Course correction

Tragic incidents, as the one we all witnessed with great shock and anger in Sialkot, have left us with no option but to go back to our roots and start normalising the society through thorough de-redicalisation programmes.

Looking from a corner and waiting for some miracle to transform us from within, without doing directed efforts, is nothing more than a collective delusion. Media, civil society, and educationists have to fearlessly confront the challenge and help salvage both Islam and Pakistan from the vigilantes of religion.

The Zia’s era, full of contradictions, portrayed Pakistan as the ‘fort’ of Islam and every Muslim as the ‘guardian’ of faith. The legal system was changed to snatch away an individual’s liberty in matters of practising Islam, school curriculum was re-designed to indoctrinate students with a particular worldview through selected verses of the Holy Quran and Hadith, and media was managed to spread narratives of Islamic revivalism.

The most heinous part of Zia’s so-called Islamization drive was the creation of Jihadi groups for use by the US in Afghanistan. Spread across the country and having nothing else to do after the disintegration of the USSR and death of the patron-in-chief, the groups went berserk and launched other projects inside and outside the country for survival.

With no more dollars coming from the US and no USSR to fight with, leaders of these militant groups quickly learnt to create space for themselves by redefining sectarian differences. Now around fifty militant groups operated with that many versions of Islam and different visions for state and society.

What we have lost in the process is our true identity and sense of humanity. Pakistan was created to protect a minority (Muslims) from the overbearing rule of a majority (Hindus) – and this spirit of protecting minorities and other marginalised classes of society should have been our core purpose but what has happened to the powerless over the years defies the very rationale behind Partition. We have tarnished the image of Islam by using it for political and economic interests; and – even worst – for justifying violence. Performing a few rituals and appearing outwardly a Muslim is not what Islam wants us to be. Islam means peace. Doing violence in its name is the worst blasphemy one can commit.

Is today’s Pakistan what Quaid-e-Azam had envisioned for us or is it one reflecting a hate-all-hit-all country of General Zia? Quaid-e-Azam wanted us to be the upholders of justice, tolerance, and integrity in our collective affairs. Though we have drifted too far from the Quaid’s course, we are not completely lost. We can reclaim our past and future by doing a little soul-searching at all levels of society.

We need to rediscover ourselves in the light of the Holy Quran which says, “Thus, We have made of you an Ummah (Community) justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves”. It implies that Muslims, by virtue of their beliefs and practices, have to embrace peace, moderation and reject extremism, prejudice, and intolerance.

Unlearning, although very difficult, is most often more important than learning. Prejudices acquired during the process of socialisation, with the camouflage of knowledge and culture, are hardwired in the mind but we have to try to jettison them all for living differently.

The world has moved on to become increasingly interdependent economically and interwoven culturally. It is not possible for an individual, not least for a whole society, to be insensitive to the core sensitivities of others. Pakistan, in particular, cannot afford to harbour individuals and groups who espouse hate in the name of religion as this is anathema to the core purpose of its creation.

The writer teaches at SZABIST, Islamabad. The writer can be reached: dr.zeb@szabist-isb.edu.pk