The two
people who were responsible for starting Pakistan down this ‘slippery slope’ of
extremism and legal discrimination against minorities are both dead and have
been for decades, yet their legacy survives and has become a part of our
constitution and our system of laws. It seems that even the most unjust laws, if
based on religion, not only are allowed to exist but seem immune to
change.
Interestingly, after the passage of the 18th Amendment to the
constitution our apex court seems willing to examine whether it deserves to
exist as an amendment yet no attempt has been made by this independent court to
examine the laws that have made a mockery of the very concept of equality under
the law for all citizens of Pakistan. -- Dr Syed Mansoor
Hussain
Dr Syed Mansoor
Hussain
Perhaps the secularists’ anguish
is tinged by a sense of overwhelming guilt for never having come out openly
against the officially tolerated discrimination that the Ahmedis have suffered
for all the years that they have been viciously persecuted
The recent massacre of Ahmedis
in Lahore has brought forth a predictable spate of condemnation. And as time has
gone by more people have come out to condemn this atrocity both in the media as
well as in the ‘blogosphere’. This rising tide of sympathy and support for the
Ahmedi community is perhaps an unintended consequence of the massacre. However,
it has also exposed the intrinsic differences in the response of those that
condemned the incidents.
Predictably the religious
extremists and their fellow travellers remained silent. Among them those in
political positions of power in Punjab did make some appropriate noises but
could not find the gumption to condemn the actual perpetrators. The most bizarre
point of view expressed by some of them is that both the victims and the
attackers were not Muslims and as such it was not really a sectarian problem at
all!
Most Pakistanis it seems were
however truly anguished by what had happened. Of these there are two broad
categories. The first is the majority point of view that seems to suggest that
even if the Ahmedis are not accepted as ‘true’ Muslims they still deserve full
protection under the law and respect of their beliefs as do all other
Pakistanis.
The ‘secularists’ of the Left
though seemed to be the most upset and as the days went by increasingly found
their voice. Perhaps their anguish is tinged by a sense of overwhelming guilt
for never having come out openly against the officially tolerated discrimination
that the Ahmedis have suffered for all the years that they have been viciously
persecuted.
Politics in Pakistan is a mess —
the liberals, the secularists and the mainstream Muslims are all lost. They talk
of individual rights but none have mustered the requisite courage to confront
head on the cancer of religious extremism that is threatening the very existence
of our country. Religiously motivated terrorism is obviously the greatest threat
but it has its roots in the extremism that has slowly crept up and is now
difficult to get rid of.
The two people who were
responsible for starting Pakistan down this ‘slippery slope’ of extremism and
legal discrimination against minorities are both dead and have been for decades,
yet their legacy survives and has become a part of our constitution and our
system of laws. It seems that even the most unjust laws, if based on religion,
not only are allowed to exist but seem immune to change.
Interestingly, after the passage
of the 18th Amendment to the constitution our apex court seems willing to
examine whether it deserves to exist as an amendment yet no attempt has been
made by this independent court to examine the laws that have made a mockery of
the very concept of equality under the law for all citizens of
Pakistan.
Whether we like it or not,
Pakistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim country and as such Muslim sensibilities
must be considered in most matters. But then we have enough examples from the
past and the much more glorious days in the history of Muslims where
considerable freedom existed within the framework of Islam.
At the height of their
magnificence, the Abbasids in Iraq, the Umayyads in Spain, the Ottomans in half
the known world and the Mughals in India practiced a multiculturalism that would
be exemplary for even the most secular European country today. Many pious
Muslims believe that the fall of those empires occurred because they became
separated from Islamic orthodoxy. The truth is quite the opposite. When these
empires started to disintegrate that is when religious extremism took over,
accelerating their decay and eventual destruction.
Pakistan is in trouble and
unless religious extremism can be controlled, things may spin out of control
completely. Already our armed forces are fighting against the purveyors of
extremism and terrorism on our western borders but ordinary people need to come
out openly and help them win this war.
In this perhaps the massacre of
the Ahmedis can contribute. It has the potential of uniting disparate elements
of Pakistani society that oppose such violence. I realise that it is virtually
impossible to even consider the question whether Ahmedis are Muslims without
running afoul of the existing law but they are Pakistanis and as such have the
right to practice their faith without fear of persecution and definitely without
fear of violence.
It is imperative for all right
minded people to come together and proclaim again and again that the Ahmedis
must be protected. If once we create the environment where the Ahmedis can
practice their faith freely and without fear then only can we hope that the
Shias, followers of different Sufi systems, the Christians, the Hindus and
eventually even the mainstream Barelvi-Hanafis will also be fully
protected.
As far as who is a Muslim is
concerned, I have great difficulty answering that question since I am not an
expert on religious matters. Frankly, if somebody asks me if I am a Muslim I
will of course reflexively say yes, but on further introspection I might wonder
if that is true. We all say that we are Muslims, but when it comes to our
actions more often than not they are contrary to the spirit of
Islam.
I have never espoused
‘tolerance’ for I believe that tolerance is a sham. What is needed is
acceptance. In the US, for all the years I lived there, I was always accepted as
an equal. Yes, different forms of bigotry existed but it was well suppressed by
the law as well as public opprobrium attached to such
attitudes.
When somebody said, I am a
Christian or a Jew or a Muslim, few people — if any — felt the need to ask them
to prove it. And that is what I wish we as a people in Pakistan will some day be
able to do. May the spirit of Ali Hajweri, the patron saint of Lahore, guide us
in these dark times.
Syed Mansoor Hussain has practised and taught
medicine in the US. He can be reached at
smhmbbs70@yahoo.com
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\07\story_7-6-2010_pg3_3
9:50 PM
Sultan Shahin
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