This post is based on an imaginary scenario.
Imagine Pakistan was a very different place. Imagine that it had politicians (not all, just a few, maybe one or two in government and one or two in opposition) who actually cared for Pakistan and made decisions based on what would be good for the country instead of just useful to their own hold on power.
I have probably already lost half of you, but let me keep going anyhow.
Imagine, what might happen in such a Pakistan in response to the brutal murder of Salman Taseer by the evil Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri?
What might the government do if it were really and truly serious about giving justice to Salman Taseer and rolling back the intolerance and extremism that gunned him down?
Let me suggest five things that would happen if Pakistan was, indeed, a functional state and society.
Instead of the emotional slogans, false tears, and petty political point-scoring that we are now seeing, here are a few things that might have happened if Pakistan was the place we all want it to be, but is not (starting from the easiest and moving to the most important):
- The immediate culprit – Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri – would be immediately and swiftly (that is critical) tried in a court of law and given the full punishment under the law. Justice which is transparent, fair, and speedy should be done, and seen to be done.
- All opportunities to turn the murderer into a public hero would be denied to him and his ‘fans.’ This means, no access to media, no opportunities to be garlanded, no occasions to shout slogans to TV cameras, etc. There are lots of simple means to do so and the media would be banned – for national sanity reasons – from reporting directly on his, running footage of him, or in any way projecting him. The purpose would be not to restrict information, but to resist misinformation on a pending case.
- Immediate investigation would be undertaken against all who had instigated violence and murder, issued fatwas, or in any ways created the inducement or provided encouragement to commit violence against Salman Taseer or others in relation to the blasphemy issue. This would certainly include, at a minimum, those evil jokers who were publicly offering money for murder but would also include an immediate and swift investigation into those on the media who had contributed to instigation and hysteria and inflamed emotions with violent rhetoric and also those political or public figures (including so-called ‘ulemas‘) who may have directly instigated violence in the name of this issue at any public rally. These investigations would swiftly lead to arrests, trials, and full punishment under incitement to violence laws.
- Anyone justifying murder, glorifying the murderer, or creating public incitement on this issue in the aftermath of the murder would be swiftly arrested, tried and given full punishment under the law. This could require large number of arrests to crush illegal rallies, etc., and the government would be ready to take that principled stand. This would also include full legal action against any media person using the media to justify the breaking of the law or the act of murder (for example, by arguing – directly or indirectly – that the murder of Salman Taseer was justified).
- The government would immediately move to repeal, or at least review the Blasphemy law itself and swiftly bring needed changes to it so that its spirit is not misused or made subject to vigilantism. This would be the least that could be done to honor the memory of Salman Taseer.
None of these would be easy to do, even in a saner Pakistan. But ‘difficult’ is never an excuse not to do what is ultimately ‘right.’
I do not really expect our current political leaders to do the right thing, on this issue or any other; or to give justice to Salman Taseer, or me. But at least I can try to push the conversation away from the inanities I hear on the TV and read in newspapers and towards a sense of what the ‘right’ thing to do would be, even if in an imaginary Pakistan.
monano – i will take a guess and assume that you consider darwin’s theory too simplistic; rather you belong to the rational school that believes god created the universe and everything in it, including us humans .
jumping ahead: per your ilk, since nothing in this world happens without god’s will, why did god lead salman taseer to drink and not attend his mother’s funeral?
for that matter, why did god make asia bibi utter blasphemous words?
and why does god, in her infinite wisdom, allow natural disasters and suffering to hit pakistan, a land populated with true believers, while rewarding the kafirs in the west, with prosperity and stability?
so seductive is the lure of their prosperity, that even true believers. in thousands, line up early in the morning for a chance at a visa to visit their kafir nations? in some cases, these believers risk life and limb and venture forth without legal documentation at a chance to enter the abode of the devil [i.e. western europe and the east and west coast of america. in middle america, reside a people who would give you a run for your money]
why, i ask you, why, monano, why?
ps. please don’t give me the stock answer – “it’s god’s will” because if you are willing to defer to god’s will in these cases, then you should have the decency to do the same when asia bibi blasphemes or salman taseer imbibes alcohol – let god judge them, too. furthermore, if you are going to pick and choose the application of the “god’s will” clause, then you are a hypocrite of the lowest form, no?
@eidee man
forget sharif, even zardari didnt had the decency of attending the funeral. However he is going to Washington to attend Halbrook’s funeral…
Thank you for writing this courageous post.
Aye merey Allah, Islam ko jahil musalmanoun say bacha.
That’s a tall order for our politicians. The Sharif brothers did not even have the basic decency to attend his funeral; what message is the provincial government sending?
Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion
Comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “what govt can do? :D (it sounds funny, isnt it?”
– “Specially the third point in the list is most important.
ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE INSTIGATING THE MURDER like offering money to anyone who would murer or on TV hosts who were inciting emotions, they should all be hauled in and put behind bars. They are the ones who killed Salman Taseer.”
– “If this evil Qadri guy killed out of “emotions” then those who instigated and incited these murdering emotions should also be punished. The Mullahs, the TV anchors.”
– “pro-Taliban cleric Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi condemned the killing of Taseer, saying the law was man-made and not divine.(those are not my quote).”
– “Let me tell you one more time to the poor people of pakistan you have to follow the law of the land period. And if you like to change do not vote to incumbent idiot I hope you understand what I’m saying good luck to everyone long live PAKISTAN.”
– “this is now over.”
– “I strongly condmen the blunt statements of governor against Blashbemy law… he never spoke about Dr Afia ? and when to Asia bibi ? Just to please his western Masters and show more compliance towards thei agenda of Playing with Muslims emotions….”
– “I agree with all 5 points you made but it won’t happen under this or any future government in Pakistan.
Insanity is ruling and sane voices are not going to surface for very long after this incident. Thanks to our free media,which helped to instigate the raw emotions and is now earning big time by inflaming this controvercy yet again…. from another angle.”
– “the dog is dead”
– “kab wafaat hui aap k waalid ki?”
– “below mentioned statement is beside of any political or religious issue.
توہینِ رسالت کی مرتکب تو ہماری پوری قوم ہے۔ جب ہم اپنے آپ کو فخر سے مسلمان کہتے ہیں اور روز مرہ کی زندگی میں خدا اور رسول کے احکامات کی دھجیاں بکھیرتے ہیں۔ بات بات پر جھوٹ بولتے ہیں ، رشوت لیتے ہیں ، بد دیانتی کرتے ہیں ، قانون توڑتے ہیں۔ اپنی نوکری اور کاروبار بچانے کے لئے خدا سے زیادہ اس کے بندوں کی عبادت کرتے ہیں۔ کیا یہ سب توہینِ رسالت اور توہینِ خدا نہیں؟”
– “Pakistan are not getting better, not politically, not religiously, not economically. They’re all heading in the wrong direction.”
– “Any extra judicial killing is a crime and is unislamic .Governor was killed extra-judicially bcus he enjoys Immunity for Judicial enquiry under constitution of Islam Republic of Pakistan.”