The hope going forward is that these cases do not become unique examples of how our law-enforcement apparatus should be operating. It is important that clerics in mosques are monitored and charged, if found to be making inappropriate proclamations to a public that is largely uneducated and looks to such leaders for guidance. Inciting hatred and violence against particular communities should be considered akin to being an act against the state, as such practice creates division and disharmony amongst people. In these times of disunity and sectarian violence, the role of religious leaders should be to deliver sermons on peace and the inclusion of all groups in society. Apart from the strict enforcement of law, what is also needed is a change in mindset to one that does not consider a difference in faith or sect reason enough to engage in violence. Only when this happens, we may perhaps see a very different Pakistan, one in which people of all sects and religions are able to live in harmony, where people are seen as humans first, and other aspects, such as faith and origin, secondary characteristics.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2015.
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