Rab Nawaz
Dear Readers,
A Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers! We are proud to present to you the second issue of The Laaltain magazine – a publication put together after several sleepless nights, endless cups of coffee and frequent panic attacks by members of our team.
Those of you who saw our first issue might have noticed a change in the size of the magazine this time around (those who’ve never heard of The Laaltain before obviously have no clue what we’re talking about, so best to just ignore this bit!). Anyway, the size thing was implemented when we realized that quite apart from saving loads of paper (which is good for the environment) a smaller magazine would be much more user-friendly. The new size got a lot of positive feedback from those we asked, and we hope you like it too.
The advent of 2011 has brought with it all the hope and optimism that comes with new beginnings. However, the chance to revel in this positivity has proved to be short-lived. As this editorial was being written on 4th January 2011, news of the brutal assassination of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was just pouring in. Even more shocking was the statement of his assassin – a man belonging to the Governor’s own security protocol – who claimed he had committed this crime as retribution for the politician’s outspoken opposition to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.
Almost immediately, media channels and online social networks were ablaze with people’s reactions. Some were glorifying the event as a ‘victory’ for Islam, others dismissed it as the death of just another ‘corrupt politician’, but there were also those asking some troubling questions: regardless of our personal views on the Punjab Governor or the blasphemy laws, do we want to live in a country where the price of expressing an opinion or stating a point of view is death? Where do we take our thoughts if we must stay silent at the risk of our lives? Has the space for socially responsible debate completely vanished in our country? What lies in store for a society where individuals feel they can take the law into their own hands to deliver swift ‘justice’ in the name of religion?
There seem to be no easy answers.
For the team at The Laaltain, this has been a stark reminder of why we started our magazine in the first place. Our aim was to create a platform where the young people of this country – numbering well over a hundred million at last count – can hear and be heard. A place where free and fearless debate would be encouraged and communication would be the key in promoting a spirit of tolerance. And before any of you start rolling your eyes at the clichés, just take a moment to think about how many such platforms you know of that are in existence in Pakistan today. And if you can’t think of any, or you can count them on one hand, we’ve made our point.