Dr Ijaz Ahsan takes on the government and hits the Interior Minister on that horrific act of cruelty..
The massacre of over 18 worshippers at a church in Bahawalpur is a satanic act, whoever is responsible for it. And this at a time when tension between the followers of Islam and Christianity are at their peak due first to the 11th September bombings and then to America's indiscriminate retaliatory bombing of Afghanistan. There are many reasons why this would appear to be unlikely to be the act of one of the religious outfits.
The Christian community in Pakistan is indigenous. They are as much sons of the soil as anyone else. Further, they are a very small minority, being only 1 or 2 per cent of the population. Secondly, unlike the Jews in the West, they are not dominating any aspect of national life, a factor which could have caused resentment against them. In politics or in the services, in business or in finance, they are present in very small numbers. Thirdly, the Muslim community has always accepted them without reservations. Witness the fact that their convent schools are the most sought after places of learning.
No one blames them for efforts to spread Christianity, and the elite move heaven and earth to get their children admitted to these schools. It must be said to their credit that even in this day and age of precipitously declining educational standards across the country, most convent schools maintain high standards of scholarship as well as discipline, that being the sole reason for their popularity. Christians work in all kinds of jobs in Pakistan right up to federal ministers and are generally, if anything, more industrious than their Muslim counterparts.
The Sunni and Shia sects have often split each other's blood, as either side regards the others as bad Muslims. However, except for a major incident in Khanewal a few years ago, there have been no incident of violence against the Christians over a half century. It is also worth mentioning that the different Sunni and Shia organisations are at this moment engaged in an attempt to seek cordial relations with each other. A 12-point pact has even been signed, or at least inked, in this connection. It, therefore, seems unlikely that they would have chosen this moment to unleash this reign of terror.
If it is not one of our religious outfits, who can it be? It has to be someone with a vested interest in destabilising Pakistan. India fits the bill adequately. At a time when the Indians are feeling sidelined due to the world's attention on Pakistan because of USA's military action in Afghanistan, it would please them no end to denigrate Pakistan.
If the West is convinced that Pakistanis have done it, it would compromise the position of Pakistan in the coalition against terrorism. At the same time, the Indians are saying to the Americans: if you can bombard suspected terrorist networks in Afghanistan why can't we do the same in Pakistani occupied Kashmir? The USA has apparently succeeded in persuading them to hold back at least for the moment, till Afghanistan is settled. In the meantime the Indians would like to create situations where Pakistan comes out looking like an abode of terrorism. Witness that incidents of terrorist bombings have always taken place in towns and cities close to the Indian border, whether it is Bahawalpur, Lahore or Sialkot. One even wonders if India and Israel, acting in consort, are behind all the recent acts of violence, the better to suppress the movements in their territories.
The victims of the slaughter at Bahawalpur being members of one of the world's great religions makes it all the more regrettable and deplorable. Otherwise Sunnis and Shias, have been killing each other and no one has ever bothered. In view of the importance of this massacre which has taken place in full view of the whole world's media gathered in Islamabad, General Musharraf would be well advised to immediately visit Bahawalpur to pacify the Christians and assure them of protection. It is a different matter that they may not be assured, in view of the government's dismal failures in the past. In this background it was disconcerting to note that on the evening of the massacre the Interior Minister attended a wedding ceremony in Lahore, as if nothing had happened. Surely he should either have been in Bahawalpur or at his 'operation room' in Islamabad, It is behaviour like this that makes the ordinary citizens feel that the rulers could not care less what happens to them.
What should be done in the long term? Our must burgeoning industry is crime, whether sectarian, religious or other. If it is to be contained, the government should be prepared to spend billions, if necessary. They should import the world's top most experts in the forensic science of investigation, not only to man new sophisticated and well-equipped forensic laboratories, but also to train a cadre of forensic scientists in all the sub-specialities available in the world. Only then can our investigator have at least the chance of a dew drop in hell of unearthing the terrorists.
In any case, we should not make the same mistake as the Americans, namely that of laying the blame on anyone without any investigations. For all we know it may in fact be one of our militant religious parties trying to get even with Christian governments in the coalition against terror for their bombardment in Afghanistan. As suggested above, we should immediately get the world's top forensic experts on this case. We should then keep them in Pakistan indefinitely, offering them attractive sums as salaries, so that they help us build the world's best forensic centres for this, the most lawless society on earth. It is a different matter that our ham-handed police, by their incompetence must by now have destroyed all evidence which could be of any use in the criminal investigations. However, irrespective of the outcome of the present case, we should urgently equip ourselves to deal with a spiralling crime rate in the near as well as distant future.
To conclude, we should not just suppress terrorism. Like the Americans, we would be well advised to seek the cause of terrorism in our country and deal with them. We should treat the disease rather than its symptoms. Otherwise we should forget about any revival of our economy, and should be prepared for hunger and famine.
P.S.: Further irony is added to the situation by reports that the intelligence agencies had warned the federal government about the possibility of attacks on Christians in retaliation for the bombing of Afghanistan. They had advised the calling of an urgent inter-provincial meeting to devise ways and means to address the situation, but the matter was referred in routine to the provincial governments. If someone then says it is our own failings, he cannot be faulted. |
