IN the wake of the horrifying violence in Gojra earlier this year, when mob violence instigated by religious bigots claimed the lives of seven people and destroyed the property of Christians, many questions have been asked, especially, how could this happen? The answer has partially been provided in a 258-page report of an inquiry tribunal headed by a Lahore High Court judge released earlier this month. But the full answer does not lie just in the failure of pre-emption and prevention; a full answer also includes a simple, harsh reality because the perpetrators can get away with it. On Monday, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanuallah admitted that the police have yet to arrest 29 suspects linked to the Gojra violence — more than four and a half months since the hapless people were burned alive in the fires of hate. Curiously, Mr Sanuallah, according to a report in this newspaper, called upon parliamentarians presumably from the area to help the police arrest the 29 suspects. In the squalid, murky details of why those 29 people have not yet been arrested lies part of the answer to why Gojra happened — and why it can happen again, there or elsewhere. Despite the fiercest media and public attention, belated as it was, if some of the Gojra perpetrators can still be at large, then the country has in fact not moved at all in the direction of preventing such crimes in the future.
Admittedly, there has been some progress in bringing the Gojra accused to justice. The police arrested 102 accused and booked dozens more, the inquiry tribunal's report has made some very pragmatic and sweeping suggestions, and the authorities have tried to help the victims rebuild their lives. But Gojra is a tragedy that calls for a zero-tolerance approach the full extent of the law has to be applied to anyone who committed a crime of commission or omission. Let some of the suspects go punished and the message will be clear to violent bigots elsewhere their crimes may also go unpunished. Logically, then, another Gojra could only be a matter of time.
