Criminal silence

Is there virtue in naivety? That may be so but unpleasant truths have an ugly yet enduring way of asserting themselves. And watching our own so-called reality crumble is never a pleasant experience—but maybe it is necessary.
Silence, like ignorance, has its virtues. If no one discusses uncomfortable things then no conversation becomes difficult. Divisions, albeit deeply hurtful, are necessary for things that they can bring to light. The worst thing about terrorised and violent societies is that they lose their collective innocence. Violence in Pakistan has increasingly manifested itself not just through loss of life and limb but also through conversations and a militant desire to hold onto bigoted points of view.
This became clearer to me more than ever before the day Mr Salmaan Taseer, the late Governor of Punjab, was assassinated by a man from his own security detail after Mr Taseer had condemned the abuse of blasphemy related laws in Pakistan. The pieces in the puzzle that was my world shook and crumbled one by one. Educated and enlightened people around me became apologists for the murderer and defended his actions. Within minutes there were Facebook groups lauding the murderer’s actions and hailing him a saviour of that most convenient instrument of asserting power in Pakistan: Islam.
While many condemned such bigoted violence, a greater number were only willing to whisper a condemnation in the sacred recesses of the heart. But all human emotions lack real utility unless they are expressed. When hatred abounds, then reason must not stay silent. That was the day that it became clearer to me than ever before that Pakistan is deeply divided in ways that threaten her soul. I had never assumed that things were not bad but the day of Mr Taseer’s murder it became clear that courage in the public sphere is lacking.
Adam Smith once remarked that a major factor that sets apart humans from animals is our ability to exchange ideas and argue them. A society that forgets how to argue, and I mean genuinely argue, has no future but to turn into a place where cruelty and injustice of the worst degree is accepted silently. Questioning it is then simply a bad bargain.
My point, dear reader, is that we live in a deeply divided society and no amount of false hope can change that. Our citizenship is based on allegiance to a religion and not a country. Anyone departing from that requirement is a lesser Pakistani — if a Pakistani at all. We tell our minorities what they can or cannot call their places of worship and we tell them what they can or cannot write on the graves of their dead who were killed through knives that you and I helped sharpen.
Our discourse about new political figures is angry and condescending. A discussion of what plagues us is greeted not with introspection but a volley of abuse that lambasts that no one provided a solution.
Argumentation when carried out rationally is a wonderful thing. Figuring things out depends mostly on asking the right question before you can even imagine the outlines of a right answer. The true test of the depth of your conviction is your reaction to your beliefs being questioned. If your retort to an argument is attacking another’s person or background or a third party then it speaks volumes about the hollowness of your conviction.
To use Steven Pinker’s analogy an argument, unlike a building, can never collapse if you attack its weakest point. It only collapses if you engage with and attack its strongest point.
Make no mistake about it; whether it’s the military establishment’s role, the Pakistani Taliban or any other force asserting itself, Pakistan’s future hangs on how we argue for her soul. Anyone favouring negotiating with TTP should be invited to live under Taliban rule and see how comfortable s/he is negotiating with those bigots.
If we stay mute in the face of those who use intimidation and violence then we are signing a mortgage that will bankrupt our future. If we accept that silence, because of its convenience, is an acceptable way of life then our dignity is non-existent.
Every militant who kills innocents and burns down churches and temples, every general who mocks the constitution and every politician who peddles the military’s populist agenda does so standing atop a grave filled with the crimes of our collective silence. Mr Taseer’s death is just one example and his son’s kidnapping only a painful reminder.
Braving hate speech and countering it is now incumbent upon every Pakistani who wants a home that all those around him can call their own. For the sake of our children, let us be prepared to be unpopular but at least thinking souls. Strive for a home that protects its most vulnerable and that does not favour negotiating with those slitting throats in the name of religion.
For cowards and those living in a violent and unthinking certitude, it is already a bloody good place to live in.

The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts. He is currently pursuing his LL.M at a law school in the United States and can be reached at [email protected]