The only way forward is to first recognise that we have become a diseased society and then undertake a major surgery.
RAWALPINDI: Governor Salmaan Taseer's assassin has shown no remorse. But it is not Mumtaz Qadri who alone is a killer, there is a whole mass of desensitised men and women in this country who are like him and all of them have been indoctrinated by our clergy.
At the same time, one is amazed at the depth of decay of our social values and the degradation of our collective conscience when one listens to ulema, political leaders, TV anchors and journalists who claim to be self-styled champions of the rule of law and human rights. I have seen educated men and women not only reluctant to condemn Salmaan Taseer's brutal assassination but also indirectly — and often directly — condoning the murder on one pretext or the other.
I was completely taken aback the other day when I went to a private hospital, frequented by the well-heeled and affluent, and found many doctors condoning what Qadri had done.
All this means that we have been thoroughly dehumanised by these merchants of death and intolerance. Taseer's assassination is ominous as it was done by his own official guard. It has caused a severe fissure in society and the fault lines are now obvious. The danger to the state and the system it supports is very real because if the latter falls apart then the former will be plunged into anarchy.
The only way forward is to first recognise that we have become a diseased society and then undertake a major surgery. Otherwise, we will be consigned to the dustbins of history by these odious men just because we did not stand up and be counted.
Brig (r) Mehboob Qadir
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2011.
