Zero tolerance

The triggering of scale of condemnation right across the country at the ransacking of Hindu temple in Bhong, district Rahim Yar Khan, surely asserted in no uncertain terms that the religious misguided radicals could not be allowed to desecrate the worship places of the citizens of other religions.

Such blatant infringement of the fundamental right is not acceptable at all, and therefore must be addressed holistically by holding the culprits accountable sooner than later .It was guaranteed in the Constitution regardless of the faith, race, gender or caste. The people had indeed spoken loudly and clearly through the unanimous resolution passed by the National Assembly that was amazing and extraordinary at the same time. The prime minister was urged to take stern action against the culprits without an iota of hesitation sprouted from the second thought considerations. The resolution was indeed an unequivocal reaffirmation of the will of the civil society expressing its total solidarity with the Hindu community and also demanded to take to task the religious extremists of the kind to make them example out of this incident.

The National Assembly’s resolution urged the government to award an exemplary punishment to the culprits without fail clearly purporting to nip the evil tendency in the bud that had the propensity to create chaos and anarchy in the society. It was extraordinary because it explicitly and directly implied as how much people of Pakistan respected the minorities and their religious sentiments notwithstanding to the despicable misdeeds of the radical elements that were notorious for creating law and order situation just at a wag of the finger of their patrons.

The members of the parliament belonging to the religious parties not only fully endorsed the contents of the resolution but also forcefully articulated that Islam did not allow the profanity of other religions that intrinsically emphasised on the imperative of inter-faith harmony.

The timing could not be better for the National Assembly’s resolution that superbly represented the sentiments of the nation calibrating with the religious minorities’ entitlement as the equal citizens of the country. Palatably, there was no sign of playing out of party politics as the both sides of the isle were supportive of the cause of minorities in sync with the primary law of the land.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan while taking notice of the sordid incident gave directions to the Inspector General (Police) Punjab to take immediate action and apprehend the culprits. The Chief Secretary of Punjab and the top official of Punjab Police submitted the report in person when they appeared before the Apex Court last week. The prime minister also condemned the horrific incident and directed the relevant authorities to arrest the culprits to face the wrath of law for committing heinous crime against the Hindu minority of the country.

According to the recent reports, the police had rounded up about more than 50 suspects while actively trying to nab others who had been identified through video footage uploaded on the social media.

The Chief Justice during the hearing also observed if the police had handled the situation professionally, the catastrophe could have been averted easily. No surprise, the assault on the religious place of Hindu community was accorded high publicity in the news media around the world for being very much news-worthy. The global representative forums also expressed their abhorrence ensuing in negative impact on the image of the country. Sadly, the incident provided an opportunity to the adversary of this country to laugh at our expense, and must be gloating in glee as these radicals were pushing their agenda to their liking without the trace of their mischief that was squarely attributed to its spontaneity.

The probable conviction to the accused may surely prove as tipping point to deter the potential attackers of the kind in taking law into their hands in their vicious pursuit to ransack the places of worship of people of other faiths. The case may be thoroughly followed to the logical conclusion. As such, it depends on the investigations by the police because the case based on flawed investigations will not stand the witness box leading to the acquittal of the accused to the collective disappointment of the civil society.

The acquittal may prove as a prelude to more such incidents in the foreseeable future. The investigation agency may therefore spare no effort in preparing the case supported by irrefutable evidences leading to the conviction of the perpetrators after the due process of law. Undoubtedly, the acquittal of the culprits may also certainly increase the acute sense of insecurity among the minorities that will be bad for the image of the country that is already not promising in this count.

The exoneration, if it occurs, may further nosedive the image of the country globally casting aspersions on our system of administration of justice in terms of credibility, reliability and predictability. Those are standardised fundamentals of the judicial proceedings. In this case and in all such cases, these fundamentals may be taken into account with full seriousness while dispensing justice. ‘Justice not only be done but also be seen to be done’ because the question of fundamental rights of the minorities is at stake.

The plausible pleasing impact of the resolution of the National Assembly, and indeed of human rights activists, media, political analysts and commentators, including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, supporting the minority in full glare of media may greatly blunt the edge of the indictment of the international community onto Pakistan due to the unwavering expression of commitment of the nation to stand by the minorities of the country.

The anticipated indictment of the international community may now confine itself to the extent of underscoring the importance of taking holistic care of the minorities in the country who feel increasingly insecure at the hands of the religious extremist elements motivated by their regressive ideologies seeking to strangulate them into near extinction. Be warned, the repute of the country in protecting the minorities has been swirling down due to the repetition of the killings of the people of minorities adding to the tally of crimes against minorities in the country. To substantiate the point, the reference may be made to the (EU) resolution expressing grave concern over the growing religious intolerance in Pakistan. It could be damming and consequential indictment because (EU) made it clear that it might review the facility of GSP+ that entitled Pakistani exports tariff concessions in the market accruing significant competitive edge over the exporters of other countries.

(EU) is a big market for Pakistani textile exports, and the withdrawal of GSP+ facility may surely jeopardise government’s all endeavours to increase exports with massive unemployment as fallout that is already swirling out of control of the government. Its snowball impact may drag the economy of the country down to a precarious position. The US State Department had also included Pakistan in the list of the countries where freedom of religion is not available and religious minorities feel increasingly vulnerable.

The history of such cases generally swirl around the culmination of vested interests using the religion as the weapon to settle scores by depriving minorities individuals from their properties, lands, and the settlement of other disputes grotesquely at the expense of the minorities members.

In the case under subject, there are reports that some influential individuals had the money dispute they owed to local Hindu community. They seemingly instigated the religious local elements with criminal intentions leading to assault on Hindu temple. The proceedings of the case may bring to light such conspiracy in due course.

It is hoped that justice will be delivered in the form of detrimental comeuppance in this high profile case that may set the precedent for zero tolerance so far as the gruesome crimes against the minorities of this country are concerned. Short of that the stigma of oppression and persecution of minorities may continue to hang on its forehead.

The country does not deserve such a badge of dishonour as it has suffered hugely in terms of blood and treasure at the hands of terrorism and religious extremism.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com