When 68 percent of the upper middle class/elite youth of Pakistan in the survey that I conducted last year believe that Shiites are ‘kafirs’ (infidels), and out of this lot, 42 percent believe that they must also be officially declared as ‘kafirs’ by the government, I see very little reason why we should be surprised about the recent killings of Shiites in Quetta. In the same survey 94 percent of the youth also view Ahmadis as infidels, and 74 percent believe that whatever ill is happening to the Ahmadis is a ‘punishment from God’. These polls are shocking and reflect what one would typically expect from a survey of hardcore Islamist extremists. Unfortunately, these students belong to well-settled urban families mostly coming from bureaucratic, army and trading backgrounds.
Not everything happening in Pakistan is complicated. Most things, if we look holistically, are fairly simple to understand. But since the nation is overridden with conspiracy theories, we reject simple answers to our problems and instead wrap a cloak of mystery and complexity around them. The solutions we reach are thus out of context and fallacious.
Similar is the case with the recent killings of the Hazara Shiites. On almost every talk show and in print there appears to be confusion on how such a menace could happen in Quetta in broad daylight. Also, how and why Pakistan has in the past few years become a hotbed of inter-sectarian conflict. The reason why such a confusion looms in our academic and media discourse is because none of these political experts or commentators have really had an experience living as a minority in Pakistan, nor want to go out and truly understand the socio-cultural dynamics of the inter-sectarian problems. The media is out there for the ratings, politicians for the votes, and the powerful majority sympathises only on the social media.
Why more than 80 Shiites were killed two days back, or why the graves of the Ahmadis were desecrated or their mosques attacked, or why there is a forceful conversion of Hindu girls to Islam in interior Sindh is all a part of the same root cause: we (the silent majority) have allowed such things to exist, and be perpetuated. We might not agree with killing the minorities, but is it not we ourselves who have made them a minority and barred their entry into mainstream society?
Come to think of it, is it not we who casually use the word ‘inferior’ for Christians? Is it not we who consider Hindus as infidels — the enemies of Islam? Is it not we who declared Ahmadis as infidels because we ‘think’ that they believe that Mohammad (PBUH) is not the last prophet. Is it not we who despise and deep down revile the Shiites because they take Hazrat Ali as the first caliph? Again, we certainly do not want them to be killed, perhaps because we have modernised and gotten ‘educated’, but are we not a part of the same group who create these narratives and practice systematic social isolation of these minority communities?
Why, then, are we shocked or surprised when the so called ‘custodians of Islam’ go out and spray bullets in their places of worship, or single minority community members on buses and butcher them on the roadside because their ID card boldly highlights them as ‘Shiite’? Have we not made it compulsory to have a section of religion on the Pakistani passport? As long as our lawmakers and parliamentarians who have legalised the Hudood Ordinance and other such draconian laws that serve to define who is a Muslim and who is not represent us, it is shameful for us to blame the LeJ, SSP, or any other group for killing our minorities. A group of a few thousand people could not have had the courage or will to kill the minorities if the entire nation had not isolated them and left them at the mercy of these extremists.
Pakistan’s major issue in the years to come will be no other than inter-sectarian differences, radicalisation, and violence. While there is too much talk and discussion that goes around on the subject, there is very little action that is reflected on the ground. Pakistan, even after decades of inter-sectarian problems, still has not come up with a basic de-radicalisation or inter-faith conflict resolution policy, and there is not a single voice on the media advocating the need for one.
Most of our little efforts are targeted towards the tribal regions any way, not realising that the urban centres and our massive youth population also needs a serious de-radicalisation therapy. Even the work that is being funded by USAID and other relevant organizations, hosting seminars and peace building activities, are nothing more than having time out for tea and biscuits. This is Pakistan’s own problem, and the solution will have to come from within, especially by the people on the top who control the narrative. We desperately need to change the debate and narratives regarding minorities, religion, and sects in our schools, offices and households — something that cannot happen without the serious intervention of government. The problem that we face right now, with all due respect, cannot be solved by painting rickshaws with messages of peace, love, and tolerance. Transport trucks in Pakistan have carried such messages for decades throughout Pakistan without any success. There is a serious need for a thorough de-radicalisation strategy spearheaded and supervised by government, which radically redefines the culture, ethics and narrative of our society. Until then, we can only make noises about the killings of minorities while being completely fine socially, isolating and discriminating against them ourselves in our homes, schools and offices.
The writer is a lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad. He is also an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), Kings College, London. He can be reached at [email protected]