If the Pakistanis don't behave themselves them I'm afraid the British will have to re-colonise them and civilise them once more, just as they did during the days of Empire when Pakistan was part of India. They took part in something they love doing - burning effigies. These were effigies of the Queen and British author Sir Salman Rushdie.
And all this isn't even against Pakistan. It's Britain's way of retaliating against the Iranians for the kidnapping of out service personnel.......
Rushdie's knighthood 'justifies suicide attacks'
By Peter Foster, South Asia Correspondent
18/06/2007
The Telegraph
A Pakistani cabinet minister said today that the decision to knight Sir Salman Rushdie was a justification for suicide bombing, after the parliament in Islamabad condemned the honour as "blasphemous and insulting" to the world’s Muslims.
Pakistanis attack "Little Satan" (Britain): The protests on the streets of Multan in Pakistan echo the angry demonstrations when The Satanic Verses was published in 1989
As MPs issued a demand for the award to be immediately withdrawn, the religious affairs minister, Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq, said: "The West always wonders about the root cause of terrorism. Such actions [giving Rushdie a knighhood] are the root cause of it.
"If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammad, his act is justified."
The parliament passed a unanimous resolution deploring the honour as an open insult to the feelings of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.
Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, the minister for parliamentary affairs who tabled the motion, said that the knighthood was "a source of hurt for Muslims" and would encourage people to "commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad".
Mr ul-Haq then called on Pakistan and all other Muslim states to "break off diplomatic relations with Britain" if the knighthood was not withdrawn.
The minister was later forced to clarify his potentially highly inflammatory statement, saying that he was speaking about the wider causes of terrorism and not of Sir Salman specifically.
The commotion in Pakistan comes after Iran expressed similar sentiments at the weekend and will again raise concerns for Sir Salman's safety almost 20 years after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
Pakistan’s religious parties ordered supporters onto the streets of two provincial cites today. Effigies of both the Queen and Sir Salman were burned while some protestors chanted "Kill him! Kill him!"
Sir Salman, 59, who said he was "thrilled" to be knighted, was forced to live in hiding for nine years after Iran’s late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill the British author for allegedly insulting Islam’s holy Prophet in The Satanic Verses.
It was not until 1998, when the Iranian government said that it would not support the outstanding fatwa, that Rushdie took the decision to return to public life.
Tonight British officials are waiting nervously for further reaction to the award at a time when Pakistani society - already volatile following weeks of political protests against the country’s President, Gen Pervez Musharraf - is becoming more increasingly radicalised.
Robert Brinkley, Britain’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, defended the decision to honour Sir Salman for his 13 books which have won numerous awards, including the 1981 Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children.
"It is simply untrue to suggest that this in anyway is an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammed, and we have enormous respect for Islam as a religion and for its intellectual and cultural achievements," he said.
Asked if he was concerned it could provoke unrest in Pakistan, Mr Brinkley said: "We will just have to see where it goes from here. There’s certainly no reason for that."
telegraph.co.uk
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It doesn't take a lot for our former Indian subcontinent colonials to take to the streets and do some effigy-burning.
And all this isn't even against Pakistan. It's Britain's way of retaliating against the Iranians for the kidnapping of out service personnel.......
Rushdie's knighthood 'justifies suicide attacks'
By Peter Foster, South Asia Correspondent
18/06/2007
The Telegraph
A Pakistani cabinet minister said today that the decision to knight Sir Salman Rushdie was a justification for suicide bombing, after the parliament in Islamabad condemned the honour as "blasphemous and insulting" to the world’s Muslims.
Pakistanis attack "Little Satan" (Britain): The protests on the streets of Multan in Pakistan echo the angry demonstrations when The Satanic Verses was published in 1989
As MPs issued a demand for the award to be immediately withdrawn, the religious affairs minister, Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq, said: "The West always wonders about the root cause of terrorism. Such actions [giving Rushdie a knighhood] are the root cause of it.
"If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the Prophet Mohammad, his act is justified."
The parliament passed a unanimous resolution deploring the honour as an open insult to the feelings of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims.
Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, the minister for parliamentary affairs who tabled the motion, said that the knighthood was "a source of hurt for Muslims" and would encourage people to "commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad".
Mr ul-Haq then called on Pakistan and all other Muslim states to "break off diplomatic relations with Britain" if the knighthood was not withdrawn.
The minister was later forced to clarify his potentially highly inflammatory statement, saying that he was speaking about the wider causes of terrorism and not of Sir Salman specifically.
The commotion in Pakistan comes after Iran expressed similar sentiments at the weekend and will again raise concerns for Sir Salman's safety almost 20 years after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
Pakistan’s religious parties ordered supporters onto the streets of two provincial cites today. Effigies of both the Queen and Sir Salman were burned while some protestors chanted "Kill him! Kill him!"
Sir Salman, 59, who said he was "thrilled" to be knighted, was forced to live in hiding for nine years after Iran’s late spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill the British author for allegedly insulting Islam’s holy Prophet in The Satanic Verses.
It was not until 1998, when the Iranian government said that it would not support the outstanding fatwa, that Rushdie took the decision to return to public life.
Tonight British officials are waiting nervously for further reaction to the award at a time when Pakistani society - already volatile following weeks of political protests against the country’s President, Gen Pervez Musharraf - is becoming more increasingly radicalised.
Robert Brinkley, Britain’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, defended the decision to honour Sir Salman for his 13 books which have won numerous awards, including the 1981 Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children.
"It is simply untrue to suggest that this in anyway is an insult to Islam or the Prophet Mohammed, and we have enormous respect for Islam as a religion and for its intellectual and cultural achievements," he said.
Asked if he was concerned it could provoke unrest in Pakistan, Mr Brinkley said: "We will just have to see where it goes from here. There’s certainly no reason for that."
telegraph.co.uk
***************************
It doesn't take a lot for our former Indian subcontinent colonials to take to the streets and do some effigy-burning.
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