Police officials walk past the shrine where bodies of six men, with their throats slit were discovered on Tuesday. PHOTO: MOHAMMAD SAQIB/EXPRESS
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 9th, 2014.
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Our religion cries for reform. Make it soft like any other religion of the modern world. Hindus criticize their religion in print and media. No one goes after their lives. Nor Hinduism perished. Islam will flourish as a gentle faith. Purge it of medieval Arab barbarity. Save Pakistan.
Every one knows that * intolerance is a disease in our society.
Let is solve the problem.
If we wish to promote tolerance, we have to work at it. This has to be a national agenda, a non-political, non-religious, non-ethnic, long term agenda. Tolerance has to be taught, that would mean, a lot of compromise, on religious issues, social issues, ethnic issues, language issues. Do we have the will ??. Is our mindset amicable to change, can we think that others are equal to us, individually and collectively. Can we get rid of any superiority complex that we wish to harbor. Can we make tolerance, moderation, equality, a part of our school learning process. Do we have the courage to say that religion is a personal matter between an individual and his maker, and the state, or any religious figure have no role to play in this relationship. Can we think beyond being bound by a certain religious community, certain culture, certain region, certain language, can we think of our young people marrying freely of their own choice the person of their own choice. Can we think about changing religions if an individual so wishes. Can we think of economic equality, where the difference between the richest in the society is only marginally better than the poorest. Equality has many facets, and so has moderation, but first we have to have the will to make a change in our own individual mindset, that is the starting point.
This is not a "Pakistani problem", nor, to a large extent, is it a problem of our own making. As in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, the flames of Sunni extremism in Pakistan are being fanned by the Saudi regime. It's fanciful to think that making an example out of a few 'foot soldiers' will reverse the rising tide of extremism and intolerance in Pakistan. Whatever the solution, it must begin with a clear strategy to counter the destructive influence of the Saudi regime.
The monster of intolerance in Pakistan was planted on the 7th September 1974 when a secular government took the wrong decision to decide upon the faith of its own citizens. That was an illegal and immoral act that is against fundamental human values. Until and unless this wrong is corrected, you may move mountains but the surge of intolerance will not abate, unfortunately.