163 quotes found
"This is our country too, this is not only Donald Trump’s country. He is an ignorant, divisive manipulator, and through my message I wish to convey to him and to all Muslim Americans: This is our country too."
"Nowhere but in the United States is it possible that an immigrant who came to the country empty-handed only a few years ago gets to stand in front of patriots and in front of a major political party. ... It is my small share to show the world, by standing there, the goodness of America."
"We always depended on his balanced approach to things."
"They did not call him Captain Khan, they called him 'our captain.'"
"I just can't seem to get my arms around the loss."
"Muslims are American, Muslims are citizens, Muslims participate in the well-being of this country as American citizens. We are proud American citizens. It’s the values of this country that brought us here, not our religion. Trump’s position on these issues do not represent those values."
"We still wonder what made him [Humayun] take those 10 steps [towards the car]. Maybe that’s the point where all the values, all the service to country, all the things he learned in this country kicked in. It was those values that made him take those 10 steps. Those 10 steps told us we did not make a mistake in moving to this country. These were the values we wanted to adopt. Not religious values, human values. Those values that he learned throughout his life came together and made him a brave American soldier. This country is not strong because of its economic power, or military power. This country is strong because of its values, and during this political season, we all need to keep that in mind."
"This is the time for us American Muslims to rat out any traitor who walks amongst us. This is high time for Muslims to stand firm [against terrorists], among us hides the enemies of the value system of this country. And we need to defend it. And if it means ratting out the traitors who hide behind an American passport, that’s what we need to do."
"I remember when my family arrived here and the first place we went was the , Jefferson’s ideals are the values that we have cherished as a family and as Americans."
"Like many immigrants, we came to this country empty-handed. We believed in American democracy — that with hard work and the goodness of this country, we could share in and contribute to its blessings."
"We were blessed to raise our three sons in a nation where they were free to be themselves and follow their dreams."
"Our son, Humayun, had dreams of being a military lawyer. But he put those dreams aside the day he sacrificed his life to save his fellow soldiers. Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son "the best of America.""
"If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country. Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "." Have you ever been to ? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one. We can't solve our problems by building walls and sowing division. We are Stronger Together."
"His policies, his practices, do not reflect that he has any understanding of the basic, fundamental constitutional principles of this country, what makes this country exceptional, what makes this country exceptional in the history of the mankind. There are principles of equal dignity, principle of liberty. He talks about excluding people, disrespecting judges, the entire judicial system, immigrants, Muslim immigrants. These are divisive rhetoric that is totally against the basic constitutional principle. If you read the Constitution, you will either deliberately would be violating those principles or you have not read. That is why I have watched whole ear and rest of the world has watched, and the love and affection and support that we have received after my statement, at every corner of the street, at every place. The affection, the support, the love that I have received, that we continue to receive is a testament that he is talking about ignorance. He is not fully aware of these principles."
"Two things are absolutely necessary in any leader or any person that aspires, wishes, to be a leader. That is moral compass and second is empathy. This candidate is void of both traits that are necessary for the stewardship of this country."
"I do not believe his whole year-long rhetoric, division, excluding people, talking about them derogatorily, has prepared him. He promised to the Republican leadership that he will change his manner, he will not be as ignorant as he had been. But he had continued. Those two traits of moral compass and empathy are absolutely necessary for the leader of a free world leader of nation like United States."
"This candidate for presidency to not be aware of the respect of a gold star mother standing there, and he had to take that shot at her, this is height of ignorance. This is why I showed him that Constitution. Had he read that, he would know what status a gold star mother holds in that nation. This country holds such a person in the highest regard. And he has no knowledge, no awareness. That is height of his ignorance. She is ill. She had high blood pressure. People that know her, looked at her face, and she said, "I may fall off the stage." And I told her that, you have to assemble yourself and stand for the beauty of this tribute that is being paid. This person is total incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him, teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become -- but he is a black soul. And this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country, the love and affection that we have received affirms that our beliefs, our experience in this country had been correct and positive. The world is receiving us like we have never seen. They have seen the blackness of his character, of his soul, that he is void of recognizing, empathizing with people."
"This nation, we live here so often -- we are here -- we become unappreciative of the goodness of this country, but we are testament to that. We live every day. I have a stack of this -- this beautiful document at my home. When guests come, I am so delighted to start the conversation by handing them a copy. Luckily, I had it in my pocket. I didn't know that I have it. My words were different. My words were: I hope you have read the Constitution. I hope you will look for the words of liberty and equal justice and equal dignity. When I was getting ready to come get in the cab to go to the convention, when I put my coat on, I touched it, and it was in my pocket. It is always -- whenever I wear a coat, it is in my pocket."
"I wanted to say, we reject all violence. We are faithful, patriotic, undivided loyalty to this country. We reject all terrorism. She asked me not to say that because that was not the occasion for such a statement. We say to his ignorance -- I address his ignorance -- that the direct effect, the most effect of the terrorism in -- the menace of terrorism had been Muslims in the world. Muslims hate this menace of terrorism as much as any other place. It is our duty to keep this country, our country, beautiful country, safe. We have always thought of that way. We will continue to do our part to keep it safe and beautiful. What he cites in the name of Islam and all that, that is not Islam at all. I wish he would have -- somebody would have put something in his head that these are terrorists, these are criminals. These folks have nothing to do with Islam."
"My wife, the brave mother of my son, Captain Humayun Khan. Hero of this country. We don't take these values lightly. We are testament to the goodness of this country. We experience the goodness of this country every day. It affirms our belief that we made the right choice. But then, to see when we got back home our four-year-old granddaughter said to her grandmother, "Why were you so upset? Why were you so sad?" A four-year-old person can feel that sadness, yet the candidate for the president of the United States cannot empathize with the people that he wishes to lead."
"I implored him (Donald Trump) to read the Constitution. Because that document, it wasn't just showing him the Constitution. I was pointing towards the values in that Constitution, enshrined foundation of this wonderful country and this nation. In another conversation, I asked and I appealed to the leadership of the Republican Party that they should disassociate themselves."
"Republican and Democrats are as patriotic as anyone else. This is a political process. It's a wonderful, beautiful political process. But in that political process, there are some moral, ethical values of this country that need to be maintained and managed."
"We are private people. We participated in this convention, because a tribute was being paid. And there was context to my conversation, was that we had been patiently been subjected to maligning of this candidate for a whole year. Enough is enough. ... Every decent Republican has rebuked his behavior; yet, nobody has stood up and said, "Enough, stop it. You will not be our candidate.""
"Republican and Democratic Party both are as patriotic as anywhere and anyone. Therefore, I am amazed at the love and care that we have received, that we continue to receive. And we will continue to speak up until this candidate behaves in a dignified manner deserving of the candidacy of this office."
"I have exactly the same rights as he does. He had been abusing, disrespecting women, judges, all decent Americans. He had been so abusive of them. I exercise exactly the same rights. That, again, proves his ignorance. He wants to have one set of rights for himself, and he wants to have another set of rights for others. No, somebody should tell him that there is equal dignity, equal protection of law in this country. That is why that Constitution came to play. I keep that in my pocket, because I cherish this document. I wish somebody would read it to him. Certain fundamental values that enshrine in this document."
"We want to maintain our dignity. We want to maintain my family's dignity, my son's dignity and sacrifice."
"Donald Trump needs to sit with his advisers and portray to this world that he is empathetic. You solve the problems with empathy, putting people together. There are bad people among us, but there are good people among us, as well. You gather good people to get rid of bad people, but you do not malign the whole religion -- the whole culture."
