That this House deplores the reported comments of the Pakistan Minister for Religious Affairs, Ijaz ul-Haq, who apparently believes it would be legitimate for a suicide bomber to take the life of Salman Rushdie following the award of a knighthood for his literary achievements; further deplores the resolution of Pakistan's lower House of Parliament condemning the author's knighthood; believes that such utterances reflect medieval attitudes which damage Pakistan's reputation in the world; and urges the country to embrace modernity and tolerate differences in views and in religion.Ann Cryer has signed it, along with Mike Penning and Andrew George. Where are the rest of them though? Yes yes, I know I moan about the waste of money most motions are, but at last there is one that is mildly worthy and only four people have bother to sign it.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Gordon Prentice slams Pakistan's "medieval attitudes"
He may be a lefty but at least someone said it,
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7 comments:
I don't want to carp, because Gordon Prentice is way ahead of the rest of them, but he also ought to have included, "and I would remind the prime minister of Pakistan that who Queen Elizabeth II chooses to elevate to a knighthood has absolutely nothing to do with the Pakistani parliament or any Pakistani government minister."
Also, "medieval" was wrong. islam is pre-medieval. It is from the Dark Ages - around 800.
Ann Cryer is one stand-up dude.
He forgot to include the words "tax exile", "arrogant tosser" and "miserabalist".
Arise Sir Tax Exile ...
Chris Paul - always running for the last train and always missing it.
"Tax exile", "arrogant tosser" and "miserabilist" are not germane to the fact that HM Queen Elizabeth is free to honour whomever she, her palace advisors or the prime minister wishes It is not the business of the primitives in the Pakistani parliament, even if they weren't primitives, which they are, to try to intervene in British domestic matters.
Andrew Marr, of all people, suggests in The Times that perhaps the Pakistanis should express their outrage that the Queen is honouring someone against they hold a medieval prejudice, they should hand us back our millions of pounds in aid.
I think a better route would be for us to demand the return of the aid.
Instead we get a weak, obscene, sad excuse for a Foreign Minister APOLOGISING to Pakistan.
Are everyone at the FO on drugs ???
I wonder who nominated Rushdie? If it was Blair, or someone close to him then I could be cynical and possibly think that the award was a deliberate political provocation.?
Someone at the Cabinet Office and the FO must have worked out the kind of response that it would invoke.
Hmmm, that would justify the 26,000 bits of legislation that they have put in place ?
Pakistan's about to go tits up if you ask me. To think that fool Clinton let them get nukes.
It certainly isn't acceptable for Pakistan to be interfering in British domestic affairs. However by propping-up Musharraf it's not like we're minding our own business - is it?
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