Saqlain Imam 3

Subject: Re: I am available
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 20:25:51 -0800
From: "Dr. Susan Block" <drsuzyb@blockbooks.com>
To: Saqlain Imam <imam6@hotmail.com>
References: 1

Dear Saqlain,

We have a saying in America: Better Late Than Never. I hope that is how you feel about receiving this inexcusably late e-mail from me.

I'm so glad that you want to be a telephone guest on my show. The show which I invited you to be on a couple of weeks ago was focused on politics, our own "Ayatollah Asscraft" and the USA Patriot Act, as well as RAWA and the war in Afghanistan. That is why I was so eager to have you on that particular show. But my last two shows have been focused on sex, featuring guests who are experts in teasing, swinging, bondage and exhibitionism. That's why I didn't invite you to be on one of those
shows (well, until I get to know you better :) ). Most of my shows focus on human sexuality of one sort or another, but every few weeks, I focus on politics. I would love to feature you as a telephone guest on my next political show, and I will be sure to give you more advance notice this time.

In the meantime, I will try to respond to your wonderful e-mail. I'm glad you'd like to meet me. I'd like to meet you too. Perhaps one of my wealthy Pakistani sex therapy clients will invite me back to your country sometime. Who knows?

Thank you for your concern about what happened to me the first time I was in Pakistan. But please don't be too upset about it. Remember, it was only an attempted rape. Everything worked out fine. I think the man just didn't know how to behave around a free-thinking, adventure-loving woman like me. In the end, no one was hurt, and we both learned something about each other's cultures. Rape is a terrible crime, of course, and rapists should be punished like the thugs that they are. But I am not one of those people who feels that rape is as bad as murder. A woman can recover from a rape (if her family allows her to), but there is no recovery from death.

Also, with all due respect, my dear Saqlain, I must disagree with you when you say that "rape is such an act that even animals do not commit." Rape is quite common among animals. Fertile females of various species are often raped, even "gang-banged" by aggressive males. Even among some of our closest animal relatives--baboons, orangutans and chimpanzees--the males frequently rape fertile females. That's why I like the bonobo chimpanzees so much. They are as closely related to humans as common chimpanzees, but they rarely rape, and they never murder or make war on each other.
Unlike common chimpanzees where females are definitely second class citizens, bonobo females are very powerful in their communities, and fairly aggressive when it comes to sex. They make sure the males don't get out of line, partly by providing them with an abundance of sex, touch and sensuous play. They seem to use sex to maintain the peace. They're really quite remarkable creatures, and if you don't already know about them, you can find out more on one of my websites:
http://www.blockbonobofoundation.org/.

I agree with you when you say that extreme sexual segregation causes many misunderstandings between men and women that can lead to tragedy. As you can imagine, I'm against all forms of forced segregation. Though I must say that segregation creates a certain eroticism. That which is off-limits is more tantalizing. The fantasy of the beauty beneath the veil can be more exciting than a real woman. Many of my male viewers are seeing so many burqas on TV these days; some say they find them sexy. Who knows, maybe this war will create a burqa fetish in America! Though I don't know any American women who really want to wear them. Too confining, too uncomfortable! Oh, sometimes, when I don't feel like putting on makeup and I'm not feeling well, I wish I could wear a veil over my face. I just don't believe that governments should tell us what we can or can't wear. But then, I wouldn't mind if people walked around naked. Though I probably wouldn't. I like to "improve" upon nature with a little dressing.

Market Street, Kabul, Afghanistan .. Photo: SB

The e-mail discussion between Shahid Younis Khan and yourself is fascinating. I have to agree with Mr. Khan (and you) that the American war in Afghanistan is only, on the surface, about terrorism. America, and the Bush clan in particular, has economic reasons to be there and, from what I hear, they're spelled O-I-L. And one of America's great undoings is our support of despotic regimes in an effort to "protect our interests." But of course, I can't agree with him about religion and it's place in government. I'm one of those dread "secularists" he's trying to warn everybody against. I believe that religion and spirituality are very personal, like sex, and should not be dictated by the government. I suppose your colleague would call me a "kafir." I've been called worse. One of the most sanctimonious moralists in America, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, called me a "Pseudo-Professional Porn Queen." I call myself an Ethical Hedonist.