"We are the solution to the dealing with the terrorism in the United States. Join hands with good Muslims. Only war is not the solution. It is one of the solutions. Communities coming together is the solution. We are as concerned as Donald Trump is about the safety of this country. We are testament to the goodness of this country. We need to stop fighting with one another, but we need a leader that will unite us, not disrespect, not by derogatory remarks. I feel bad about the discourse that this campaign -- this election campaign has taken. We need to join hands. We have a very serious problem of this for the safety of the citizens of this country. We are solution. Look, the treatment of Muslims in France and other places, there is much worse security issues than United States does."
"He was a wonderful patriotic, deliberate person. The cadets of his school come to our home to pay tribute to him every year. We invite them to our home for a particular purpose. We give them a copy of the same Constitution that I have. I have a stack of it at home. There is a reason behind that, and that reason is for people to know when they step -- they comment."
"There are messages in here that we are all the same, regardless of our religions. Unite us, not divide us. Our cultures that follow these religions unite us. There is peace and harmony in these religions; and Captain Humayun laid the path for that. He -- I will give you one simple example of his character -- how he was. At University of Virginia in the basketball court, there were two teams used to play. African-American students and white American students always playing separately, not playing together, not talking to one another. He was the one that, one step at a time, he will drag one player to here and one player from there and bring them together. And in few weeks, the whole team was playing together. We received a delegation of those students after passing, and they said, "For all of our life he taught us how to come together." That is what he was. That is who he was. And to him, we pay tribute by this small gesture of trying to bring some peace in this political discourse. Trying to bring some respect towards each other. That is what he was. That is dedicated to his spirit."
"A man comes to him (Donald Trump), a veteran, so kindly, what a gracious man, hands him his Purple Heart. What he does, he deceives, thanks, puts in his pocket. Later on, pulls it out. I got this Purple Heart, so easy, I always wanted one. Donald Trump, you had the time, you did not serve. You know what he should have done? And listen to me and I want his surrogates to listen to me. You should have pinned that back to that veteran's chest. He wants to be the leader, commander in chief of this United States of America? That is the thoughtfulness? He should have put that Purple Heart back if he would have been sensible, he would have known what it takes to earn that Purple Heart."
"I really don't need any apology. My family doesn't need any apology. Apology is not what I am looking for. It is the empathy of his thinking and his thinking, the emptiness, the void. His thinking is totally void of empathy. So, apology is not needed. His saying my son is hero or not, that doesn't change anything. Today, somebody sent me the pictures of his grave site. Amazing, amazing outpouring of love and respect and flowers and people lined up there to pay respects and all that. That is more than enough for me. That is not going to come from Donald Trump or his surrogates."
"What is important to me now is that end this back and forth, back and forth that had been lack of caliber on the other side. Just imagine and I want to indulge all of his surrogates, after we made the speech, if Donald Trump would have not taken that cheap shot at the gold star mother, we'd not be having these conversations, these discussions. Sometime for a candidate for a higher office has to have the capacity to bear with the criticism. If I had exercised my First Amendment rights as Mr. Trump does, as Donald Trump does, again and again and again, as he had been maligning Hillary Clinton, calling her names and other leaders, if he can exercise the freedom of his speech rights, so can I. But he is the candidate for the highest office, a much larger caliber is needed, tolerance, patience. When a person becomes , president, you are president and Commander-in-Chief of everybody that has supported you and that has not supported you."
"I have no concern, I have no link, I have never been of that thought of that. I assure you I am an educated person. There is and I hope that other not so thoughtful Republican leaders are listening, there is constitutional amendment in the constitution of United States and that is called equal protection of law under 14th Amendment. Sharia Law as we have titled, there is no such thing as Sharia Law. These are laws of various Muslim countries which are hodgepodge of British laws, French laws, Portuguese laws. In there, there is tremendous discrimination of genders which disqualifies them under the constitution of the United States, cannot be implemented, cannot be brought. How can I be a person that has read this, I preach that, that I do not stand for any Sharia Law because there is no such thing."
"Lack of understanding, lack of factual correctness, it's just nothing but political vote pandering. They are trying to create this fear in people's mind. They have come up with this terms and these terminology that they continue to talk about without really knowing the facts about what they are talking. I want to put a footnote in front, I received information from where my website was, it is down now. This is the maliciousness and Donald Trump should say to his surrogates that no more, no more harm, no more ugliness. I received the call from the host of the website saying that we are receiving tremendous amount of hits and especially on certain pages of your website. I have a three-page small website and there is a risk that somebody will damage it, somebody may hack it. I asked them what do you suggest. They said under such circumstances, we normally keep it offline when this madness will go away, we will bring it back. I asked them to do that. To which I began to then receive e-mails and calls why your website is down, why your website is down. This is the ugliness of this discourse. There could be some civility in this discourse. It is a political discourse, of course. There could be some discussion of policy and all that instead of personal ugliness."
"So I am not engaging anymore because I see no hope, I do see hope where the people who are thinking to vote for this candidate, I think it is plenty clear, his surrogates will not admit, it's plenty clear to the world that this person is not fit for the office he's seeking. He wants to do everything, I will do it by myself, I will do it in democracy, you cannot do this. That is against the basic principle of democracy."
"Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart."
"You can sacrifice yourself, but you cannot take it that your kids will do this."
"We asked if there was some way he (Humayun Khan) could not go, because he had already done his service. He said it was his duty. I cannot forget when he was going to the plane, and he looked back at me. He was happy, and giving me strength: “Don’t worry, Mom. Everything will be all right.” ... I begged him to be safe. I asked him to stay back, and not to go running around trying to become a hero, because I knew he would do something like that. He said, “Mom, these are my soldiers, these are my people. I have to take care of them.” He was killed by a car bomber outside the gates of his base. He died trying to save his soldiers and innocent civilians."
"You know hearts of pain can never heal as long as we live. Just talking about it is hard for me all the time. Every day, whenever I pray, I have to pray for him, and I cry. The place that emptied will always be empty."
"Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?"
"Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. My religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in God’s eyes. Husband and wife are part of each other; you should love and respect each other so you can take care of the family. When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change, because terrorism is a different religion. Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means."
"There is no greater sacrifice than to lay down one's life for their country, and that's the sacrifice that Captain Humayum Khan made fighting to defend our freedom and our constitutional rights. He was a true American hero. The Khan family deserves nothing less than our deepest support, respect, and gratitude, and they have every right to express themselves in any way they choose. I am appalled that Donald Trump would disparage them and that he had the gall to compare his own sacrifices to those of a Gold Star family."
"Read the truth about your hero, Mr Khan who used his son as Political Pawn."
"Mr Khan, shame on you & #CrookedHillary (Hillary Clinton) for not being truthful to all in attacks at @realDonaldTrump (Donald Trump)."
"Khizr Khan's speech made me cry because it was even necessary for anyone to say Muslims can be real Americans."
"I don’t think it would be harmful if they apologized to him and he apologized to them, but I don’t see that happening. ... Well, for one thing, if you accuse someone of something that’s not true, it usually is a reasonable thing to acknowledge that. ... Rather than make this a one-sided issue, why don’t we all just, say, back off a little bit, we have such important issues to deal with, and you know, let’s just call a truce. And the best way to call a truce is simply to say, ‘I’m over that. You’re over that. I’m sorry I said this if it offended you."
"Mr. Khan, paid the ultimate sacrifice in his family, didn't he. And what has he heard from Donald Trump? Nothing but insults, degrading comments about Muslims, a total misunderstanding of what made our country great, religious freedom, religious liberty. It's enshrined in our Constitution, as Mr. Khan knows, because he's actually read it."
