Daily Times

Falsely accusing an employee of burning pages of the holy Quran, a violent mob consisting of people from adjoining villages attacked the Pakistan Chipboard Factory in Jhelum on November 20, 2015. Sent by Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif when the riots broke out, MPA Mehar Muhammad Fiaz claims most men in the mob were drunk and were only there to steal valuables. According to the Punjab lawmaker, “Though it had nothing to do with religion, they stormed the factory on the excuse of blasphemy allegations.”

The police arrived too late to prevent the mob from vandalising the factory and premises on an organised basis, and taking away every usable item. By the time the military arrived at around 12:30 am the factory had burnt down to ashes. Taking advantage of the inefficiency/indifference of the law enforcement agencies, mobs also torched Ahmedi places of worship in Jhelum over those false blasphemy allegations the next day.

The Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) must introduce draconian punishments for bearing false witness. In a past article, ‘Perjury’ (February 12, 2010), I said that “giving false statements under oath is perjury plain and simple, and perjury is a punishable offence. The Oxford Dictionary defines perjury as ‘an act of willfully telling an untruth when on oath,’ and goes on to use the words, ‘lying, mendacity, mendaciousness, falsification, deception, untruthfulness, dishonesty and duplicity’. A perjurer is a criminal and must be treated as one.” In most countries, perjury carries exemplary punishment, ruthless enough for people to try and avoid giving a statement under oath lest that statement (or part thereof) be detected to be false.

To quote another one of my previous articles ‘Targeting perjury’ (July 15, 2010), “Loss of faith in the judicial system can become a very potent breeding ground for vigilantes. Social upheaval turning violent can spill over into the Pakistani heartland. In criminal trials, the punishment should be exactly what the accused would have got if the evidence had been held to be correct.” At the same time, we must avoid polarising society by fuelling the controversy of amending/changing the blasphemy laws. Both Benazir and Musharraf tried this without success. If the laws are made strong enough against bearing false witness, miscarriages of justice will not take place, and it will not be confined to blasphemy alone.

Consider the sacrifices rendered by our minority communities in the wars that Pakistan has fought: Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Javed Jalal, given up for dead with 27 bullets in his body or Major (later Major General) Julian Peter, wounded commanding a rifle company and refusing evacuation, fighting on till surrender on December 16, 1971. One of the few Nishan-e-Haiders awarded in 1971 went to Lance Naik Mehfuz of 15 Punjab, the unit Colonel Cyril Leonan was commanding in battle. Late Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry more than deserved his Sitara-e-Jurat (SJ) in 1971 for pressing home his low-level attacks on Indian air bases despite heavy ground fire. Other than religion, nothing is more sacred to Pakistan than our nuclear assets, explaining why Brigadier (retd) Simon Sharaf, an esteemed colleague in the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association (PESA), was trusted by the GHQ to help craft our nuclear policy. One can go on and on.

At around midnight on December 12, 1971, Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) Mohammad Taj SJ and Bar, Commanding Officer (CO) 44 Punjab (now 4 Sindh) assembled his orders ‘O’ Group adjacent to Sanohi village near Chor. Sixty Bde of 33 Div had been moved post-haste from Rahimyarkhan to reinforce the Chor-Umerkot line and stop the rot that had made 55 Bde almost non-existent, at least for some time. HQ 33 Div had taken over operational responsibility from 18 Div on December 12. Until we were force-marched to Chor under incessant air attacks, there was no infantry between Sanohi bridge and the guns of 26 and 40 Field. Among the grim faces in the semi-darkness were Lieutenant General K M Azhar, the governor (then) of NWFP, and Major General Nasir GOC 33 Division. Both had been wounded during an Indian air attack during the day. The mission given to 44 Punjab was rather desperate: capture the ridge overlooking Sanohi village in a two-company attack before first light on December 13 so as to deny the Indians physical domination of Chor and the area surrounding by direct fire. In many ways it was a last throw of the dice; it was do or die. When the CO asked for questions, one of the company commanders excused himself for having heart pains, another said his ankle was badly sprained. There was stunned silence in the makeshift dugout.

Colonel Taj calmly turned to Captain (later Major General) Fahim Akhtar to take over the left forward Alpha Company. He ordered my Delta Company to replace Bravo Company as the right forward company. Contrary to all our teachings, our Forming Up Place (FUP) was next to a battery of 40 Field commanded by Major (later Lieutenant General) Hamid Niaz. Offering us “tea, sukhi roti and daal,” Hamid Niaz cheerfully announced we could not be martyrs on an empty stomach.

Captain Naseer Tariq and Second Lieutenant Hanif Butt (or Singawala as we affectionately knew him) vociferously volunteered to go with us into the unknown. To quote my article ‘The Ides of March again’ on March 2013: “A captain and second lieutenant stood out cheerfully brave in the Chor desert in December 1971, fighting for their country and willing to die for it. Being ‘Ahmedis’ they left the army a few years later as majors, retiring as outstanding soldiers. One is proud that these courageous sons of the soil are still my friends 42 years later; notwithstanding their shortened career they still swear by the uniform they wore and the country they boldly defended, and later again in Balochistan in 1973. Where were ‘the defenders of the faith’ (of the warped version that is) when these two were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice?”

Leaders must take action to protect minorities. Realising their responsibilities they must have the courage to go forward with conviction. To quote David Seabury, “Courage and conviction are powerful weapons against an enemy who depends only on fists or guns. Animals know when you are afraid; a coward knows when you are not.” Those that raise their hand against the weak and helpless are nothing but animals and cowards.

Naseer Tariq is the owner of the ashes that is left of Pakistan Chipboard. Tariq, you were there when this country and we needed you; we can only hang our heads in shame because neither this country nor we were there for you when you needed us.

The writer is a defence analyst and security expert