Surging intolerance

There is seemingly nothing that can be done to stem the rise of intolerance in our society and culture. The murder of six men at a shrine on the outskirts of Karachi on January 7 is just the latest example of the confidence with which extremists and terrorist organisations operate. The men had their throats cut and a note was found in the mouth of one of them. It is alleged to say that the same fate would befall any others who came to the Ayub Shah shrine and this is not the first time that visitors to, or custodians of, the many thousands of shrines that dot the landscape, a part of our collective cultural heritage, have been murdered by extremists.

Three of those killed were the custodians of the shrine and the other three visitors who had stayed on after the conclusion of an Urs on January 5. Shrines such as the Ayub Shah are part of a Sufi pacifist tradition that goes back many centuries. They are an integral part of our culture and as such must be preserved and protected, the more so in these violent and unpredictable times — times that ironically mark them as targets by those who would undermine the peace and equilibrium of ordinary people and replace it with a dark atavism. The area in which the slayings occurred is a known stronghold of extremist forces and said to be a no-go area for the police, a further indication of just how deep the roots of extremism go.

These were not the first killings in the area by extremists and are unlikely to be the last. These murderers seek to impose their own paradigm on the rest of us, and woe betides those who do not conform to their norms. No case has been filed and the shrine is now sealed. However, those carrying out these killings must be caught and put away and we hope made an example out of, so that the monster of intolerance is put away for good.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2014.

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