Bloodletting

“It was unreal as everything else – as the philanthropic pretense of the whole concern, as their talk, as their government, as their show of work. The only real feeling was a desire to get appointed to a trading post where ivory was to be had so that they could earn percentages.” – Joseph Conrad, ‘Heart of Darkness’

The brutal and gruesome murder of eleven Hazara men in the Mach area of Balochistan is an apt reminder that much needs to be done to correct the fault-lines that continue to breed violence in the country. The innocent victims were dragged out of their mud hut, blindfolded, their hands tied behind their backs and butchered mercilessly in the open.

The elders of the Hazara community are protesting alongside the bodies of the dead, refusing to bury them until the killers have been arrested. The pain they must be suffering is intense and its expression understandable. This is further aggravated by the fact that, though such barbaric acts have been committed in the past too, no effective preventive and protective steps have been taken by the provincial administration to put an end to such heinous killings.

These acts of dehumanisation leave a deep scar on the face of a nation which has to bear the shame collectively. It is the responsibility of the entire people to ensure that the residual space for committing such acts is completely eliminated and we learn to accept and applaud religious, cultural and linguistic diversity as an enshrining symbol of our nationhood.

This act is also reminiscent of the increasing levels of violence which continue to creep into society. It looks as if we have lost the art of engaging in a productive and non-violent discourse. Instead, we allow our abuse to inflict pain and our weapons to administer our rage. The brutality that is filtering into politics may not be visible in the shape of blood oozing out, but it lingers beneath the surface, exploding every now and then through the infliction of avoidable wounds upon others.

Only recently, an ongoing political struggle has been likened to a ‘jihad’. It was proclaimed that there is no retreat and it must be fought to the bitter end. Where are we headed? Such evocations exploit religion as a constituent of politics, thus upping the stakes to emotionally uncontrollable levels.

This is in contravention of the foundational principles as enunciated by the Quaid in his maiden speech from the floor of the first constituent assembly of Pakistan. He proclaimed that all citizens were equal and the state had nothing to do with their belief, caste, colour or creed which would also not restrict their progress in life. In reality, it has not been that simple and the indoctrination being stuffed into ordinary day-to-day politics raises the prospect of expediting a damning conflict.

If the flame, thus ignited, turns into a conflagration, who will benefit? There will be no gain for anyone from such a horrid eventuality. Instead, the inferno would likely raze to the ground whatever edifice of democracy we may have succeeded in cultivating through a troubled past. Is it advisable that, to escape the accountability process, we invoke the spectre of ‘jihad’, Jewish connection, ‘selling’ of the cause of Kashmir and other such fabrications which evoke the raw sentiments of a predominantly emotional people?

A political fight should remain confined within the political domain. Pushing it into a make-believe spiral whose trajectory is beyond human control would be a suicidal act, not just for the person or persons who may be its initiators, but for the whole country and its inhabitants. The affliction would not even spare those who ignite the initial spark.

This is fire we are playing with. Each day, we are pandering to our ingrained selfishness, unmindful of the damage it will cause to the feeble democratic structure whose tenets we refuse to acknowledge. This is ongoing labour which must continue uninterrupted, brick by brick, wall by wall. We should refrain from joining the demolition squads which are at work with their crowbars and sledgehammers, accentuated with an evil intent to cause damage. It is time for us to take a dispassionate view to evaluate our options. This is so because the reckless course which is being chiselled is strewn with a dominant self-destructive ingredient.

Those trying to design movements for petty personal gains are no friends of the state. They are not waging a battle for the interests of the impoverished and marginalised communities of the country. They are doing so to hide their corruption and the ill deeds perpetrated during their days in the power echelons. The same democracy they preach every day makes it incumbent upon them to present themselves for accountability before the relevant institutions; otherwise, their proclamations would be but hollow words smelling of disdain for the very objectives they have set out to accomplish.

The writer is the special assistant to the PM on information, a political and security strategist, and the founder of the Regional Peace Institute. Twitter: @RaoofHasan