By ASIF SHAHZAD
In
this photo taken on Monday, Dec. 5, 2012, Yahya Mujahid, the spokesman
for the Pakistani religious party Jamaat-ud-Dawa listens to a reporter
in Lahore, Pakistan. A series of provocative paintings of Muslim clerics
in scenes suggesting homosexuality has sparked a moral and legal crisis
at Pakistan’s leading arts college after extremists threatened
violence, declaring that the works insult Islam. Mujahid, who condemned
the paintings, said that “It’s part of Western and American plans to
malign Islam.” (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
LAHORE,
Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's leading arts college has pushed boundaries
before in this conservative nation. But when a series of paintings
depicting Muslim clerics in scenes with strong homosexual overtones
sparked an uproar and threats of violence by Islamic extremists, it was
too much.
Officials
at the National College of Arts in the eastern city of Lahore shut down
its academic journal, which published the paintings, pulled all its
issues out of bookstores and dissolved its editorial board. Still, a
court is currently considering whether the paintings' artist, the
journal's board and the school's head can be charged with blasphemy.
The
college's decision to cave to Islamist pressure underscores how space
for progressive thought is shrinking in Pakistan as hardline
interpretations of Islam gain ground. It was also a marked change for an
institution that has long been one of the leading defenders of liberal
views in the country.
Pakistan
is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, and the majority of its citizens
have long been fairly conservative. But what has grown more pronounced
in recent years is the power of religious hardliners to enforce their
views on members of the population who disagree, often with the threat
of violence.
The
government is caught up in a war against a domestic Taliban insurgency
and often seems powerless to protect its citizens. At other times it has
acquiesced to hardline demands because of fear, political gain or a
convergence of beliefs.
"Now
you have gun-toting people out there on the streets," said Saleema
Hashmi, a former head of arts college. "You don't know who will kill
you. You know no one is there to protect you."
The
uproar was sparked when the college's Journal of Contemporary Art and
Culture over the summer published pictures of a series of paintings by
artist Muhammad Ali.
Particularly
infuriating to conservatives were two works that they said insulted
Islam by mixing images of Muslim clerics with suggestions of
homosexuality, which is deeply taboo in Pakistan.
One
titled "Call for Prayer" shows a cleric and a shirtless young boy
sitting beside each other on a cot. The cleric fingers rosary beads as
he gazes at the boy, who seductively stretches backward with his hands
clasped behind his head.
Mumtaz
Mangat, a lawyer who petitioned the courts to impose blasphemy charges,
argued the image implied the cleric had "fun" with the boy before
conducting the traditional Muslim call for prayer.
A
second painting shows the same cleric reclining in front of a Muslim
shrine, holding a book by Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho in one hand as
he lights a cigarette for a young boy with the other. A second young
boy, who is naked with his legs strategically crossed to cover his
genitals, sits at the cleric's feet. The painting has caused particular
uproar because verses from Islam's holy book, the Quran, appear on the
shrine.
Aasim
Akhtar, an Islamabad-based art critic who wrote an essay accompanying
the paintings in the journal, wrote that Ali's mixing of images was
"deliberately, violently profane," aimed at challenge "homophobic"
beliefs that are widespread in Pakistani society.
"Ali
redefines the divine through a critique of authority and the hypocrisy
of the cleric," wrote Akhtar, an Islamabad-based art critic who is also
listed as a potential defendant in the blasphemy complaint.
Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
widely believed to be a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group,
issued a statement after the paintings were published demanding the
college issue a public apology and withdraw all issues of the journal.
College
staff members also began receiving anonymous text messages threatening
violence, said a member of the journal's editorial board. They were
afraid to push back for fear of being killed, he said, speaking on
condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted.
Extremists
gunned down two prominent Pakistani politicians last year for speaking
out against the country's harsh blasphemy laws, which can mean life in
prison or even death. Human rights activists have criticized the laws,
saying they are often used to persecute religious minorities or settle
personal scores.
Yahya
Mujahid, the spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, denied the group sent any
threats but said the state should punish those responsible.
"It's part of Western and American plans to malign Islam," claimed Mujahid.
A
court considering whether to press blasphemy charges held its latest
session in mid-December, but it has not said when it will rule whether
such charges apply in the case.
Shahram
Sarwar, a lawyer representing the college's editorial board, said his
clients did not intend to hurt anyone's feelings but he was prepared to
apologize on their behalf if they did.
Besides shutting down the journal, the college also closed the department where its staff worked, said Sarwar.
The
current head of the National Arts College, Shabnam Khan, denied the
institution caved to pressure from hardliners, saying the editorial
staff quit voluntarily. She said the department was closed because no
one was left to run it.
A
member of the editorial board disputed this version of events, saying
the college administration asked him and his colleagues to resign. He
spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by
extremists.
The
school has long been a progressive voice. A research project at the
college in 2008 focused on the idea that rising Islamic conservatism and
violent religious fanaticism was a fundamental threat to peace and
democracy in Pakistan. In the 1980s, when former dictator Gen. Zia
ul-Haq, a notorious Islamist, ordered all female students and teachers
to cover their hair, the college pushed back.
Individual
graduates have pushed the envelope with their work. Amra Khan's latest
work, which was exhibited at the college and a gallery in Karachi this
year, included Muslim veils embroidered with a pink Playboy bunny and
The Rolling Stones' big red lips logo.
Evidence
of the growing influence of Islamic hardliners abounds in Pakistan. In
September, clerics wielding sticks forced their way into a wedding
reception in the southern city of Ghotki to stop the guests from singing
and dancing. A different set of clerics forced a five-star hotel to
cancel a planned concert in August in the northwest town of Bhurban
because they argued the music was counter to Islam.
Hardliners
have had success influencing Pakistani institutions as well. The
Supreme Court ordered the country's media regulatory body in August to
look into blocking "vulgar" and "obscene" content on TV in response to a
petition filed by conservative Islamists.
In
November, the government's telecommunications arm banned late-night
cell phone call packages, saying they encouraged immoral behavior by
young people. The government banned YouTube earlier this year because of
an anti-Islam video posted on the site, and one of the country's
highest courts has blocked access to Facebook twice because of material
considered anathema to Islam.
Khan,
the head of the college, refused to discuss the case in more detail
because of the court proceedings, but said that people across the
political spectrum were becoming more alarmed by the use of violence to
enforce views.
"I
have heard recently even from conservative people that enough is
enough," said Khan. "It is wrong that people interfere in others' lives,
that people interfere in others' beliefs."
Associated Press
Thanks
ReplyDelete