"Khizr Khan, the Muslim "Gold Star Father" who harangued Americans at the Democratic National Convention, with a mute, hijab-wearing wife at his side, is just another in a long string of human shields liberals send out to defend their heinous policies. ... Does anyone know what Khan thinks of gays? How about miniskirts? Alcohol? Because I gather we're going to have to turn all our policies over to him, too. What have you sacrificed, Barney Frank??"
"Khizr Khan's words were powerful but in a society less deficient in public rhetoric nobody would be surprised he spoke w/o notes."
"Attacking the Khan family: Trump ISIS The worst of the right-wing media"
"Do they believe that it, not the Constitution, ought to govern the United States; that democracy ought to be the basis upon which we govern ourselves, representative government? Those are all absolutely inconsistent with the program that as is now a matter of record. This fellow, Khizr Khan, absolutely embraces, supports and is seeking to promote Sharia. Anderson Cooper, last night, he’s on his program, and he says, quote, ‘I do not stand for any sharia law because there is no such thing,’ you gotta say, Steve, A, that’s taqiyya – that is, lying for the faith – and B, it is demonstrably fraudulent. I’m sorry to say that this couple lost their son and a hero at that, but this is about the central question of our time. Will we, as in Europe, be induced to submit to Sharia by importing still more of the people who believe that it’s God’s will to impose it upon us?"
"Two of the highly promoted speakers at the Democratic National Convention were Khizr Khan and his wife, Ghazala Khan, Muslim parents of a fallen soldier. And today, yet again, the DNC-run media featured these same Muslim parents of a fallen soldier on . The pity is, these Muslim parents were not decrying the Islamic texts and teachings behind this bloody war and the reason why their son went to war. Instead, they attacked …… Trump. Even the death of their son could not move them to oppose jihad terror, but to attack those of us who do. And this is the platform of the Democrat Party. More Democrat exploitation for cheap political gain."
"Khizr Khan told ’s Sunday morning that terror has “nothing to do with Islam.” This is a bold-faced lie. And if’s he’s read the Qur’an, he knows. This is the very definition of taqiya."
"Donald Trump rightly criticized the Khan parents. Clearly, Trump does not oppose Muslim soldiers serving in the military. Nonsense. Trump opposes Muslim immigration from jihad-hot regions. We know Islamic terror groups are plotting attacks on the West and using the migration to import their soldiers."
"In Yiddish there is an expression, en the gonif brent a hiddle (on the thief the hat burns.) Khizr’s skullcap is burning."
"Mr. Trump has crossed the line. More than one line. Captain Khan died in battle trying valiantly to save others. There is no place for criticism, stated or implied, of this brave soldier. He served our country. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery along with those of many ethnic backgrounds and religious denominations. They served our country. Mr. Trump did not. Criticizing Mrs. Khan for not speaking on stage is vile beyond words. No Gold Star Mother should ever be treated like that. Mr. Trump, you owe Mrs. Khan and all Gold Star families a huge apology."
"There's only one way to talk about Gold Star parents: with honor and respect. Capt. Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family."
"There’s the all mighty powerful ones like Mr. Khan — which is a con artist himself, and he uses the death of his son, who’s an American soldier, which we respect and honor, and he uses that to go after Trump, which I found very distasteful."
"I met Khizr and Ghazala Khan. They are kind and wonderful people. We all can learn from this family."
"As devout, faithful Muslims, [the Khans] know perfectly well what the commandments of their faith are, now, they may not be obedient to those commandments, and that’s their right as long as they live in a free country like America, but the commandments of the faith are still there, and a Muslim like their son who died fighting against other Muslims has died an apostate, and they know that, and they yet chose to highlight that infidelity of their son before an international audience of millions."
"I think we have to understand that there are a couple of messages going on. The father, of course, is a lawyer. He works on immigration matters, helping to bring Muslim immigrants into the country, and his objective there was a political one to smear Donald Trump, who has spoken out against the unrestrained import, unvetted influx of Muslims who cannot be properly screened and called for a temporary moratorium on such immigration until the United States can work out a proper screening protocol for such Muslims."
"I wouldn’t call it penance, I would call it collaboration, Muslims heard and understood that the political message Trump must be defeated because if he is not, the jig is up for all of those who support the Islamic supremacist objective promoted by jihad and Sharia and certainly immigration of non-vetted Muslims into this country would certainly be curtailed at least for a time, the message that many Americans have heard is, you know, this is a grieving father and mother of a hero son, and that is also true, but there are two messages and we just have to realize that there are two, for any Muslim in America who truly does love this country and truly is patriotic, I’ve always felt, especially after 9/11, that’s when I first started talking about these kinds of things, it really does fall on them to distinguish themselves"
"[Khan] stood up there and pretended and fed the American people and everyone else listening a load of hogwash that this is not what Islam is, that Islam is not about jihad and Sharia, and of course, he was lying, ... the Islamic State is the truest expression of Islam in the world today. So Mr. Khan at the very least was being dishonest with us, I was incensed, I felt he had no right to wave the Constitution and to insult Mr. Trump in the way that he did. Just to insult an American, any of us, to wave the Constitution and say you haven’t read it, what Mr. Khan does not know about the American public school system when Donald Trump was raised, you better believe each and every one of us memorized that thing practically, so that’s just ridiculous. He knows not what he’s talking about, and also, Clare, just what you alluded to, that faithful Muslims can’t embrace our Constitution, can they? Not if they’re going to be faithful to the doctrine of Islam, no."
"I'd like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Khan: thank you for immigrating to America. We're a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation -- and he will never be forgotten."
"ISIS is saying regardless of Mr. Khan the elder saying it's a religion of peace, they are laughing at him saying, 'it's not a religion of peace and your son died an apostate,' who is a non-believer, an infidel. An apostate is a better way to say it... Mr. Khan should be saying what can we do to defeat this. He is a Muslim, Pakistani born, and all the work that he's done in Saudi Arabia especially with bringing in migrants. We should be using people like Mr. Khan to how are we going to defeat radical Islam rather than yelling at each other back and forth. ... There was no mistake he came out for the Clintons. He's worked for the Clintons before and there have been three presidential elections since his son was killed. They could have come out for -- this is one he decided to come out for."
"Donald Trump and I believe that Captain Humayun Khan is an American hero and his family, like all Gold Star families, should be cherished by every American. Captain Khan gave his life to defend our country in the global war on terror. Due to the disastrous decisions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a once stable Middle East has now been overrun by ISIS. This must not stand. By suspending immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rebuilding our military, defeating ISIS at its source and projecting strength on the global stage, we will reduce the likelihood that other American families will face the enduring heartbreak of the Khan family."
"Mr. Khan is the one that went out and struck the first blow, and in a campaign, if you're going to go out and think you can take a shot at someone and not have incoming coming back at you, shame on you. I think the Democrats used him in a way that quite frankly I'm not sure I approve of. We love our veterans, we love our Gold Star families, but the fact of the matter is Mr. Khan politically used his time on that stage to go after Donald Trump, why in the world he thought that he would get a free ride with that is beyond me. He shouldn’t get a free ride when he’s going to inject himself in the political arena."
"He (Donald Trump) was speaking specifically to the reports that the father (Khizr M. Khan), who is a strong proponent of Sharia Law. And actually writing about it and how the Constitution should be subordinate to Sharia Law."
