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.
Jabir, are (a) tanks and military and (b) klashnikov shariat the only two choices…..
Because if they are then probably most will choose (a) and rightly so… between those two that IS preferable.
I am hoping, as is Adil here, that there are some other options too!
Nazir, you just couldn’t follow the sarcasm in my post. So just leave it.
My point exactly… then by the same token, one can safely assume that this is Noora Kushti between two old buddies…
YLH sahib, but kindly note, by paying unnecessary attention to the boogeyman the real party stands to win. This is exactly what they want the civil society to do. So we must not let the real issue fade away, the Chief Justice case. Otherwise it will be waste of energy. Old but effective principle of divide and rule is in action.
It matters less to me who is doing this than what it is about. I am so glad that people are rising and say NO to mullah vigilantes and Taliban style tactics. I don’t like MQM but that does not take away from the purpose. The purpose is a good one.
Just like the JUI and MMA tried to highjack the CJ demonstrations by trying to ‘own’ the issue, the MQM is trying to do the same here. What they have both realized is that people are fed up with some things (Military in the CJ case and Mullahs in this Lal Masjid case), as politicians it is their job to try to capitalize on that. But ultimately just like no one really allowed JUI and MMA to own the CJ issue people will not allow MQM to own this issue. What is heartening is that people are saying NO to mullahs just liek they are saying NO to military.
It is a good and healthy start for the majority of citizens of Pakistan to voice their concerns without intimidation from the holy ones. There is strength in numbers – the undercurrents of dissatisfaction with the status quo were always present, recent events have only triggered them to come into open.
Such campaigns are relevant for Karachi because of the presence of large underclass however similar campaigns will have profound impact if they start in NWFP and Punjab – Punjab being the power canter and center of gravity, and NWFP where a much deeper mess is brewing. Besides, these two provinces also supply bulk of military personnel…