Shared by Tahir Mahmood

In this interesting article the author writes that the resilient people of Pakistan are keeping the country together and stepping up, despite the failure of the Government, whenever the the country needs them.The author writes in concluding paragraph;( F.Sheikh)

“The question, in the years ahead, is whether Pakistan’s resilient society can beat back the cresting waves of militancy and sectarianism that threaten to tear Pakistan apart and, one day, even plunge it into civil war. Balkanisation, more so than an Islamist takeover, is a very real threat to the Pakistani state.

Up to now, the Pakistani society has stepped in to provide services and fill roles where the government is absent. Yet this isn’t a sustainable strategy. To avert disaster in the decades ahead, the Pakistani state will need to step up — and provide the leadership and good judgment long exemplified by its society.” Click link to read full article.

http://dawn.com/2012/12/21/why-pakistan-is-not-a-failed-state/

Shared by Shoeb Amin.

Strength is not in the numbers, only 0.2% are responsible for a large proportion of the world ‘s discoveries and contributions to every sphere of knowledge.(F.Sheikh)

The article in The Pew Forum.

“Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group. A comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life estimates that there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.” To read Full Article click link below;

http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-exec.aspx

Shared by Tahir Mahmood

It is a great article and raises serious questions not just for people back home in Pakistan, but also for all the Muslims living in the West. It is like elephant in the room and no one wants to talk about it. In the West, every few months we hear news of some young Muslim apprehended for planning a terrorist act. We mostly dismiss such news as entrapment by law enforcement agency, act of some misguided disturbed individual or come up with some lame conspiratorial excuse. Are we, the Muslims in the West, shrugging off our responsibility to look deeply into this problem and find out why these young individual are prone to such entrapment in the first place? Should not we be having this discussion in the Islamic Centers as well as on dinner tables to prevent these horrible acts that are poisoning the future of our young generation?   Even one such incidence is too many, and every one of us-every one of us -suffers the consequences and pays the price for such acts. Such acts do not advance any cause and hurt Muslims more than anyone else.( F. Sheikh )

The author writes about situation in Pakistan;

“This is not to suggest that average Pakistanis actively embrace or advocate violent extremism. However, average Pakistanis do often relate to, justify, and refuse to unconditionally condemn the ideologies driving violent extremism – even when it directly impacts their lives in the form of suicide bombings or militant attacks. This accommodation of the extremist mindset creates political space and a favourable environment for radical groups to thrive in.”

Click link below to read full article;

http://dawn.com/2012/12/17/extremism-and-mainstream-pakistan/

This article forwarded by Shoeb Amin

People gather for the Reason Rally on the National Mall March 24, 2012 in Washington, D.C.Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

“A new report from the International Humanist and Ethical Union names the seven countries in which atheists can be executed for their beliefs: Afghanistan, Iran, Maldives, Mauritania, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/12/11/atheists_and_capital_punishment_iheu_report_documents_criminalization_discrimination.html