It is quite interesting and gratifying to see how you point out the hypocrisies among your own people. You are an excellent writer. I guess I try, in my own idiosyncratic way, to do the same thing here. It is important to have strong voices of dissidence in any community. The alternative is Taliban Rule or Ashcroft Justice.

Every day, Americans are learning more about the world outside our now very insecure borders. When we see that young American, John Walker (aka Abdul Hamid), fighting on the side of the Taliban, we can't help but think that he could be our neighbor, even our son or our brother. Then we realize that the Taliban is not some alien, unknowable "Other," or as our President says, "the Evil Ones." There's a little bit of Taliban in all of us. Walker is 20. I was 19 when I wandered through
the rocks and gardens of Pakistan and Afghanistan, searching for the meaning of life, as he did. I doubt I would have picked up an AK-47, but I could possibly have gotten involved with fanatics in those hazy crazy days of youthful exhuberance, idealism and folly. Of course, we Americans don't have to leave our shores to find fanatics willing to kill and die for their idea of God, eager to convert and co-opt lost young people in search of meaning in their lives. Every religion--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism--has it's lunatic element. For various reasons, Islamic fanaticism is center-stage right now.

Man before Caves, Bamian, Afghanistan .... Photo: SB

But maybe that's about to change. I'm glad to see that there will be a woman minister in the new Afghan government. What do you make of that? What do you make of all the recent, tumultuous events? It is wonderful to see women taking off their burqas, men shaving, people playing music for the first time in years. But it's also a bit bewildering. So many Afghan Talibs have changed sides to Northern Alliance, or at least anti-Taliban. Can you shed some light as to what it all means? We keep
hearing about war crimes being committed by our allies against the "foreigners" in Afghanistan. What do you know about that? What is it like in Pakistan now, which is officially America's ally, but where so much sympathy for the Taliban and the Pushtuns lies? What is the ISI up to?

As for Middle Eastern people here in America, many are still being "detained" (a euphemism for imprisoned), even if there is no evidence linking them to any acts of terrorism. As you read in my essay, the chill on American civil liberties has extended to my own lawyer who now refuses to represent me in my lawsuit (which he filed) against the Los Angeles Police Department for their illegal invasion of my broadcast studio last year, because "since the attacks," he is afraid juries would not look favorably upon private, law-abiding citizens saying that police had violated their rights.

In answer to your most important question, yes, you may certainly consider me your friend. And if fate ever brings you to Los Angeles, you have a place to stay here at my institute. So Saqlain, my friend on the other end of the world, I hope that you write back to me more quickly than I wrote back to you this time. I don't want to get too grandiose about it, but I believe that our correspondence is one of the slim yet strong threads that is tying our world together in harmony, as opposed to violence, these days.

Wassalam,
Suzy
Susan M. Block, Ph.D.
The Dr. Susan Block Institute
213.239.0300

Desert Fort, Bamian, Afghanistan ..................... Photo: SB

Subject: Re: problem with e-mail
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 20:03:14 +0500
From: "Saqlain Imam" <imam6@hotmail.com>
To: drsuzyb@blockbooks.com

Dear Suzy,

I am now in Karachi, over 800 miles south of Lahore, on some official job. So I cannot write you back. I'll write you in details as soon as I reach Lahore, my home city/town.

By the way, I am elated and walking in air after having received your very encouraging response. Let me inform you that I am also a secularist, though I believe in certain things of Islam, which are necessary to be an 'ethical hedonist." Believes and faiths are important to live a happy life.

My problem in Pakistani society is that (1) it is hyporitical, and (2) it is religious in the sense that state tries to dictate the religion of every individual. The result is that a dissenter finds a very narrow place to survive in this so-called Islamic society. Even if the dissent is of a religious nature.

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam (his titel) Muhammad Ali Jinnah (the George Washington of Pakistan) did not conceive the idea of Pakistan as a Mullah or Theologist-dominated state.

In the days when Afghan leaders wore suits .... Photo: SB

In fact, the late Jinnah had urged in one of his famous speeches, that "Muslims will cease to be Muslims, Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Christians will cease to be Christians, not in religious sense, but in political sense" as they all will be Pakistanis (Aug. 11, 1947). Pakistan was created or given indepedence on Aug. 14, 1947. It is unfortunate that his vision of secular Pakistan has been replaced with a fundamentalist one. He always wanted a liberal, modern, progressive, prosperous and industrialised Pakistan. Alas that did not happen as he died immediately after the independence (died on September 11, 1948).

