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A private school in Karachi opted to change its plan for an in-house concert after rumours started to rise that students would be singing a song that promotes atheism. John Lennon’s “Imagine” is a world famous 1971 piece that the students wanted to cover for an event on Friday. However, they could not do so as conservative ideologies and strict blasphemy laws of the country made the students change their minds.
John Lennon’s “Imagine” is one song that has gained much of a highlight in the country after a The News editor, Ansar Abbasi, pointed out its atheistic lyrics. “No heaven, no hell, no religion too” is something that caught his eye and asked his followers to raise an awareness. The private school is known for its liberal inclination and even the principal is a British citizen Dr Wall. Although people are saying that he is introducing secular values into his students, a fact still remains clouded. However, after much backlash, the school finally decided to drop this song from its event.
A private school in Karachi is holding a concert on Friday. Students will sing John Lennon’s lyrics- no heavan, no hell, no religion too .
— Ansar Abbasi (@AnsarAAbbasi) August 23, 2017
People reacted differently on social media with hate and love for Ansar Abbasi. Conservative and religious scholars praised the editor for his “bold” step towards stopping this:
It is encouraging that after Ansar Abbasi’s tweet, the poem depicting atheistic beliefs was dropped from the school program.#No_to_atheism
— Mufti Adnan Kakakhel (@Mufti_Kakakhail) August 26, 2017
People who criticized this move by the editor of The News spoke about how it is more important to stop students from singing allegedly atheistic songs rather than promoting the image of Islam itself:
And our biggest problem: John Lennon´s Imagine. https://t.co/R4c7fwsp6r
— Abbas Nasir (@abbasnasir59) August 25, 2017
Ansar Abbasi must be feeling so happy, he stopped school kids from singing John Lennon’s Imagine. He has solved the issue of terrorism. Wow.
— Shamila Ghyas (@ShamilaGhyas) August 24, 2017
According to an interview by John Lennon sometimes in the 1980, he spoke about his song “Imagine” by explaining that “Imagine did not discourage faith, but this whole my-God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing.”
