KARACHI:
Noam Chomsky, an American scholar and intellectual, recently commented on the state of affairs in Pakistan while giving a talk at a distinguished local university. Among other things, he lamented the focus on religious superstition. As a result, many individuals expressed anger on his statement and criticised the liberal left for promoting such narratives.
Since then, numerous incidents have helped us reflect on the statement made by Chomsky. One such incident occurred on 31 December when 14 people set fire to a Hindu shrine in Karak, K-P. The Minister for Religious Affairs also condemned the attack on the Hindu shrine stating that religious freedom of minorities should be regarded as our national responsibility. While this incident has not garnered much attention from the media, it is important to note that the frequency of such incidents is steadily increasing. This year, we saw petitions to halt the construction of the first Hindu temple in Islamabad filed in courts as well as sectarian protests against a religious minority sect and target killings of the adherents of another minority group. Therefore, in order to bring about some semblance of tolerance in our society we must ponder upon where such angst and fury against other religious beliefs stem from.
Chomsky’s statement may have been misconstrued by those who were hurt by it. Perhaps, the statement was merely an attempt to open our eyes to other narratives so that we may become tolerant as a society rather than to criticise religious beliefs of other.
Rashida Ali
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2021.
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