A deepening malaise

A Hindu octogenarian was beaten by a police constable in Hayat Pitafi, a remote village in Ghotki district

There is something that ought to be profoundly disturbing at work inside the collective consciousness of Pakistan — a gathering tide of intolerance that manifests itself in a host of ways. Women and religious minorities are the focus of much of this rolling narrative, but it could be any person who manifests behaviour that may be defined by some as ‘other’, or different in some way that is offensive to the internal normative values of those determined to foist their paradigm on everybody else, by force if necessary. The latest of these unpleasant events to make the headlines is the beating of a Hindu octogenarian by a police constable in Hayat Pitafi, a remote village in Ghotki district. The elderly man had been found eating some food that had been charitably gifted to him during the time that the fast was to be observed. The constable and his brother threw the man to the ground and beat him severely. Images of his bloodied hand and battered face were soon on social media and then in the mainstream, possibly triggering police action against the brothers.

It is extremely unlikely that this poor man’s assailants will be prosecuted or punished, and it is reported that their fellow officers are supporting them. As a Hindu, the man is not bound by the same strictures and requirements as a Muslim — nor for that matter should be Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians, yet are all at the same risk of a thrashing as the ageing Hindu if they commit a similar act. Non-Muslims have a right to lead their lives as they see fit. Many would not, out of respect, eat or drink in front of Muslims during fasting times in Ramazan, but is an elderly man, clearly with poor eyesight and perhaps an imperfect understanding or even awareness of the time of day, really deserving of a beating that required hospital treatment? We would argue that it is not, but recognise that our argument for tolerance may well fall on millions of deaf ears.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2016.

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