A week ago, I was following a debate whether or not blasphemy law and subsequent mob justice is a reaction to Islamophobia and US Imperial wars, when a friend sent me the video of Mardan university student Mashal Khan’s lynching.
He was ‘punished’ by the self-proclaimed defenders of religion over a blasphemy allegation. Silence of the concerned authorities tells that the mob only followed into their (authorities) footsteps. Getting them rid of one more enlightened dissenting voice!
The state born from the womb of colonial masters, who like any other imperial power had no support in the masses is controlling the society through its might. To save themselves from any reaction, its institutions nurtured extremist organizations, groups and militias to fight any opposition. From jihadi to splinter political groups like MQM-H, rulers have developed a culture where people can take law in their hands, provided they are acting in favor of the Masters.
In some areas, where strong political organizations do not let these vigilantes ‘serve justice’, the system itself acts above the law. This could be gauged by the rising number of enforced disappearances in Sindh and Balochistan.
Furthermore there are police officers considered encounter specialists who have mastered the art of extrajudicial killings and arrests. These tactics may not be intended to promote mob culture but definitely encourage incidents like the one we witnessed in Mardan.
The justifications of blasphemy and treason provided over enforced disappearances of the four bloggers from Punjab, have wreaked more havoc than the act of disappearing them itself. After the abductions, powerful institutions faced a lot of criticism, from both inside and outside the country.
A few media anchors and journalists running the loyalty marathon put every ounce of their energy to take this narrative to a level where things were bound to get out of hands.
Things further aggravated by Chaudhry Nisar - the Interior Minister who vanishes after every terrorist attack, but comes into limelight with one after another controversial statement, policy, action or inaction.
The time when the heat of fictitious allegations of blasphemy was burning and actions were required to cool things down, he started a witch hunt against every dissenting voice on social media in the name of blasphemy.
The arrests of Ayaz Nizami and others, not because of they acted violently or incited anyone to violence, but only because of the views they expressed on social media has brought upon us the darkest period of our society. And in this dark night looming over Pakistan, walls of intolerance are getting ever higher and guarding it are blood-thirsty packs of wolves, chasing down every sane voice in a jail that this country has become.
I do not have the courage to watch how one such pack chased, tore and mangled Mashal with the teeth provided by this state, but I acknowledge that I am afraid.
Afraid of the banned Jammat Ud Dawaa’s seminary near my house – which unlike MQM’s 90 functions and expands with each passing day - because I do not know when would a mob emerge from there and serve its verdict upon me.
I am afraid of every patrolman I see on my way to work, because I do not know if they are standing to protect me, or the masters from my views. I am afraid of every person who stands near my house because I do not know how these ‘angels’ disappear activists.
Yet, I am writing! Again. Because it is better to fight the fear than to live it. I am sure the others would be protesting as well and the voices instead of diminishing would get louder with each horrific event. But I am also convinced that more ferociousness would be unleashed to silence these voices.
Those in power have learned no other method but intimidation to deal with disagreement and is only intensifying its tactics of violence.
However, what the state is unable to take into account is the spiral of conflict also growing with the intensity of each layer of its viciousness. It is also unable to see that using its might is taking the society towards chaos and anarchy, with which it will be unable to deal in the coming future.
What they have failed to comprehend is that the masses follow the same laws, rules, morals and values established by the class ruling them. They fail to understand how there tactics are not exclusive to them but also to the people who lynched Mashal inside the university.
The mob who killed Mashal was under the influence of the same narrative that was developed as a justification for the enforced disappearances of the bloggers. The brutality used by them reminds one of the similar approach exercised by the establishment and its puppets. I do not know the people who attacked Mashal but he was murdered by the very people claiming to be fighting terrorism.
