All these right-wing parties need to understand that the Taliban threat will not go away with the ousting of liberals.
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: It may be apt to described the upcoming general elections in Pakistan as the strangest one in its 66-year history. The credibility of the elections has already been marred, thanks to the Taliban, which have ousted three liberal political parties. These liberal parties have not yet boycotted the elections because that would mean a victory for the Taliban. At present, the election is seemingly only among right-wing relgio-political parties, including a few sectarian groups. By referring to them as religious parties, one may expect some decency among their leaders; but their election campaign is showing how low these leaders can go in their lust of power. If on one side, the head of the JUI-F declares voting for another right-wing party, the PTI, haraam, then the leader of the PTI has also called his opponent an infidel.
In such a scenario, how could another religious party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, be far behind, with its Ameer declaring on May 5 that all the liberals should get registered as religious minorities? Though he was angry with other right-wing parties for not having formed an alliance with his party, he found liberal parties as the easiest and softest of targets.
All these right-wing parties need to understand that the Taliban threat will not go away with the ousting of liberals from parliament. If they form a government, they will be the next targets of the Taliban.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.
