Citizens for Democracy: “Silence Means More Blood” Letter signing campaign

Thousands of people from all walks of life joined hands with Citizens for Democracy (CFD), by participating and signing letters in the interfaith harmony drive “Silence Means More Blood” launched by CFD on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

At a camp set up in front of Jahangir Kothari Parade, opposite Park Towers, Clifton, Karachi, people signed and posted letters addressed to the president, prime minister, interior minister, chief justice of Pakistan, and Chief Ministers, for interfaith harmony and action against calls for violence and vigilante justice. The letter demands that notice and action be taken against the rampant lawlessness in Pakistan, in an atmosphere “in which extremist and militant forces are operating with impunity, and where calls to murder and violence are publicly made, celebrated and rewarded”.



Referring to the murder of Federal Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti and governor Salmaan Taseer, the letter urges the government and its functionaries to swiftly apprehend, charge, try and punish their murderers. It urges political parties, parliamentarians and government functionaries “to take a clear stand” on the blasphemy issue: “no citizen has the right to cast aspersions on the faith and beliefs of any other citizen or to term someone a ‘blasphemer,’ ‘kafir,’ or ‘non-Muslim’.”

The campaign aimed to dissipate the atmosphere of intimidation, draw people out of their homes and enable them to speak up and voice their concerns by directing them to the relevant authorities. The signature campaign will be taken to other parts of the city including North Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Boulton Market etc., as well as to other cities of Pakistan.

By the end of the day, over 10,000 signatures had been collected. Among those who came and signed the letter including notable personalities like Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, Nasreen Jalil (former naib nazim, Karachi), Senator Hasil Bizenjo (National Party), Najmi Alam (president PPP, Karachi), Fauzia Wahab (PPP), Hameed Haroon (CEO, Dawn Media Group), Hameed Maker (Helpline Trust), Ahmed Chinoy (chairman CPLC), editors of Newsline, Herald, Dawn and several other publications, Asad Saeed (economist), Atiqa Odho and Umar Sayeed (designer).

Comments

9 responses to “Citizens for Democracy: “Silence Means More Blood” Letter signing campaign”

  1. Dr.Jawwad Khan Avatar

    true…silence means more blood…

    Now raise your voice against those innocent civilians who murdered in drone attacks..

  2. latest news pakistan Avatar

    For every nation democracy is very good.

  3. Sakib Ahmad Avatar

    "The letter demands that notice and action be taken against the rampant lawlessness in Pakistan, in an atmosphere in which extremist and militant forces are operating with impunity, and where calls to murder and violence are publicly made, celebrated and rewarded”.

    If you want large numbers of Pakistanis to sign this petition then you must make it clear that an important reason for the 'rampant lawlessness' is the presence in Pakistan of the "extremist and militant forces" in the form of Blackwater/Xe contractors and their CIA handlers. If you do not have the guts to say so then keeping your mouth shut is preferable to uttering feeble platitudes.

    You seem to equate the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti with the killing of Governor Taseer by the fanatic Mumtaz Qadri. Murder by terrorists and murder by fanatics are two very different things. The fanatics can be reformed through provision of justice, education and equal opporturnities in life. Not so the terrorists.

    The terrorism that has engulfed Pakistan has its source in Musharraf’s decision to prostrate himself before the Americans. The pattern of terrorism in Pakistan has followed similar outrages in Iraq. In particular, the establishment of “Pakistani Taliban” by the CIA was a “master stroke” in the latter’s plans to terrorise Pakistani society and to gain entry into Pakistan as its “saviours”. The arrest of “Raymond Davis” has brought home to gullible Pakistanis the close link between the Pakistani Taliban and the CIA.

    We must learn to distinguish between out and out terrorists and Muslim fanatics such as Mumtaz Qadri and the ignorant hordes supporting him. The fanatics tend to act on the spur of the moment, with minimal planning. The clever planning behind the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti points to the involvement of people who knew well about Mr Bhatti’s movements. The circumstantial evidence appears to point towards the CIA-Pakistani Taliban-Interior Ministry collusion.

    The culprits made one extraordinary blunder when they carelessly tossed around leaflets – apparently, some time after the murder – with Rasul-Allah’s name printed on them. No Muslim fanatics would ever do a thing like that – getting Rasul-Allah’s name trampled underfoot would be inconceivable. The other mistake the USA government has made is to cave in to CIA’s pressure and continue to claim “diplomatic immunity” for the CIA’s asset “Raymond Davis”. Once his trial gets under way – if it does – we may learn the hideous truth behind a lot of terrorist acts carried out in Pakistan in the recent past.

