[Reader-list] In the Name of Faith-Irfan Hussain(in Dawn)

[rashneek kher]

IN a moving article on this page ('Not in the name of faith', Sept 21),
Kunwar Idris reminded us of the treatment being accorded to the Ahmadis in
Pakistan.

He mentioned the three murders that took place this month in the aftermath
of a television talk-show in which one of the participants said Ahmadis were
'wajib-ul-qatal', or deserving of death.

A few days later, the Marriott hotel in Islamabad was targeted by a suicide
bomber, killing around 60 people, most of them Muslims. Before and since,
many other innocent victims have been murdered in the name of faith. So what
do all these deaths have in common? Two things: firstly, these people are
killed because one group believes it has a monopoly on faith, and anybody
who does not subscribe to their version of it should be killed; and
secondly, those who murder in the name of their faith are rarely caught and
punished, unless they are suicide bombers.

According to Kunwar Idris, 105 Ahmadis have been killed since the community
was declared non-Muslims in 1974. In the recent murders, the motivation
seems to have come from the popular religious talk show, Alim Online, in
which the participants vilified Ahmadis without anybody present explaining
or defending their viewpoint. This kangaroo court was presided over by the
smarmy presence of Dr Amir Liaquat Hussain, who was seen constantly rubbing
his hands in delight during the proceedings, without once interrupting his
guests who were virtually inciting viewers to murder.

When private TV channels began to sprout across the airwaves, I had high
hopes that they would alter the political and social landscape. Given the
power of the medium, it can act as a major agent of change. However, while
many of these channels have challenged the political establishment, they
have seldom questioned the intolerance that holds sway in our society.
Indeed, more often than not, they have reinforced existing prejudices.

Most analysts and commentators seem to feel that the freedom of the press is
to be used only to criticise the government of the day. But that's the easy
bit. Although useful, the true test of independence lies in the ability and
willingness to take on rigid beliefs that have resulted in most of the
country remaining backward and ignorant. And this, I am sorry to say, is a
test the Pakistani media have failed.

When I am in Pakistan, I frequently flip across the spectrum, hoping to see
an intelligent, iconoclastic talk-show. Time after time, I am disappointed.
Mostly, guests agree with each other, and the hosts seldom provoke them by
asking tough, probing questions. Even here in England, the wonders of
satellite technology allow me to watch several Pakistani TV networks, and I
am struck by the lack of controversial topics raised in these programmes.

Over the years, I have received literally hundreds of emails from readers
accusing me of towing the western line over the war against extremism. I
suppose this is the result of arguing consistently that this is not
America's war, but ours; and irrespective of what Washington does, we need
to fight this battle for our own survival. By and large, this kind of
anti-western sentiment is echoed across our television channels and our
print media. Our talk-show stars and our newspaper pundits sing from the
same hymn-book as they repeat their jingoistic mantra of sovereignty and
nationalism.

I can understand the thought process of the Taliban in their different
manifestations as they wreak mayhem across Pakistan. They believe in a
cause, and are willing to kill and die for it. I happen to abhor everything
they stand for, but at least I know where they are coming from and what they
want.

However, what I cannot grasp is the position so many of our urban elites
have adopted. They appear to want Pakistan to be a modern, prosperous
country that is part of the rest of the world. They also seem to want to
live in the 21st century with the rest of us. So why is it that they think
we should not be fighting the Taliban? Basically, their hatred for America
has blinded them to the real threat these extremists pose. Perhaps they
imagine that if western troops were to leave Afghanistan tomorrow, peace
would return to the region overnight.

Wake up and smell the danger out there. The Taliban want nothing less than
the imposition of the Sharia. And obviously, they are not going to tolerate
any dissent, such as the kind of anti-government commentary so common in the
media today. In a very real sense, our commentariat are making the task of
the Taliban easier. By equating opposition to the Taliban with pro-western
opinion, they are, consciously or unconsciously, preparing the way for an
extremist victory.

Oddly, many of my online critics are women who accuse me of taking a
belligerent line when it comes to fighting the Taliban menace. When I ask
them if they would like to live under a benighted version of Islamic law
such as the one the Taliban imposed in Afghanistan, they immediately say
they don't. Basically, all these people would like their cake and eat it
too. They want to vent against the Americans, and they want the extremists
to stay a long distance away, too. Sorry, friends, but you have to choose:
no neutrals allowed in this war.

Over the years, intolerance has hardened and become a murderous element that
is now threatening to break up Pakistan. Whether this is expressed in the
form of a truck of explosives detonated outside the Marriott; an Ahmadi
killed because his beliefs do not conform to mainstream orthodoxy; a
Christian attacked on the grounds of his faith; or a Hindu girl kidnapped
because she has no protection in a Muslim state, it all leads back to the
same strain of intolerance that says: 'I am right, and you are wrong. And
because you are wrong, I have the right to kill you.'

We need to be very clear that all these everyday examples from contemporary
Pakistani society reveal a nation at war with itself. More than ever before,
this violent zeal needs to be fought by moderates. We need to hear more
voices of reason and sanity that oppose the simplistic, black-and-white
worldview of the fundamentalists. And the media has a duty to promote this
peaceful vision.

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/mazdak.htm

-- 
Rashneek Kher
Wandhama Massacre-The Forgotten Human Tragedy
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com