Daily Times

More than 25,000 supporters of Mumtaz Qadri — a former Punjab Elite force commando executed last month for the self-confessed assassination of the then Punjab governor, Salmaan Taseer in 2011 — have besieged Islamabad and Rawalpindi in the last two days to commemorate Qadri’s chehlum ceremony. The protestors, largely buoyed up by Sunni groups, the Sunni Tehreek and Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool, have even resorted to breaching Islamabad’s high security Red Zone, according to a tweet by the ISPR spokesman, General Asim Bajwa. The federal government requisitioned army on Sunday to disperse the increasingly aggressive demonstrators, following various episodes of violence, which caused injuries to at least 42 security officials and 16 civilians, in addition to damaging public properties, including the newly-constructed metro bus station at the China Chowk. Although diminished to approximately 3,000, the protesters are still sitting outside the Parliament House, determined to continue until the government accepts their ten demands. Some of their demands are: rejection of any amendments to the blasphemy law, immediate execution of the alleged blasphemer, Aasia bibi, and bestowing of the title of martyr on Qadri.

The abolition or reform of blasphemy laws is a highly controversial debate in the Muslim-majority Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, in the wake of an overwhelming population — largely under the influence of religious clerics — endorsing the law codified in the 1980s, as an outright derivation from the Quran, an extensive resistance could be easily predicted.

The current situation presents a pertinent question: why has the federal government not succeeded in the restoration of order yet? Clearly, a few thousand dissenters cannot hold either more authority or firearms than the law-enforcement agencies. Hence, even if the protesters were allowed access to the Parliament House after gaining safety assurances from Mufti Abid on behalf of the protesters, swift action needed be taken when they had revoked their word. Moreover, dispersing the current frenzied mob is not the only solution that this deep-rooted problem requires.

The escalating sway of religious clerics over local population is the main motivation behind an extensive politicisation of every social issue. The vigour with which holy doctrines are used to justify radical behaviour serves no religious agenda other than the one posited by these religious leaders themselves. A disturbing example of that was witnessed on Saturday when a group of people crossed security check-posts at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport to assault the singer-turned-televangelist, Junaid Jamshed, on accounts of a year-long controversy that had targeted him for passing blasphemous remarks about Hazrat Ayesha (RA), one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Thus what is really needed is a thorough transformation of the public mind-set regarding both the origin as well as application of religious commandments so that the distinction between religion and culture can be fully understood. The responsibility of federal government to ensure that anarchy be avoided at all costs cannot be undermined. If the protestors succeed in prevailing upon the lawmakers, Pakistan might bear the brunt of a prevailing culture of mob justice. Hence, how the administration reacts to the few thousands sitting at the D-chowk will be crucial to test the credibility of law-enforcement agencies in the country.*