I find the despair amongst Pakistanis to be more disconcerting than the causes of the despair itself. Contrary to the national suicide being committed every day in the newspapers, the truth is that the mullahs’ reaction being seen these days is simply the last flicker of that flame.
We may also seek inspiration from history. Not long ago — only five decades or so — African Americans faced a situation very similar to what Pakistan’s liberals and minorities face now. However, with time, all that was reversed. The Americans had their civil rights movement and their Malcolm Xs and Martin Luther Kings. Ultimately, the Americans realised that people cannot be lynched for the colour of their skin.
The march of history is irreversible. Today there are more women in the workforce than before and the internet revolution is a permanent revolution. Also permanent is the idea that Pakistan is a state that has to be run through constitutional means and institutions above the mobocracy that seems to rule the roost these days. Therefore, the religious right is making one last ditch attempt to seize control of the state. It has chosen to use the issue of the blasphemy law and then the narrative of a trigger-happy American cowboy killing poor hapless Pakistanis who just happened to be armed. The irony here is that the people who are celebrating a crime committed by a policeman, who confessed — in cold blood — are also baying for the blood of a foreigner who claims to have acted in self-defence and, prima facie, there is nothing to suggest otherwise. This is ironic even for a people who often bludgeon to death alleged dacoits and robbers, lest we forget Sialkot.
To my mind, the worst blasphemers are those politicians who have seized the recent flaring of tempers around the blasphemy law and other emotive issues to launch their election campaign. The Nawaz League, Chaudhry League and Tehreek-e-Imran all sent representatives to the Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat rally on January 30. How ironic that Imran Khan’s representative and deputy Vice President, Mr Ijaz Chaudhry, thundered on the issue of the blasphemy law while his leader, Imran Khan, is on the record asking for amendments to the very same blasphemy law. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi pretended to be holier than the holiest while his own party leader had stated in no uncertain terms that the misuse of the blasphemy laws ought to be put to an end. Khawaja Saad Rafique, who represented the Nawaz League, had also taken a very clear stance earlier against the assassination of late Governor Salmaan Taseer. Yet it did not stop him from speaking at a rally that, in part, celebrated the actions of the same Mumtaz Qadri whose actions Khawaja Saad Rafique had forcefully condemned. Clearly this means that a 1977 style PNA (Pakistan National Alliance) movement is on the cards. With the exception of the ANP, all forces from that erstwhile opportunist alliance are once again standing against the PPP. This also shows, however, that the mullahs’ street power is largely manufactured.
One allegation that is often levelled against the liberal ‘fascists’ is that these elements in Pakistan want to erase the country’s Muslim identity. Let me state unequivocally that Pakistan’s Muslim identity is not in question. Not even the staunchest secularist questions it. Pakistan’s Muslim identity is roughly analogous to the UK’s protestant nature. That land, whose monarch is the defender of the protestant faith, is now home to all faiths living together as a multi-cultural haven. Similarly, what the Pakistani secularists argue for is simply religious and social freedom and equality of citizenship regardless of religion and other distinctions. It is indeed the ardent position of many Pakistani secularists that Islam itself is the forerunner of secularism and that it was the pluralism and tolerance that Islam showed during Muslim rule in Spain that led to reformation and enlightenment in the west. We must realise that Pakistan is not just inhabited by Muslims alone; Islamic principles of tolerance and equality demand that we accept within our midst those who disagree with us as equal citizens of Pakistan with the same rights as those who are Muslims.
But I digress. Pakistan’s future lies in ensuring that the democratic process is allowed to continue, that internet proliferation and the technological revolution reaches everyone in this country. When enough people are exposed to the world at large, enough women are in the work force and the youth of this country are no longer susceptible to false religious frenzy, the mullah will wither away or turn on himself. This is a long war that, at the moment, seems to be turning against the forces of reason. What is certain is that time is on the side of those who want a rational and progressive Pakistan.
The writer is a lawyer. He also blogs at http://pakteahouse.net and can be reached at [email protected]