يوم عشق رسول A sad end

A day venerated as Yaum-e-Ishq-e-Rasool, dedicated to the reverence and sanctity of our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), should be marred by excessive violence and loss of life is indeed a very sad commentary on our understanding of life and teachings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). He was a man of peace with all, always preached and stood for friction-free interfaith harmony. That the very day devoted to his reverence should be hijacked by elements who stalked the streets inflicting enormous damage to life, property of people besides causing colossal damage to the image of Pakistan as an ideological state is something which is utterly unacceptable. Who is to blame for this national shame some faces are in clear sight. Almost all religious and political parties had announced well in advance that on Friday, September 21, they would hold protest marches and try to reach American embassy and consulates to register their protests. The government joined in by declaring it a public holiday for observance of Yaum-e-Ishq-e-Rasool (PBUH). The official response was grossly inadequate and all that it could do was essentially perfunctory and limited to one solitary function held within the secure confines of the Red Zone of the Capital. Ideally, it should have taken the entire political opposition and religious groups and parties on board well in advance. The parliament did pass a unanimous resolution but the executive branch through the Foreign Office should have taken the lead in spelling out to the world at large our indignation and outrage at the blasphemous film. Other governments, particularly OIC members, should have been informed about the profundity and enormity of the hurt the people of Pakistan feel over the sacrilegious film. The American Embassy should have been given a stiff condemnatory note. (Can you imagine the summoning of the US diplomat to the Foreign Office has been described by his office as a 'meeting'). Now the government says that in his address to the UN General Assembly next week President Zardari will raise this issue asking the United Nations to make law against the hate-mongers. (And, according to a news report, the presidential speech for the UN is now suitably being amended to incorporate this point). What an irony - Foreign Minister Hina Khar now present in the United States, the home country of the condemned film-maker, has yet to be heard on this issue. Consider the enormity of damage caused to the life and property by the demonstrators who soon after starting their march to project the hurt and pain the blasmhemic video clip turned them in violent mobs. For good eight to nine hours the entire country was a vast war zone with running-battles between demonstrators and the personnel of law-enforcement agencies on show courtesy the ubiquitous electronic media that invited the ire of the authorities for stoking the anger of the masses. With the cellular phone service blocked in 15 cities, any inference of demonstrators being spurred into action because of live media coverage is nothing but a baseless accusation as there was no feedback to them that they are visible on television. Although, the destinations to which the demonstrators were to go were well-known in advance and routes leading to these places were blocked with containers and fortified with armed forces, but private property was left at the mercy of mobs to destroy, loot and plunder. At times even the security of diplomatic missions appeared to be a touch-and-go scene. Thank God they remained safe. But losses to life and private property were heavy; some 25 persons lost their lives, over 200 were injured, many cinema houses, banks, gas stations and government offices torched. And as the day set in the demonstrators became looters, at least in Karachi. The shutdown in the country on Friday is said to have caused rupees 100 billion trade losses. In case if all this was not enough as the heavy price the people paid for the government failure to manage the situation add to it the nearly total suspension of cellphone service in 15 major cities. Did this really help the government in any manner? No less stunning is the failure of the political parties, particularly of those from the opposition, who had been crying hoarse for over a week calling for a 'teach-a-lesson' kind of protest marches onto the diplomatic missions of the United States in Pakistan. Did you see anyone of the opposition leaders leading the protestors tilted, even remotely, towards foreign missions? They were conspicuous by their absence; what to talk of them controlling the tempo of protests. Maybe their interest was limited to exploiting the general masses' anger over the blasphemous film for political ends. Or, they couldn't afford to be seen protesting at the American missions. They owe an explanation to the people and the country for their dubious conduct all through this most critical momentum of our national history. Yes the mobs have gone, the dead have been buried and fires are quenched. But the wounds inflicted by the anti-Islam elements remain green, ever festering hurt and hatred. This is not the first time that an anti-Muslim zealot was at work in the United States. On the other side of the Atlantic in Europe there is no dearth of such hate-mongers either. But there is no law in these countries to stop this devilish business, because given the guaranteed freedom of expression curbing propensity to spell hatred was impossible. This is hypocritical. If these countries care enough for the Jews and have declared denial of Holocaust a culpable offence, why cannot they outlaw denigration of Islam? We hope Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf's call for action by the United Nations and other international organisations to put out of action such agents of hatred and discord will not go unheard. At the same time at bilateral level, in the company of all other Muslim countries, Pakistan needs to raise the issue with the US and see to it that the condemned film-maker is brought to book without any further loss of time.