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Thursday March 28, 2024

Is the tide turning?

Mumtaz Qadri, for me, was the measure of the dark forces of religious extremism and fanaticism that lurk in Pakistani society. And the tide seemed irreversible. But we now have Wednesday’s Supreme Court judgement. So, is the tide turning?There are many aspects relating to this judgement that call for careful

By Ghazi Salahuddin
October 11, 2015
Mumtaz Qadri, for me, was the measure of the dark forces of religious extremism and fanaticism that lurk in Pakistani society. And the tide seemed irreversible. But we now have Wednesday’s Supreme Court judgement. So, is the tide turning?
There are many aspects relating to this judgement that call for careful analysis. Essentially, we need to be reassured that the ongoing operation against terrorism and extremism is also meant to check the advance of obscurantist and conservative elements. Frenzied hero-worship of Qadri had demarcated a kingdom of fear. That has to be breached.
This is also the occasion to reminisce about Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab who had courageously supported a Christian woman w convicted of blasphemy in questionable circumstances. In many ways, he was a gifted person and a prominent leader of the then ruling PPP. Besides, the stance he had adopted on blasphemy law appeared to reflect the party’s position.
But after his murder in January 2011 by a commando of the Elite Force – Mumtaz Qadri – detailed to protect him, he was virtually disowned by his party and the nightmarish situation that emerged was something that one cannot easily come to terms with even in its recollection. So much so that it was hard to get an imam to lead his funeral prayers. Wednesday’s verdict is hardly a recompense for the pain that sensitive citizens had to suffer.
Let us first look at the significance of how a three-member bench of the Supreme Court has dealt with the two appeals it heard for three consecutive days. Not only has the death sentence of Mumtaz Qadri been upheld but the court has also restored Qadri’s terrorism conviction. A short order announced by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who headed the bench, said: “The criminal appeal filed by the convict is dismissed, the appeal of the state is allowed and the conviction and sentence awarded by the trial court is restored”.
Qadri was awarded the death sentence by an anti-terrorism court in October 2001. But the Islamabad High Court had struck down sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act from charges against Qadri in March this year, though it had upheld the death sentence awarded to the convict under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). A death sentence under the PPC can be commuted if the heirs of the victims pardon the convict. One shudders to think of the pressure that supporters of Qadri had mounted in the immediate aftermath of the murder.
There certainly have been protests and incendiary statements after Wednesday’s verdict but the situation did not get out of hand. This is solid evidence that things have changed, though there is still no assurance that the primitive forces that exploit religion have effectively been stifled. The potential for disorder is considerable. One is sometimes confused about the establishment’s resolve to, as it repeatedly professes, take the campaign to its ‘logical conclusion’. With the advent of Muharram in a few days, the sectarian front is to be watched very closely.
The fanatical support that Qadri had gathered after he murdered Taseer near Kohsar Market in Islamabad in the presence of his other colleagues was astounding. Lawyers were dominant in the crowds that showered Qadri with flower petals. He was raised to the stature of a saint. One of his counsels was the former Lahore High Court chief justice Khawaja Sharif.
These passions were obviously aroused by the allegation that Taseer had committed blasphemy. There is ample evidence of how such an accusation can forthrightly catch fire at a communal level. According to data collected by Reuters, at least 65 people have been killed in cases linked to blasphemy since 1990.
In addition to the verdict that the Supreme Court bench has delivered, the salient feature of the proceedings was the focus on the blasphemy law and how this law has triggered vigilantism. We had clear hints about what would come on Wednesday in observations made by the court on Monday and Tuesday.
“We have to look into whether the deceased (Taseer) indeed commented the act of blasphemy or he commented adversely on the effects of the blasphemy law”, observed Justice Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the intro of one news report: “Monday’s proceedings of Mumtaz Qadri’s appeal against his death sentence provided a glimpse into the minds of the members of the Supreme Court bench when they held that the court would determine whether criticism of the blasphemy law amounted to blasphemy”.
A point to be noted is that when Justice Khosa inquired whether any disciplinary action had ever been taken against the rest of the members of the force and whether they were still in active service, Islamabad Advocate General Mian Rauf, appearing on behalf of the state, replied that the men were still in service. Here is an example of what the saner elements of the establishment have to contend with.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Justice Khosa said: “Will it not instil fear in society if everybody starts taking the law in their own hands and dealing with sensitive matters such as blasphemy on their own rather than going to the courts”. Of course, Qadri’s counsel quoted some verses of the Holy Quran and there were some arguments about their interpretation.
Irrespective of all this, Taseer’s murder had exposed some fatal fault lines in our society. In the first place, any rational discourse on this subject had become impossible. It seemed so unreal. The media was unable to even mumble in Taseer’s favour. Supporters of the PPP felt embarrassed and defeated by the surrender of the government in the face of religious extremists. Asif Zardari was then at the helm and it was mainly his decision that “we cannot take them on”.
Can the present rulers do that? After all, the rules of engagement with the religious extremists have changed after the massacre of our schoolchildren in Peshawar on December 16, 2014. Concerted action against terrorists has apparently weakened their backers and sympathisers in society. The stage, in a sense, is set for more meaningful initiatives to promote higher values in a wounded society. One lesson to learn is that when the rulers are timid and indecisive in dealing with dire challenges, society is gradually pushed into a state of anarchy.
One was reminded after Wednesday’s verdict of how Gen Ashfaq Kayani, the chief of army staff when Taseer was murdered, once reportedly told western ambassadors that he could not publicly condemn Qadri because of the number of soldiers who supported Qadri. Let us hope he can do that now.
The writer is a staff member.
Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com