The abyss stares back

Those of us that can still be shocked by the senseless violence around us will all have felt a collective sense of shock, shame and anger as yet another man was lynched by a mob, again over allegations of blasphemy. Alarmingly, the horrific mob attack took place outside a police station in Nankana Sahib. Forty-five year old Muhammad Waris of Nankana’s Qazi Town area was accused of blasphemy and taken into protective custody by the police once it had become clear that he would be in danger. That evidently did not stop the mob, which reached the police station, dragged the man out, lynched him and then burnt his body. All this while the force that is supposed to maintain law and order and protect and serve managed to get away just protecting itself. The police have ordered an inquiry and suspended the DSP and SHO and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has also ordered an investigation into the incident, has asked: “Why didn’t the police stop the violent mob? The rule of law should be ensured”.

And why indeed, ask Pakistan’s many silent citizens who watch in horror as the country virtually unravels right before their eyes. Pakistan has become home to more and more incidents involving attacks by mobs. From mob lynchings over suspicion of theft to the more common and trigger-happy mobs that are riled up over allegations of blasphemy, nary a few months go by before news comes in of a mob attack – more indulgently referred to as ‘vigilante justice’. In December 2021, in Sialkot a Sri Lankan national was lynched by a huge mob – again over suspicions of blasphemy. And who can forget the heartbreaking 2017 lynching of Mashal Khan – a young man with so much promise.

There will be the usual Never Again promises, vows to make sure this is the last time we allow such a crime to be committed in our name, condemnations from all over the country and then in a few days some new scandal will come up on the media, something new to outrage over – and Waris will be forgotten – like Priyantha and Mashal. We need more than the perfunctory words of condemnation. The fact is that the impunity accorded to extremist groups, the appeasement of violence by the state and the cynical weaponization of religion have brought us to this point. Past examples show that even police officers are unclear on how to deal with religiously charged mobs; in the Nankana Sahib attack, the police in fact chose to look on helplessly while trying to get away from the mob. Meanwhile, the Punjab chief minister has sought a full report into the incident – something that has rarely, if ever, led to anything of much value. The government needs to draft a concrete plan to deal with growing extremism and the rise of violent mobs in the country. For too long has it coddled and appeased this kind of violence. For too long have we remained silent as blood is shed wantonly. The abyss is not just staring back at us – it is screaming as it does so.