Violence against religious communities

On Sep 6, while we observed Defence Day, religious communities in Pakistan suffered two barbaric blows

On September 6, while we observed Defence Day, religious communities in Pakistan suffered two barbaric blows in different parts of the country. In Azizabad, Karachi, Jafria Alliance Pakistan chief Allama Abbas Kumaili’s son, Allama Ali Akbar Kumaili, 42, the son of a prominent Shia scholar was shot down along with his guard. Alongside this, in Nothia Bazaar, Peshawar, Harjeet Singh, 30, was killed in a targeted attack. He belonged to the Sikh community and was murdered in cold blood.

Earlier in August, a teenager, Jagmohan Singh, was brutally killed in Shabab Market while Parim Jit Singh and Manmit Singh were severely injured in the attack. Similarly, in March, a Sikh hakeem was shot down in Charsadda.

Although protests have followed after all these incidents, I believe that such remonstrations are just temporary retaliations that do not pose any practical solution. With people dying almost all over the land of the pure, we need to find ways that will help in curbing these attacks.

First of all, we need to urge our school and university teachers to make their pupils understand why religious intolerance is wrong. You do not have to be a teacher of Islamiat or religion studies to discuss this issue. Even if you take just 10 minutes out before you start your class and discuss this social evil with them, it can make a huge difference. With the changing political scenarios, youngsters are becoming more and more interested in understand social issues. Teachers should take this as an opportunity and discuss what is happening around them.

If you are a teacher, you have an unspoken duty to your students to mould their minds and make them decipher right from wrong. The future of this country is studying from you; don’t you think you can play a vital role in creating awareness amongst youngsters and making them realise that extremism, of any sort, is wrong? Pakistan needs it teachers today, more than ever.

Students need to be taught that no one can take a life. This is not just about religion, this is about humanity. These youngsters need to understand that a Muslim’s life is not more precious than a non-Muslim’s. Similarly, a Muslim murderer is as guilty as a non-Muslim aggressor.

Youngsters are more prone to falling in the hands of terrorist elements who brainwash young minds. Extremism has been engrained in the social fabric of our culture and it needs to be addressed urgently. Killing someone is wrong, irrespective of who is killing whom. No one has the right to end someone’s life. It is time we accept this simple fact.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2014.