Daily Times

Sit-in by extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik continues in Islamabad at Faizabad Interchange, resulting in disturbance of life in the city. The authorities have been unable to act against the protesting leaders who are openly practicing hate speech and inciting violence against the minority communities. The newly-formed extremist groups emerged on the political arena in the by-election of NA 120 Lahore in which they managed to bag a significant number of votes. In the Peshawar by-election too, these groups performed well and seemed to have put a dent in the vote bank of mainstream religious party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

Tehreek-e-Labbaik’s electoral success shortly after its launch would not have been possible without the establishment’s backing. DG ISPR General Asif Ghafoor had said last month that a plan to bring extremist groups into the ‘mainstream’ is underway, and the statement followed an increase in political activities of Tehreek-e-Labbaik party and other extremist groups. That the establishment has chosen to use an extremist group whose politics is based on glorification of a convicted murderer for its own interests is worrying to say the least. The argument that extremists can be reformed if they are brought in politics is deeply flawed, and such experiments have not only failed but also badly backfired in the past. It is disappointing that our leaders refuse to learn any lessons from history and continue to repeat their mistakes.

Barelvi extremist groups were able to organise themselves during the movement to get Mumtaz Qadri released and after his execution. The power that they now enjoy is evident from the fact that they have brought the capital on a standstill and the government appears to be helpless before them.

The demands that this group has put forward are absurd to say the least, and no sane person can agree with them. They have been demanding resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid, who they hold responsible for the ‘clerical error’ that initially removed the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat oath from the Election Bill. A new bill with all the clauses related to Khatam-e-Nabuwwat and addition of more such sections has already been approved by the Parliament. One of the sections of the new law allows voters to bring into question each other’s faith and says that if the faith of a voter or candidate has been questioned, he will have to reaffirm his faith in the finality of Prophethood failing which, his name will be added to a separate list as non-Muslim. This dangerous decision to give citizens the right to bring into question each other’s faith will end up normailising bigotry. Meanwhile, the silence of progressive and so-called secular political leader over the passage of a law endorsing bigotry is deafening.

Hate speech and glorification of a terrorist are crimes under Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The government has enough reasons to arrest the protesting leaders and bring an end to the sit-in

The law minister had to reaffirm his and his family’s belief at the time of passage of the new Election Bill in response to allegations by Tehreek-e-Labbaik leaders that he was responsible for the initial deletion of Khatam-e-Nabuwwat oath from the election bill. It is worrying that instead of acting against these extremist groups for hate speech, the government has adopted an apologetic tone. If the authorities continue to give space to the hate-mongers, the practice of bullying and threatening opponents and using the religion card will become a norm in the country. The group’s activities are a blatant violation of the National Action Plan (NAP), but the opposition leaders have chosen to stay silent over the government’s inaction. If establishment is indeed behind the sudden rise of the extremist group, the political leaders hold the responsibility to take a stand against this flawed policy and make it clear that such experiments will affect the stability of the country and normalise violence in the name of religion.

Those who argue that the policy of ‘mainstreaming’ extremist groups will be keep them away from violence need to jog their memory. There was a time when the groups that are now being targeted under countrywide anti-terror operation enjoyed the establishment’s support. A number of officials are on record saying these groups were being used by the country as its ‘strategic assets’. We have all seen how that policy backfired.

Among the groups that were ‘spared’ back in the day was anti-Shia militant outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. LeJ’s chief Malik Ishaq was once flown to Rawalpindi from a jail back in 2009 to negotiate with attackers who had held people hostage in Generals Headquarters (GHQ). A sharp rise in attacks on the Shia community was seen shortly after the incident, which was described by analysts as a result of the militant group’s closeness with the establishment. But then the establishment realised that Malik Ishaq was growing too big for his boots. Subsequently, he was killed in a police encounter in 2015. The courts had failed to convict him as the LeJ would issue threats to judges and their families, which is why extrajudicial killing was apparently the only option left.

If the likes of Khadim Hussain Rizvi are patronised now, they will also become uncontrollable in a few years. The process of ‘mainstreaming’ of bigots needs to end now, and political leaders should question the motives of the ongoing sit-in instead of pretending to not be aware of the bigger game at play. Khadim Hussain Rizvi has abused the government, judiciary, media and called on violent attacks on these institutions if their demands are not met. Hate speech and glorification of a terrorist are crimes under anti-terrorism act (ATA). The government has enough reasons to arrest the protesting leaders and bring an end to the sit-in. However, it appears that the ruling party is reluctant to take such a step fearing it might face backlash for using force and does not want to risk angering Barelvi voters ahead of the upcoming general elections. All political parties inside and outside the parliament should put aside their differences and support the government against the hate mongers so the siege of the capital can be broken. A handful of extremists should not be allowed to hold the country hostage.

The writer is an Assistant Editor, Daily Times. She tweets @AiliaZehra and can be reached at ailiazehra2012@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, November 24^th 2017.