Pakistan: Friday’s violence

PRIME Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s speech at the Ishq-i-Rasool conference in Islamabad on Friday combined denunciation of the anti-Islam movie with an appeal to the people to be peaceful, an appeal also made by all major political parties — the PPP, PML-N, ANP, MQM and PTI. Yet even before the prime minister had finished, the strike had turned violent. By the time the faithful headed towards mosques for the Friday prayer, violence had spiralled out of control in several cities. The intensity of the violence was shocking. Reason fell victim to emotions, even though the hate-filled film, made by a man who can only be described as a bigot, was condemned by American leaders, including President Obama. In principle there’s nothing wrong with a strike which is a democratic way of expressing protest and resorted to only when all other options have been exhausted. In Pakistan, unfortunately, political parties and even professional bodies like those of lawyers and doctors have abused this principle irrespective of its consequences for citizens, and often for themselves. Horrifying as it is, every Pakistani crowd is now violence-prone: whether it is a justifiable protest against power outages or an Eid rush for railway tickets, people attack unrelated targets. Political rhetoric has much to do with it, for we have developed a popular culture in which citizens have come to believe that violence pays. Those who call for strikes cannot escape their responsibility by blaming violence on outsiders, for it is their duty to control their acolytes. The violence the day saw in no way advanced the cause of the world’s Muslims. Instead, it painted Pakistan as a country where bloodthirsty mobs roamed. Friday is a day that is meant for congregational prayers and piety. But for some strange reason, our religious parties invariably choose this day for tormenting the Pakistani people. The government’s eagerness to share the people’s sentiments and not let the opposition make political capital out of it can be understood. But the way it chose to express its solidarity with the people was astonishing — by declaring a holiday. The result was a total shutdown, with banks and business transactions frozen for three days. We have seen protests in many Muslim countries, but nowhere did political parties call for a nationwide strike and find the government ‘cooperative’. A government’s job is to keep the state going and not to help strikers. Yesterday’s violence should goad our politicians and leaders of civil society into realising the damage the ‘wheel jam’ strikes and the accompanying violence are doing not only to the economy but to the nation’s moral fibre.