I read this on July 4th in the Vancouver Sun and it stuck with me. I’m still not sure if it was supposed to be ironic or not.
For one thing it was July 4. Clearly the pictures were striking. But the nature of the story (actually it was only a caption—no story) and what was added at the end (almost like it was an inconsequential afterthought—or was this intentional irony?), startled me a little. Even though I should be used to this sort of thing by now, it still affects me.
It ties in well with the editorial I pointed to yesterday by Salim Mansur (which was not here in his usual place columnist space but over at the Western Standard magazine online). And it makes you wonder about what the heck they’re taught in the schools in Pakistan and elsewhere, and why, as Salim asks, we still support that sort of thinking with our tax dollars.
This is what the caption said:
More than 200 women and students rallied in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad Monday, demanding the government make it mandatory for female students to wear Islamic head scarves, or hijab, in schools and colleges. The Shiite students group marched from a Shiite mosque to central Islamabad carrying placards reading ‘Protest against Western culture’ and ‘We will take the veil to every home to protect women’s dignity.’ They also chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel.’
Photo credit: Vancouver Sun/Farooq Naem/Agence France Presse
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