The great philosopher Socrates once said, “I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” If only mankind could understand and embrace this message of wisdom, the world would be a much better place. February 4, 2011 was a sad day, when a group of fanatics attacked a Shia procession in Rawalpindi. They forced their way into the procession carrying sticks and thrashed the members of the procession. Moreover, they stole all the valuable ornaments of Zuljana, a sacred symbol that represents the horse Hazrat Imam Hussain rode in Karbala, and brutally beat it up. This heinous act has not only once again exposed the level of intolerance in our society but has also deeply hurt the sentiments of the entire Shia community. We have witnessed countless events of a similar nature in the past as well, but each time these extremists have come up with reasons to justify their actions. What excuse would they come up with this time? I think it is high time we asked ourselves, what do these extremists really want? What cause are they fighting for? What religion do they represent? Hundreds of people have been killed over the years for allegedly committing blasphemy. The governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was slain because he had made the ‘mistake’ of calling the blasphemy laws unjust. The extremist elements present in our society claimed that even criticising the blasphemy laws amounted to blasphemy, not because it posed a threat to the cause of Islam but because it hurt the religious sentiments of the masses! So then, what about this particular incident in Rawalpindi? Does it not amount to blasphemy as well because it too hurt the religious sentiments of a prominent sect in our society? After the assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer, I was shocked and quite disappointed to see that many in our society supported the assassin Qadri and called him a hero as if he had served the cause of Islam. His sentiments were so ‘hurt’ that he went so far as to kill a person who had just talked about changing the blasphemy laws. Is hurting the Shia community by attacking their religious symbols and disrupting their rites not blasphemy? Likewise, how can Sufi shrines harm our religion? How can innocent children, who are killed in bomb blasts, harm our religion? I cannot even think of one reason why anybody would consider any of these places or people harmful for the cause of Islam. So, all the people who supported Qadri and considered him a ‘saviour’ of Islam seriously need to wake up. Open your eyes! These people are terrorists, they are criminals, they are not fighting for any cause and they do not represent any religion. All they really want to do is create chaos and so far, unfortunately, they have succeeded. Think about it, if they were really fighting for religion, why would they be targeting such harmless places and people? I am not asking you to believe the ‘liberal left wing’ but at least listen to reason. Shias are Muslims, because whoever recites the first kalima (article of faith), which says, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” is a Muslim. So then how can the Shia community be dangerous for Islam? The underlying problem here is lack of education in our society and the fanatics are aware of this inadequacy. They are well coordinated and mobilised and they know how to play their cards. They know that we are an emotionally immature society and they manipulate our religious sentiments for their vested interests. Our masses are uneducated, most of them probably do not even know the basics of Islam, and so their criterion of verifying the teachings of Islam is by presenting their queries to any man with a beard. Most of the maulanas in different mosques all over the country are uneducated and yet they deliver weekly sermons regarding the ‘teachings’ of Islam, which people blindly follow. Unfortunately, our brilliant ‘scholars’ are no better either in this regard. They fearlessly term other sects, e.g. Shias, non-Muslims, on television, creating misconceptions among the public. As though all this was not already enough to create chaos, we have the menace of countless fatwas issued by almost everyone with a beard and a turban. What really needs to be done is to teach the masses the real message of Islam, which is a peace loving religion. We can organise lectures in schools regarding religion, and I do not mean the conventional Islamiat class, I mean actually telling the students what Islam stands for and what it forbids. Another major reason why we are facing all these problems is because we have merged state and religion. Religion is a philosophy; it is a way of life. Therefore if we turn it into a system or a law, it is bound to backfire. Have we really forgotten the conflicts between the Church and the state in mediaeval Europe? History has a way of repeating itself and we should learn from it, not repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Religion and state are two separate entities and they should be kept that way. Everybody, regardless of their religion, caste or creed, residing in Pakistan, should have the right to call Pakistan their home and they cannot do so unless Pakistan becomes a secular state. The only way we can defeat these terrorists is if we rise above our differences and think in the larger interest of humanity. If the attack on this Shia procession is not a cry for help, then I do not know what is! The writer is a staff member and can be reached at mashalsr@hotmail.com