IN most countries, a marathon race would merit a few paragraphs in the sports or city pages. Here, the entire nation waits with bated breath to see what the mullahs of the MMA will do to disrupt the event in Lahore on Sunday.
The Punjab chief minister has tried to reach a compromise, but for some reason, orthodox elements are up in arms over the prospect of a race in which men and women run together. And yet, as a columnist pointed out in a Karachi daily, millions of men and women perform the Haj together every year. So what, readers may well ask, is the big deal?
A few months ago, these same extremists broke up a marathon in Gujranwala. More recently, a similar event was disrupted by the Punjab police, with Asma Jehangir, the gutsy lawyer and human rights activist, being roughed up and her clothes ripped. What is it about women participating in a foot race that so upsets men, particularly those with long beards? Who reserved the roads of our country for the exclusive use of men?
Actually, the marathon has become a symbol of the struggle between the forces of moderation and darkness. The religious right has become so used to bullying the government of the day and civil society into getting its way that it is determined to disrupt the Lahore marathon. And successive governments have failed to call the mullahs’ bluff. Indeed, giving in to their most outlandish demands has become a habit.
Take President Musharraf’s abject surrender last year over the issue of a column for religion in the new passports as an example. After the government had announced that the machine-readable passports would not contain this column to bring Pakistan into line with international norms, the mullahs raised a hue and cry and threatened to lay siege to Islamabad. After promising to hold firm, Gen Musharaf caved in and now the new passports contain the entry for religion.
We need to ask why our clerics are so fond of raising pointless non-issues that have no bearing on the problems we face today. Why are they so insistent on dragging Pakistan back to the medieval era? The truth is that their mindset has not progressed much beyond the 7th century. Uneducated and ill-informed, they are incapable of discussing contemporary issues intelligently. Hence they keep bringing up archaic, irrelevant matters that only serve to confuse and confound.
Afghanistan under the Taliban is a case in point. The only education (if one can call it that) these backward tribal villagers received was at madressahs run by Pakistani religious parties. When they gained power, their only agenda was to further ‘Islamize’ an overwhelmingly Muslim country. Incapable of discussing the real issues of poverty, health and education, they based their rule on the length of men’s beards. Their reign was marked by a comprehensive ban on fun. Public executions and flogging were the only entertainment. Women were forbidden to study or work. And this is the role model many of our mullahs would like us to follow.
In other Muslim countries, there is a certain amount of scholarship and intellectual rigour associated with seminaries that is lacking here. In Pakistan, Islam has been reduced to a set of do’s and don’ts — and mostly the latter. The spiritual element has been completely removed. How many of our self-appointed religious leaders practise the love, humanity, tolerance and peace that are at the heart of all major religions?
To a great extent, the politicization of religion has caused the confusion we see around us today. When semi-literate mullahs drive the national agenda, we are obviously not going to debate the great issues of the day. Inevitably, the public discourse will be dumbed down to the level we have reached: can male technicians X-ray female patients? Should women be allowed to run in a marathon? Did human beings actually reach the surface of the moon, or was this great achievement actually faked by the American government?
These trivial controversies divert us from addressing the real problems. Thus, education remains neglected, partly because the mullahs will not permit a meaningful overhaul of the curricula. On university campuses, youth wings of religious parties routinely disrupt any attempt at creativity. And mullahs on TV reinforce the image of a backward, benighted nation. For instance, a medical student recently called one of these shows for advice: could she put off fasting in Ramadan because of her final examinations, and make up the missed fasts later? No way, answered the mullah-in-the-box. However, he assured her that while she was fasting, she would be inspired to perform better.
Fundamentalists seem to have problems with women who have nothing to do with religion. Several non-Muslim societies have similar macho attitudes, but do not necessarily insist that this attempt to dominate women has religious sanction or sanctity. But in many Muslim countries, largely illiterate communities are still in thrall to equally uneducated mullahs who misinterpret the holy texts in order to cement male dominance over women. In many cases, religion is cited to strengthen backward social customs.
Obviously, the status quo suits the religious right very well. In Pakistan, they have been constantly pushing their agenda with great success. There is a popular misconception that the Islamization of Pakistan started with general Zia. In reality, religious parties, most notably the Jamaat-e-Islami, have been pressuring every government since the creation of Pakistan to further their cause. And with varying degrees, most governments have succumbed.
Of course, it was Zia’s hateful dictatorship that saw the rapid acceleration of the process. There was no aspect of public life that was too insignificant for him to intervene in. For example, in 1979, an official order instructed all city governments to immediately demolish all public urinals as it was considered unIslamic for men to urinate standing up. This forced millions of men to relieve themselves against walls.
These are the inanities we have been reduced to, thanks to our backward mullahs. Year by year, we are being pushed backwards, and liberal elements are being further marginalized. Despite this shrinkage of space for free expression and thought, our fundamentalists are not satisfied and keep pushing. Unfortunately, even secular leaders like President Musharraf have not had the courage of their convictions.
In this environment of repression and hypocrisy, it is even more important for the people of Lahore to turn up in large numbers and foil the fundamentalists.