An letter of protest against the editorial policy of PTH : Stop Ideological Pinko-McCarthies Now!

Dear readers, it seems that the debate on PTH’s editorial policy is not over. After strong letters of protest from freethinker, Sheharyar Ali, our regular writer Yasser Hamdani has also protested against the editorial policy.  It is only fair to publish this. However, I hope that comments on this post will NOT be personal and only address the issues raised by Yasser.  RR (ed)

Dear Raza,

Before my piece titled “Brownies for Pinkos: Freethinking Paki style”, which was a rebuttal to a personal attack on me,   I had refrained from personalizing my articles.   I’d rather discuss history and ideas than discuss the perceived shortcomings of fellow interactors.  However things have come to such an impasse that I am forced to write a letter that is personal in nature to say the least but is one that I am forced to write primarily because of Pak Tea House’s unwillingness to stand up to bullies.

As a long time contributor to PakTeaHouse,  I am very disappointed by events as they have occurred on PakTeaHouse which is a travesty. Even if this letter is a rant,  I hope you will accord me the same courtesy you have given to Shaheryar Ali and Freethinker by passing off their inane nonsense and libelous crap as intellectual debate.   It is only fair.  Now I don’t wish aggrandize myself – at least not in the terms that Sheharyar and Freethinker love to aggrandize themselves.  I don’t wish to write about what Pakistan means to me and what flag I wear on my chest.  I think this is intellectual dishonesty at its worst and this is something only people without substance do.   That said,  I do wish to restate what I believe to be the principles I follow – as I do not consider myself an impartial observer but very much a partisan contributor and this is my role:

1. I am a Pakistani first and foremost and I am not going to apologize for that.

2. I believe in a separation of church and state.

3. I hope to see a Pakistan run by a free constitution and justice dispensed by an independent judiciary.

These three points- in this order- are the pillars of my political discourse or rant or whatever you wish to call it. My idea of Pakistan,  borrowed from the father of this nation, Mahomed Ali Jinnah,  is of a pluralistic democratic republic where everyone regardless of their religion, caste, creed, socio-economic class or gender should be allowed to live to as an equal citizen of the state.    This is the sum total of my political beliefs.   Beyond this I don’t believe in any ideology nor do I wish to restrict myself to name-dropping or dogma of any kind – religious or otherwise.   Now all these ideas seem unpalatable to some group or the other.  That I stress Pakistan’s interest in my writings upsets the Pinkos- that I stress the need for a secular Pakistan upsets the Mullahs (and those Pinkos who wish to denigrate the creation of Pakistan itself).   But most of all, it convinces me that I am on the right track for only the truth has that special “mirchi” effect.  Now Shaheryar Ali has indulged me in several debates on PakTeaHouse.  He attacked me when I called for the left and right to unite for the independence of judiciary and against Musharraf’s dictatorship.    He attacked me when I quoted historical documents to give my point of view on the issue of NWFP and Pushtun Nationalism.     He attacked me on the issue of Turkish Nationalism because I happened to quote Kemal Ataturk himself on the matter. (Apparently Shaheryar Ali is upset that some of us consider Kemal Ataturk a better authority on Turkish Nationalism than Mr. Ali).   I do not have a problem with his “attacks”.  The record shows that his attacks -intemperate and foolish as they are-  cannot be sustained by evidence of history.   Mr. Ali has made a career out of namedropping but that has been his greatest undoing over here because I have quoted texts authored by those very people – such as Hamza Alavi and Eqbal Ahmad-  that contradict everything that Ali claimed.  He also attacked me, indeed this is his biggest issue with me,  for criticizing Stalinist authoritarian regimes and their treatment of dissent, which includes- though I did not state it then- inter alia homosexuality (case in point: persecution of homosexuality in Stalinist Cuba for example).   Because I do not limit my criticism to the right wing and because I am not a communist,  I, therefore, must be a right winger and a stooge of Western Imperialism.  Yet,  Shaheryar Ali has been unable to fit me neatly into that category.   Perhaps had he considered the fact that human beings need not be boxed in, irrevocably, into compartments of his own choosing, he would be a little more tolerant of dissenting point of view,  a little less like right winger firebrand Joseph McCarthy who – much in the same fashion – had hunted down ordinary Americans of a liberal mindset for being communists.   Indeed how ironic for common folk?  If you believe in certain basic things, you are automatically labelled communist and yet the communists call the same people rightwingers and stooges of Western Imperialism.    At the end of the day it is a lack of acceptance

It is probably this frustration that has forced Shaheryar Ali to write articles – specifically addressing me-  which is alright because I can handle the sophomoric garbage contained in them. What I can’t handle is passing of libel as legitimate counter point of view.

In your introduction you wrote:  I am publishing this letter as it raises some critical points about history, etymology and things that we tend to overlook or just take as given due to the prevalent socio-cultural norms. Forgive me for saying this but this is hogwash.   There were no critical points about history, etymology and things we tend to overlook.  Shaheryar Ali’s letter was littered with references copied and pasted from Wikipedia, none of which suggested that the term “Pinko” was an attack on homosexuals.  You are well aware of my record, both here in Pakistan and the United States. I am one of the very few writers of Muslim origin who stood by Irshad Manji’s right to be a Lesbian Muslim refusenik.   No honest person can ever accuse me of “Pakistani Straight Muslim Guy” bigotry.  I find it rather strange that “freethinker” types stretch all logic way beyond any conceivable elascisity to prove that somehow usage of the word “Pinko” or “Meesna” is indicative of  but cannot challenge those who actually do discriminate against them.    Am I a soft target because I would never respond by invoking scripture or declaring that homosexuality is abominable?

You also know very well that the reason why Shaheryar Ali wrote that article was because he and his friend had no response to issues I raised about Gandhi,  from his own collected works and the attempt to paint me with the brush of a homophobe was simply a case of misdirection.  Yet it did not stop you from publishing the said libelous piece against me, quite clearly written by either someone who is a raving lunatic or simply a dishonest crook.   My own feeling is that Shaheryar Ali is a bit of both.  I have already responded to the salient points of Mr. Ali’s hogwash on his own board and do not wish to restate my response here.

Perhaps you,  as the owner of PakTeaHouse, don’t have any regard for me or my reputation –  which this libelous piece throws dirt on. That is alright.  But atleast see what this has done to PakTeaHouse.   Not only have you been forced to put everyone on moderation,  but you’ve forced people to watch what they say.   Apparently even the use of the word “meesna” has become offensive.  It is one thing that Mr. “Freethinker”  has found his straight and narrow path to  freethinking heaven,  but why must he impose his views on others?  Haven’t we suffered enough already on count of Islamo-fascists ?  Must we be censored by imagined “marginalization” on part of Pinko-fascists as well?   Such abridgement of freedom of speech is un-Pakteahouse-like.  You cannot allow Mullahs- be they of Islam or Hinduism or from the Church of Pinko-liberalism- run amok and force censorship where there is no cause.  You cannot allow emotional excuses and appeals to religion and authority to dictate your editorial policy.  Pakteahouse should not be a theocracy.   We have already had enough of that where we come from.

Yours sincerely,

Yasser Latif Hamdani