Harm-e-Pak Bhi, Allah Bhi, Quran Bhi Aik, Kuch Bari Baat Bhi Hoti Jo Musalmaan Bhi Aik (Allama Iqbal).
I have lived most of my life in the west, namely Norway, where about three percent of the total population is Muslim. Pakistanis constitute the largest ethnic minority in the land. Yet sectarian affiliation is not the foremost identity of Muslims or Pakistanis here, nor is it an explicit part of their social order. However, when I was recently in Pakistan during the month of Muharram, being a Shia held significant connotations: it was 20 percent of Pakistan’s population that is highly and exceptionally vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
I was in Pakistan during November 2012. I recall it was the 10th day of Muharram and I was trapped indoors, defying a debilitating urge to drive to Rahat Bakers for some dessert, namely qalaqand (a sweetmeat). For is it not my birthright to indulge in a few sinful treats whilst visiting my motherland? And is it not only fair that I instantly gratify a palate so unimpeachable, since qalaqand, without a doubt, is confectionary created in heaven? Yet, I was confined to my house in F-11, excruciatingly far from Blue Area where the qalaqand sat like the unattainable goddess Athena.
On top of that, my cell phone coverage had been suspended for the weekend. Deprived of both candy and texting, my erstwhile escapisms, I bleakly wondered how long, if at all, I would last.
Up till that point in my visit I had not confronted the fundo head of the multi-headed Hydra that is Pakistan. In fact, I had quite forgotten I was in the land the western media loves to hate as the ‘al Qaeda haven’.
Then it reared its ugly head: we morosely sat watching news channels ablaze with reports of attacks on Shia processions — in Quetta, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Dera Ismail Khan. Security was tightened, schools closed, workers given day(s) off, and cell coverage suspended by the state. Friends refused to meet in public places. Fear loomed like a tempestuous fire cloud. Of course, it was an odd situation to find myself in. I live in Oslo, and last I heard an invasion by giant crabs (spread along the country’s coast) is the only ‘threat’ Norway faces.
That I might fall victim to a bomb blast should I dare to drive to a bakery was, therefore, an unusual development, and held all the charm of finding a boa constrictor in your bathtub.
Tragically, while the situation was far removed from what one might experience in the largely peaceful and egalitarian Scandinavian countries, it was not wholly new to South Asia.
Sectarianism has plagued Pakistan for decades; however, recent times have witnessed a slow subsumption of sectarian outfits by the greater Pakistani Taliban movement, making their activities more lethal.
As early as 2008, and especially since the takeover of the Pakistani Taliban by Hakeemullah Mehsud, it was discernible that the injection of leaders and cadres hailing from sectarian backgrounds into the Pakistani Taliban was markedly colouring the latter’s ideological proclivity as well as insurgency. In 1990, there were a whopping 274 incidents of sectarian violence in Pakistan. However, the number of casualties stood at 32. For over a decade now the voracity of these attacks has amplified dramatically, resulting in mass casualties year after year. In 2007, there were 341 incidents, killing 441. In 2012, 173 episodes of sectarianism left a staggering 507 people dead. So far this year, 267 lives have been already been claimed in a spree of sectarian slaughter.
Shias are the second largest sect in Pakistan, making the country home to the biggest Shia community worldwide after Iran. It is an outright shame they have been persecuted time and again. To be clear, it is not only Shias who fall under the wrath of radical groups in Pakistan. Ahmedis, Christians, Hindus, as well as minorities or sects or even sub-sects that do not prescribe to Wahhabiism or Salafiism are targeted.
The deep-rooted bigotry that permits dehumanisation that makes anyone who does not adhere to the extremist’s narrow and regressive view of what constitutes a ‘Muslim’ is deplorable. A key strategy of radical ideologues is to strip their enemy’s identity of any/all Islamic connotation, thereby justifying their actions against fellow humans. To quote Ghalib: Pas ke mushkil hei har ik kaam ka asaan hona/Admee ko bhee muyassir naheen insaan hona.
This is practised to a nauseous point where the very word Muslim becomes a misnomer. What is a Muslim? Whose definition is right? One of the most important lessons to be learnt from Pakistani history that should be etched in the mind and soul of every Pakistani citizen are the Lahore riots of 1953. In the aftermath of the riots, the Chief Justice of Pakistan at the time, Justice Munir, asked clerics of every sect in his country: Who is a Muslim? How would you define Islam? No two clerics, including clerics from the same sect, agreed on the definition of a Muslim. According to each definition provided, every cleric was a heretic or infidel according to the other.
While many positive and progressive changes are also emerging in Pakistan, including a robust civil society, and increasingly, liberal media (prone to taking liberties), sitting at home on the 10th of Muharram, afraid to step outside, was a grim reminder that some things have not changed. While the elements that conduct such rapacious behaviour are in a minority, why are they still ever so visible?
There is a vulture within that continues to prey on a deep, intrinsic intolerance and ignorance. And Muslims, Pakistanis, and most poignantly, humans are being killed. To tame this vulture, Pakistanis can learn from countries like Norway that prizes humanity and the dignity of human life. Such values should be sent back home as remittance, enriching and empowering the Pakistanis in Pakistan to speak out against the injustices.
The writer is a researcher and policy advisor based in Oslo. She specialises in international terrorism, political violence and South Asian affairs