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Thursday March 28, 2024

Spring is far behind

By Ghazi Salahuddin
March 19, 2017

Since we have a prime minister who once sang like Mohammad Rafi – or so he likes to think – we should expect his administration to be more pleasant and broadminded. But what we have lacks rhythm and harmony. Our lives are generally oppressed by intolerance and extremism. Even in the midst of a committed national campaign against terrorism, obscurantists and reactionaries prevail on the social front.

So, is there any hope for the survival of enlightened and progressive ideas in Pakistan? Well, the prime minister himself has this week given us some hope. We do not know if his message is born of serious reflection and willingness to revise the ruling ideas. Still, Nawaz Sharif’s speech at a function that was held in Karachi on Tuesday to celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi deserves attention.

Also encouraging is the fact that some of its sound-bites are included in the latest official advertisement that is shown on news channels. To that extent, we have evidence of a resolve to project a more progressive image of Pakistan, with particular emphasis on the rights of religious minorities. Sadly, the record of how minorities have been treated in Pakistan, including during the present term of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is highly upsetting.

Interestingly, Nawaz Sharif in his Holi address observed that there is no religious dispute in Pakistan, only a tussle between good and evil and between the progressive and retrogressive elements. One wonders if he has any insight into nature of the conflict that is being played out in Pakistan between progressive and retrogressive elements. What is important is that in this formulation, he places himself in the corner of the progressive elements.

For him, then, the challenge now is to vindicate this stated position through policy and action. Unless there is a dramatic shift in his understanding of the present crisis of Pakistan, expectations that have been raised are not likely to be realised. Otherwise, there have been a number of occasions that called for a departure from the kind of religious orthodoxy that has defined our rulers’ perspective.

Indeed, the circumstances in which the National Action Plan was drafted more than two years ago, after the unbearable tragedy of the massacre of our schoolchildren in Peshawar, commanded an immediate reversal of policies that had created an enabling environment for militancy and extremism. There were points in NAP that prescribed specific action in this context.

Does this mean that we are in for another disappointment after a fleeting celebration of hope that a new beginning that is promised will become a reality? After all, this is the established pattern. The forces of hate and fanaticism have continued to advance and the progressive elements have remained under attack. One reason for this is that the same individuals and the same ideas have stayed in power. Nawaz Sharif has, for whatever reason, shied away from changing the complexion of his manifestly conservative administration.

Hence, his Holi message is obviously out of sync with the belligerent ballad composed by the minister of interior. Another burden that the prime minister must carry is his own politics of the past. It can be argued that he has matured as a leader and become more thoughtful in his appreciation of our fundamental predicaments. But he has still to demonstrate the courage of his convictions – and that is a tough job given the fragile state of our democracy.

Anyhow, we have an opportunity to celebrate the progressive tone of the prime minister’s Holi speech. His assertion that “Pakistan was not made so one religion can dominate over others” evoked the spirit of the Qauid’s speech of August 11, 1947. He also said that forcing someone to change their religion is a crime.

It has been suggested that the prime minister was not entirely playing to the gallery when he addressed a Hindu gathering. One may also take note of his visit to a prominent seminary in Lahore during last weekend where he asked for clerics’ help in combating the menace of terrorism and asked them to reject religious decrees that incite violence.

It was surely a meaningful statement when he said that “terrorism cannot be defeated until ulema play an effective role in carving out a counter-narrative against the ideology of terrorists”. A counter-narrative that the ulema would project? Or is it an assignment that falls unambiguously in the government’s domain?

As an aside, comments were made on the timing of the prime minister’s speech in Karachi which he presented in a confident and relaxed manner. It was here that he joked about his talent for singing and said that 10 years ago he could sing just like Rafi. All this under the shadow of the impending judgement of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers’ case.

Seasonally, this is the time of spring though Lahore has been denied its precious heritage of basant and this is a setback in terms of the need to liberate our society from the primitive passions of hatred and bigotry. It is surprising that the dynamic administrator that Shahbaz Sharif has established himself to be, he does not understand the role that popular culture plays in social development.

Similarly, he failed to protect the more refined expression of a progressive society when the Lahore Literature Festival had to lose its lustre because of security concerns. Yet, the awesome capacity of the state to provide security to an event was confirmed a week later, when the PSL final was played in Lahore.

I have repeated my grief about basant and the LLF to underline the significance of cultural and literary rejuvenation in any struggle against retrogressive elements that Nawaz Sharif talked about on Tuesday. The pity of it is that we continue to confront measures that are meant to frustrate the progressive elements in society.

It was a strange coincidence that on the same day that PM Nawaz Sharif made his Holi speech, the Punjab minister of higher education announced that he was making hijab compulsory for all girl students of colleges and universities in the public sector. In addition, according to the minister, the hijab would give them fiver percent attendance if needed.

Why the need for compulsory hijab? Because “we are leaving our religion behind, and we are forgetting our culture and ethics”. Expectedly, the Punjab government rejected these proposals. But we have been told that spring is still far behind.

The writer is a senior journalist.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com