Daily Times

The Punjab government is reportedly all set to regulate Friday sermons in a bid to maintain interfaith harmony. This is both a timely and welcome move. Though it must be noted that steps towards this end have been taken intermittently by successive regimes to little or no avail. Thus the key to success on this front rests in enforcement and the constant monitoring of mosques.

This decision comes in the wake of the violent protests led by Khadim Rizvi and the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). All of which followed the Supreme Court’s (SC) acquittal of Asia Bibi on all charges of blasphemy. Yet keeping a watchful eye on what is said inside certain houses of worship is not enough. Not when those calling for bloodshed are free to address public rallies to incite religious hatred towards non-Muslims and Muslim minority sects. In short, it is not enough for Imran Khan to lament how he inherited the Hafiz Saeed problem. Admittedly, the Prime Minister has instructed his government follow the progress of the inquiry by Pakistani courts into the Mumbai attacks. Yet in the meantime, there is nothing to stop the authorities from picking Saeed up on charges of hate speech and incitement to murder. After all, he joined in the calls for Asia Bibi to be killed.

There is another problem. Namely, those preaching violence may well take exception to the fact that mosques alone are to come under the state surveillance. Thereby running the risk that this will precipitate an even more aggressive backlash against Pakistan’s religious minorities. Thus it may be a good idea to encourage other places of worship to discuss strategies to deal with hate speech directed at them from other groups; as well as false accusations of blasphemy. Linked to this must be directives to law enforcement agents to protect minorities under fire. No matter what. While reminding all groups that religious disputes should be settled by the courts and not mob vigilantism. And then there is the question of certain state institutions calling on the citizenry to report incidents of alleged blasphemy. The fallout of which was endured under the last government and continues under this one.

Thus the monitoring of Friday sermons is just but one small step in the fight for tolerance and pluralism.  *

Published in Daily Times, December 10^th 2018.