{"product_id":"revenge-politics-and-blasphemy-in-pakistan-by-adeel-hussain-9781787386853","title":"Revenge, Politics and Blasphemy in Pakistan","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis fascinating book uncovers the hidden stories behind Pakistan's fixation with blasphemy—tales of revenge, political scheming, and sovereign betrayal. Hussain's account opens in nineteenth-century colonial Punjab and traces blasphemy killings to the present, linking their emergence to polemic encounters between Hindu and Muslim revivalist sects, namely the Arya Samaj and the Ahmadiyya.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt offers, for the first time, the arresting backstories to the assassinations of Pandit Lekh Ram, a leading Hindu nationalist; Swami Shraddhanand, an early progenitor of Hindu nationalism and the principal advocate for converting Muslims; and Rajpal, the Hindu publisher of a sensationalist book on the Prophet Muhammad.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eRevenge, Politics and Blasphemy in Pakistan\u003c\/i\u003e then maps the curious afterlives of these killings, illuminating the most critical moments in Pakistan's history: 1953, when outraged protestors smashed stores owned by religious minorities, triggering the country's first state of emergency; 1974, when Islamist parties pressured Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to put blasphemy on the constitutional agenda; 1984, when Zia-ul-Haq transformed Pakistan according to his Islamist vision, which included more severe punishments for blasphemy; and the twenty-first century, when digital media has dramatically increased the visibility of blasphemy killings, prompting political parties to demonstrate their commitment to the cause.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47536926720236,"sku":"9781787386853","price":69.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/f39879668a9cae2ccdd354e9f8ab6ed2.jpg?v=1776903425","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/revenge-politics-and-blasphemy-in-pakistan-by-adeel-hussain-9781787386853","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}