JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: I have found disturbing the remarks made by Interior Minister Rehman Malik and the leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hafiz Saeed, on the interview given to a US magazine by Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan. In the interview, Mr Khan had spoken of how it was for him to be a Muslim in India and how it was at times a source of frustration and tension. Mr Khan is an Indian and has every right to complain about his country’s system but that doesn’t mean that these two Pakistani gentlemen enter into the debate.
First of all, he didn’t ask for help from either the minister or the LeT head. And besides, where does Pakistan itself stand on the treatment of its own citizens, and in particular, its religious minorities. Leaders from a country which is marred with religious, sectarian and tribal and ethnic conflicts have to put their own house in order before making offers to other countries.
Such a cheap attempt to score a point may force Indian Muslims to keep quiet on the issues they face, otherwise they will fear that if they do speak up, what they say may be hijacked by the LeT and other jihadists for propaganda purposes. That in turn will provide fodder to extremists on the Indian side to bash Muslims more. It would be far better that the interior minister spent his energies on pursuing the killers of Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Benazir Bhutto and Bashir Bilour instead of offering advice to Shahrukh Khan.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, February 5th, 2013.