"From my perspective, it is the responsibility of Mr. Khan to distinguish himself from , from the Muslim Brotherhood, whose treatise is to destroy us from within. If he is a patriotic, loyal, American Muslim, then we want to hear that, that’s great, and we grieve with them over the death of their son. But do not disparage Americans or Donald Trump for having concerns about Muslims in our midst."
"If you are so concerned, Mr. Khan, if you’re an American first, then distinguish yourself and condemn Islamists, condemn the Muslim Brotherhood, then we will listen to you, and stop waving the Constitution. As far as I can tell, Islam, truly, supporters of Islam and the Quran, cannot embrace the Constitution. Now, if you have a different view, then explain that to us and then maybe we can be persuaded, but don’t shame America for having genuine and rightful concerns about Muslims in our midst when we have no idea who they are or what they really believe, and we’re not even sure about you, sir, because we know about taqiyya, which is the practice of lying to the infidel in order to advance the Muslim cause. ... So I’m sorry, we’ll not be shamed. I’m sorry for the loss of their son and I hope he is a loyal American. But I think a loyal American Muslim would be more like , who is very clear about where he stands, who was very patriotic and loyal and totally distances himself from Islamism, so if that’s the case for this gentleman, then he should’ve said that on the platform rather than shaming us for having concerns about Muslim immigration."
"We know that he has written quite a bit about the superiority of sharia law, and sharia law covers every area of life and those who adhere to it do not respect or honor other law, they may pretend to but they don't."
": Do you think that mr. Khan wants to subject or kill americans?"
"America's greatness is built on the principles of liberty and preserved by the men and women who wear the uniform to defend it. As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values. I reject it. Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice—and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan—should always be honored. Period."
"One of the most moving moments of any convention that I've ever been to."
"What The Media Is Not Telling You About The Muslim Who Attacked Donald Trump: He Is A Muslim Brotherhood Agent Who Wants To Advance Sharia Law And Bring Muslims Into The United States."
"The Muslim who attacked Donald Trump, Khizr Muazzam Kahn, is a Muslim Brotherhood agent, working to bring Muslims into the United States. After reading what we discovered so far, it becomes obvious that Khan wanted to ‘trump’ Trump’s Muslim immigration."
"Khan’s fascination with Islamic Sharia stems from his life in Saudi Arabia."
"It is likely that Khan is a Muslim plant working with the Hillary Clinton campaign, probably for the interest of Muslim oil companies as well as Muslim immigration into the U.S. ... It is obvious that Khan is upset, that a Trump victory will eliminate and destroy decades of hard work to bring in Islamic immigration into the United States. ... Is it likely that Khan’s son was killed before his Islamist mission was accomplished? Only another type of investigation will determine that. Do they ever mention how many soldiers have died because of Muslim traitors? Do they ever bring up how many Christians in the US military were killed? Yet the modernists and homosexuals continue to attack Christians. But soon everything we need to know will be uncovered. As we say in the Middle East: the snow always melts and the sh*t under it will soon be revealed."
"The whole reason of us looking into Khan’s writings is that it debunks the notion that Khan was simply a ‘secular Muslim’ who could care less about strict Sharia. But Sharia is Islam and Islam is Sharia. Period. The fact that Khan was Muslim should suffice. However, the fact that Khan is a Sharia scholar and an expert on Islamic jurisprudence makes it even clearer that Khan is an Islamist who thanked Saeed Ramadan, a father of the Muslim Brotherhood for using his sources. ... Shouldn’t this suffice? To the anti-Christian crowds, it doesn’t, nothing will, nothing will ever will. To the Muslim Brotherhood, if the Muslim can produce a suicide bomber, the liberal can produce national suicide. And if in doubt, just see how one man (Khan) caused Donald Trump to decline a notch."
"It is no surprise that the is thrilled about Khizr Khan’s “brutal repudiation of Donald Trump,” even though Khan, not quite accurately, claims that Trump wants to “ban us from this country.” Trump has said nothing about banning Muslim citizens of the U.S. from the country, only about a temporary moratorium on immigration from terror states. In any case, all the effusive praise being showered on Khizr Khan today overlooks one central point: he is one man. His family is one family. There are no doubt many others like his, but this fact does not mean that there is no jihad, or that all Muslims in the U.S. are loyal citizens."
"Khizr is using his son’s memory not to advance the cause of the United States, as his son apparently died trying to do, but to advance a quite different cause: that of the global umma."
"All this disinformation and obfuscation he is perpetrating serves the interests of the global umma – but not in any sense those of the United States."
"Khizr Khan is more than just the father of slain Muslim U.S. serviceman Humayun Khan and the mainstream media’s flavor of the moment in its ongoing efforts to demonize and destroy Donald Trump. As far as the Obama administration and Hillary campaign are concerned, he is a living validation of the success of their strategy against “extremism”: by refusing to identify the enemy as having anything to do with Islam, they draw moderate Muslims to their side and move them to fight against terrorism. By contrast, Trump, in their view, alienates these moderates and drives them into the arms of the terrorists."
"That all sounds great. There’s just one catch: Khizr Khan, and the Clinton campaign, have extensive ties to the Saudis – far more extensive than any possible connection that Donald Trump’s campaign may have had to Russia’s alleged involvement in the leak of emails that revealed that the entire Democratic Party presidential nominating process was rigged from the start. Not that the mainstream media will pause from speculating about Trump and the Russians long enough to tell you any facts about Khizr Khan, Hillary and the Saudis."
"The big story of foreign influence in this presidential election is not some vague imaginings about the Russians supposedly hacking Democratic National Committee emails showing the Democrats engaged in indisputably unethical behavior. The real foreign influence story in this election involves the Saudis and the Democrats. Saudi influence in Washington must end. Khizr Khan represents an all-out effort by the mainstream media and the Democratic Party establishment to maintain that influence. In light of that, Donald Trump was right to answer his attacks, and should have been even stronger in his responses. It’s time for the United States of America to regain its independence."
"Mr. Khan more than an aggrieved father of a Muslim son- he's Muslim Brotherhood agent helping Hillary."
"I am dismayed at the attacks Khizr and Ghazala Khan have endured after they spoke about their son's service and sacrifice. There is never enough honor we can show to the families of those whose loved ones have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Service to our country is above politics. I believe that each of us are called every day to show our deepest respect and gratitude to all of those who protect our freedom and their families."
"He doesn't know. He doesn't know that. I saw him. He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. But plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet. And it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that. And personally, I watched him. I wish him the best of luck."
"Well, that sounds - who wrote that? Did Hillary's scriptwriters write it? ... I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've done, I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot. ... I think they're sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things, even in military. I mean, I was very responsible, along with a group of people, for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for."
"Captain Humayun Khan was a hero to our country and we should honor all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe. The real problem here are the radical Islamic terrorists who killed him, and the efforts of these radicals to enter our country to do us further harm. Given the state of the world today, we have to know everything about those looking to enter our country, and given the state of chaos in some of these countries, that is impossible. While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. If I become President, I will make America safe again."
"Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same - Nice!"
"This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!"
"The Kahn family has gotten hours and hours of airtime and what's ironic about that was Hillary was the one that left them on the roof in Benghazi. It was Hillary's policy that crippled Libya and Syria and Iraq."
"In countries such as Pakistan and Iran, and to a lesser extent in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Tanzania, after the introduction of Islam, a significant regression occurred in individual freedom, the acquisition of scientific knowledge, and the rights of women."
