Something old

The blight of extremism reared its ugly head again over Eidul Azha as six members of the Ahmadi community were shot and injured by a mob in Faisalabad. The attack was reportedly sparked by a minor dispute between teenagers, which was then escalated by an enraged mob that gave it a religious colour and reportedly started attacking an Ahmadi place of worship. This follows the pattern of previous such attacks where everyday fights and property disputes are used to stroke violent bigotry. Law-enforcement officials either join in or stand to the side as places of worship are burned and members of minority communities shot or killed. The police often refuse to file FIRs and no action is taken against those responsible.According to the annual report for 2017 released by the Ahmadi community, at least 77 Ahmadis were booked under discriminatory laws during the year and nine are still in prison. It is the job of the government to take the lead and ensure that justice is done. Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights Mustafa Nawaz Khokar – from the PPP – has asked the IGP Punjab to investigate this latest incident, and the government has in turn said there will be an investigation.

Clearly, what happened in Faisalabad will need to be investigated more completely, but one reason such mobs feel emboldened to act on their hatred is the encouragement they have been given by forces across the political spectrum. When the TLP was spewing hatred against Ahmadis daily during its Faizabad dharna, few dared to contradict – to the extent that the right-wing group even managed to gain the resignation of the then law minister. Its performance during the elections showed that there are a significant number of votes in peddling hate. During the election campaign, the PTI too constantly used the issue of the parliament oath, leading to minority communities’ patriotism being called into question. The PTI government now has to show that is the representative of all Pakistanis and not just its voters. The perpetrators of this attack have to be brought to justice. There should no longer be any tolerance for those who spread hate, be it politicians, news persons or people on social media. Naya Pakistan will only be worth living in if it respects all Pakistanis, regardless of creed. As the attack in Faisalabad shows, we seem to still be hanging out in Old Pakistan.