Daily Times

The recent attack on a Sargodha shrine that left 20 devotees hacked to death is a tragic yet timely reminder that not every act of extreme violence can be filed away under ‘terrorism’. Some problems run deeper.

Disciples of this particular shrine, according to subsequent investigations, routinely lent themselves to being stripped and beaten in the name of spiritual healing and soul purification. This highlights the impunity with which so-called spiritual mentors operate unchallenged. This is what happened at Sargodha, where an ongoing power struggle for control of the shrine took a violent and bloody turn.

Pakistan, from its very inception, has been marred by violence. Yet religious-fuelled and self-inflicted brutality is profoundly entrenched, thereby making it that much harder to stamp out. The only positive to come out of the massacre is the coming forward of the wider community to disclose to the authorities about what had been long occurring in the name of spiritual cleansing. This is not to be underestimated. In most cases, victims’ families remain reluctant to press criminal charges, considering it an act of sacrilegious betrayal against a revered Pir. Here, the police must be commended for keeping an open mind until investigations conclude about whether to treat this as a criminal or terrorist act.

We must ensure that we break the pattern whereby such violence is too easily dismissed as ‘rural backwardness’ and create a new one with the notion of collective responsibility at its core.

We must begin by asking, where is the state?

In addition to offering spiritual guidance, Pirs also work a double shift as ‘witch doctors’. The Punjab Chief Minister recently bemoaned the fate of the common man, who runs from pillar to post in search of basic health facilities. Perhaps loadshedding is to blame for his being unable to see the connection. Extremism and fanaticism are a fact of life in Pakistan, sadly. It colours the way religion is understood by different people. Here again, we must ask, where is the state? Counter-terrorism is the job of the political apparatus. Where the media must intervene is in reminding the latter that we are watching. Meaning that we will not let it pass when the government conveniently buys itself time by terming each and every soft target attack a terrorist act. As society’s fourth pillar it is our job to hold the authorities to account over prolonged failures in neutralising threats against the most vulnerable, including minorities and the rural poor. *