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.
Abdullah tell me, are Mullah and Madrassa induced murders including those through suicide bombing worst or naach gaana? Isn’t killing innocent people and especially fellow Muslims the most horrendous of crimes equivalent to killing the whole humanity? So when you talk about soft image why ignore the hard image that Mullahs and Madrassas have created through their heinous crimes against humanity and fellow Muslims, that are not only major sins from Islamic point of view but have created a bad image for Pakistan and Islam in the eyes of the world?
The other articles on that site are similar i.e. ignoring the extreme attitudes and acts of Mullahs and Madrassa trained terrorists and only presenting a one sided exaggerated view of the situation. I would call it the typical hypocritical attitude of Mullahs. You all it whatever you like.
I m really sorry for my misleading post,
By the phrase “real face of islam” i meant to correct the world’s perception about islam. these days they use the word islam /islamist as a synonym for terror/terrorist.
why we have a fear for islam, when we are all muslims.Instead of cursing mullahs, study islam yourself, correct them IF they are wrong. its like nursery grade kid, object a high school teacher. you might be right at some time ,but you need to have well prepared before objection.a little knowledge is more dangerous then having no knowledge at all.
i think “jiski lathi uski behns” fit absolutely on our society. No one dares to speak about the injustice by mqm, ppp. why? everyone know that doing so will let a bullet pass across his head. the rally is an instance of the adage “ulta chor kotwal ko dante”.
@Nazir
you talk about differences in different sects, i think it would be wise to work on the common points. Theft,rape ,murder etc. are equally condemned in every sect.i m not an alim, so cant comment more.
Dear Adil & others,
I will be grateful if u read the article “Soft Image”.
This is really nice article, which will help in understanding the historical background of problem of polarization
Pls visit,
http://kashifhafeez.com/mazameen.php
Jo Quaid ka Ghaddar hey woh Maut ka Haqdaar hay
http://www.dailyislam.com.pk/data/q4.gif
I am surprised Altaf Hussain didn’t ask the maulvis that whether he should remain in self imposed exile or should come back and face the charges against him.
He should have also asked the maulvis whether it is prudent to have a convicted criminal as a Governor of the province.