"A study published in June 2006 in the Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, based on interviews with 300 women admitted to hospital for childbirth, said 80 percent reported being subjected to some kind of abuse within marriage. At times, the violence inflicted on women takes on truly horrendous forms. The Islamabad-based Progressive Women's Association (PWA), headed by Shahnaz Bukhari, believes up to 4,000 women are burnt each year, almost always by husbands or in-laws, often as “punishment” for minor “offences” or for failure to bring in a sufficient dowry. The PWA said it had collected details of nearly 8,000 such victims from March 1994 to March 2007, from three hospitals in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad area alone."
"The number of incidents of violence against women increased by 13 per cent in 2009, says a report by the Aurat Foundation set to be released on Wednesday. The report states that 8,548 incidents of violence against women were reported in 2009 compared to 7,571 incidents reported in 2008. Of these, 5,722 were reported to have occurred in Punjab, followed by 1,762 in Sindh, 655 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 237 in Balochistan. Similarly, 172 cases of violence against women were reported in Islamabad, the report said."
"PAKISTAN HAS the unique distinction of being the only South Asian country where it’s legal to discriminate against women. This was institutionalized via a set of constitutional amendments during the period of General Zia-ul-Haq’s dictatorship, which brutalized the country’s political culture: there were public hangings and floggings of criminals and dissidents. In 1979 the “Hudood Ordinance” repealed previous laws relating to rape. General Zia was determined to “Islamize” the country, and together with the creation of jihadi groups to fight Charlie Wilson’s war in Afghanistan measures were taken on the domestic front that have proved difficult to reverse. A raped woman could no longer testify against her violator because she was now considered only half a witness. Four adult males were required to corroborate her evidence. By alleging rape, which she was not in a position to prove, the woman admitted to intercourse rendering her liable to prosecution. Add to this the fact that sexual assaults on women are an everyday crime: the Human Rights Commission estimates a rape every three hours. Today, more than 50 percent of women in prison are those accused of adultery (i.e., unproven rape) and are awaiting verdicts. Many of them languish in jail for several months and sometimes years before their case is heard. Acquittals are rare and the most lenient sentence is a year in prison.... Often poor women, who go to a police station and charge a man with rape, are subjected to further sexual abuse by the police, incidents of which multiplied dramatically after the “Islamic laws” were promulgated. Neither Benazir Bhutto nor General Musharraf managed to repeal the anti-women ordinances when they were in power. This gives a carte blanche to honor killers and anyone else. As social and economic conditions deteriorate for a vast majority of the population, women become even more vulnerable.... The treatment of women as subhuman can also be seen in the statistics related to acid and kerosene burn victims. Young girls and women between the ages of fourteen to twenty-five are the usual target of this particular crime. The aim is to disfigure the face and burn the genital region. The reasons vary from case to case: jealousy, imagined infidelity, economic need to get a new bride and dowry, wives refusing sexual favors, and so on."
"I’ll do everything I can to discourage polygamy—besides it causes no small economic problem. Often the wives are separated in different houses or cities, as in my case. And not everyone can afford it, as I can."
"It has been estimated that 1,000 women and girls from religious minorities are abducted, forcibly converted and then married off to their abductors every year."
"Clerics were gaining influence everywhere: In the bureaucracy, civil servants sought promotions with overt expressions of religiousness; the army now held Quran study groups. Women were banned from playing sports in public; the national women’s hockey team, one of the world’s best, was forbidden from leaving the country. History was also being rewritten. Jinnah, the secular father of the nation, had a makeover: he was no longer shown in Western clothes in official portraits, only in traditional dress. References to pluralism and freedom of faith in Jinnah’s 1947 speech were scrubbed from the record. The methodical, relentless, systemwide changes were akin to a cultural revolution, unparalleled in the history of Islam in the subcontinent but cleaving closely to what was happening in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Although the Jamaat had been in awe of the Iranian Revolution, its leader saw Saudi Arabia as the more perfect model to emulate, with full segregation, banishment of women from the workplace, a ban on women driving, and the male guardianship system. Zia had caused worldwide consternation."
"No one really knows how many thieves had their hands amputated, perhaps none; or how many people were flogged during those years—many, too many. Information was scarce. In the first years of Zia’s regime, floggings and hangings were a public affair in the village square or city stadiums, but within a couple of years, the national outcry forced the authorities to conduct this grim business out of the public view. One thing was certain and documented: women were the biggest losers under Zia. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Pakistan had adopted very progressive laws ensuring a woman’s right to divorce, restricting polygamy, and even prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex. National literacy rates were still low, even more so for women, but they were rising steadily for everyone. Enrollment of girls in schools and universities was skyrocketing in cities. Women were beginning to participate in politics, they were rising as judges. This is why, despite the long road ahead for a deeply conservative society, Mehtab had believed she was part of a forward-looking country, where the future of women looked brighter. Neither she nor her friends had been looking for Western-style women’s rights; they did not speak in the radical terms of American feminists. “We have to exist with men,” Mehtab would tell those around her—with men and within their own society and its conventions. The uncompromising attitudes of the “women’s libbers” she had met in America was “an extreme position, confrontation was no good.” Gradual change had paid off. Now Zia was threatening to yank women back into purdah."
"The right to life of women (in Pakistan) … is conditional on their obeying social norms and traditions."
"The first thought a Western woman has when she arrives in a rigorously Muslim country like Pakistan is that she appears to be the only woman to have survived a tsunami that has washed away all the others."
"This strip of land where there are no unmarried women, or love matches, and where mathematics are considered an opinion, includes six hundred million people, half of whom, more or less, are women who live behind the darkness of a veil. More than a veil, it is a sheet that covers her from head to toe like a shroud in order to hide her from the eyes of all but her husband, her children, or a feeble servant. This sheet, which is called purah or burka or pushi or kulle or djellaba, has two holes for the eyes, or a fine mesh opening two centimeters high and six centimeters wide. The wearer gazes out at the sky and her fellow man like a prisoner peering through the bars of her prison.... It is the immense reign of Islam.... These veiled women are the unhappiest women in the world. But the paradox is that they don’t know it because they don’t know what exists beyond this veil that imprisons them."
"In Pakistan, [Oriana Fallaci] has her first painful encounter with Islam. She comes across a wedding procession in Karachi. The crowd carries a figure hidden behind a pile of red fabric, like a package. Who is that? she asks. Nothing — a woman, she is told. Shocked by these words, Oriana asks to interview the bride. The guests oblige, even though they cannot understand what could possibly interest this foreign journalist. They unwrap the bride. She is a young girl with a pale face; her eyes are closed and coated with silver dust. She’s crying. Oriana tries to console her: “I told her there was nothing to cry about. I had seen the groom and he was handsome, and seemed kind.” She is lying. The groom is a smarmy man who has already tried to seduce this Western journalist who goes around with her arms uncovered. But Oriana is deeply moved by the child bride’s sadness and wants to help. The women in the wedding party do not understand her attitude. “All brides cry,” one of them tells her. “I cried for three days.”"
"Strange are the doings of such mullahs, moulvis and military rulers. Dr. Asrar Ahmed, one of the leading religious scholars, has petitioned the 'Majlis-e-Shoora' (Federal Council) that since women are responsible for the growing rise in sex crimes they should not be appointed to Government posts or selected for the 'Majlis-e-Shoora' and other institutions, but confined to their homes. ... General Zia has further issued a law which fixes a woman's value as half that of a man's."
