Calling All Pakistanis - Brilliant Article by Thomas Friedman - Must read

Check out this awesome article by Thomas Friedman in NYT. He raises some valid questions.

"On Feb. 6, 2006, three Pakistanis died in Peshawar and Lahore during violent street protests against Danish cartoons that had satirized the Prophet Muhammad. More such mass protests followed weeks later. When Pakistanis and other Muslims are willing to take to the streets, even suffer death, to protest an insulting cartoon published in Denmark, is it fair to ask: Who in the Muslim world, who in Pakistan, is ready to take to the streets to protest the mass murders of real people, not cartoon characters, right next door in Mumbai?"

"After all, if 10 young Indians from a splinter wing of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party traveled by boat to Pakistan, shot up two hotels in Karachi and the central train station, killed at least 173 people, and then, for good measure, murdered the imam and his wife at a Saudi-financed mosque while they were cradling their 2-year-old son — purely because they were Sunni Muslims — where would we be today? The entire Muslim world would be aflame and in the streets."

"Because, I repeat, this kind of murderous violence only stops when the village — all the good people in Pakistan, including the community elders and spiritual leaders who want a decent future for their country — declares, as a collective, that those who carry out such murders are shameful unbelievers who will not dance with virgins in heaven but burn in hell. And they do it with the same vehemence with which they denounce Danish cartoons."

I guess this is something we can all agree with. What do you guys think?

 

i should say... excellent point made..! Highly debatable topic...

but you are saying it right...

 

And you take Mr Friedman seriously? Contentedge, let me ask you personal question, are you in high school by any chance? because this article is in no way brilliant, I don't say this because I am Pakistani, I say this as a student of knowledge and I know when an article is "brilliant" when I read it. And sorry to burst your bubble, Mr Friedman is spewing hatred, be it as hidden as he wants, but he is.

Now to further illustrate my point, I will post some comments which readers have recommended and editors selected:

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I think I'll stop here with these two comments, you can read up on more comments and take what you want from them. Find out what "brilliant" really is. Good day!

 

Some of my Indian friends who worked in Arabia says, Pakistani people are extremy good at heart and very loyal to their friends. Whenever they had problems their Pakistani roommate was always there for him even when their other Indian friends acted selfishly. It is sad that a fraction of extremists are spoiling the name of a nation as well as their religion.
I think even the Pakistani government do not want to fight with India. But their military is not really in control of their civilian government.

I agree with Thomas Friedman. But he should realize that the same goes for Russia & USA. United States is building missile shields in Russian border, backing Georgia to fight Russians....etec.. and none complaints. What happens if tomorrow when Americans wake up, they see Russia built a Missile shield in Mexico, moved their forces to Cuba and is establishing a new military base in Canada. The whole world will start moaning...
Well the world is full of hypocrites.

 

recommended by 486+1 readers:

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I am not being ignorant here, I am merely pointing out the faults and double-standards in that article by your "brilliant" Friedman.

 

contentedge,
There is no point in blaming Pakistani's. If you have ever read "How to Win and Influence People" you know that, people never ever like to be criticized. The Pakistani terrorist who killed people in India believed what they did was right, though killing innocent people isn't advised in any religion.

M5love,
There is no need to post all the comments against Friedman here. You made your point by posting the fist two comments. There are many comments supporting Friedman as well. So if guys starts posting them here, this thread will just keep dragging.

I feel all the good people in Pakistan and India should join to fight against terrorism. Remember Pakistan is also suffering due to these killers. (Remember Benazir & Marriot hotel??)
Don't you think at least the webmasters from India and Pakistan can work together instead of blaming each other? Why don't you guys think about starting a project together for the cause of peace instead of all these hatred?

-Neo

 

^ Great advice my man! Thank you, more people like you are needed in this world.

 

how are the comments prooving the article is not brilliant? And how exactly is he "spewing hatred"? Perhaps you could take his statements one by one and explain which one are the ones untrue and spewing hatred, because the article makes absolutely perfect sense to me

 

"And how about a serious plan to resolve the Kashmir issue, which apparently is the most likely cause for the nightmare attack on Mumbai? This plus generous aid programs that are not burdened with bureaucracy, pay-offs, and distrusting the 'real people' in India, Pakistan, and the region."

So, let me get this straight. The hidden message in this comment, according to me at least, is that these attacks will continue unless India solves the Kashmir problem. Am I right? Could you enlighten me?

 

Dude, you gotta stop focusing on little things and look at the big picture. If you want to play that game be my guest, but I won't stick around for that to waste time. Read it again the article and read all comments, maybe you can enlighten me as how it's brilliant?

 

LOL. You stole the words from my mouth. The right answer to the questions raised in the article would be 'yes, we need to protest'. An honest answer to the questions raised in the article would be 'no, we won't do that coz we don't care'. You chose to ignore both and came up with the age old argument of 'Iraq, Afghanistan, blah, blah, blah.' If you really think about it, it's not about someone else 'asking' you to do something. If there is an accusation on your country, it's your duty to clarify it. But then, you people, as always, have chosen to deny anything and everything. This proves my point better, I guess?

 

Look buddy, Marriott hotel was burnt down to the ground, did the Indians go out on the streets to protest?
You see I can go back and forth bringing up these nonsensical arguments just like you do all the time. I gave my answer, if that's not the answer that sounds good to your ears, that's not my problem.

 

WTF? Was Marriott Hotel burnt down by Indians? If your country gets torn apart by terrorists from your own territory, no one has a problem. If they cross borders and come to another country and create havoc, then it is a problem. Got it?

 

A large majority of the 100,000 Muslims killed in Iraq were killed by other muslims

 

He makes a valid point, as long as terrorism is tolerated and promoted in the community its not going to stop.

 

Where are you gettting that number from? It's more like 1.3MILLION IRAQIS killed since this war started. Save your "killed by other muslims" argument for someone else. In a war, one doesn't look at religion. There are American Muslim soldiers down in Iraq, Iraqi police, and resistance. The cause of all this is the WAR, the so-called "war on terrorism" "WMD"..etc. and this was started by America. I blame the 1.3 million dead on America and their allies, be they Muslim or not.

 

Does it include Pakistan as well? Pakistan had been an American ally for many years now.

 

In a Nutshell. Noone can judge the real situation by just articles mate. You blame India, you blame Pakistan, You blame America. In the End, its not what goes on outside, but that goes on inside that really matters. By inside, I mean the Governments. So Human Sentiments don't really matter.

Anyone has a Problem, tell that to your Governments.

 

Lets see... the Friedman article has 3 points:

1. Violent protests about the '06 cartoons caused deaths of Paki's
2. If the Mumbai situation were reversed, the Muslim world would be aflame with protest
3. HIS CONCLUSION:this kind of murderous violence only stops when the village — all the good people in Pakistan, including the community elders and spiritual leaders who want a decent future for their country — declares, as a collective, that those who carry out such murders are shameful unbelievers who will not dance with virgins in heaven but burn in hell. And they do it with the same vehemence with which they denounce Danish cartoons."

And M5love of course thinks Friedman is spreading hate?

OK, it points a light on a problem instead of glorifying even gross errors by Pakistani's... but specifically WHICH of the 3 points do you disagree with? The first is a matter of history, the second is pretty hard to dispute, the third should be pretty obvious. Which is wrong?