Growing intolerance
PESHAWAR
The growing intolerance in Pakistani society has emerged as a serious challenge posing threat to social and cultural values, democracy, and the country’s vital interests. Since its inception, Pakistan had been confronting various challenges including growing political, societal, and religious intolerance mainly due to the fractured governance structure built around many fault lines that often ignited political and economic crises owing to the derailment of the democratic system on several occasions in the past.
The recent surge in political and religious intolerance and wrangles between political parties and workers for powers were spoiling the country’s development and hampering economic rehabilitation efforts. Intolerance had crept into the society after the brutal assassination of the first prime minister of Pakistan, Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan on October 16, 1951, and strengthened its roots after the hanging of PPP founder and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on April 4, 1979.
Moreover, the Afghan war also gave space to Kalashnikov and drug culture due to the migration of over four million Afghan refugees in the wake of the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 which led to disruption in the peaceful atmosphere, which cast negative effects on the society’s social fabric.
The assassination of twice-elected prime minister, Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007, the killing of Governor Punjab Salman Taseer on January 4, 2011, assassination attempts on PTI Chairman Imran Khan in 2022, and Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal on May 6, 2018, and others politicians and civil society members including senior journalists have testified the growing political, societal intolerance and religious extremism.
The murder of 27 years old former ambassador’s daughter Noor Mukadam on July 20, 2021, and the bullet injuries attack of 2014 Nobel Peace Award winner, Malala Yusufzai on October 9, 2012, also showed growing intolerance in society that needed to be dealt with through collective efforts.
On December 7 last, at Kalabut in Swabi district, three people including a father and two sons were killed over a petty issue of a cricket ground pitch showing the high state of intolerance in the rural society.
‘The main reason for rising intolerance in Pakistani society is socio economic imbalances, unemployment of youth, and delay in justice,” said Qibla Ayaz, Chairman, of Pakistan Islamic Ideological Council (PIIC) while talking to APP.
He said Hijjatul Wida was a complete charter of human rights in which the Holy Prophet (PBUH) emphasized upon justice, patience, tolerance, and equality.
Qibla Ayaz said the Holy Prophet (PBUH) also declared killing and taking one’s property unjustly was Haram besides attaching the highest importance to the protection of life, honor, and wealth of people.
Professor Dr. AH Hilali, former Chairman, of the Political Science Department, at the University of Peshawar said that intolerance was mainly a psychological and cognitive behavior issue and mostly its victims were the unemployed youth.
He said that political intolerance, religious extremism, and hate-based politicking were detrimental to democracy, economic sovereignty, and freedom of speech and underlined the need for starting of a political dialogue process among all politico-religious parties to take the country out of the prevailing economic quagmire.
Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, former Secretary of Home and Tribal Affairs said that the political temperature was heightened after the successful no-confidence vote by the National Assembly against former Prime Minister Imran Khan amid allegations of political engineering.
Resultantly, he said an environment of hate-based political polarizations, confrontation politics, and intolerance promoted besides youth’s sentiments were fueled in the name of so-called regime change. “Pakistan was created through a democratic struggle that provided an inclusive mechanism for resolution of all conflicts”, he added.
He said that unfortunately, Pakistan could not achieve economic prosperity and political stability as we were unable to stick to democracy and overthrow each other’s governments for the sake of power due to a lack of political cohesion.
He said the government of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown after launching a protest movement by the nine religious-political parties from the platform of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) claiming alleged electoral fraud and rigging during the 1977 general elections.
Similarly in the 90s, the elected governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were dismissed on allegations of corruption and riggings in general elections and its negative outcome came in the form of martial law on October 12, 1999.
PTI and Pakistan Awami Tahrik (PAT) staged a sit-in in 2014 in Islamabad accusing the Nawaz Sharif Government of rigging the 2013 election. PTI and PAT’s allegations were later rejected by the high powered judicial commission of the Supreme Court led by former CJP Nasirul Mulk who declared that the 2013 polls were organized and conducted fairly and in accordance with law and that PTI’s request for a probe was not justified.
Dr. Akhtar Ali said that a permanent political divide with no channels of communication would further retard political development and if this trend continues it was difficult to anchor the ship of democracy to safe shores.
He said that it was the spirit of the age that PDM, the opposition parties, and PTI should raise above party politics and sit together for the country’s vital national interest and start a constructive and meaningful dialogue, especially on electoral reforms before going to general elections so that no one could raise fingers on polling results and derail democracy in future.
For this purpose, he suggested that the PTI should come to the parliament and play the role of a responsible opposition as the dissolution of KP and Punjab assemblies would rather deepen the political and economic crises in the country.
He opined that the withdrawal of politically based cases against certain opposition leaders was imperative to promote political tolerance, mutual coexistence, and a conducive political environment ahead of the 2023 general elections.