"And yet one must be thankful for some mercies: in India, Muslim women do not live in a country in which the ulema have the power to enforce their decrees. In Saudi Arabia, in Pakistan since 1977 when Zia ul Haq promulgated the Hudood Ordinances, ... that power derives from and is conjoint with the power of the state.... In either event, the results are tragic. Several of the horrid cases have been much written about. Adultery and rape figured prominently in Zia’s Hudood Ordinances. For adultery, there had to be four, reliable, adult, Muslim, male eyewitnesses to actual, physical penetration—the stated purpose was to protect persons from being falsely accused. In several cases of women, in particular single, unmarried women, who had been raped and had become pregnant, the requisite eyewitnesses could not be produced. But their pregnancy was proof positive that they had had illegal sexual relations. And so, while they had been victims of rape, they became the accused—accused of zina, adultery: their charge that they had been raped became a confession of their having had illegal intercourse; and the fact that they were pregnant became proof positive. In a typical case, fifteen-year-old Jehan Mina was raped by two of her male relatives. She became pregnant. She was sentenced to 100 lashes. A higher court, out of ‘charity’, reduced the sentence to ten lashes. Thirteen-year-old Safia Bibi was blind. She was employed as a maid. Her employer and his son raped her. She became pregnant. The rapists went scot-free. She was sentenced to three years in prison, and thirty lashes— the flogging was limited to thirty lashes, the court said, out of leniency for her being blind. The case became a cause célèbre. Asma Jehangir, Hina Jilani and other human rights activists mounted a vigorous challenge. Pakistan’s Federal Court set the judgment aside—though it concurred that the evidence against the father and son was insufficient. And young Safia survived. But cases that are just as baseless and just as weighed against women, and the extreme fear they generate, have continued—under ‘laws’ that range from rape to divorce to blasphemy. At one time, it was reported that almost 70 to 80 per cent of undertrials languishing in Pakistan’s jails were women who had been charged with offences of this kind."
"...Many both inside and outside Pakistan have come to believe that unequal treatment for poor and disadvantaged Pakistani women is a price worth paying for stability and harmony in a country seen as pivotal in the fight against extremism. Yet the world must be clear that this cannot be so. The very women who have paid the heaviest of prices under rising extremism and militancy, from attacks on schools to coping with displacement, must have their rights and concerns placed at the forefront in Pakistan...."
"Today, in Pakistan, respect for women no longer exists, and crimes against them have increased dramatically. They claim to have "Islamized" us. How can you Islamize people who are already Muslim? Ever since Zia gave power to the mullahs, it seems as though every man feels he can get hold of any female and tear her apart."
"The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in its annual report that one woman is raped every three hours in Pakistan and one in two rape victims is a juvenile. According to Women's Action Forum, a woman's rights organization, 72 percent of all women in police custody in Pakistan are physically and sexually abused. Furthermore, 75 percent of all women in jail are there under charges of zina. Many of these women remain in jail awaiting trial for years."
"It’s always fascinating to see trolls go nuts under photos of public-facing women in dresses or costumes or anything the trolls deem 'vulgar'....Go home. I don’t dress for you, I don’t dress for anyone or anything other than my own sense of joy and play and expansion. The men of this country are obsessed with policing women, constantly defining their ‘honour’ in relation to women’s bodies and clothing and appearance. It is a smallminded, decayed, hateful thing to do. You want to disempower us because a deep part of you is hurting and angry. I get it. It’s societal and it is ugly."
"..To the women who continue to secularize public spaces with their words and clothes and defiance: you inspire me. On the face of it, it looks merely glitzy and silly, but only those subjected to the heat of abuse know that simply by being - by asserting with our voices and bodies - we are clawing back space from rotten hierarchies of power and control..."
"At the bosom of the heaven, The woe keeps on spinning the wheel. The Milestone accompanies for hours, But the journey doesn’t end anywhere. The night is ready to meet the dawn, But my distance is not yet over. My children’s misfortunes Have stained my clothes, And the aloneness continues to lick my blood. The straws I gather from the ridge of the suburb, The Sun transforms them into the woes. It’s the eyes, that caused my dreams to burn, I remain under the sneaky watch of my own coffin."
"She awakens by the touch of the hunger, The snapping of the boughs, Yet two-draughts thirst more. God offers hunger, In how many flavours."
"I, who standing at the crossroad, Wish to return to my curve. He, who’s stuck in the blood, Desires to live a bit more … With the wall the shadow might have become one, As the grieves are soothing in the ocean. Thou steal the sunshine even from the setting sun, I rather evade the little darkness of the dawn. And the weary star of the daybreak, When left all alone on the firmament, I regard that moment. Each passing day on this earth Does sever a part of my years."
"I woke up that night to the screams of women. I don’t know when I’d fallen asleep, or passed out, but when I woke up, the manic, lost, women were all around me, walking, shambling. I remember that night, my first night in this asylum – I had retreated into the corner, into the shadows, and looked through the bars, bars that had been chained with many locks. The locks were like eyes: the eyes of a man’s vigilance. As I focused, the lock slowly extended to reveal the form of a man, a man sprawling on the bed: I thought of the violence of beds, of my marriage. The man on this bed was my husband – a man who used to beat me metal-blue to eliminate his fear of women. There were other ways of elimination: polishing his black boots and making them shine, washing his clothes, suspending them onto a hanging wire. And the starvation. And the rising lilt of his family’s voices: awaara. A cuss word, a slap – his marriage to me? – The violence of a mongering dog, his teeth digging into my flesh. His skin the color of a chameleon turned blue. Me? I was a churi, a glass bangle. The house? The impersonation of a ghetto. My agency, his anger. So I ran. I ran to a divorce, yes, and I reached my destination after six months of torture. But the six months led to psychosis. So my mother dragged me here, to this mental asylum. Then I woke up, that night, to the screams of women."
"He grabbed me. We got into a terrible fight. My verdict was given: “You will now be given an electric shock, Shagufta. We need to calm you down.” I tore away, and ran to the other side of the asylum, and on one of its walls, I wrote: “Nazi Camp.” He began grinning."
"This evening, I am being released. I sit in the courtyard of the Psychiatric Asylum and write this. Half an hour ago, the women bid me farewell; they gathered about me: we all began crying together in loud, mournful tones. The eye on the lock shut itself: the door was opened. They stood clinging to the bars, still crying. I turned and asked, perplexed: “Aren’t you happy for me girls? I’m finally free.” “No Sara Shagufta.” They spoke, almost in one voice. “Don’t you know? You’re now stepping into the real mental asylum.”"
""" is an issue that is relevant to Pakistani women across all classes. When a woman is killed in the name of "honor," her body is attacked; when a woman is denied the right to choose her partner, her body and her choice are compromised; and when a woman faces domestic violence, her body is attacked. All other issues that our "Aurat March" (women's march) raised are equally important, but they all emanate from a deep-rooted misogyny in our society. Women do not have the agency over their own bodies and that is the main issue, in my opinion."
"“My body, my choice,” means that no society can wage their wars at the expense of a woman’s body. We ask the men not to use our bodies for their ghairat or honor. We ask them to stop killing us in the name of honor and give us the right to say no because we have the right to say no to anything that we don’t feel comfortable with......We must have the right to say that we can’t tolerate sexual harassment and to say no to decisions regarding our marriages by other [family members]. Our religion gives us the right to choose our life partner, so why not society?....Further, we have the right not to be judged on the basis of our physical appearance..."
"Not only do these (Blasphemy) laws have no religious standing in Islam, they are repugnant to the basic principles of justice, equality and human rights in addition to challenging the basic spirit of the Constitution of Pakistan which guarantees equal rights to all citizens."
