Ugly bigotry

The decision by the Punjab chief minister to seek and reportedly obtain the resignation of minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan following the latter’s ugly and hateful remarks about Hindus is welcome. The action has been quick and decisive. But the damage is already done, what with more vitriol put out in public space. The comments by Chohan, till Tuesday the Punjab minister for information and culture, have highlighted bigotry in its ugliest form. Sadly such bigotry exists in many places in our country, and has been driven forward over the years by the material to which people are exposed in many places. The process of imbibing hatred begins in fact in schools and through textbooks used at them, with intolerance promoted directly and indirectly. The attempts periodically made to change this need to be expanded.

As minister of information and culture, Chohan should of course have known more about the prejudices that have torn apart society across the Subcontinent. He instead blindly followed an age-old pattern of looking at India as Hindu and Pakistan as Muslim. This is a fallacy, given the huge minority population in India and the sizeable one in Pakistan. The manner in which Pakistan has treated its minorities, with forced conversions, notably of young girls, abductions and attacks on holy places all a part of reality for Pakistan’s four million Hindus, is something the minister should be focusing on rather than spreading bias and misconceptions pinned on religion and the myths which surround different beliefs. The lack of knowledge about beliefs different to our own is itself shocking. This ignorance too must end.

The minister’s apology for the words used in his press conference and the widespread criticism from his own party leaders, including Imran Khan, and other citizens who have made their feelings known through social media was of limited significance. While welcome, we should remember it is not just resignations which will make the real difference. The PTI and indeed all mainstream parties must undertake an effort to re-educate people, make them aware of the different cultures that exist within their own country and promote respect for these rather than engaging in diatribes. Chohan, after all, is not alone in his views. The only way to bring change is to help a new social environment develop within the country in which there is more knowledge about diverse groups, more tolerance for them and an understanding that ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is not determined by belief but by many other factors. This needs to be put across with greater force to people so comments as ugly and hurtful as those of Chohan’s are not heard again from a person in public office.