark skin, that it signifies a lower social standing.

This is all within the context of the fuss raised by “Pakistan Ka Khuda Haifz”, a group linked to Zaid Hamid, that has recently published photographs of Pakistani news anchors socializing with African Americans. The comments on the Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz Facebook group were explictly sexual, revealing anxiety that the female anchors would prefer black men over Pakistanis.

Look closely at the caption on the bottom, it actually reads “Niggz Ready to Screw Pakistani Anchorz”.

Again, play close attention to the caption, it reads “Pakistani Tv Anchors with an American janitor?”

These comments are consistent with the South Asian reading of sking tone as an indication of social caste. In Pakistan the janitors are predominantly dark skinned (and often Christians).

The sad thing is that this issue has become more visible because of the racism directed towards African Americans. Dark skinned Pakistanis, which are predominately from the underclasses, are all but invisible.

• Like conventional Islamism, Sexy Islamism is a political ideology that holds that Islam is not only a religion but also a political and economic system. In addition to this, Sexy Islamism is also a genre of rock music and a fashion aesthetic.
• Sexy Islamism is noted for its use of fashion and pop icons (such as Ali Azmat and Maria B.) to propagate its Islamist message. A prephiery of minor fashionistas and MTV VJs are increasingly becoming Sexy Islamists.
• According to leading Sexy Islamism theorist Anas Abbas, Syed Zaid Zaman Hamid is a leading pioneer of Sexy Islamism.

Maria B.'s new "Ghaza-e-Hind" collection

This Sexy Islamist is the new bassist for Ali Azmat

Quotes on Sexy Islamism:

• “I am with Zaid Hamid because he does not stop me from anything.” Maria B. on Sexy Islamism
• “The revolution will be right back after these messages from our sponsors.” Ali Azmat on his show ‘Iqbal ka Pakistan’
• “Political Parties are not allowed in Islam” MTV Pakistan VJ Faizan-ul-Haq, ‘Wake Up Pakistan’ Karachi edition
• “I’ve never met an Islamist I didn’t find sexy! Or a goat, for that matter.” Osama Bin Ladin

See Also:

Not-So-Sexy-Islamists

These Not-So-Sexy-Islamists tend to turn off Urban Petit-Bourgeois Yuppies.

Here fashionista Maria B. says that we should be proud of our collective South Asian heritage and respect non-Muslims. She even goes so far as to say that “Even a hindu can be a better human being than Muslim”. However, she still clings to her Islamist position.

Check from the 5:28 mark.

I cannot embedd the link for some reason, check it out HERE

On the other hand, Zaid Hamid says, “You are a Muslim first and a Pakistani later. If you are a non-Muslim, then you are a Pakistani first and a Pakistani later.”

This naturally completely negates any notion that non-Muslims are equal citizens of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

So, what is it Team ‘Wake Up Pakistan’ and Team Brasstracks

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Walking into A-12 on the night of 3^rd Feb, an air of general confusion greeted me. The turnout was thin initially and all those present had little idea of what was about to happen. Not to be cynical or anything, but I really doubt that anyone had turned up with real passion or interest. Common reasons might have included boredom, keeping company, seeing Maria B., taking photographs, covering for the daily student; you get the picture. As I took my seat, a conversation between two sophomore girls seated behind me caught my attention and enlightened me (to some extent) as to the purpose of this event.

A: “Is she going to talk about fashion?”

B: “No, something to do with motivation.”

A: “Motivation for fashion?” which was followed by shrugs and giggles.

So this was how the LUMS students welcomed the team of ‘Wake Up Pakistan’, a movement that many had never even heard of.

10 minutes past the scheduled time, Maria B. gave a disappointed look to the twos and threes of students splattered over the embarrassingly empty auditorium. She began her speech enthusiastically; first lauding the LUMS students, calling them the brightest minds and real future of Pakistan and then finally coming to the point: what ‘Wake Up Pakistan’? is – something that up until this point was little more than a vague notion.

The whole event can easily be broken up into two parts. The offensive and the defensive. The offensive was with Maria B. explaining how times in Pakistan have reached the ultimate low and instead of running away from all the problems, it is our responsibility as the educated and privileged class to bring Pakistan back to its feet. Her words were reiterated by her colleagues. There was much passion and determination in their voices, but unfortunately not much of a plan. Their passion was appreciated and even admired by the LUMS audience. Yet their lack of a practical plan that could be implemented was sensed by everyone.

This was the sort of moment in which I could proudly vouch that no LUMS student is naïve enough to get caught up in the heat of the moment for a plan with no sturdy guidelines. This skepticism, which was evident on every face, was mistaken by the team as our lack of enthusiasm. At times, I even thought that they were unimpressed.

Then came a turn in the event. A member of their team, while giving a passionate speech, mentioned that his movement would be based on two things. One being belief in the oneness of God and the other being idealization of the Prophet (PBUH). Within seconds, hands shot up and when they went unheeded, a student – clearly hurt by this new revelation – exclaimed that the event was supposed to be for Pakistanis and not Muslims, in which case she had no business here. Saying this, she walked out of the auditorium.

The ball was clearly in our court, one that consisted of a pretty full auditorium by now. The uninterested looking students started appearing fierce, and this ferocity was reflected in the tension on Maria B. and her colleagues’ faces. The rest of the event was a chaos. Let’s just say that LUMS gave them a real hard time.

Question after question shred their presentation to its crucial defects. The practicality of their plans, the lack of an ideology for their movement, the future of their actions, all were brought into question. By the end of it, some hands had to be ignored simply because their team was tired of answering mind-racking questions. Call it my impertinency, but I actually thought they were scared of delving so deep into the movement, which seemed deeper than they had ever been before.

The most satisfying answer that they were able to give was that this was just the awareness stage. Further plans will be seen and dealt with later, which brought them to the end of this session. An event on 14^thFebruary this year will apparently answer all latent queries. Despite all this, the crowd was showing actual interest by the end of the event and most people walked out amidst intense discussions with tickets in their hands. I caught sight of the girl who had previously walked out being pacified by the ‘Wake Up Pakistan’ team. So I guess at the end of the day, even cynics and pessimists would feel a trickle of hope lurking around the corner. Who are we to judge? This could be the beginning of something amazing. And for our country’s sake, let’s hope it is.