""...Sirmed and Sayed tried to defend United States Embassy's decision to invite members of LGBT community to the event. ..... The comment section of this youtube video was brief but filled with hatred against Sirmed and Sayed...and Sirmed was called a "randi" (a prostitute) for defending gays and distorting the image of Islam."
"But - and alas, there is a but- I don't believe it is in Pakistan's best interest to be the country whose armed forces consume the largest percentage of national income of any military in the world.I don't believe it is in Pakistan's interest to adopt a policy of seeking 'strategic depth' by destabilizing it's neighbors.I don't believe it is in Pakistan's best interest to try to wrest Kashmir from India by fair means or foul.I don't believe it is in Pakistan's best interest to be the cradle and crucible of militant Islamist terrorism.I don't believe it's in Pakistan's best interest to be a country where no elected civilian government has ever served a full term. And I do believe that any Pakistani liberal worth the name (take a bow, Marvi Sirmed) should have no difficulty in agreeing with any of these propositions."
"Feudalism was a licence to plunder, rape and even murder. The rich got richer; the poor despaired."
"I announced 'Jehad' - a movement to represent the silent majority to raise controversial issues that most people feel afraid to speak about. It liberated me from the corrupt politics that I had witnessed. I decided to stand apart and away from the mainstream of the rotting political system and the deficient and self-serving politicians that consumed our national wealth and exploited our people."
"In Pakistan, despite the real dangers of coming forward, more and more people share their stories online: “From sexual abuse suffered during childhood to public groping, thread after thread [has] reflected on personal trauma and societal denial of it,” reports Al Jazeera columnist Rabia Mehmood, noting the need for survivors to “claim a space” in a hostile environment.’ Not only have Pakistani women felt increasingly empowered to speak about sexual abuse and assault, but “#MeToo has opened the door to publicly acknowledging the issue of male rape in Pakistan, a taboo despite the alarming rate of crimes against young boys across the country.”"
"Pakistan did not lag behind in crimes against women. There are at least 11 rape cases reported in Pakistan every day, with over 22,000 rape cases reported to police across the country in the last six years since 2015, according to official statistics. However, only 77 accused have been convicted, which comprises 0.3 per cent of the total figure.” The rape of Mukhtaran Bibi in Pakistan received international attention after it was reported to be politically sanctioned.” The group War Against Rape (WAR) has documented the severity of rape in Pakistan. According to women's studies professor Shahla Haeri, rape in Pakistan is 'often institutionalized and has the tacit and at times the explicit approval of the state. According to the late lawyer Asma Jahangir, who was a co-founder of the women’s rights group ‘Women's Action Forum, up to 72 per cent of women in custody in Pakistan are physically or sexually abused.” According to WAR, over 82 per cent of rapists are family members, including fathers, brothers, grandfathers and uncles of the victims."
"According to a 1990 study of rape in Pakistan , " the police is notorious for delays or outright refusals to register FIRs ."
"Yet despite such statements, rape in Pakistan is a weapon commonly used for revenge. According to human rights lawyers, 50 percent of reported rapes in the country are gangrapes, usually carried out when someone wants to take revenge ..."
"It is important to consider the risks faced by Pakistani women in particular whose families believe that they violated the family’s honour. Among the “violations of honour” are rejecting an arranged marriage, entering an unapproved marriage or even worse, sexual activity outside marriage. Many women and men who have been accused of such “violations” have become the target of an honour killing. In Pakistan, women and men are usually expected to accept an arranged marriage with someone from their own clan and family, and marriage to someone from a different clan, caste and social background is highly disapproved of, potentially to the point of provoking attempts to kill the person involved. The husband and the wife can become the target of attack or honour killing."
"There are no official countrywide statistics for honour killings in Pakistan."
"Yet, scholarly examination of the law regarding cases of child marriage an show that child marriages are not rendered invalid under the provisions of the Act and merely subjects adult parties to the penalties stipulated.’! Despite contravening the CMRA, the continuing validity of a child marriage in Pakistan stems from the constitutionally enshrined primacy of sharia; because Hanafi legal doctrine permits the marriage of minors by guardians, child marriage remains valid in the State. However, according to the provisions of the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, a female minor who is married without consent before the age of sixteen may apply for repudiation of the marriage before turning eighteen, provided the marriage remains unconsummated.®? Unfortunately, this"
"Pakistan's Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 sets the legitimate time of marriage for boys to 18 and 16 for girls. With this enactment, children’s marriage in Pakistan diminished altogether contrasted with the past, however the rate is still high. In 2013, the CEDAW Committee stated concerns about the continuation of child ‘marriage and the minimum age of marriage of girls in Pakistan (Brides, 2018). At the local level in 2014, the Sindh Assembly consistently accepted the Law on the Restriction of the Sindh Child Marriage, carrying the ‘minimum age for marriage at 18 years old therefore making child marriage a punishable crime (Sindhlaws, 2014). Despite this, the practice continues with reports of girls being married very young (Zia-ur-Rahman, 2014). In February 2017 UNFPA supported the Punjab Government in the preparation of a comprehensive Punjab Child Marriage Limitation Act (1929) in which NGO and local citizens took part (UNFPA, 2017; 2018). The Penal Code ‘was amended so that there are severe penalties for those participating in child marriage (ibid). Raising the age of marriage from 16 to 18 (initiated by Senator Shear Kamran, the Senator for Child Marriage Act) could not be changed and encountered religious obstacles. Although the Senate and standing committee accepted it (Brides, 2018), the Islamic Ideology Council, which provides Islamic legal consultancy to the Pakistani Government said marriage can happen at any age (ibid) but man and wife living together (known as Rukhsati in Pakistan) can only happen after the age of 18 (ibid). Thus, the Islamic Ideology Council stated Pakistan's laws prohibiting child marriage were not Islamic which led to criticism (Memri, 2014). Under the Universal Periodic Review, Pakistan has again adopted a review of the minimum age of marriage for men and women (HRW, 2017; Human Rights Commission, 2014) but no change has occurred. Pakistani courts often apply Sharia (Islamic law) which allow marriage once a girl reaches puberty (ibid)."
""The Sindh government rightly claims credit of becoming the country's first elected assembly to have passed a bill on child marriage in April 2014, which places a ban on marriage of children under 18 years of age and makes its violation punishable with rigorous imprisonment of up to three years, but sadly the law is still poorly implemented," said SHRC Chairperson Justice (retd) Majida Razvi. NCRC acting chairperson Jawadullah Khan said that his organisation was making efforts to reform laws in all provinces and suggested strong coordination between stakeholders, including police and government authorities, to deal with the issue. "The issues of minors' marriages, child trafficking, and street children are rampant. There is a dire need to develop a database and devise a mechanism for coordination before taking action," he added. Child rights expert Sarah Zaman discussed the operational gaps and challenges in the implementation and added that there are lacunas in the act, but its legitimacy is still there. "Pakistan is in trauma due to the flood disaster, but on the other hand we face several cases of trafficking, rape, and child marriages," she said, adding that poverty is not the main reason for child marriages, other socio-political issues also need to be kept in mind while proposing amendments. UNICEF child protection officer Mahvish Maria remarked that child marriage is a human rights violation. Despite laws against it, this harmful practice remains widespread. While referring to the findings of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18, she said that child marriage prevalence in the country is 18%. She added that child marriages increase during humanitarian emergencies. "Historically, women and girls are disproportionately affected during emergencies and it's mandatory to sensitise communities for birth and marriage registration," she said and recommended that the existing laws should be implemented and further strengthened along with strengthening the government system to prevent and respond to this issue."
