Flirting with Palin earns Pakistani president a fatwa

[Tab]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Lahore, Pakistan - After the flirtation came the fatwa.


With some overly friendly comments to Gov. Sarah Palin at the United Nations, Asif Ali Zardari has succeeded in uniting one of Pakistan's hard-line mosques and its feminists after a few weeks in office.

A radical Muslim prayer leader said the president shamed the nation for "indecent gestures, filthy remarks, and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt."

Feminists charged that once again a male Pakistani leader has embarrassed the country with sexist remarks. And across the board, the Pakistani press has shown disapproval.

What did President Zardari do to draw such scorn? It might have been the "gorgeous" compliment he gave Ms. Palin when the two met at the UN last week during her meet-and-greet with foreign leaders ahead of Thursday's vice presidential debate with opponent Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

But the comments from Zardari didn't end there. He went on to tell Palin: "Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you."

"You are so nice," replied the Republican vice presidential hopeful, smiling. "Thank you."

But what may have really caused Pakistan's radical religious leaders to stew was his comment that he might "hug" Palin if his handler insisted.

Though the fatwa, issued days after the Sept. 24 exchange, carries little weight among most Pakistanis, it's indicative of the anger felt by Pakistan's increasingly assertive conservatives who consider physical contact and flattery between a man and woman who aren't married to each other distasteful. Though fatwas, or religious edicts, can range from advice on daily life to death sentences, this one does not call for any action or violence.
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For the feminists it's less about cozying up to a non-Muslim woman and more about the sexist remarks by Zardari.

"As a Pakistani and as a woman, it was shameful and unacceptable. He was looking upon her merely as a woman and not as a politician in her own right," says Tahira Abdullah, a member of the Women's Action Forum.

Dismissing the mosque's concerns as "ranting," she, however, adds: "He should show some decorum – if he loved his wife so much as to press for a United Nations investigation into her death, he should behave like a mourning widower," in reference to former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, a feminist icon for millions of Pakistani women.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20081002/wl_csm/opakfatwa

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Let the Foreign Policy Experience begin!

[livelongandprosper]

1. First Zardari should understand the difference between

"the whole of America" and "about 30% of Americans".

[Hekate]

2. It's nice that her field trip to the UN with Grandpa bore some fruit

:eyes:

Hekate

[truthisfreedom]

3. Once again, religion proves itself useless. The man was disarmed by the rules he was taught as a

child. "Don't turn on the light! Don't turn on the light!" But, alas, when finally presented with the light switch, the man stared and thought... what happens if I turn on the light?

[harmonicon]

4. well, in all fairness.....

if he had chosen to look at her as a politician in her own right, there wouldn't be much, or at least nothing nice, to say.




















it's a joke, it's a joke!!






sort of.

[Demeter]

5. Oh, Please!

This is beyond absurd.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Is that the same as a

stiffy ?