Language of the privileged

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s statement in the National Assembly on March 17 that the lynching of two people in Lahore following the church bombings on March 15 was “the worst kind of terrorism” risks the demonisation of an already marginalised Christian community. There can be no two opinions regarding the barbarity of the murder of the two innocent men and the accompanying violent protests, and these deserve severe condemnation. However, it is important to recognise that the violent reaction of some belonging to the Christian community represented its deep frustrations following decades of discrimination and violence that it has been subjected to. Just as many Muslims exhort the West to look at the root causes of terrorism instead of blindly blaming all Muslims for violent acts committed in the name of their religion, it is also necessary that we recognise that there are reasons for the kind of violent reaction that followed the church bombings. The acts of a few must not be used to demonise an entire community or ignore the injustices it has long faced.



The kind of mob mentality that was on display has unfortunately become characteristic of the Pakistani psyche of late. There have been numerous instances of robbers being lynched in a similar manner by enraged crowds. And how can one forget the horrific lynching of the two brothers from Sialkot? Such violent reaction has become a Pakistani phenomenon, not limited to any single community, and points to the brutalisation of our society as a whole. Chaudhry Nisar also stated that there is no violent retaliation when mosques and imambargahs are attacked. One must note that those attacks are perpetrated by the co-religionists of the victims themselves so the question of a violent reaction here does not arise. Who exactly will those affected by these attacks target? Chaudhry Nisar’s less-than-nuanced response to the events in Lahore is highly unfortunate. It is indeed a sorry spectacle when the country’s interior minister shows more vehemence and passion in condemning the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud — which he referred to as the “murder of peace” — than the bombings of places of worship. One wonders when the Pakistani officialdom will learn to condemn the murder of all innocent citizens in an unqualified manner.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  19^th,  2015.

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