"This form of violence against women in Pakistan takes place in the context of widespread domestic abuse—8o percent of wives in rural Pakistan fear physical violence from their husbands, while so percent of urban. women have experienced domestic abuse (Toosi 2010). Yasmeen Rehman, a prominent women's advocate and parliamentarian, stated that domestic abuse in Pakistan is so engrained that it can be equated with habit (Toosi 2010). As a tool of masculine dominance, acid throwing is ideal. The physical disfigurement from acid burning is important. Survivors, wearing the scars of their attacks, are further violated through ostracism and shame within their community and vulnerable to further violent attacks (Women Without Borders 2010). Like honor killings, which end a woman's life, acid scars disable and remove women’s ability to be independent and thus to transgress norms, subduing and subordi- nating them. Depending on the extent of their injuries, women may be unable to work. Furthermore, the disfigurement relegates women back into the private and invisible realm of their traditional gender role, reinforcing men’s domi- nance of the public sphere and their monopoly on social, political, and economic agency. The permanent and public nature of the injuries from acid throwing allows for perpetrators to tangibly and visually validate their actions and rein- force their masculinity within their peer and social contexts. An acid survivor is a permanent reminder of the violent perpetrator’s dominance."
"The vast majority of victims of domestic violence in Pakistan (including those who are victims of attempted honor killings) have no way of getting legal protection ."
"In fact , the state's response to domestic violence in Pakistan is so minimal and cases of intrafamily violence are so rarely addressed in any way by the criminal justice system ...."
"Domestic violence in Pakistan is seldom recognized as a crime. Socially and officially it is viewed as a private, internal, family matter, which should not be interfered with."
"Domestic violence in Pakistan is widespread and is often linked to men's disappointment with the dowry they receive or displeasure with the way in which their wives behave."
"Women have to undergo a variety . of sufferings due to the system of divorce . In Pakistan the Muslim male has a one - sided right to give divorce to his wife"
"The law, traditions, customs, and practices related to marriage and divorce in Pakistan are deeply influenced by interpretations of Islam. Historically, divorce has been considered the prerogative of men,...."
"Divorce in Pakistan is very easy for men."
"When the British first introduced their system of “modern” education to India, there was some resistance. For historical reasons this was strongest among the Muslims of north India, and there was great reluctance in these areas to send girls to school. By the turn of the century the situation had changed considerably. With the emergence of a growing nationalist sentiment, women’s education began to receive some support. But, while one group of advocates believed that education should give women greater awareness and augment their human development, another group fought to establish institutions, such as the “Zenana” (women’s) schools in Lahore, that would counter what they saw as the insidious undermining of values and morals caused by modern education. Consequently, even before Pakistan was cre- ated there were two opposing camps: one that believed that edu- cation could free women from their social shackles and one that intended to use education to further consolidate the constraints ‘on women. This conflict has never been resolved, and women’s ‘education in Pakistan remains a victim of contradictory policies. The ongoing debate about whether a separate women’s university should be established is a case in point. In Pakistan the pro- posal is opposed by female activists, who view it as a subtle method to further marginalize women by circumscribing the type of education available to them. They fear that with a separate university women will find it increasingly difficult to be admitted to high-quality institutions (particularly in technical and profes- sional fields), while the course offered in the women’s university would be limited to “female-appropriate” subjects."
"The Pakistani Nobel Laurette Malala Yousafzai spoke against forced conversions in Pakistan and said "It should be a personal choice and no one, especially a child shouldn’t be forced to accept any faith or convert to any other religion out of the will,""
"the Deputy Leader of Conservative Party of Canada Candice Bergen has said that "The reports coming out of Pakistan of Christian and Hindu girls being abducted, raped, forced into marriages and coerced to convert from their faith are deeply concerning and need to be addressed"."
"I don’t like sob stories or tragedies,” said Khan, who is a disability and women’s rights campaigner in Pakistan. “I’m not saying they don’t exist – we can all face adversity – but I think we need a more positive approach to solving problems. I wanted to present people with disabilities in a more positive way."
"“When I looked at the world, I didn’t see a space for myself. Not in TV series, not when I read a book … there was nobody who represented people with disabilities. I decided, ‘I’m going to create that space.’”"
"I feel we need to bring Pakistani or South Asian perspective to these platforms because western ideas get more space. This doesn’t mean that women in other countries are not suffering rather many a time they may not be aware of the different platforms where they can raise their voice. Through representation, we can remove confusions about our part of the world as well as call out any organisations which exploit Pakistan for their own gain by constantly painting it as a site of pity.”"
"As soon as you start moving around the world, you face challenges. It’s difficult to find a school or a university that is wheelchair-friendly and has an elevator, so I had to pick the institution first, then my degree. Being yourself, out in the world, is the greatest accomplishment,”"
"When we talk about Pakistan, it’s one country but there is a lot of diversity,” Khan said. “There are a lot of women who are empowered and have agency – but in the same country, you can find women who have never left the house or gone to school, so there are challenges across those diversities. For many women who work and go to the office, companies don’t have access to menstrual care, so what does she have to do? She has to quit the meeting,” she said. “It creates a barrier.”"
"I run Girlythings, a service that delivers menstrual health products to women across Pakistan. I am the writer, producer and actor behind Pakistan’s first short comedy on disability called Fruit Chaat. I’m also a public speaker and do many other ventures on disability and empowerment.”"
"Girlythings, she added, redresses imbalance. The reaction to these topics has, Khan said, been “extremely welcoming”, with significant support from Pakistani men. “It made me think: ‘Why haven’t we talked about this earlier?’ I’m only one person and I want to reach every corner, but this response makes me feel hopeful that our society is becoming very progressive.”"
"“The thing is that anybody who is extremely serious about the work that they do and the type of opportunity that they want to bring to their country, probably cannot enjoy an experience because they’re constantly thinking about the way forward. They’re constantly thinking about connecting resources with opportunities. So, though I am in this amazing space with amazing people, I am constantly thinking about how we can leverage this opportunity as much as we can.”"
"“So I still need to take a break and enjoy some afternoon tea but before that I have to do a lot of work around this award."
"I got to do a red carpet for the first time in my life! It was great. As a woman with a disability, as someone with a hijab, to be on the red carpet, posing, presenting a fashion sense, presenting my cause and my country. That was exciting and I loved it and I was trying not to get my wheelchair tangled. That’s also something I have to consider all the time!”"
"We spoke a lot about her own experiences and we are trying to come up with more collaborations together. So menstrual healthcare will be a very strong area within the community to work on and when it comes to human rights and health in the future and other than that.”"
"When I decided it was time to get a journalist to look at what I have always held as a wrongful conviction, I did it thinking that reporters can go places most of us can’t. They have ways of tracking down information, getting people to talk, and resources the average person doesn’t."
"For any and every wrongfully convicted person, you can assume almost everything went wrong."
"What she did do successfully was blow wide open the idea of a fair criminal justice process. She brought to light questions of religious and ethnic bias, prosecutorial misconduct, police manipulation of witnesses, reasonable doubt, evidential reliability, ineffective assistance of counsel, maximum sentences, juvenile detention, and appellate logjams."
"You know, anybody can write a memoir of their life in so many different ways, right? It can be about my career. It can be about advocacy work. It can be about so many things."
"And when you've been carrying that around, like, your entire adult life, it feels quite amazing to be able to finally put it down and check it off your list."
"If God is merciful and just, do you think it would be the will of God that you should have no rights, that you should be beaten and brutalized and have no opportunity to study?"