NOTHING seems to be working, especially when it comes to character building and instilling humane traits, particularly among men. In-person congregations of millions at tableeghiijtima, hundreds, if not thousands, of urs ceremonies around the country at shrines and mausoleums, televangelists, and social media platforms with a combined following of hundreds of millions gush morality and piety 24/7, and yet men go about brutalising women, other men, and animals. Something’s got to give.
We have become a 250-million-strong, growing-by-the-minute, cursing, lashing-out mass — bent upon auto-cannibalisation. It is impossible to determine whether the brutality on display, ever-disgusting in its daily manifestations, is innate or a reaction of a systematically brutalised society. I, for one, am unable to stop imagining ways to inflict the worst possible pain on the criminal who attacked Dr Mahnoor with acid in a Quetta hospital.
The rage that is stirred within by the many instances of brutality even brushes aside criticism of ‘encounter’ killings as one finds oneself unsatisfied with the ultimate punishment dispensed by courts of law.
I may not be alone in this; many others must be racking their brains to devise severe deterrents to stop men from gouging out a camel’s eyes or amputating the limbs of a cow that strayed into their field of crops. While I am at it, let me acknowledge the lack of imagination, as my mind keeps returning to the collective punishment practised by another set of brutes, such as the white colonialists, their brown successors and the Zionist Israeli regime.
How does one cultivate law-abiding citizens?
Would confiscating movable and immovable assets and razing houses deter the would-be criminal? What if they have nothing to lose? OK, how about denying them their last rites? Notwithstanding the extremity of the idea, it assumes the culprit has died, legally or not. What if he is never apprehended? What form of collective punishment would compel him to surrender and/or serve as a deterrent to prevent the crime in the first place?
All these schemes may appear satisfying at first; however, we are also burdened with a conscience; else, why would we be discussing any of it? No amount of rage can stop one from asking, ‘but how could you punish his family for his crimes?’ An equally angry response could be ‘but whose responsibility is it to raise him properly and ensure he stays on the straight and narrow?’ The logic of ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ doesn’t hold, for the villages — and the cities — are run by men dispensing jirga justice.
So then, how does one cultivate law-abiding, engaged citizens? This question may hold at least one key to the multiple cells we have locked ourselves in. To be engaged, people need to have a stake in the system and to know that breaking the law has consequences. Otherwise, no number of religious congregations, fulmination of the morality brigade on social media, or, for that matter, letting off steam at raves and jamming at private parties would temper the brute within us.
Those who don’t have anything to look forward to in life could become a danger to themselves and society, but Zahir Jaffer had everything going for him, yet he brutally murdered Noor Mukadam. The logical conclusion of his trial would be a step towards establishing accountability and put a tiny dimple in our collective belief that the powerful go scot-free in Pakistan. As for those brutalising women and children, one really hopes for the worst of both worlds: first, jaza-saza sab yaheen pay hogi; yaheen azab-o-sawab hoga (all reckoning in this life) type repayment; plus the lowest rungs of eternal hell in the hereafter.
Now that we have the condemnations out of the way, let us turn to tangible measures and the state’s responsibility. The euphemisms of ‘waste band bullet’ and the ‘half’ and ‘full-fry’ do not change the nature of extrajudicial measures. They have had no deterrent effect on would-be criminals.
A state that does not itself raise and harbour criminals for any policy gains will not allow any segment of society to do so. A state that does not manipulate the courts to secure favourable decisions can insist that the judiciary set its house in order. Only a state that does not use the police for political expediency could improve its investigative and prosecutorial capabilities, leading to convictions and, hopefully, some measure of deterrence.
Salute to Abdul Razzaq, a hospital staff member who came to Dr Mahnoor’s aid, and to his family, who raised him right. Salute to the polio vaccinators who continue to risk their lives for Pakistan’s children, knowing another band of brutes lies in wait.
The writer is a poet. His latest publication is a collection of satire essays titled Rindana.
Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2026