Amending the Mistake

A lot has been written in the aftermath of Salman Taseer’s murder, with some suggesting that the country is “near” a social collapse – An explosion of discussions, writings and views as if the liberals (who are in a clear minority from quite some time) have just woken up to reality and are suggesting that this incident and its reaction alone represents the demise of Pakistani Society. The awakening impact of Governor’s murder on the liberals is more shocking than the incident itself, while the conservative right wing is in a continuous state of denial as always, the liberals also seem oblivious to the fact that we are not “near” but in fact already “collapsed”.

The social disintegration or collapse is a relative term in today’s world; it represents transformation rather than extinction of a society. Moreover, the collapse does not happen overnight and is a slow process which ultimately culminates in the complete change of social, moral and economic status.

The rampant anarchy in the state with different political, security and religious factions controlling their stakes; destruction of the civil apparatus; wide spread defiance of the law; and complete economic dependence on foreign aid represents the change which has already taken place.

The murder of Salman Taseer thus is not representative of an impending but an ongoing collapse which was more evident when Musharraf regime started handing over its own citizens to foreign powers and allowed drone strikes within its own borders; it was much more obvious in the muted response of Gojra Incident, the public massacre in Sialkot and the response to attack on Ahmedies in Lahore. The Governor’s murder is just another incident in the sequence.

However, the caution by some liberal sections about a possible takeover by the extremists is not based on actual ground realities. There is no single religious ideology in Pakistan which can support a theocratic takeover. The religious discourse in Pakistan is an out of control experiment of foreign powers and our military which is now pushing the country to chaos as opposed to a structured takeover, every member of the clergy and each of their followers follow a self-defined version of the religion which is more indicative of secularism than theocracy.

Pakistan is more divided today than it was 63 years ago; the country has been struggling with its identity since its inception. The deep ethnic and cultural divisions required a secular state rather than an Islamic Republic – Pakistan will have to fix that mistake if it wants to preserve its current borders. We need a secular and progressive state which can cherish the ethnic and religious diversity of its people.

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