Fighting for a progressive Pakistan

Ten years ago, Pakistan was a different place. The country had many problems, as it has had since its very inception, but it was not somewhere a man would fire 40 bullets at an unarmed man’s back and be lauded as a hero. In the Pakistan of today there are rows of security checkpoints at every major street of the federal capital, and yet we feel unsafe — constantly asking for more police officers — who it seems will shoot us in our backs.

But then again, it was only 10 years ago that September 11 happened and the US waged two wars against Muslim majority countries, creating a world of increasing polarisation full of fear, suspicion and conspiracy. It also began the bombing of its most loyal ally, Pakistan, making drone attacks a daily occurrence.

Three decades ago, Pakistan was even more different, for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had not yet come to pass, leading to the propping of the brutal military dictator Ziaul Haq, who left us with the absurd blasphemy laws that exist now. Five decades ago, the pictures we see of this land bear no relation to the world outside my window. That was before 1971, when, through our own follies, we lost a chunk of ourselves and the nation was thrown into doubt over its very identity, the two-nation theory, the need for a separate homeland for Muslims. It was only after this that legislation was passed, during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s time, declaring Ahmadis ‘non-Muslims’.

All those things did happen and this is the Pakistan of today. However, it is also true that facts can change. In response to PPP MNA Sherry Rehman’s submission of a bill to amend the blasphemy laws, the religious parties announced two rallies — on December 31 and January 9. The turnout at the first was unimpressive and the strike ineffectual, especially in Lahore. According to news reports, the second attracted around 40,000 people. The glorification by Islamist parties and mainstream media outlets of Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, bolstered support
for him.

As for those on the other side, those who want a change in the law, they know that they are vulnerable when they stand together and claim public space. They are painfully and mournfully aware of their vulnerability — but that has not stopped hundreds from coming out every day. We cannot believe that the possibility of a progressive Pakistan was laid to rest with the murdered politician. Certainly his daughter, Shehrbano Taseer, does not espouse that when she wrote in The New York Times, “We buried a heroic man, not the courage he inspired in others.” We cannot let his death
go to waste.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2011.