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It was supposed to be a month of peace and tolerance. It turned out to be anything but.
A mob attacked homes belonging to Ahmadis in Gujranwala, causing the death of three innocent civilians. In the backdrop of religious chants and slogans, the youth ransacked private property and set alight homes belonging to Ahmadis.
The police, as usual, stood idle.
These scenes of extremism were no different from the ones in Ayodhya in 1992 when Hindu extremists destroyed the Babri Mosque, or from the recent scenes of wanton destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza.
The murder of Ahmadis in Gujranwala is a manifestation of hate that appears to be deeply ingrained in Pakistan, which was founded on the basis of religious distinction. Having religion being considered the sole raison d'etre for a nation state breeds extremism.
It consumes diversity in all its manifestations, leaving hate in charge of the streets and society.
The mob in Gujranwala that burnt and killed, and those who are now hiding and protecting the miscreants, are no better than others doing the same elsewhere. Remember, Muslim mobs rampaging through homes in Ramazan does not make their murderous acts halal.
Imagine the predicament of parents who lost children either in Gaza or in Gujranwala days before Eid.
What should they do on Eid with the surviving children?
Should they dress them up, as they must have planned weeks earlier?
Or should they mourn in silence and remain in hiding from shells in Gaza and murderous mobs in Gujranwala?
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A house of a family belonging to the Ahmadi community was torched by an angry mob in Gujranwala (left). A United Nations-run school sheltering Palestinians that was hit by Israeli shelling in the northern Gaza Strip (right). –Photos by AP and Reuters |
The mob in Gujranwala caused the death of an elderly grandmother and her granddaughters, seven year old Hira and 10 months old Kainat. The victims were citizens of Pakistan and innocent of any crime. Still, it did not deter the mob from attacking them because the zealots found the three victims guilty by association.
Somehow being a minority in Pakistan has become a crime. Ahmadis, Shias, Christians and others have been killed for being different. This discounted model of citizenship will continue to divide people and consume the society from within.
Pakistan has evolved into one of the world’s least tolerant places. Dozens are murdered on suspicion and rumours. While the world is getting more connected with the Internet, Pakistan is moving in the opposite direction.
Already, YouTube is banned in Pakistan for carrying material that some Muslims find offensive. After the Gujranwala incident that was allegedly provoked by a Facebook update, Facebook may be next to be banned in Pakistan by the government.
The sustained failure of Pakistan’s criminal justice system has strengthened militant groups and mobs, who are encouraged by the knowledge that they will most likely escape justice.
For instance, those behind the murder of 94 Ahmadis in Lahore in May 2010 have not been brought to justice. Countless other religious fanatics turned mass murderers have won their freedom from the courts.
The lack of religious tolerance in Pakistan has brought the country to such lows that a recent report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIR) observed that Pakistan represented “the worst situation in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated by the US government as ‘countries of particular concern’.”
The report further lamented that though the recent transfer of power from one civilian government to another was a step in the right direction, still both the old and the new government tolerated egregious violations of religious freedoms.
The blasphemy laws continue to be abused in Pakistan. USCIR observed that blasphemy laws have put 17 individuals on death row and another 19 are serving life sentences.
Ahmadis in Pakistan are treated even worse, where those accused of blasphemy have been killed while in police custody.
Mr Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, observed yesterday in Jeddah that only democracy could being a revolution in Pakistan. An odd statement to make in Saudi Arabia, a ruthless monarchy. Pakistan, however, needs law and order along with democracy.
If there were law and order in Gujranwala, Hira, Kainat and their grandmother would have been alive today.