|
| Liberal extremists |
 |
|
|
Thursday, April 16, 2009
|
This refers to Ansar Abbasi's front-page report
in this paper (April 13), where he labels those who were opposed to
the "peace deal" in Swat as "NGO racketeers", "liberal extremists",
and "confused souls".
If Mr Abbasi looks up a good dictionary, he would find that a liberal
is one who believes in basic human freedoms: Economic, political,
religious, and of expression. An extremist, on the other hand, is one
who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views and
resorts to extreme action to impose his/her views on others.
Therefore, liberalism and extremism are mutually exclusive, and the
term "liberal extremist" can, at best, be called illiterate and, at
worst, idiotic. If Mr Abbasi is that opinionated, he could use the
op-ed pages to vent his judgment rather than expressing his opinions
in "news reports".
And, how would Mr Abbasi feel if an "NGO racketeer" or a "confused
soul" foolishly refers to journalists that he/she does not like as: "Lifafa
journalists" or "Media Mujahideen".
Aziz Akhmad
Islamabad
|
|