Word: secularize
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...terrorist groups in Pakistan have grown stronger and bolder, the general has spent a great deal of time battling institutions of a democratic society, such as the judiciary. On Nov. 3, Musharraf went the whole hog, suspending the constitution, muzzling the independent media, sacking several top judges, jailing many secular politicians and sending his troops into the streets, where they bludgeoned protesting lawyers, human-rights activists and frustrated citizens. Calling the state of emergency, said Musharraf, was vital to fighting rising extremism and ending the paralysis of government by "judicial interference...
...cease-fire with a powerful militant leader who had taken 213 soldiers hostage in the lawless northwestern region. The irony was not lost on Asma Jahangir, Pakistan's best-known human-rights activist, who wrote in an e-mail from house arrest, "Those [Musharraf] has arrested are progressive, secular-minded people, while the terrorists are offered negotiations and cease-fires...
...Islamist militia is waging a bloody campaign to establish Shari'a law, will become even harder. "Pakistan is very religious, but it is not extremist," says Ahsan Iqbal, information secretary for the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, the party led by Nawaz Sharif. By making this a battle between secular values and extremism, Iqbal says, Musharraf is seeking to justify his actions and appeal to moderate Pakistanis. But Iqbal doubts it will work, as even moderate Muslims have had enough of military rule. "Musharraf is pushing a large chunk of moderate but religious Pakistanis to side with the extremists, even...
...there's little real danger of extremists coming to power, no matter what happens to Musharraf. The Pakistani army is still largely secular. The main political parties--Bhutto's PPP and Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League--are moderate. But continued U.S. support for an unpopular Musharraf may complicate Washington's relations with any future civilian government. Pakistanis see Musharraf as America's man and regard U.S. calls for democracy as insincere. "Musharraf is an enemy of Pakistan," says Akhtar Qazi, a 71-year-old retired schoolteacher with anger to match her brightly hennaed hair. "We sacrificed our lives for Pakistan...
Marglin also considers himself to be culturally Jewish, but his beliefs make him a “secular humanist...