New Assembly member from Jhang must visibly distance himself from the past
Masroor Nawaz Jhangvi, the cleric who routed mainstream parties in the PP-78 Jhang by-election last December as an independent, formally took the oath and his seat in the Punjab Assembly without exciting much publicity or curiosity. In his maiden speech, he set the social, educational and industrial development of Jhang and sectarian peace as his topmost priorities. He has joined the JUI-F and hopefully his wily leader, an astute and accomplished tactician, will caution him to remain on the right side of the thin red line dividing sectarianism and terrorism. Prudence, the rhetoric of peace and eschewing religious controversy are the watchwords. Respectability and credibility must be earned the hard way, under the sharp scrutiny of the sceptics. Every human being deserves a second chance, especially if he really sounds serious about redeeming himself.
The critical voices will not be silenced, however. They find the reality of a parliamentarian with a militant background and fanatical sectarian bias difficult to digest. How could such a person be permitted to contest in the first place? Where were the Federal Interior Ministry with the much trumpeted National Action Plan and the Punjab government at the time, what of the Election Commission, the civil administration, private petitioners, the intelligence agencies? Why the all round malfunction? Was it fear, lack of will or a knowing, passive acquiescence for that most opportunistic of reasons, political expediency. The winning candidate also did not endear himself to his critics. Asked if he regretted his sectarian speeches of the past, he is reported to have replied with a smile, ‘No comment’. Hardly the right spirit of remorse and repentance. He will have to do better than that now to silence his detractors.
The concerned ministry, whose current chief is often said to harbour a selective soft corner for certain groups, and is on record as terming sectarianism a lesser evil than terrorism, needs to remove such cobwebs from his men’s minds and the dust from the National Action Plan to set things right.