The rot within

A new day, a new low plummeted. The heinous murder of Priyantha Kumara by a self-righteous mob of zealots adds to the long and ignominious list of crimes committed in the name of religion in Pakistan.

What followed was predictable. The shock and outrage on social and electronic media. The perfunctory statements of condemnation from state and government officials. The typical deflection by apologists. Nothing in the occurrence nor aftermath of this tragedy was out of the ordinary. And therein lies the problem.

We have been here too many times before to be continually shocked by such acts of wanton violence. APS, Kasur, and Sahiwal. Mashal Khan, Salmaan Taseer, and Shahbaz Bhatti. On each of these dark days in our sordid history we expressed a similar level of horror and disbelief, peppered with hashtags and profile picture updates, vows to never forget, to turn the corner, and step back from the abyss. But every single time we forgot. We never turned the corner. And we kept plunging into the vortex of violence. And therein lies the problem.

Very soon, we will all resume our regular lives, and the shock of this tragedy will dissipate and become a distant memory. Another blotted postmark in an album of history already bursting at the seams with similar stains. Until the next horrific murder takes place – and you can be sure it is right around the corner – and we trot out the same outrage, condemnation, and vows again.

How can we expect a semblance of change when those in power refuse to even acknowledge the problem, let alone begin to tackle it? Churning out the ‘this is not us’ trope is disingenuous when the fact remains that a scarily vast majority have in the past, and continue to even now, condone murderers and extremists. The hero worship of Mumtaz Qadri is proof of that. The garlanding of Saad Rizvi by a senior PTI senator is proof of that. And the possibility of secret deals being made under the veneer of negotiations with the TTP is proof of that.

How can we expect any change when even carefully drafted official statements turn out to be mild apologies for mobocracy? PM Imran Khan’s reference to the blood-thirsty murderers in Sialkot as a ‘vigilante mob’, and President Arif Alvi tweeting about the virtues of ‘deliberative justice’ suggest that the poor victim actually did commit a crime, and that an existing and justifiable law should have dealt with him. Thereby implying that, while the method employed was reprehensible, the end goal may have been the same.

Other leaders did not even feel the need to sugar-coat their statements. Maulana Fazlur Rehman blamed the government for not taking timely action against alleged blasphemers, while the defence minister explained the lynching as behaviour of emotional young men [later he walked back on this statement after reaction from civil society and commentators]. Good luck explaining to the EU when Pakistan’s GSP+ status comes under review, or when projecting the country’s ‘soft image’ on the international stage.

Make no mistake about it: the rot is deep-rooted. Hatred, intolerance, and extremism have been coursing through the veins of our body politic for decades, and this toxicity continues to be pumped under this hybrid set up.

There can be no change for the better when a government bans an extremist organisation and labels it as enemy-funded one day, only to surrender its authority in the form of secret deals the next day. There can be no hope for improvement when the murderers of APS children are shamefully offered immunity through negotiations.

It is this embarrassingly consistent pandering to extremists with their poisonous ideology and indiscriminate killing that has brought the country to its knees. No amount of blame-deflection and denial will ever help us escape this morass. All the promises and faux resolve to take action will ring hollow as long as the primary focus of our collective attention is geared towards curbing teenagers’ usage of mobile phones, the impact of Western influence on our moral compass, Islamophobia in the West, and of course fulminations against ‘bloodthirsty liberal fascists’.

Why are extremists never termed bloodthirsty here? Why are deals offered to terrorists and not to elected MNAs who have lost entire families to terrorism? Why are terrorists facilitated, offered money and pardoned? Why are peaceful movements violently suppressed while religious fanatics are rewarded? Mob violence and lynching are the logical result of such suicidal policies.

For fanatics, our ruling elite is comfortable to grant forgiveness and offer reconciliation. They readily strike up electoral alliances and sign secret deals. For political opponents, the most vitriolic language and severest action is deemed the bare minimum. Peaceful protesters and those who question regressive state policies are silenced with violence and termed anti-state. Destroy property, and murder citizens and law-enforcement officers, and it will be considered kosher as long as conducted under the umbrella of religious hatred. Seek justice after losing your family members to terrorism and you will be stamped with charges of sedition. Mourners protesting silently for justice by sitting on freezing streets with the dead bodies of their loved ones are considered blackmailers – because bowing before them would be a sign of weakness for the ruling elite.

For decades, the state has nurtured extremism and used extremists for its petty political gains. Our people have been indoctrinated and weaponised to pursue warped strategic policies. We have cultivated this hate and trained young people to kill in the name of religion. We have normalised this extremist doctrine to such an extent that it has left us all at the mercy of lynch mobs. Blinded by its privilege, the ruling elite has fuelled the fire with its complicity. But this fire will spare no one. This Frankenstein's monster is now out of control. The rot is deep and systemic, and there is no resolve to correct course.

The few optimists out there might consider all this to be hyperbolic and point to the dozens of arrests that have taken place since the gruesome murder as proof of the state’s retributive justice. It would be foolhardy to expect justice from rulers who have never delivered it for the parents of APS victims, let alone the multitude of other grievers. Do not be surprised if such lynch mobs are garlanded with flowers when they walk into the courtroom. Do not be shocked if they are declared martyrs if, and this is a big if, they are convicted and sentenced. This is not hyperbole. It is just the bitter truth.

We may have had a chance at redemption if our rulers had the gumption to recognise and fight this fanaticism. But they have been too busy capitulating before it on every occasion. The worst part is not just that those installed to lead us are the leading apologists for this extreme ideology, but that so many of those being led are in support. We have successfully conditioned our people into believing that in Pakistan, religion is constantly in danger and must be protected. The question is: who will protect religion from Pakistan?

The writer works as a development practitioner for a local consultancy.

Twitter: @ShahrukhNR