Daily Times

There can be no denying that nobody should be allowed to attack or insult the most sacred sentiments of Muslims and Prime Minister Imran Khan has very rightly taken a very clear position on this matter. It goes to his credit that he is the only head of a Muslim state to take up this matter at all important international forums including the United Nations. He is also the only high profile individual to remind the Europeans of their hypocrisy in punishing even the slightest mention of the holocaust with prison sentences while even their leaders are free to deliberately, and for political reasons, hurt some of the most core beliefs of Muslims. In short, Pakistan has emerged as the standard bearer in the fight against international Islamophobia.

Yet there is also much that we, as Muslims, need to do about it. And there is a very urgent need to listen very sincerely to what Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary meant the other day when he tweeted that the responsibility to thwart efforts aimed at fanning violence and extremism rests with Muslims also. It is, of course, very easy to politicise this statement and pile all sorts of pressure on the minister. But, considering especially that his remarks came after the government’s decision to ban Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) because of the way it took the law into its own hands, it seems the time has come when we must confront our own elephant in the room and initiate a very well intentioned and very necessary debate on this extremely important yet sensitive topic.

Fawad, just like other members of the government who have spoken on the issue over the last day or two, is right. “A single political party cannot lay claim to the matter of Namoos e Risalat as it is an issue close to the hearts of all 200 million people of this country,” said Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid just as he announced the ban. Let’s not forget that in the pursuit of their objectives TLP activists stopped traffic, broke and burned vehicles, even stopped and destroyed ambulances including those that were delivering oxygen cylinders to Covid patients, injured hundreds of people and also killed four police officers. The services of the police force need to be appreciated in the face of overwhelming odds and that too with very limited resources. Such episodes point to an urgent need on the part of authorities to initiate very important public debate.

We must all protect what is dear to us. No doubt about that. But we must also be very clear about the lengths each of us is allowed to go. When our own conservative sections of society make headlines for lawlessness and chaos they do our collective ideals no small injustice. Fawad has taken a bold step by raising this point. All Pakistanis that respect our great religion and our great country must lend him support. *