| June 10, 2003 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1424 |
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Quetta massacre
PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf’s speech at the Lahore Bar Association reception on Sunday could not have been more timely, coming as it did in the wake of some ominous developments in the North-Western Frontier Province. The Shariat Bill is one thing (one can dwell on it from many angles) but the frivolities of billboard defacing, circus-bashing and the like resorted to as part of a calculated drive for religious purification are quite another. Commitment to Islam and the values it stands for in the life of an individual and his group is one thing; bigotry that spawns fitna — quite another. Once unleashed, chaos goes out of control of those who plant it for whatever reason. In the memorable words of Mark Antony “Mischief, thou art afoot; take course what course thou wilt.” In brief, chaos creates schisms in religion, unsettles society and causes anarchy and bloodshed without achieving anything positive and lasting. Who is responsible for the present state of society in Pakistan is a big question. No individual, group, party or government can be held particularly guilty for the chaos, confusion and uncertainty that reign supreme in the country. Secular forces have contributed as much to the erosion of civil society as the so-called “religious” forces that pose themselves as the guardians of Islam. In reality, it is a long succession of rules as well as a great multiplicity of leaders, parties and groups of different hues and persuasions that will be held responsible by history for that.
The president’s speech is important in the context of whatever is going on in Pakistan, especially in the NWFP, because he focused on the attempts at Talibanization of Pakistan. The spectre of Talibanization has been haunting Pakistan for quite some time — even after the ouster of the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. As preached and practised in Afghanistan, their brand of Islam has nothing to offer to the Muslims except backwardization, denial of individual rights and freedom, and a retrogressive outlook that frowns on all cultural and artistic activity that makes life worth living. Their attitude toward women was cruel and obnoxious, for they equated Islam with Afghanistan’s tribal culture and traditions. Pakistan has an entirely different cultural milieu. Elements of tribalism may be there, but the vast majority of the people have practised an Islam that is liberal in outlook and spirit and has a human face. That Islam enabled them to rule South Asia with spectacular success for over a thousand years. In the process, the Muslims of South Asia interacted with the people of other faiths in a spirit of harmony and mutual respect, so that they were able to make monumental contributions to the subcontinent’s history and culture — the Taj Mahal, the Mughal miniature paintings and the illustrated Persian translations of the Hindu epic Mahabharat being just a few examples. Pakistan today cannot turn its face away from this tolerant, dynamic and outward-looking culture and opt instead for a hidebound, inward-looking and exclusivist way of life that negates all that the Muslim scholars and institutions of higher learning stood for in Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba.
Neither Iqbal, who visualized Pakistan, nor Jinnah, who founded it, thought of this country as a theocratic state ruled by religious bigots who would turn society into a theocratic version of Orwell’s 1984. The billboard affair also reminds one of some totalitarian regimes in Europe and elsewhere who unleashed party activists on the streets to achieve “ideological” goals. The end-result was a crippling of government institutions, leading to chaos that achieved nothing except causing setbacks after setbacks to the state’s political and administrative structures.
What image billboard defacing and other such acts of coercion and vandalism are creating for Pakistan is evident from a Faisalabad report which says that a Dutch firm has decided to wind up business here and leave. The firm said it had found conditions in Pakistan unbearable. Of course, the religious elements alone are not responsible for the prevailing environment of insecurity. Ethnic and other tribal elements have also contributed to widespread violence and scare in the country. But unfortunately the parties that call themselves religious have not only contributed to the on-going tide of religious intolerance and bigotry, but have made their cadres believe that the use of violence and coercion for “Islamic” causes is entirely permissible. The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government in the Frontier, for example, has chosen to focus attention on non-issues — like the dress code, “obscenity”, cable operators, circuses and entertainment in general regardless of its content. In the NWFP, the people expected them to draw up plans for the province’s economic development to be able to remove poverty, hunger and illiteracy. Instead, there is emphasis on all sorts of inanities. The federal government no doubt has its own lapses and failures to answer for, but the religious parties have shown a tendency less to make the political system work and more to have a confrontation with Islamabad. They seem to forget that as politicians in power they must contribute to Pakistan’s stability and progress rather than to chaos and violence.
It would be a pity if the country were to descend into violence and chaos. Those who are trying to foist their narrow, intolerant version of Islam on the country must realize that if they persist, they are bound to come up against formidable popular resistance. Such a conflict will prove highly disruptive at both political and social levels. Ultimately, it is through the democratic process that Pakistan will realize its destiny. Islam is not a controversial matter in Pakistan. It is the religion of the overwhelming majority of the people. In belief and practice Pakistani Muslims are as good as anywhere in the world. They want to order their individual and collective lives according to its values. But for doing this they do not need baton-wielding religious police or vigilante groups to do the pushing and shoving.
YESTERDAY’s brutal killing of 12 Balochistan police trainees in Quetta had all the horrors of a sectarian slaughter. Two gunmen riding a motorbike, who opened fire into the police coach transporting the unfortunate cadets, got away after committing the ghastly crime in broad daylight. The attack, the way it was carried out, showed yet again that terrorists can strike with impunity at any target of their own choosing anywhere, anytime. The Quetta massacre was the most horrifying one in recent months, in that the terrorists chose to target personnel whose responsibility it is to maintain peace and public order and prevent and control crime. This shows the extent of daring behind many acts of lawlessness in society. This more so in the case of terrorists, who, with their narrow-minded notions about religion, and their intolerance of others who do not subscribe to their viewpoint, go about defying the writ of law. Not surprisingly, the latest incident has left Quetta in a state of utter shock and dismay, and the city’s residents in the grip of a heightened sense of alarm and insecurity.
The police cadets in question belonged to the Shia Hazara tribe, which adds a new dimension to the multiple murder. The Hazaras are known for their peaceful ways combined with a spirit of defiance and courage when forced to fight back. In Quetta this was a third terrorist attack against Shia targets within the last ten days. The Balochistan government will have to make sure that the situation does not get out of hand in the days to come. It should do all it can to calm tempers, institute an inquiry into the latest terrorist assault, track down the killers and bring them to justice. That said, it seems that the government’s banning of the extremist sectarian organizations has not served the intended purpose because many of those known for preaching sectarian hatred and inciting violence are still free to do so. It is time the government did more to make good its pledge of rooting out sectarian madness from society.