Daily Times

A foreigner taking a keen interest in Pakistan’s current situation asked me what the litmus test would be to indicate the government of Pakistan has indeed turned a new leaf since Peshawar. This article is a response to that question.

First of all, hanging terrorists and defeating the Taliban militarily is tantamount to alleviating the symptom while not addressing the underlying cause, i.e. the mindset that tolerates, if not outrightly celebrates, Talibanisation of the country. To this end the government needs to take several intermediary steps, foremost of which will be curriculum reform. These need to be broad based reforms that should inculcate in the young the following principles: first that Pakistan is a multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic society and its diversity is its greatest strength. Second, Pakistan was not created in the name of Islam. This a historical lie fed to us and is the basic issue with the imagination of Pakistan as a nation state. Pakistan was created because the two main representative parties in the subcontinent could not agree on the constitution of a united India. Third, all human beings and consequently all Pakistanis, regardless of what their religion is, regardless of the language they speak, irrespective of their colour or caste, are equal and should be recognised as equals. Curriculum reform should ensure that young Pakistanis look at themselves as human beings and Pakistanis before they see themselves through the prism of their religious or linguistic identity. Without the inculcation of these basic principles, any victory on the battlefield will be a short lived one.

The more immediate litmus test would be the response of the state to extremist threats posed to the many ‘others’ of Pakistani society. Another outrage against the Hazaras is completely unacceptable. No Shia doctor or scholar should be killed with impunity in the future. The Auqaf department of the Punjab government should stop funding conventions of hate-filled mullahs calling for the killing of Ahmedis. No group should be permitted to distribute hate-filled posters and pamphlets against any other group. The state must act decisively against the self-styled scholars on television who, even today, attempt to confuse the people by blaming law abiding and patriotic communities like the Ahmedis for the outrages of the Taliban. All mullahs who use the pulpit to arouse public opinion or the mob against people in the name of blasphemy should be tried by the military courts. Any mob that tries to influence proceedings in a blasphemy trial should also be tried by the military courts. Those who threatened and later killed Rashid Rehman the lawyer must be brought to justice and made an example of. No lawyer who has the courage of his convictions to stand up for unpopular causes should fall prey to these real terrorists. Take up Mumtaz Qadri’s case on priority and take it to its logical conclusion. Regardless of sectarian affiliation, anyone who supports this murderer should also be tried in military courts.

Finally, the time has come for the state to regulate the mosques and the madrassas (seminaries). All mosques and all madrassas must be registered and accounted for. Not only should the state ensure that there is no incitement in any of the content, it should also ensure that hate speech of all kinds is mercilessly put down. No doubt, this has implications for freedom of speech, but worse than no freedom of speech is selective freedom of speech. The freedom to abuse minority groups like the Ahmedis is a case of selective freedom of speech because Ahmedis are forbidden even from defending themselves. The same applies across the board. I would rather that there be no hate speech than partial freedom of speech.

Are these issues really linked with terrorism? There are people who would try and distinguish the two. They are wrong. The mindset that has championed the Taliban has its roots firmly in the fertile soil of appeasement. Only those insensitive to the minorities’ plight and to women’s rights will be able to countenance the idea of the Taliban ruling any part of Pakistan. If Pakistanis learn to respect their own subsets they will never tolerate the Taliban for even a single minute. Real de-radicalisation begins with educating the people in universal human values instead of limited religious ones.

Remember the precious young martyrs of Peshawar who gave us another chance at living; we owe it to every last one of them to fix this country once and for all and make it a place where our children can live proudly and with their heads held high. The political leadership must not back down in any way, form, or for any excuse. There must be no surrender and it us, the people, who must keep them honest and accountable. We must never allow them to forget the price of inaction and indecisiveness.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and the author of the book Mr Jinnah: Myth and Reality. He can be contacted via twitter @therealylh and through his email address yasser.hamdani@gmail.com