Burning of effigies of undesirable to hated people is a widely-indulged pastime in Pakistan. One has seen the spectacle ever since one can remember. It is the expression of emotions, catharsis, deliverance of a burden of conscience and the satisfaction that you have played your part in the support of a cause. Presumably, effigy-burning also ventilates some inner urge for violence that, judging from events all around and the committed thrust of Pakistani cinema, drives many compatriots to crime.
The leaders of India have always been popular with effigy-burners, but they are generally perceived as possessing incomparable expertise for providing provocation. They may be targeted also because the practice is a derivative of the Hindu religious festival of Dusehra, when giant-size effigies of Rawan, embodying evil in Hindu mythology, are burnt in collective observation of religious rites. Many practices of Hinduism have seeped into Pakistani society and this is apparently one of them: people destroy what they perceive as ‘Rawans’ for safety of their society and their own well-being.
Conservative elements of Pakistan have been campaigning for giving up palpably unIslamic rituals, but most people are reluctant to follow their advice because some practices have become either a source of joy or accepted social norms. Many customs at weddings and deaths fall in this category. Even people who accept that they are discordant with the preachings of Islam regard them as harmless deviations, containing nothing really unreligious.
For instance, puritans disapprove of the qul ceremony, but others view it is a measure for offering friends, relatives and acquaintances the opportunity to condole a death if they had failed to do so earlier for some reason. The practice has developed ugly nova richness, but trust that class to distort and glamorize every aspect of the social life. For most people, it just makes for a wider sharing of grief for mourners.
The burning of Rawan’s effigy presumably channelized the hatred and frustrations of average Hindus, and enabled them to live normal lives for a while. The latest events in Gujarat would suggest that every day has become a Dusehra for BJP supporters. But that is an altogether different issue. The party is conducting a campaign of vendetta against history by burning humiliations of the past, by treating that segment of the populace as demons whose ancestors had conquered the subcontinent.
The first impact of effigy-burning should, however, be relevant for Pakistan also. The burning of the effigy of a personality viewed as a villain in some context provides the people to act out emotions and perhaps forget about the issue for a while. That is a built-in devise in effigy-burning: the issue is reduced to ashes that are dispersed in the wind.
MMA protest rallies against the US do not seem to be something similar, because the alliance has warned the government of Pakistan of launching a civil disobedience movement if Pakistan supports the US in case Iraq is attacked. Sparks have been kept alive to be fanned when the need for invoking the issue again is felt.
The MMA’s warning should be taken seriously. The alliance represents a solid chunk of the electorate, commands one province and shares power in another. The government of Balochistan could be destabilized and NWFP’s relations with the federal government could be ruptured if there is disagreement of a basic nature between these provinces and Islamabad. A centre-province confrontation undermines national interest — not an unfamiliar development, particularly when two provinces are located next to a troubled volcano.
A grim scenario is made grimmer by the effigy to be torched by the MMA supporters in its next protest: would it be of the US President or the personalities of Pakistan associated with pro-US policy for Washington’s campaign against Iraq? US presidents have been next only to Indian leaders in terms of popularity for burning of effigies; the prominent people in Pakistan have rarely been more than a spark away from flames.
Effigy-burning is a sport for all varieties and levels of protesters in Pakistan. It is resorted to for localized differences as well as national issues. The top leadership of the country serves as dry twigs for fires by political workers and angered masses. The possibility of symbolically destroying leaders acts as incentive for agitators. The MMA would have a range to choose from. It would be up to the alliance to restrict itself to a single effigy or a menagerie.
Come to think if it, British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has a strong claim for having his effigy in the bonfire. The MMA should not ignore our region’s historical links with its former colonial masters and accord him the honour of becoming the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It does not matter that the empire’s sun has vanquished, neither that the UK is a monarchy; we have the next best semi-hereditary system that does not just comprise figurehead status, but vests all powers in the rulers. Army chiefs pass on the mantle of leadership to each other, albeit with periodic patches of semi-democratic dispensations.
In any case, Blair’s sensitivities should be kept in view as some of the institutions the MMA components represent were established under the British rule in India. He has played a major role in supporting the US in all its recent campaigns. Being a partner in the war against terror, Blair is Pakistan’s ally, too. He is likely to be offended if the opposition parties of Pakistan, a land formerly a British colony, slighted him. The MMA would only be underlining its foreign policy by including Blair in the list of personalities whose effigies would be torched at its next protest.
There is no denying that the rightist alliance put up a tremendous protest against Pakistan’s pro-US policies, the latter’s arrogance and what many people, no sympathizers of MMA, view as anti-Islam and anti-Muslim thrust of the world’s sole superpower. There may be reservations about the MMA’s position on religion, just as the Taliban’s extremism left a substantial percentage of Pakistanis cold. But people generally share MMA’s position on the progress of the ‘war on terror’ for Pakistan.
The MMA’s stand on Afghanistan, Iraq and specially, the role of US in Pakistan and the presence of its armed forces and investigating agencies personnel in the country, are in consonance with the people’s emotions. That may be the reason why the alliance succeeded in demonstrating massive support for its protest. The government would do well to the listen to the voice of the people, as it claims to represent the electorate. Its credibility and Pakistan’s future hinges on its response to the challenges to national interests — not as defined by authorities but as perceived by the people themselves.
But the alliance should also try to measure the distance the electorate would go with it. There is a clear demarcation between MMA and a vast majority of the masses. If the MMA can see and observe the limit and sincerely adjust itself to the people’s concept of their freedoms, a long-term partnership may be established between them and the MMA.
There remains the question of effigy-burning, however. This is not only an unreligious practice, but an undesirable one as well. Nothing is to be gained by insulting international leaders. It shows not just hatred but raw and crude emotionalism, too. That is not the strength of a nuclear nation. Let that privilege of acting with madness and prejudice stay with others. We are better off without irrationality.
In any case, effigies have to be made before they become material for bonfires. This does not fit MMA’s religious frame. An effigy is a kind of idol. The MMA, for that matter any Muslim, cannot build idols, even if it is for destroying them — unless the practice is followed for hoodwinking people. MMA’s credibility would be badly, perhaps irreparably, impaired if it embarks on another effigy-burning spree.
Burning of effigies of undesirable to hated people is a widely-indulged pastime in Pakistan. One has seen the spectacle ever since one can remember. It is the expression of emotions, catharsis, deliverance of a burden of conscience and the satisfaction that you have played your part in the support of a cause. Presumably, effigy-burning also ventilates some inner urge for violence that, judging from events all around and the committed thrust of Pakistani cinema, drives many compatriots to crime.