As per my understanding, the ISI people in Pakistan apparently are complying with the dicates of General Musharraf and the USA, but in the heart of their hearts, these people accept the present situation with a lot of grudge.

For instance, the pro-nuclear lobby in Pakistan, which pushed the successive governemnts and finally made Nawaz Sharif government to respond to the Indian government's nuclear tests in 1998, is an integral part of the fundamentalist nucleus that laboured the birth of Taliban and Osama Ben Ladin.

(I don't want to say all these things in public and hope that you would not mention my name whenever you talk on these issues in public) As long as pro-nuclear lobby is there, which, I think, will stay, fundamentalist nucleus will not abandon its position and continue to manipulate the situation in order to influence the course of events in Pakistan.

Hope to write you further in near future. May I inform you that I am very private person in my life, though I have been twice president of Lahore Press club and once president of Punjab Union of Journalists?

Anyway I am really delighted.

Saqlain.

Market Street & Sacred Hill (notice caves), Kandahar, Afghanistan,,,, Photos: SB

Subject: Re: problem with e-mail
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 13:42:34 -0800
From: "Dr. Susan Block" <drsuzyb@blockbooks.com>
To: Saqlain Imam <imam6@hotmail.com>
References: 1

Dear Saqlain,

I too am delighted with our correspondence, and I look forward to hearing from you again when you get back to Lahore. I hope you'll have a chance to respond to some of my questions. What you write about Pakistani history in light of current events is most enlightening.

But before I write more, I want to address the issue of privacy. I'm sorry to hear you say you don't want "to say all these things in public," first, because I think it's important for someone to say these things so that people can better understand the critical situation facing us today, and second, because much of my e-mail correspondence (including yours) already does appear on my website. As I told you in my second e-mail to you, I've printed some of my correspondence with other people in response to my Ayatollah Asscraft essay. Of course, I've printed your letters too, since they are some of my favorites. In fact, I have a beautiful page of our e-mails interspersed with photos that I took when I was in Pakistan and Afghanistan. As you can tell by looking at my website, I'm a fairly public person. Not that I reveal everything about myself. But I believe in the vitality of sharing
information, experiences, perspectives and feelings, both personal and political.

As a sex therapist, I scrupulously uphold the absolute privacy and confidentiality of my clients. Armed police couldn't get me to give up the sexual secrets that my sex therapy clients have entrusted in my care. But even with my clients, I warn them that e-mail is not a private medium. If they want to be certain that their secrets remain secret, they should only tell them to me verbally. Even if I don't print them, thanks to the new policies of our American Ayatollah, even our private e-mails are now subject to the Carnivore snooping of various government agencies.

As for my friends and acquaintances in the media, I frequently print our e-mail interchanges with no editing. No censorship. This is an important aspect of my website. In fact, I have a message about this on the Front Page of my website before visitors can enter. It says "I understand that if I e-mail or send photos to Dr. Susan Block or anyone with the Dr. Susan Block Institute, my e-mails or photos may appear on this site."

I guess you now realize that I am almost as passionate about Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Publish as religious fundamentalists are about God. I don't mean to be blasphemous, but it is important to me.

With all due respect, my dear Saqlain, I think you should take pride in your words, so eloquently set forth, and you should be glad that your views are gaining an international audience that you might not otherwise have. Yes, this entails some risk. But we gain nothing good in life without some risk. You are doing nothing wrong or illegal. Some people will not like your views, of course. That goes with the territory. You are a journalist. Your writings should be published as much as possible. I'd also still like to have you as a guest on my show (maybe even this Saturday night) where you would even further publicize and broadcast your views.

I feel, at this point, that I should also let you know that I am Jewish. Of course, I'm not at all religious, nor am I particularly Zionist. And I dislike Sharon almost as much as Arafat! But I do believe that there is a strong strain of anti-Semitism bubbling over from the Arab world into America and other Western countries right now.

Of course, you have every right to disagree with me. I would understand if I were never to hear from you again. But I would be very disappointed, as I cherish our correspondence.

Suzy
Susan M. Block, Ph.D.
The Dr. Susan Block Institute
213.239.0300

Children of Band-I-Amir .................... Photo: SB

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