Fazlur Rehman’s movement seems impressive, but only on the surface | The Indian Express

Fazlur Rehman’s movement seems impressive, but only on the surface | The Indian Express

Written by Khaled Ahmed |Updated: November 9, 2019 9:06:02 am

Khaled Ahmed was born in 1943 in Jallandhar during the siege of Stalingrad. He has been an opinion writer based in Pakistan for the past 40 years. Over his decades of experience, he has worked for <em>The Pakistan Times, The Nation, The Frontier Post, The Friday Times and The Daily Times, three of which have been closed down either permanently or temporarily. He is now consulting editor at Newsweek Pakistan, based in Lahore.</em> Ahmed graduated from Government College Lahore during the 1965 war with India with an MA (Honours) on the roll of honour, along with a diploma in German from Punjab University. In 1970, he received a diploma in Russian (Interpretation) from Moscow State University. In 2006, he wrote the book, Sectarian War: Sunni-Shia Conflict in Pakistan at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC.

Fazlur Rehman’s movement seems impressive, but only on the surface

What Pakistan has achieved in its 72 years of existence is the culture of insult. It is a nuclear power where the leaders, and their followers, speak a language unheard of in past civilisations. Some fulmination comes from religion, but not all.

Supporters of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party listen to their leaders during an anti-government march, in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP)

The plan to hold a “long march” to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan from power was called the “azadi march”, a name Khan had chosen for his own agitation against then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2014. But, in 2019, a long march has not been easy to organise.