- Is peace even an objective?
Many appalling things occurred in the last few days, as appalling things do with exceptional regularity. Two of them however were so equally ‘bad’, to use Donald Trump’s intelligent adjective, that it was hard to choose which one to write about. Therefore, this is about both.
Interesting that Donald Trump should show up so early in the piece, because he is automatically included in the observation that a nation does not need external enemies to destroy itself. The enemies that arise within nations, the chosen, popular and elected ones, they cause far more damage and are much harder to dislodge, which is what this is about.
More than a quarter of a century ago, in Ayodha, in Uttar Pradesh in India, the Babri mosque was pulled down by Hindu mobs. It was an old mosque, built in the sixteenth century at the time of the first Mughal emperor, Babar. Naturally, the act resulted in riots between the Muslim and Hindu communities of India. More than a thousand people died in these riots, the result of tensions created by old wounds. That wound remains open today. The rise to power of the political party the BJP, is a manifestation of that festering sore, and also an example of an enemy within. In this case, within India.
Ten years after the Babri masjid was demolished, mobs attacked and pulled down the Manchaji mosque in Ahmedabad, also in India. It is said that the BJP government allowed the mobs to get on with the destruction, and that the police and military stood by without interfering.
Ten years after the Babri masjid was demolished, mobs attacked and pulled down the Manchaji mosque in Ahmedabad, also in India
Narendra Modi, then the chief minister of Gujrat defended the violence, and refused to allow investigations into the incident.
On both these occasions, public sentiment in Pakistan was roused to fever pitch. There was anger and resentment against the violence done to the Muslims of India and to their places of worship. Demonstrations took place here, and there was much fist pumping and sloganeering. You’d think that the public in this country was averse to all forms of religious discrimination, but of course we know otherwise. As if to reiterate that, just a few days ago, in Sialkot in Pakistan, a rabid mob attacked an Ahmedi place of worship.
Predictably, said rabid mob was composed of members of the Tehreek e labaik ya Rasool Allah (TLYR), and sadly of the PTI (rapidly becoming Pakistani Tehreek e Idiots). The actions of these people were facilitated by the Tehseel Muncipal Administration (TMA), which allowed the mobs to get on with the destruction, as authorities had in India.
It was seen, thanks to a video that is available for anyone to view, that at least one member of the mob was a member of the PTI, Hamid Raza, thanking the big guns in the TMA on this video for their support. Mr Raza also suggested that mobs should now go on to pull down other places of worship, in other places. If for nothing else, this man should be arrested for incitement to violence.
The PTI has not yet kicked Mr Raza out of the party. So now, whoever supports the PTI should know exactly what this party stands for. They should also know now that anger and resentment in Pakistan against similar acts elsewhere is meaningless.
Is it worth living in a country where large political parties and authorities both support actions that are not only blatantly unconstitutional but also so terribly inhumane?
The other event concerns guns.
In the US recently, where gun violence tops the world, an attacker and bystanders were all armed, so that when a man opened fire in a restaurant and injured three persons, two armed bystanders shot and killed him. Rather than penalise this vigilante action, the police praised the bystanders.
Similarly, in Sindh a couple of years ago, the Inspector General (IG), a Mr Khwaja, awarded a Rs50,000 prize to a citizen for his “valiant” efforts which consisted of shooting (men who were as yet only suspected of being) robbers. In fact, he said, citizens should continue to make similar efforts to help the police fight crime in the metropolis. Once again, courts and the police were bypassed when civilians took justice and the law into their hands, while the Inspector General incited the public to violence. There is a penalty for that particular crime.
In Islamabad just a few days ago, the ban on arms licenses for non-prohibited bore weapons was lifted. The ban had been imposed in 2013 when the government made a move towards de-weaponisation. According to The Dawn newspaper, non-prohibited bore weapons ‘include non-automatic or semi-automatic shot guns and revolvers or pistols.’ That list, the report adds, is not exhaustive. Now, apparently, licenses for ‘non-prohibited bore weapons’ will be issued after completion of formalities. In other words, you must now follow ‘standard operating procedure’ aka SOP to obtain that license, not that it was ever hard to get arms without or without an SOP.
Anyone who has tried to obtain any kind of a license in Pakistan will know what that means. It means a great consumption of chai panni, and ‘burp!’ the license is issued.
Chai pani has become a way of life, from the top of the ladder down. SOPs rarely work.
In Sindh, there was a restriction on owning more than four guns, a number that is four too many. But now that rule has been done away with and you can, with official blessing, own any number of guns in Sindh. The only thing not allowed in that province is a toy gun, which means that scaring someone is illegal, but killing someone several times over is okay. I suppose soon, bystanders will shoot other shooters dead here as well – if they don’t do that already – and it will all be put down to progress, right up there with the presence of Malls and McDonalds.
It seems like a scene from Alice in Wonderland, with several contenders for the Mad Hatter.
In the US, the NRA enjoys such power that even the death of thousands of people is explained away and brings no change. You need to check who benefits in Pakistan, because we have seen no change either. It seems we too need worry about no external enemies. The internal ones are enough to bring us down, and you can’t condemn them as they deserve to be condemned either, thanks to censorship, and to certain blasphemous laws.
It’s bad. Very bad, because you cannot have peace with weapons this easily available.
But perhaps peace is not an objective?
