On Thursday, Imran Khan repeated a line that many have heard often enough: the Pakhtun are “wrongly and cruelly” targeted in the wake of terrorist acts in the country. The reference in this case was to the explosions in Lahore and Sehwan this month.

The protest by the PTI chief came amid renewed calls for arresting the menace of terrorism at a time when the Rangers are preparing to go deep into Punjab territory in an effort to root out militancy. But these demands of taking fresh aim have been tainted by a tendency to condemn and make suspects of an entire ethnic group.

In tense times such as these, it is all the more necessary to let go of old stereotypes, however convenient they may be. The social media, to give but one instance of the existing prejudice, was replete with ‘beware’ messages targeting the Pakhtuns; these were rooted, no doubt, in popular biases and typecasting nurtured over several decades.

The tendency is to blame it all on ‘aliens’ who are forever at odds with civilisation as we know it. They are the ones who bring evil to our peace-loving, tolerant nation, the thinking goes. On top of that, there is denial that ‘we’ have anything to do with the violence that has been erupting all around us for several years now.

There is nothing new about this formula. It is frequently applied the world over, even if it has often exacted a heavy price paid by those whom society has condemned. Ethnic typecasting should be a thing of the past. It should especially have no room in nations that have themselves witnessed and experienced the bloodshed and hatred engendered by such strong biases.

Moreover, the offensive labelling routinely provides a cover to all those who escape suspicion on the basis of their ethnicity. If not for the sake of decent human values, then the myth must be exposed for a more focused, across-the-board targeting of suspects.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017