Sectarian violence in Pakistan isn’t new and despite years of bloodshed in its name
ISLAMABAD: Sectarian violence in Pakistan isn’t new and despite years of bloodshed in its name, little to nothing has been done to curb it. This is why it comes as no surprise that Captain Safdar didn’t think twice before making a hate speech in the National Assembly. He had the audacity to stand in an institution that upholds democratic values and accuse Pakistan’s small Ahmadi community of working against the country’s interests and propagating for actions against them.
If the democratic and the military leadership want to prove that they are working towards countering extremism, as they claim to be doing, now is the time to act. Not only should the PML-N leadership condemn Captain Safdar but the FIA should arrest him for propagating hate, just how it has been on a witch-hunt against social media users for doing the same. In an attempt to show their solidarity towards the persecuted community and the citizens at large both the leaderships should take this opportunity to set an example. Only then can the laymen truly trust the democratic process in Pakistan for actually working towards safeguarding their citizens.
Najam Allahwala
Published in The Express Tribune, October 12th, 2017.
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