Adil Najam
I must confess that after our recent posts on the vigilantism by folks at Jamia Hafsa and the Lal Masjid I had hoped not to write about this issue yet again so soon.
This is not because I shun controversy or duck issues. It is merely because discussions on this issue tend to be prone to slogan-mongering from those holding extreme positions on all sides, they tend to drown out the more serious and more thoughtful deliberations that are so needed, and they quickly turn into mud-slinging matches which take up too much of our time in cleaning up the mess made by those who routinely ignore or are incapable of understanding and following our comment policy. Having said all that, let me also say that it is intellectually dishonest to simply ignore events and trends that are tearing apart the fabric of society.
With that rather long preamble, what has really prompted this post are two things I saw in today’s Dawn. The first is a set of two ads on behalf of ‘The Citizens of Karachi’ (clicking on the images will take you to larger and more readable versions). The first starts off with:
“Are You Ready? Do you want danda bardar and klashnikov shariat?
IF NOT THEN… come to attend the rally in lage number and show your solidarity against the danda bardar and klashnikov shariat.”
I found these ads to be yet more evidence of a polarized society. More than that, I wonder who put these ads? Any clues, readers? I also wonder how many – and who – will show up on the 15th at this rally (starting 2:00PM near the Mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam)?
The second item appears on the back page of Dawn (and most other papers) and is much more disturbing. Here is the story in full:
Militants Beat up Dancers
LAKKI MARWAT, April 12: Clashes between militants and villagers in the Dhoda-Shah Hasankhel area on Thursday morning left two people injured. About a dozen people were taken hostage by the militants.
Sources said a group of Taliban militants had beaten up some transvestite dancers, shaved their heads and broken their musical instruments near Abdulkhel as they were going to the Dhoda village to perform at a wedding on Wednesday night.
Villagers decided to take revenge by raising a Lashkar against the Taliban, the sources said. Light and heavy weapons were used and the Taliban also fired rockets during the clash which lasted for several hours. The Taliban took 12 villagers hostage. Five of them were later freed while the others were in the custody of the Taliban till late evening, according to the administrator of a seminary, Hafiz Amanullah Khan.
A heavy contingent of police and Frontier Constabulary personnel reached the area. A ceasefire was brokered by some local ulema who held talks with village elders and the Taliban. The sources said the situation was tense and additional contingents of the FC had been summoned.
What is common between both stories is that the battle lines in a divided society are being drawn. The only possible good that could come out of this is for the mainstream of the country to recognize the difference between being ‘religious’ and ‘religious extremism.’ Maybe it will take such actions to remind people that we can be religious without being religious extremists; that faith should help flourish a culture of caring, not of violence.
PS: …and governments should never get into who is a better citizen by virtue of his/her faith and instead treat all citizens equal as per these words of Quaid e Azam;
[quote]Pointing to the way England had evolved, how there were now no Roman Catholics or Protestants in that country, only equal citizens of Great Britain, “all members of the Nationâ€
“real face of islam”
Syed Faraz Mahmood: Of all the 72 or so sects whose is the real face of Islam? Problem is not real Islam but whose interpretation of it is true and how to get the rest of 71 or so sects to agree to that? None of us can go back 1400 years to see what was actually practiced then and have to rely on narrations and traditions and interpretation of these…and unfortunately there is disagreement (sometimes serious) on which of these are correct.
Ultimately the solution is obvious and is staring right in our face as being the only viable solution after process of elimination but we being we, are for ever trying to enforce our own particular brand of Islam on others and not to solve the problem for everyone and for society as a whole. As long as we keep running in the same circle of trying to enforce our beliefs on others there would never be a solution. We must now start thinking of establishing a common set of values for the whole society to which all sections/beliefs in society agree. These common values are then implemented in Law for everyone. The remaining issues should then be implemented on individual community basis. An example of such issues is consumption of alcohol which is allowed to non-Muslims but not for Muslims. So everyone gets what they want according to their own beliefs.
@babu ,
you are absolutely right, that’s why i said we should work towards the cause, and do whatever we can. i m not advocating “shariah politician” but i am advocating the cause. let us show the real face of islam to the whole world. but how ? By aligning ourself ,our lives,culture and laws with islam.
:)
If Mullahs can’t agree on small things like milad or urs how can they agree on complete Shariat? If the government is to give free hand to Mullahs to implement Shariat, there would be chaos in that every side will try to bring its own particular Shariat. Political Mullahs like JI/JUI know this that a common Shariat is unachievable and therefore only use slogans like Shariat, Nifaz e Nizam Mustufa for political pressure on government. Once their demands are met they are no longer interested in pursuing this any further as they know this would cause trouble and factions within Mullah community itself. It works for government which stays in power but also for Mullahs who get best benefits from government even in the “oppositionâ€
SyedFM:
not everything titled “sharia” is sharia, especially “sharia” which is political, particularly that “sharia” which should be better tiled “backward tribal customs of this geographic region” – did you ever hear any “shariah” politician say anything about karo-kari or otherhonour killings ? – wake up – this kind of “sharia” is not what it seems – it is trying to dress up islam in barbaric clothing. beware of the mulla, zia ulhaq types, and anyone trying to bring “true” islam and true “shariat”.