Times of ideological chaos

The people of Pakistan have been burning in the flames of hatred for decades. The fire of sectarianism, the fire of extremism, the fire of religious intolerance and the fire of fundamentalism have turned our vibrant culture that once used to resonate with folk music, dance and festivities, into ashes. Amid this long dark night, the gory APS tragedy was perceived as a ray of hope when apparently the nation’s emotions got stirred and the National Action Plan was evolved to purge the menace of terrorism from society. The civil and the military leaderships realised that unless there is a change in the ideological narrative, growing intolerance and lack of pluralism in society would continue to provide fodder to terrorist outfits. Unfortunately, like many other policies, these lofty ideals also failed to get translated into fruition. Today, we are still living in a society where it is completely okay to trade hatred and brandish violence in the name of religion but presenting a rose to a loved one is perceived as an attempt to invite God’s wrath.

In these turbulent times of ideological chaos, the recent statement of the interior minister, the notification by the district nazim Kohat and the resolution of the District Assembly of Peshawar, slapping a ban on celebrating Valentine’s Day and prohibiting the sale of Valentine cards and “other related material”, does not gel well with the tall claims of the government and its endeavours towards changing the extremist mindset in the country. As if this was not enough, the president, who otherwise chooses to remain silent on almost all issues, also woke up from deep slumber and raised his voice to advise the nation to refrain from celebrating love on the pretext that the festival finds its origin in a foreign culture. Well Mr President, if it is not love, then what else forms part of our culture? Suicide bombings? Shooting a governor in broad daylight just because he had a different view on a piece of legislation vis-a-vis the assassin? Lynching people professing different faiths in the name of religion? Bombing schools or gang-raping hapless women on the orders of local elders?

Entities like the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) merchandise their own brand of religion, ideology and dogmas on the barrel of their guns. There is absolutely no room for plurality of thought, civil liberties or rationality in their doctrine. Notions of morality, social values and the contours for leading one’s private life are enunciated in consonance with their own school of thought and then simply ordained upon everyone else to emulate. It is the rule of law and belief in democratic values that distinguish us from these terrorists. Article 4(2)(b) of the Constitution categorically bars the government from preventing any person to cause hindrance in doing that which is not prohibited by law. If my memory serves me well, as of today, there is no law on the statute book of Pakistan declaring the celebration of Valentine’s Day as unlawful. How can the government hinder its citizens from doing something, which is not against the law? Even otherwise, it is none of the state’s business to poke its nose into the private affairs of the citizens as long as they don’t harm others.

I am not at all advocating that everyone should celebrate Valentine’s Day. It is purely a matter of personal choice. What bothers me, however, is that instead of discharging their duties, the law-enforcement agencies were reportedly directed to check the sale of red roses and raid hotels hosting Valentine dinners in the capital. This is the same city where a foreign dignitary was kidnapped right under the noses of the law-enforcement agencies. The same city witnessed veiled women swearing allegiance to the dreaded IS and in the same Islamabad, a cleric threatens to overthrow democracy. Our worthy public office-holders don’t need to worry about our hereafter. They need to provide us with a safer present. I wish the president and the interior minister had spoken with the same vigour in terming the acts of spitting venom against people hailing from other sects and religions from the pulpits as contrary to our culture as well.

We have sown enough seeds of hatred in our society already. Let’s gather some roses now.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th,  2016.

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