At some level, the verdict in the Mashal Khan lynching case should have given us a sense of closure. But that has not happened. We still seem unable to contend with the dark passions that are playing havoc with the fundamental values of a modern, civilised society.
We remember that Mashal was lynched within the campus of the Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan by a mob of students in April last after being falsely accused of having committed blasphemy. This act of utter brutality, with graphic coverage captured on cell phones, had shaken the country. There were intimations in this incident of that unimaginable massacre of our schoolchildren in Peshawar in the context of the nation coming together and making its resolve to not let something like this happen again. There was a lot of reflection on what had happened, with a focus on the state of mind of the educated young people.
A number of positive steps were taken, as the verdict of the Anti-Terrorism Court announced in Haripur on Wednesday would indicate. The court convicted 31 of the 57 accused and death sentence was awarded to the main accused, Imran Ali. Five convicts were given life imprisonment and 25 others were awarded three-year jail terms. But the court also acquitted 26 people on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to prove charges against them. Four of the accused who are absconding, of which three are prime suspects, were declared proclaimed offenders and perpetual arrest warrants were issued against them.
What is alarming is not just that the 26 accused who were acquitted were part of the mob that had lynched Mashal but the ignominy of how they were welcomed by their supporters, including members of the mainstream religious parties. They were treated as some kind of fighters for a righteous cause. This was their justification of the brutal murder of a young man who seemed progressive and intellectually rebellious in his thinking. A proper investigation had found that there was no hint of blasphemy in his online musings. In any case, Wednesday’s verdict fell short of the expectations of Mashal’s family and they said that they would file an appeal with the high court against what they saw as a light sentence and, particularly, the acquittal of 26 persons. Mashal’s father, Iqbal Khan, has emerged as a heroic figure in this episode. He has demonstrated the courage of his enlightened convictions.
Whether the verdict was sufficient or not, the real issue is to properly honour Mashal’s bravery and foster an environment, particularly on our campuses, in which young people like him are able to live and find their rightful stature in society, without fear or intimidation. Even more important is to squarely confront the fanatics and the extremists and ensure that their power is gradually reduced through legal and socially liberating measures.
This is not happening. One even shudders to think that the overall drift of Pakistani society may be regressive. How else can you explain the Faizabad sit-in and the victory it was allowed to win? And it did come after the enforcement of the National Action Plan and the national shame of a lynching on a campus just a few months earlier. We are also witness to the advent of the new religious forces that bear the same emotions that fortify a maddened mob in electoral politics. In an environment of fear and insecurity, certified by the victimisation of potentially secular and liberal elements, these religious groups could disrupt the evolution of genuine democracy in this country.
Talking about Mashal would appear to distract one’s attention from the obvious attraction of this week: the Karachi Literature Festival that began on Friday and will conclude tonight. But there is an umbilical relationship between literary activity and the struggle to promote values of freedom and peace. The enemy in both cases is the same. The soul of society cannot be liberated without defeating the forces of obscurantism, intolerance and extremism.
There have been other linkages between a literary festival and Mashal, in a rather providential way. Last year’s Islamabad Literature Festival began just a day after Mashal’s lynching on April 13. It naturally cast a shadow on the proceedings of the festival. Leading writers and intellectuals were together under one roof and were able to share their thoughts on the kind of a tragedy that usually becomes an inspiration for writers, poets and artists. Sure enough, there were some instantaneous poetic responses to express the pain and the bereavement felt by all sensitive people.
I happened to attend the concluding session of the festival. All three keynote speakers mentioned Mashal and deviated a little to interpret his lynching against the backdrop of their vision of Pakistan’s reality. I can recall one expression: ‘University is the new madressah’.
For that matter, this weekend’s 9th Karachi Literature Festival had a session on the opening day on ‘Universities or Nurseries of Terrorism?’, with some leading educationists on the panel. But this is an issue that transcends the apprehensions of well-meaning liberals. Our campuses have sheltered so many other derelictions. Still, the Mashal tragedy did upset the powers that be. One manifestation of it was a seminar on the ‘Role of Youth in Rejecting Extremism’, sponsored by ISPR at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on May 18 last year. While the chief of the army staff delivered his keynote address, the salient feature of it was the presence of the vice-chancellors of the country’s public and private universities.
This was surely a very well-conceived initiative and prompted a number of thought-provoking observations. Our dominant youth bulge could soon become a curse if our young minds remain vulnerable to extremism and intolerance. Our army has the ability to fight the terrorists but other kinds of resources are needed to reverse the tide of religious extremism and bigotry. Unfortunately, our rulers are unwilling to make the choices that would lead to the creation of a modern and plural society of the kind in which a Mashal is able to realise his dreams.
I am not aware of any meaningful reforms or changes in the syllabuses of different disciplines in our universities as a result of the many deliberations that were held. No radical steps were seen to have been taken. The same was the outcome of the great shock we suffered on December 16, 2014.
You could say that it is business as usual. Or even worse, if you take the Faizabad sit-in into account.
The writer is a senior journalist.
Email: ghazi_salahuddinhotmail.com