Daily Times

It was a fine day in 1979, and I was quarantined in my bedroom because of a fever. On that day, almost four decades ago, two remarkable incidents took place that only added to my predicament.

First was the news that the Holy Kaaba had been besieged by a group of insurgents, and the second, following the widespread conspiracy culture prevalent in our society, was the news that the US government was behind the attack.

The country was shocked, and soon I saw my family taking precautions around the house, in anticipation of the large protest rally that was slated to begin later that day. Muslims from across the country were enraged and willing to give up their lives to protect the most revered site in Islam. The rally targeted the American Centre and the United States Embassy, and many expected it to become violent.

There was no real proof that the US was behind the insurgency; however, despite the absence of today’s fast communication methods, like mobile phones and social media, the rumour spread like wildfire. By sunset, several human lives had been lost as the protesters ransacked the US Embassy and the American Centre library, burning numerous books in the process. Those who lost their loved ones were consoled with the words that the departed were ‘martyrs’, and had forfeited their lives in the name of Islam.

Incidents of looting also took place; yet the furore did not entirely die down till the siege in Makkah finally came to an end.

This was only after the exhaustive efforts of the Saudi, Pakistani and French Special Forces. In the end, it emerged that the insurgents had not been sent by the Americans as previously thought, but were in fact Muslims themselves.

The entire episode was an unfortunate one. Self-acclaimed caretakers of our faith used this opportunity to further their own personal agendas, and incited innocent people to violence, by claiming their actions were necessary to secure the very sanctity of Islam.

They incorrectly labelled this movement a jihad, when in fact they just used it to elevate their own status in society, resulting in the death of several people, and the destruction of public and private property. This is the true face of religious extremism. It forces people to resort to acts of violence against an idea or community, with no thought for the repercussions such actions might have on religion itself, or its followers.

The most recent example of this kind of extremist ideology was last observed at the sit-in at Faizabad last year.

The dharna completely crippled the twin cities for almost three weeks, and convinced relative political pigmies that they had power, too. The aftershocks of this unfortunate incident reverberated across the country for months, as the protesters made numerous demands that were not attainable.

However, the recent announcement made by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Bin Salman, to modernise his country in accordance with western ideals, and to adjust its foreign policy in order to open up the kingdom to the world, even Israel, has elicited no extreme response from the radical quarters of our society.

This is surprising considering the strong feelings that these groups claim to have for the “holy land”, even putting their lives on the line in the past to protect its identity. One wonders, why didn’t this momentous announcement have any impact on this occasion?

The ongoing World Cup in Russia brought with it additional controversy. People were shocked to see the flag of Saudi Arabia, which is emblazoned with the ‘Kalima-e-Tayyaba’, adorning footballs, kits and even shoes, as well as various football memorabilia. Yet those loud voices that were perfectly happy to rise up and cause strife over mere rumours and petty issues, remained silent.

Every day citizens are inundated with messages looking to provoke religious sentiment in order to gain support for a certain cause, protest against certain individuals, or just for monetary compensation to help with the “progress” of the religion. It is akin to paying beggars on the street.

We do it to give ourselves a certain satisfaction in fulfilling our “individual responsibility”, instead of feeling guilty for not doing more to eradicate this societal problem, as it requires long and comprehensive thought and planning to resolve.

However, once again, these messages were not forthcoming in this instance, with religious zealots choosing to stay silent over this significant blunder.

What complicates this issue is that there is no real direction the blame can be directed. It was either the fault of FIFA or other related companies that oversee official merchandising for the World Cup, or Saudi Arabia itself.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Bin Salman, is bringing on a lot of changes to his country. He aims to modernise the nation in accordance with western ideals, and seeks to adjust the foreign policy in order to open up the kingdom to the world, even Israel. This has elicited no extreme response from the radical quarters of our society

If the former is to blame, then they need to acknowledge that no such issues have ever arisen in previous tournaments and they need to conduct an investigation to see what went wrong this time.

However, if the latter is to blame, then the country needs to apologise for this major mishap and do everything in their power to avoid this situation from repeating itself in the future. They could do this by removing their emblem altogether, or creating a new one for their sports teams; one that might not cause such a controversy.

At the end of the day, what really needs to be countered is extremism. It never strikes without purpose, and it always leaves victims in the wake of its manufactured rage.

The writer is Senior Journalist and former Political Affairs Advisor to the US Consulate General in Karachi

Published in Daily Times, June 30^th 2018.