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.
The statement Khaaki or Mullah is an oxymoron. Pakistani military establishment has always been pro-Mullah. Both of them are one and the same.
Lets hope the few citizens that come out dont get beaten up, or their heads shaved.
I would be scared of attending such an event, given the kind of treatment being meted out to peaceful protesters these days.
First, this rally is useless and is a drama. It’ll only create headache for the people and accomplish noting.
People are talking about MQM being the organizer. From time to time, in fact quite often, people here take aim at MQM and rightly so. What people accuse them of is almost all true, no doubt. I want to look at matters from religious perspective so I’ve no love for MQM because it’s the biggest enemy of religion. But, taali hamaysha douno hatoon say bajti hay. MQM did what it did because of the perceived bias it saw against ethnic Urdu-speakers in Karachi and surrounding areas. I mean the government (or as MQM will call the Punjabis) did all the horrible things that MQM has done. If Altaf Hussain has the blood of innocent people on his hands, then don’t you think Shareef and Bhutto and their cohorts have too? Allah knows best. This is no justification of Altaf Hussain’s actions–I dislike that guy and he’s a hypocrite. But, as I said, so is Shareef and Bhutto and I dislike those two as well.
Just like today when everything is blamed on Muslims, during 1990s it was easy to blame every murder in Karachi on MQM because it was convenient and helped the establishment achieve its goals. Naseerullah Babar and many more generals were far worse.
It’s not like MQM started out as a thug. AMPSO was in response to PSA at KU. It’s not like MQM decided from day one it will torture, kill, etc. It got veered off from its course by the response it received from the central government and also from the response it received from people of Karachi. One caused it to become defensive and violent while the other caused it to assume that Karachi is its baap ki zameen.
Don’t want to start a discussion here about ethnicities because it’s useless and harmful. But, while pointing out the problems of MQM, people shouldn’t forget to point out the other side.
Actually, this statement from our dear friend shows just how far the military has succeeded in convincing our intelligentsia that khaki-rule is somehow “necessary”.
Things like these make me suspect that the whole Lal Masjid episode has been deliberately allowed to rise to a dangerous level… just so that people are terrified and end up supporting the military.
I agree with Farrukh that given the choice between military and mullahs, I and most Pakistanis will choose the military every time.
I am appaled and devasted at these words. Am I supposed to believe these are coming from our alleged ‘educated’ class? Kindly note the majority of Pakistanis do not want what you think they want. You will be surprised to know their level of political awareness. But why should you care in the confines of your drawing room, when you yourself are so willingly eager to support anti-democracy forces. My point in previous posts is thus validated. You are playing in their hands exactly as they want.
The whole set of mentality of ‘enlightened folks’ reminds me of Pavlov’s dogs behaving in a pre-conditioned manner when a certain tune is played. I am surprised that so many people can be socially conditioned to do this? Now that is some serious achievement. Have to study more about it. Maybe I am addressing the wrong crowd.
Lets discuss a viable third option, tell me what contribution have you given in Chief Justice case? No matter how small? Nothing?
And why doesn’t Adil cover CJP case with same fervor as ‘maulvi’ incident?