Adil Najam
Report from News (21 February, 2007):
A fanatic shot dead Punjab Minister for Social Welfare Zill-e-Huma Usman “for not adopting the Muslim dress code” at a political meeting here at the PML House on Tuesday. A party worker caught the accused, Maulvi Sarwar, and handed him over to the Civil Lines Police. Huma was at the PML House to hold an open Kachehry. As she was busy meeting the PML women activists, the accused sitting in the audience approached her with a pistol and pumped bullets into her head from a point-blank range… The accused, M Sarwar Mughal – popularly known as Maulvi Sarwar – is a resident of Baghbnapura in Gujranwala. Two police stations of Gujranwala and the Tibbi police of Lahore had booked Maulvi Sarwar for the murder of six women, but he was acquitted for want of sufficient evidence. His alleged spree of killing “immoral” women started in the year 2002. In his confession statement before the police on Tuesday, he said he was opposed to women holding public office. He added that after he read in the newspaper that the minister was holding an open court, he decided to kill her.
Sometimes you just wonder why! Sometimes you just want to give up!
I have been feeling sad and numb and down and dejected all day. I heard about the brutal murder of Punjab Minister Zile Huma Usman’s murder by a crazed fanatic some 10 hours ago. And I have been in utter shock.
I have tossed and turned. I had thought earlier that I would not even write about it. What is the use? When a society goes so mad that a woman is killed just because she is a woman, what can a blog post do. Just ignite more silly debates; more childish heckling; more immature point-scoring; trying to show how smart you are; or, more likely, trying to show how idiotic others are; reaffirming your own belief that you are always right, and everyone else is always wrong; single-track chest thumping; self-righteous finger-pointing. No remorse. No compassion; not a word of sympathy; not a shred of caring. All there is, is anger; getting high on our own anger; anger for its own sake; getting so very angry that you even forget what or who you are angry at.
But now I do want to write about this. We, as a society, have some serious thinking to do.
What killed Zille Huma Usman? Not religion. Not madness. But anger. Uncontrolled anger.
A society that seems to be fueled by anger. No conversation is seen to be legitimate unless it is an angry conversation. And the solution to everything seems to be violence. ‘Kill the infidels’ say the believers. ‘Kill the mullahs’ shout the modernists. ‘Hang them by the gallows.’ ‘Put them in boats and let them sink.’ ‘Death is what they deserve.’ We have heard it all right here. I suspect we will hear it again. That dastardly, self-righteous anger. This violence in the language, as Zille Huma so tragically found, becomes the violence of bloodshed all too easily. Today it was in the name of religion. Tomorrow it will be something else.
So, do me a favor folks. Give her some dignity. Hold your anger. Think about what happened. Ponder. And pause. For the sake of whatever is sacred to you; please pause!
An innocent woman’s life has already been taken by our inability to put a lid on our passions and our anger. Let us please not make a tamasha out of her death by making her a poster child for whatever ’cause’ we are parading for right now.
Here is something from Wusatullah’s blog on current events;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/urdu/2007/02/post_145.h tml
I have a humble request, which I hope will not fall on deaf ears.
I look at the comments section here and it unfortunately reminds me of a childish high school tutu-meinmein, which often resulted in gaali-galouch and fist fights. Sometimes random supporters (ghunday) would come into the picture as well. The only thing common to all such events was that the Sharif people would simply walk away as fast as they could.
I think that at least on this topic we now have a clear understanding of what YLH, Juwahir and Adnan, and some others who have also written multiple comments each, have to say. Shall we now let some others speak their minds as well and not drown them out? This is a comments section, not an instant messaging chat channel so let’s keep our thoughts confined to 1-2 comments each, please?
Dare I suggest, it might also not be a bad idea for commentators to try and limit their comments to not more than 1-2 per post (at least on a per day basis). I think we are all capable of judging by a few comments what you feel and what you have to add to the conversation. Shouting louder and more often doesn’t necessarily prove your point (or gain converts) – whether you are calling naara’ae takbir or Pakistan Paindabad.
A woman was killed by a man who wanted to make a political point.
And now more men are dancing over her dead body to make their own political points.
Poor woman. Not even death could rid her of coniving men.
[quote]”There are plenty of arguments within Islam against such mindless violance, and if we are to combat extremism, we will have to find an indiginous logic in favour of tolerance…”[/quote]
Aqil Sajjad,
I agree that there are plenty of arguments within Islam against violence and for tolerance. But Pakistani Muslims at large, the way they are brainwashed from childhood, are not going to listen to you — or to me. They would listen to Maudoodi, Asrar and Fazalur Rehman. It is your interpretation of Islam against theirs.
King Faisal…
Great idea. Ditto.