Laraib Nisar
Religious and sectarian violence is being used to achieve political and economic gains, which has ruined our society, writes Laraib Nisar.
Almost all the states of the world are posed to challenges and problems. In the developed world, societal problems act as drivers for social change and development, however, in the developing and under developed countries, these social problems become fuel for the fire of intra-societal rifts and disharmony. Pakistan, being a developing country, is faced by several socio-politico-economic issues which hinder Pakistan’s overall global image and national performance. One of the key issues faced by Pakistan is that of religious extremism and sectarian intolerance, which breeds religious and sectarian violence.
Religious & Sectarian Violence: The Path To Social Destruction
Sectarianism and religious intolerance refer to the use of religious means to obtain political and economic gains, mostly by mobilizing one religious or sectarian group against the other. Pakistan was formed to be a secular state, with no discrimination among the citizens on the basis of their sect, religion, ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic status, but unfortunately, issues like minorities rights’ violations, sectarian violence, and ethnic uprisings started raising their heads just few years after Pakistan’s creation. From the anti-Ahmadiyya uprising in 1953 to the Sikh massacre in 1959, Pakistan slowly moved on the trajectory to societal destruction due religious extremism and sectarian hatred.
Spike In Forced Conversions
Gradually, the situation worsened to such an extent that today, religious and sectarian minorities in Pakistan are observing a spike in forceful conversions, killing on the basis of false accusations of blasphemy, and hate speech in cyber and physical space. The prejudicial and stereotypical concepts of sectarianism and religious divide are so deeply embedded in Pakistani population’s individual and national conscience that we have started turning a blind eye to the fact that sectarianism is dividing the society and is completely unislamic. This has made Pakistan’s status in the world questionable. The ‘UN Watch’ tweeted through their official twitter handle that, ‘Pakistan’s presence in the human rights’ council is a disgrace,’ because though Pakistan vouches for the safeguard of human rights of the marginalized communities in the world e.g., the Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir, it pays n heed to the suffering of its own religious and sectarian minorities.
Religious & Sectarian Violence: High Time For Right Policies
It is high time that we understand that religious extremism and sectarian hatred are eroding the essence of creation of Pakistan, and take comprehensive measures to eliminate these evils form Pakistani society. The first step in this direction can be educating the masses the true teachings of Islam, which is the greatest guarantor of minorities’ rights. This can be done by regulating the academic as well as madrassah curricula in the light of the true essence of Islamic values. Additionally, hatred literature and speeches instigating religious sentiments must be banned and the ones involved should be punished and penalized so that a sense of accountability for every word a significant person utters can be ensures, as such speeches promote and normalize religious and sectarian violence. The government needs to form proper policies and laws to handle the incidences of this nature at the earliest. The youth must be provided with sufficient education and proper employment opportunities to save them from being exploited at the hands of extremist elements. A state cannot prosper unless its people are united, all the people of Pakistan should forget their cultural, religious, ethnic, and sectarian differences and work together for the development of Pakistan.
The author Laraib Nisar is a Defense and Strategic Studies’ graduate, working as a Program Coordinator at the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad.
