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Sir,
Yaum-e-Ishq-e-Rasool should have been a day to express our deep love, attachment and faith for the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his teachings. Unfortunately the day turned out to be a day of riots and insanity across Pakistan with 25 dead and 250 injured. Rioting by thousands of rioters and ugly clashes with police proved that the teachings of the holy prophet (PBUH) were set aside, totally disregarded and the violence, killings, destruction and arson was with the motive to trample law and order and spread chaos and unrest across the country.
The Peoples Party government led by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf declared a public holiday on “Yum-e-Ishq-e-Rasool” to allow the Pakistani nation to express anger and revulsion at caricaturing and tarnishing the sacred image of beloved prophet Muhammad. After addressing the meeting of the Cabinet, the Prime Minister addressed in Urdu and English a huge gathering of diplomats, representatives of Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi and Ulema, urging calm and civil behavior while protesting. He asked for unity and order while condemning the film maker for reviling the prophet. He urged Pakistanis to show respect for all religions and protect churches, temples and other places of worship. He and his administration did not comprehend that civility and peaceful protest is not the psyche of mobs fuelled by religious frenzy bordering on insanity. This was a day for display of religious unity and projection of our strong resentment but not by display of violence, frustration, despair and lawlessness. By declaration of a holiday on the day the rulers failed to understand mob mentality.
The rallies to peacefully condemn sacrilege of the prophet by an ignominious U-Tube film were led by anti-state rabble rousers, and not by respected political leaders. The leaders who had given the call for protest rallies, should have been in the forefront of the protestors. They might have restrained gangsters urging destruction of private and state property, and challenging the writ of the state and disrupting law and order. An atmosphere of hate and the passion inflamed mobs who resorted to destruction, arson and killings, and there were no politicians to retrain them. The mobs outnumbered the police in all big cities. It is a joke that in Karachi, a city of 18 million, a police force of less than forty thousand is expected to control huge and enraged rallies across the mega-city. The police forces in cities must be reinforced, re-equipped and retrained to deal with unruly mobs in the future.
The mob violence by fifty thousand armed protestors in Islamabad, twenty five thousand from Barakhou tried to enter the diplomatic enclave, the Convention Center, and the Red zone to attack embassies. The outnumbered policemen could not even stop unruly lawyers jumping over gates and into the diplomatic enclave. The rioters resorted to indiscriminate firing, which resulted in the death of 25 innocent protestors, including policemen and journalists. An ARY cameraman was shot dead by the mob.
The incensed mobs were led by rowdy elements who set fire to cinema houses, toll plazas, police vehicles, police posts, shops, petrol pumps and private properties. Two cinema houses were torched in Peshawar and a similar number in Karachi. Pakistani Christians were in the forefront of the minority communities who had fully supported the public protests yet a church in Mardan was set on fire. Appeals by officials and religious scholars and the police for restraint was disregarded by the hooligans. Despite provocation and stoning, the police exercised immense restraint. It was disgusting to see criminals and scoundrels stoning, burning tyres and rampaging, when they should have shown respect for prophet Muhammad and his message of peace and compassion . The best way to show respect to prophet Muhammad is to pray for peace and amity and interfaith harmony. Shouting abuse, violence, arson, derogatory threats against the United States, despite repeated denials by President Barrack Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton of any involvement in the conspiracy of making the sacrilegious film the government have been rejected by the inflamed mobs. Prophet Muhammad (pbhu) was an epitome of peace and forgiveness. Spreading hate, resorting to rioting and killings is in contradiction of his teaching and preaching and directives in the Koran. Demands by leaders of politico-religious to extradite the US ambassador, and break relations with the United States border on lunacy and will totally isolate Pakistan.
The decision of the government to declare a public holiday to enable the people of Pakistan to come out on the roads for peaceful protests backfired. Most protest rallies turned violent. The torching of the Church in Mardan and criminal behavior, especially threats to the West by fanatic clerics and mobs, will weaken the support of the international community for President Asif Ali Zardari’s effort to impress on the world community in his address to the UN General Assembly on 25 September to pass a resolution condemning the making of a crude video film mocking the prophet Muhammad. The people of Pakistan must control their passion and anger to convince the world that we are grieved and our grief must be redressed.
Sincerely,
Air Marhshal (Retd)
Ayaz Ahmed Khan
Menace of Terrorism
The PM very rightly said on the floor of the house that if Pakistan is to be made a safe country to live in for its every daughter then we have to fight the menace of terrorism which is essentially an outcome of a typical mindset of the extremists. While Islam preaches acquisition of knowledge for all – men and women, these extremists blow up the very founts of knowledge – the schools, and kill the children studying in them. And, ironically, they do it all in the name of Islam. Some Islam of their some special brand!! Has such Islam not crept into us ever since we started the process of Islamisation of Pakistan? Objectives Resolution was the first seed planted in 1949 which was not only nurtured to bloom by Maulvi Zia but also given the Kalashnikov to it to enforce it upon all. All sorts of religious extremist organizations mushroomed overnight calling each other Kafir and killing them at will. The menace is increasing by each day compelling saner elements to think of ways and means of controlling it. The only way of bottling the genii back is to spread the awareness among extremists as to what true Islam is and that what they are doing is entirely un-Islamic. In other words forceful fatwas and edicts by the highest religious authorities against such wanton killing and destruction. All means of propagation – electronic and print media, posters, banners, leaflets dropped by air etc. of these fatwas be made use of to spread the word to the remotest corner of the country. Along with it not only a general amnesty be announced for all those who want to surrender but also they be given employment, vocational training and free education to open their minds. At the same time, we should adopt the policy of keeping the religion separate from the state. The religion must be strictly a private affair and it must have nothing to do with the state. A strict departmental vigil must be kept on all fanatics in the services and administration and no one with extreme views be allowed to rise to the higher position where he/she could influence their juniors. If need be such diehards be weeded out during the early stage of their career.
Of course I am asking for a pluralistic society where all could live in peace and harmony and everyone’s rights are protected. And, for God’s sake do not misconstrue and label me for spreading la diniyat along with which liberalism and fuhashi are so fondly appended by our rightists.
Sincerely,
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Black Friday
Reportedly 29 got killed, 87 injured, 5 cinemas, 3 banks, one Chamber’s building, One Church, 4 Police Posts, 7 police vehicles and quite a number of shops were gutted by the violent protestors on Friday 21st September. All this carnage took place in Pakistan in protest against the blasphemous film on the life of the Holy Prophet (SAW). What is not understood is as to why kill and damage own people and property in love for the Prophet (SAW) while the actual blasphemers remain totally unaffected and unconcerned by our such protestation! Still more alarming is the fact that all appeals from the religious, political and government leaders to desist from violence and vandalism had no effect upon the protestors who kept coming in hordes defying the barricades and tilting the containers placed to block their way. Police looked helpless in controlling the situation and at places had to withdraw to safety to escape the wrath of the protestors. Is this the way to record our discontent and what message have we given to the world as a nation? Something to ponder over by our political and spiritual leaders!
Sincerely,
Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
