The writ of the
state
Rashed Rahman
The events of
the past few days since the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) acquittal of blasphemy
accused Aasia Bibi have caused every right thinking Pakistani to hang their
head in shame at the appeasement of extremist religious groups by the PTI
government. Any simpleton could have calculated the probable reaction of the
Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) to the correct and courageous verdict of the
SC, given the raising of Governor Salmaan Taseer’s hanged assassin Mumtaz Qadri
to saint-like stature by these worthies. Taseer was killed for coming to the
defence of the same poor Christian woman Aasia Bibi, falsely accused of
blasphemy (a phenomenon with which we have become sickeningly familiar by now).
For those of us
who initially were hopeful that the coming together of the government,
opposition, judiciary and military meant the state would finally tackle these
militant Barelvis who have grown accustomed to holding the state and society
hostage to their outrageous demands couched in language unrepeatable in polite
society (and they have the audacity to describe themselves as ‘Ulema’ even
after this), that hope proved all too short lived. Imran Khan’s address to the
country before departing for China promised the writ of the state would be
enforced while appealing to these obscurantist forces not to compel the state
to do its duty against threats to or actual loss of lives, property, etc. However,
when the day dawned, the TLP and affiliated militants were accorded the virtual
run of the country to destroy cars, terrorise citizens travelling on the
highways, blockade main arteries, disrupt normal life, commerce, and what have
you. In other words, for three days the country belonged to the extremist
anarchists and it appeared that the state had disappeared (far from in the
Marxian sense however).
Soon after, the
government and opposition closeness fell apart and degenerated into the usual
useless repartee between them, that too at a time when the state was faced with
such a serious challenge. The judiciary bent over backwards to prove its true
Muslim credentials that arguably lowered its prestige and dignity. Never before
have we heard the superior judiciary stooping to justify its verdicts publicly.
Remember the time when judges spoke only through their judgements? The
military, whose COAS had been directly targeted on religious grounds by the
extremists, chose to ‘distance’ itself from the fray.
The government
has been at pains ever since to spin the narrative that the use of force against
the destructive militants could have engendered much worse violence and the
‘deal’ with the TLP was meant to tactically defuse the situation. Now
government spokespersons, from Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry to Minister
of State Shehryar Afridi and others, are going through contortions any magician
would be proud of to convince us that action will be taken against those
responsible for violence and destruction of property. Cases have been filed,
reports of arrests of those identified as responsible for the mayhem abound,
but the elephant in the room is missing. No leader of the TLP has been
arrested, charged and brought to justice, despite roaming free and indulging in
statement after statement about their ‘understanding’ with the government.
This ‘understanding’
has revealed contradictory interpretations by the TLP and government. Because
no authoritative version of all that was agreed has been made available,
speculation revolves around the ‘surrender’ terms as including putting Aasia
Bibi’s name on the ECL (to prevent her fleeing to safety from threatened
assassination at the hands of these fanatics) and the government not standing
in the way of a review appeal against the SC verdict. The review appeal has
since been filed. We await the SC’s response, with the reported ill health of
the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar raising concerns. As it
is, false reporting speaks of the constitution by the government of a larger
bench minus the three judges who delivered the Aasia verdict (including the
CJP) to hear the review appeal. False because even a tyro in the law knows only
the CJP can form benches, not the government. Doubly false because the narrow
parameters of a review appeal enjoin the same bench must hear it.
The PTI
government’s handling of the challenge from the TLP and other religious parties
and groups has caused dismay and disappointment across the board. Even Imran
Khan’s ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari have
voiced their criticisms and concerns. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
has decried the state’s allowing mobs to pillage, destroy, threaten and
terrorise the citizenry and society at large.
Actually the PTI
government has been hoist by its own petard. It gleefully rubbed salt into the
wounds of the previous PML-N government when the TLP staged a sit-in (dharna) at the Faizabad Chowk in
Islamabad on the issue of the alleged deliberate change in the oath of elected
parliamentarians regarding the finality of the prophethood of Hazrat Mohammad
(PBUH). When that government wilted in the face of that challenge and the
military publicly ‘paid off’ the agitators to call off their protest (in the
process claiming the scalp of the federal law minister), Shireen Mazari’s
current argument regarding appeasement sending the wrong message to the
extremists was seen being played out in practice. That ‘dress rehearsal’
encouraged the TLP in its belief that it could hold state and society hostage
and bring the former to its knees. The incumbent government, much to Ms
Mazari’s discomfiture, has acquiesced in just such an appeasement and
surrender.
Actually viewing
the present crisis through the lens of the TLP’s meteoric rise over the last
two years is too narrow and restricted a perspective. The real culprit is the
state’s (and many governments, civilian and military) projection of power in
the region through religious fanatics and extremists for objectives that have
become incrementally obscure, indefensible and unattainable. The unforeseen
consequence (despite the warnings of the Cassandras of our society over many
years now) has been the creation, nurturing, growth of home grown extremists
that have challenged the state, sometimes with armed rebellion (two cases in
point that are linked: the Lal Masjid episode and the subsequent emergence of
the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan).
It is said that
those who play with fire run the risk of being burnt by it. This aphorism fits
exactly the results of our establishment’s myopic pursuit of a 'friendly’
regime in Kabul and fundamentalist groups’ armed struggle in Indian Held
Kashmir, arguably to the detriment of the Afghan, Kashmiri and Pakistani
people, with little today to justify the continuing course that actually runs
counter to the objectives of a friendly regime in Kabul or a liberated Kashmir.
The chickens of
our past ill thought through adventures with jihadi proxies have incrementally
been coming home to roost with a vengeance. One would be justified in thinking
some lessons would have been learnt by now from all these negative outcomes. But
no, our establishment is simply suspected of changing horses mid-stream, from
the minority Deobandi sect jihadist project that arguably has crossed its
sell-by date to the majority Barelvi sect internal nuisance project that has
such dangerous ramifications for the state itself and society as to cause cold
shivers down the spine.
Speaking of
spine, let us see what Imran Khan does after his return from China. Will he
exhibit the spine he showed a glimpse of in his address before leaving, or will
he acquiesce in his government’s pussyfooting approach to the fanatics. Which
course he chooses will not only possibly determine the fate of this government,
it may also settle once and for all the vexed question whether he deserves the unkind
appellation ‘Taliban Khan’ or not.
rashed-rahman.blogspot.com
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