Making amends

The cleric in Hujra Shah Muqeem in Depalpur Tehsil of Okara District was probably playing to the gallery when he instigated a young man to chop his hand off. The incident is yet another manifestation of the regressive socio-religious trends that have now become so embedded that the clergy has assumed the power of fate deciders for many Pakistanis. The incident should be seen in the perspective of Pakistani state’s policies since 1979 onward to Islamise the country through ordinances and statutes.

Diversity is what society is all about. Any state that challenges it with hollow narratives conceived by extremists would eventually end up creating self-destructive, anti-progressive and intolerant social mindset. Three decades ago lives, properties and faith were a lot safer than they are in today’s Pakistan. It looks like the Pakistani state now wants to make amends. But no one knows whether the state will take the National Action Plan to some logical end or not.

Malik Atif Mahmood Majoka

Melbourne

Australia