    A lot of what happens in Pakistan is an illusion which shields the ugly reality.

  4. dr.music Avatar
    dr.music

    As Pope Benedict quoted at Regensburg, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman." Egypt will not recover until it can be cleansed of the radioactive fallout of Allah and his Sharia. — Pastorius

    Islam – THE CULT for the complete retard !

    Are you an abject loser? Has being a loser filled you with bitter hatred for the culture you've been raised in? No respect? Come try the Islam CULTand turn your life around. In the CULT of Islam being a loser is a bonus. Come join us, and never be a lonely loser again.

    Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, used to wear women's clothing especially Aisha's dress. That's how the halucinations came to him.

  5. dr.music Avatar
    dr.music

    When the whole world turns muslim and the real muslim age will start that will be the final passing of our lovely age that we had always thought that it would last forever and we'd live on mars and have fancy toys and all would be happy and lovely ….but we hadn't the guts to stop islam and then every one had to turn muslim OR DIE and hell started and suddenly we were and will always be in the seventh century barbariaty and before we know it we AND OUR CHILDREN were the imposed dynosaurs thanks to islam …. the days of logic had long passed … passed ….passed…

    And what the brits and the yanks and all all all non-muslims don't understand is that the islam juggernaut is going to show the world just how it's going to happen to everyone else…as the british scream and shout at islam to behave islam is just not listening …as islam boot-crushes the UK first and turns it's head and attention to the next nearby victim…the rest of the planet will feel fear and fear only…then it's just a matter of time…. the full world will be muslim.

    welcome to the glorious age of islam…our sweet and dear great grand children will be in it as muslims.

    The teenager of tomorrow is named Mohammed, and he takes his inspiration not from the constitutional laws, but the vile Koran. His heroes are not MAHATMA GANDHI or Winston Churchill or George Washington, but that bloody butcher of men and raper of women and little girls, the Islamic self proclaimed prophet Mohammed. When he plays video games, he imagines that the men he's killing are the soldiers returning home from fighting against teenagers just like him in Iraq or Afghanistan. Sooner or later, he dreams of being able to do the same thing. He thinks of non-muslim girls as whores, of non-muslim culture as corrupt and worthless, and feels he owes no obedience to its laws or its governments. The word 'Islamophobia' makes him chuckle. He likes the idea that the natives are afraid of him. "They should be," he thinks. They should be indeed.because evil is rising ….thru him …..watch….

  6. dr.music Avatar
    dr.music

    Soon the whole world will be muslim.superb. Children will be raped legally because mohammad did it. Too good .

    And murder will be sanctioned because mohammad did it. Super cool.

    Women will lose their faces and their identities and all dignity. Fantastic.

    What a glorious age it will be.

    Smelly beards and semen stains on clothes will be high fashion. So good.

    Islam is glorious. Islam is the one . What a planet it will be. Allah o akbar allah o akbar….allah o akbar…. Islam is on the march….allah o akbar….

  7. farrahshah Avatar
    farrahshah

    Shameful double standards of Pakistan ,USA and so called liberals use same Sharia law to allow Raymond Davis off the hook of two murders and they preach the world that Shariat law is a barbaric law.

    ..and on blasphemy it was most shamefully used as a tool against Zaid Hamid last year .This year same people are asking to abolish it.

    I by no means am advocating that people should be murdered or intolerant to the beliefs of other people but I do want to assert that prophet Muhammad (pbuh ) is the human being of highest order and Muslims demand respect for him and this should be respected everywhere in world

    If people cannot comment on hallocast ,cannot insult the gods of Hindus and Sikhs and Dalai Lama the same rule should be applied to the sacred personalities of Islam.

    1. Dr.Jawwad Khan Avatar

      can't agree more…but this time whole liberal and jeddah returned elite seems to be standing on same side..

      God damn wastage….simply a wastage

  8. dr.music Avatar
    dr.music

    Let's not forget that Islamic prayer includes a ritual of repeated MELODIC repetition of the first verse of the Koran, a verse that has been interpreted since its authoratative interpretation in medieval times, and still is today, to be a curse on Jews and Christians.

    The first Sura or chapter of the Koran contains the MELODIC CURSING of the Jews and Christians that is repeated five times daily in prayers. So the next time you hear the melodic Islamic call remember they aren’t calling you …they’re calling FOR your death.