Daily Times

Hate mongering season is upon us, and breathing room for sane thought is quickly diminishing in our society. The extremist discourse is being criminally camouflaged in the wrappings of faith to fool Pakistan’s common believers. These believers only listen to their socio-religious and political leadership, without ever peeking into the purposes behind their diktats. This phenomenon is quickly taking our society to a point of no return. The resulting intolerance is resulting in irreparable damage to our social fabric.

The thick layer of dusty false accusations peddled by the religious right covers up truths to fool the common people. Blindfolded by respect of faith and religious integrity, the common people remain oblivious of their emotional and spiritual exploitation by their religious and political leaders.

The vested interests of some of these leaders has resulted in mobs of unprecedented size daringly challenging the statutes and verdicts of state institutions. The most recent such example is the protest in Mardan by religious parties against the conviction of 31 persons by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). This campaign has become the worst example of exploitation of the religious sentiments of common believers based on crafted opinions.

It would be foolish to presume that blasphemy will ever be ignored in a country like Pakistan. But for every accusation, the process of justice must be adopted. No action against the accused can be taken on the discriminatory discretion of anyone or any group. This is not only against both Islamic law and contemporary legal processes, but also inhumane and socially inappropriate.

Now is the time for the state institutions and respective governments to think, device and implement a stringent framework against the elements mongering hate in our society

There are many who believe that the Mardan protests are a prelude to the upcoming general election campaigns. They have nothing to do with the cause they are peddling but rather, for political gain. The show off in Mardan on February 9 reflects the future direction of our mainstream religious parties’ political discourse.

It was a strange situation as the demonstration led by Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat leader Qari Ikramul Haq demanded that the men convicted for the murder of Mashal Khan be released. Several of the men acquitted by the court, including Ajmal Mayar, attended the rally and were given a ‘Ghazi’s welcome’, [Muslim fighters’ welcome when they return from a successful Jihad]. The protest rally resulted in heavy traffic jams in the area. There was no effort to disrupt the protest by the district management or the provincial government. Giving free hand to protesters reflects the government’s inability to maintain peace and security even in the main cities of the province.  What is there left to say then, about management of law and order in the tribal belt and rural towns of KP. The same could be said about the rural areas of any province.

Advocate Syed Akhtar, a JI leader and one of the counsels of the accused in the Mashal Khan murder case, in his address said the protesters wanted to warn the government that if it goes ahead with appealing the acquittal of the 26 men in court, then ‘we will block the roads’. Another speaker of the rally termed Imran Ali (the man who shot Mashal), a hero.

Khatm-e-Nabuwat, the finality of Prophet hood, may be the preferred slogan of the politico-religious parties in the general elections that are supposed to be held just in a few months. An election ‘battleground’ has been prepared by challenging the ATC verdict and challenging the state saying ‘stop us if you can’. Such kinds of fanatically charged challenges can only be made here in Pakistan.

Despite all the investigations into the Mashal Khan case which found no proof of blasphemy by the Abdul Wali Khan University student, the insistence on the charges of blasphemy by the politico-religious parties will only lead to the further segregation and deterioration of rightful cohesiveness in society — further fuelling the fire of fanatical rage. Now is the time for the state institutions and respective governments to think, device and implement a stringent framework against the elements mongering hate in our society. Attempting to arrest those leading this vulgar campaign might flair up the situation, but at least they will be strictly warned of the consequences of challenging state verdicts. Somehow, the provincial government and state institutions have to take the necessary steps to ensure the writ of the state is not challenged.

KP is a religious province, full of faithful and religiously motivated people. Society in KP is mainly driven by religious leaders. Common persons blindly follow their social and religious leaders hardly knowing the actualities of any given situation and the possible consequences of the reactions to it. So, a counter-narrative needs to be immediately launched against the uprising of compromised opinion being spread in Mardan in the name of finality of Prophet hood and blasphemy, and to make the general public understand the political motives behind this religious bigotry. Though it is a very sensitive issue but a stance supporting the state, courts and government verdicts and decision is imperative to unmask the real face of the fake factors.

What our government and state institutions don’t dare to do is ban the religious right’s hateful and provocative actions. They are left unsupervised, free to take to the streets at will, disrupting the life of common people, publically lynching any individual based on their crafted notions, and refusing to accept the verdicts of courts, and the essence of state statute. So, the social, political and religious lynching remains on the forefront. Those who need to address it remain indifferent.

The writer is an Islamabad-based policy advocacy, strategic communication and outreach expert. He can be reached at devcom.pakistan@gmail.com. He tweets @EmmayeSyed

Published in Daily Times, February 14^th 2018.