The PML-N’s duplicity

LAHORE: A nation at war with extremism requires that its leaders and political parties rise above their political and personal differences in order to achieve a common goal. However, the petty politics and personal vendettas of the senior leadership of the PML-N are proving to be a major hindrance to this fight against terrorism. The attack on GHQ, the Sri Lankan cricket team and on the police academy in Lahore, as well as the Parade Lane attack and the Data Darbar bombing are all examples of the growing participation of Punjab-based terrorist groups in this cycle of violence.

However, those handling the affairs of the Punjabi government appear oblivious to this danger. In a moment of rare honesty, some months ago the provincial chief minister made an appeal of mercy to the Taliban, asking them to spare his province from attacks. One can only wonder what kind of signal this would send to both the terrorists and ordinary Pakistanis.

It is not entirely unexpected why the PML-N holds the religious right so close to its bosom. Notwithstanding its attempt in 1998 to have Nawaz Sharif declared as ‘ameer-ul-momineen’, there are numerous examples of the PML-N trying to please extremist parties in Punjab. The law minister openly campaigned with leaders of the Sipah-i-Sahaba and other banned extremist groups during recent provincial by-elections. The more worrying aspect of this is that much of the mainstream media fails to point out this duplicity.

While it is true that the PML-N might not have been directly involved with Salmaan Taseer’s assassination, no one can deny the fact that a well-planned character assassination of Mr Taseer was a major contributing factor to the build-up behind his eventual assassination. The party succeeded in portraying the Punjab governor as a morally corrupt, alcohol-drinking, west-favouring liberal who had committed blasphemy himself. This started with the Punjab law minister brandishing Mr Taseer’s family’s private pictures on the steps of the Punjab Assembly and culminated in him insinuating that Mr Taseer had committed blasphemy. After his assassination, the PML-N was quick to distance itself from the whole affair, absolving itself of all responsibility while refusing to condemn the extremism which contributed to the act in the first place.

The same routine is being repeated after the killing of Federal Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti. Are we supposed to give in so meekly to the realisation that the thousands of lives lost in this war have no meaning in front of a major political party of Pakistan when a matter of few votes is concerned?

Leena Ghani

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2011.