On the forehead of a common man in Pakistan is a price tag which reads, ‘reduced’. Attempting to survive the bitter realities of poverty, disparity and dejection, the society has readily accepted a rational which perceives individuals as disposable. Human lives are valued less than material wealth. The nation’s poor socio-economic conditions are propelling this cruel mindset. And governments, both local and federal, are responsible for this murder of humanity.
Recently, on December 2nd 2017, a young man accused of stealing a mobile phone was beaten and then set ablaze in Lahore’s Nawab Town by residents. Locals nearby dowsed the fire and rushed 19-year-old Arshad to a nearby hospital where he was treated for burn injuries. The incident was reported by mainstream media but failed to garner much attention since the young man survived. But the ideology underlying this incident is dangerous and has sadly become common in the country.
The violence experienced by Arshad is a clear indicator that for the people of Pakistan, humanity has become an unprofitable trade, an act not to be indulged in. The young man’s life was valued at less than that of a mere cell phone by his abusers. Civil society has been rightly raising its voice against the commodification of humans. But on December 2nd, a life was considered undeserving even of commodification; Arshad failed to compete with material wealth. A beating heart was no match for the pricey technology, allowing vigilantes to publicly punish an individual they collectively deemed guilty. And this incident is not the first of its kind.
In August 2010, two brothers belonging to the city of Sialkot were accused of robbery and subsequently lynched by a mob. Mughees and Muneeb were brutally beaten, hung upside down and repeatedly mutilated before a large crowd while nine police officials stood by watching the revenge plot unfold. Half naked, covered in blood, swinging by their feet, the two brothers were killed in the name of justice. Videos of their torturous deaths were circulated on social media. The crowd became both judge and jury. On one side of the scale they placed the stolen goods. On the other side they sat individuals who allegedly stole them. The goods appeared more valuable and so the boys had to be punished. Without any evidence, with terrifying ease, a crowd was able to put out two lives.
On December 2nd 2017, a young man accused of stealing a mobile phone was beaten and then set ablaze in Lahore’s Nawab Town by residents. Locals nearby dowsed the fire and rushed 19-year-old Arshad to a nearby hospital where he was treated for burn injuries
We as a nation are fast losing our humanitarian impulse and lives of ‘other’ individuals are consistently perceived as inconsequential by our society. But in a nation where the common man himself is struggling every day to survive, can humanity ever take precedence? Pakistan’s official unemployment rate is 6 per cent. However, according to a report released this year by global marketing research firm Nielsen, the unemployment rate stands at 49 per cent. Even if we situate ourselves between both these numbers, a large chunk of people residing within the confines of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan still have no stable income. They can barely afford basic necessities, fall asleep on empty stomachs and struggle every day to make ends meet. Thus the people are provoked, even by petty theft, into wrongly punishing the accused without proof, often very brutally.
Disparity always gives rise to rage. Tragically, mob trials become the outlet for this frustration. The old saying goes two wrongs don’t make a right, yet mobs seeking justice themselves use unjust means to punish the guilty. But are they alone responsible for this murder of humanity? According to a report unveiled by Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal in June last year, four out of 10 Pakistanis live in acute poverty. However, even those fortunate enough to find themselves on the other side of this poverty line are deprived of their fundamental rights to basic necessities such as clean drinking water. According to Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, 80 per cent of drinking water in Karachi is contaminated with bacteria. The Sindh government has shown complete indifference to this issue.
Earlier this month, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah was summoned by the Supreme Court to explain his government’s stance on the issue during a petition filed by Shahab Usto to resolve the water and sewage crisis in Sindh. Mr Murad’s reply was that the situation in Sindh was no worse than the rest of Pakistan. Criticising your opponent is the signature tactic used by political parties in Pakistan to evade responsibility. Even the media play a role in redirecting our nation’s focus to the game of thrones played by politicians. Their coverage and shows create a divide between social and political issues. However, this divide is a misleading one as politicians are elected by the people to resolve their social issues. Thus, this divide results in core problems of the nation being neglected. Little is done to change the fate of those suffering. Consequently, if tomorrow a mob kills an individual for drinking his neighbour’s water, the mob alone is not responsible. Politicians with their hollow promises will be just as complicit. They too are responsible for the murder of humanity and hence the lynching.
Lynching is little more than a show of power. After the American Civil War, the practice of lynching became a common occurrence. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, 4,743 coloured people were lynched between 1882 and 1968. Each death carried a political message. After the black men and women had gained freedom from slavery, lynching became a means for the white folk to reinstate their supremacy. Mob trials in Pakistan carry a similar message. Incidents of lynching in Pakistan are the common man’s war cry declaring his existence, and hence his suffering. And with humanity dead, these ordinary individuals can cause chaos. This is why humanity needs to be revived in the country, or else these politicians may become the next victims of a mob’s wrath.
The writer has a master’s in media with a distinction from the London School of Economics. She tweets @mawish_m
Published in Daily Times, December 17th 2017.