Daily Times

Without going into the details of a popular statement, we have heard all too frequently something along the lines that ‘Pakistani society is a resilient society, and its people have always got back up.’ But that’s what people do – everywhere in the world. There is really nothing that significant about this so-called resilience that is talked about, but is hardly ever examined deeply and seriously. Let us do a bit of reverse thinking from the moment when something happens and the Pakistani resilience is praised; why would this statement ever be issued? The real question that needs to be asked is; why would something of such high risk happen in the first place? This is where the State and society have been failing each other in a cyclical manner for a considerable amount of time.

By means of covering each other’s backs, both the State and society have contributed to the mess the Pakistani people are in. These facile ideas of Pakistani resilience become even more worrying in the face of religiously motivated terrorism that has been wrecking the Pakistani society over four decades. The greater the assault of terrorism, the louder the praise has been. At best, this praise brushed the dirt under the carpet as it disabled the critical faculties of the society and resulted in a failure to hold the State accountable for the endless tamashas that no healthy society, anywhere in the world would tolerate for a single day.

But, we as people not only tolerate such circus-acts but also feed them with our blood and money. The latest tamasha is the growing Brelvi populist extremism that is becoming increasingly violent, particularly in Punjab.

It is difficult to deny the implicit religious extremism that has always existed in the Pakistani society. Nearly every sect practices this, and each time the circumstances permit the seed of hate to germinate, this rapidly converts into explicit violence. Across the country, manazras and mubahilas have been a commonplace occurrence, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas.

Generations have grown up with both jokes and real stories about rivalries between the Sunnis and Wahhabis. Earlier, Sunnis specifically meant Brelvis, while Wahhabis referred to Deobandis and Ahl-e-Hadith clubbed together. Shiites, of course, were and are a different side-stream. The polarization grew, and now Sunnis are Brelvi-Sunnis and Deobandi-Sunnis. On the other hand, the Ahl-e-Hadith have further devolved into Salafis and Wahabis.

Without the Brelvis, the other sects had their links with strategic violence. Brelvis tried their luck with deliberate violence in late 1990s, but 9/11 happened too quickly. After that, all their attention was then diverted to the local theatrics. For example, the social media coverage of sectarian violence was chilling to see after August 23, when a Brelvi disciple of Dawat-e-Islami killed two Deobandi preachers in Chiniot district.

Violence on Brelvis was introduced by Saleem Qadri, founder of the Sunni Tehreek. Qadri was murdered in 2001 by Asif Ramzi, leader of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Karachi. Intoxicated by the fallacious sense of power that is a byproduct of violence, popular Brelvi discourse has not really looked back ever since. Manifestations of the Brelvi extremism have become much more visible lately, particularly, after the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri in February 2016.

The Pakistani State and society must stop praising each other’s ‘resilience.’ We, the people, have had enough of it already. Isn’t it time that resilience was replaced with rationalism?

Despite no inclination towards planned violence, the patterns of Brelvi extremism bear shocking similarities to Deobandi and Shiite extremism. Increasingly, Brelvis are rallying around fiery speakers and public figures, making the State look the other way even if they disrupt public life, and destroy public properties such as in March 2016. The State registered a case against 2,000 Brelvis who were protesting in Islamabad against the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, and exactly like the past, nothing proceeded beyond a press release. The leadership pedestal where the likes of Shah Ahmed Noorani and Abdus Sattar Niazi once stood is now occupied by an extremist cacophony. While the State and society grin sheepishly, the increasing hate speech against differing religious sects and their leaders lingers resolutely.

Though constantly increasing, Brelvi extremism is in its comparative nascence. Along with other narratives of hate and extremism, it needs to be nipped in the bud. Right now, right here.

The Pakistani State and society must stop praising each other’s “resilience.” We, the people, have had enough of it already. Isn’t it time that resilience was replaced with rationalism?

The writer is a social entrepreneur and a student of Pakistan’s social and political challenges. Twitter: @mkw72

Published in Daily Times, August 28^th 2017.