Capt (retd) Safdar made a vitriolic speech on the floor of House in the beginning of the week. Until now, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has carefully distanced himself from the position while the Interior Minister has condemned it. The Punjab Law Minister has also been in news for conflicting positions.
None of this is enough though.
If the ruling party’s policy is reflected in former PM Nawaz Sharif’s position on minorities and the Ahmadia community rather than in Safdar’s remarks, a show cause notice needs to be issued to the latter.
The difference between Sharif’s position (stated in the past and his lieutenants’ recent attempts at presenting a liberal image of the party) and Capt Safdar’s hateful remarks is of a fundamental nature. These two positions cannot co-exist in a political party without tension. It is incumbent upon those ascribing to the liberal position of a pluralist and tolerant society to demand this show cause notice against the MNA, if not a suspension of his party membership. History will judge them for their silence otherwise.
While the PM distanced himself from the MNA’s statement and said that no one in the party will agree with Safdar’s position, he also refused to categorise the latter’s remarks as hate speech. Instead, attributing them to a flow of emotions. This is worrying. Those remarks were despicable and it is exactly this kind of speech - that puts a persecuted group into a more vulnerable position - that is full of hate. Had it not been for those remarks, there would have been no show of street muscle by groups of bigots on Friday, against the community and those raising voice for the community’s right to all constitutional safeguards. These bigots don’t represent the will of the Pakistani people but their street strength enables them to hijack the discourse on religious matters. And the discourse they have been peddling stands against the inclusive, tolerant, and pluralist principles upheld by the founding father and recognised by those heading the elected and un-elected state institutions for sometime now. Demand for a show-cause notice leading to an apology from Safdar is, therefore, awaited from PML-N leaders who stand for this vision.
It is rather unfortunate that a debate on the issue in the Senate was prevented by none other than the Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani himself. He stopped PPP leader Sherry Rehman from voicing opposition to Safdar’s hate speech on the floor of the Senate by switching off her microphone. The Senate chairman has done a lot of good for strengthening democracy in this country. His decision to prevent a Senator from speaking on such an important issue does not go along with his democratic credentials though. Until religious bigotry is not clearly condemned by all political leaders, the violence against religious minorities cannot be tacked.
Meanwhile, the ISPR’s distancing itself from the venom spewed by the MNA has surely sent the right message. In his press conference, the ISPR DG showed a slide of photos highlighting prominent minority figures and their contributions.
The need now is for the authorities to reciprocate. The minorities have contributed and they continue to contribute for this country every day and every night on multiple fronts. State institutions have failed them and they continue to do so.
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