Neo-fascist Society

Jawaid IqbalThe state of minorities, particularly religious ones, has never been ideal in Pakistan. However, the shocking rise of violent acts aimed at individuals and groups of minorities raises many questions about the rapidly diminishing socio-cultural ethos of a country that is home to over 7 million minority populations, namely Hindus and Christians. Just a little while earlier, we shared our deep concerns on these pages about the killing of a Sri Lankan textile worker in Sialkot on blasphemy accusations and then lamented the invasion and vandalization of churches in Jaranwala, Punjab, by a violent mob once again over some misplaced blasphemy rumours. One more time, an eerily resembling incident recently took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a raging crowd killed a 36-year-old man and burned his body after accusing him of desecrating the Holy Quran. A nonstop slew of such eccentric occurrences is a rallying cry and cannot be brushed aside as just another one-time incident or a new normal. Ratcheting up into a deadly phenomenon, this is just a naked display of sheer madness manifest not by an individual act but a collective effort with no regard for the state law or even Islamic teachings. It is not a disaster in the making but a multi-pronged crisis that has already taken shape, plaguing the very foundations of a society prone to extremism, fanaticism, and suicidal thoughts.

Given that the making and disintegration of a society’s most revered norms along with its social systems do not take place in a day, what we see today is the outcome of an over half-a-century-long indoctrination of slanted orthodox teachings, laced with the rapidly worsening socio-economic factors, are together playing havoc with social equilibrium and public order punctuated by neo-fascism, religious pre-eminence, and ethnic and communal fault-lines. Respecting fellow citizens’ fundamental, state-given rights is a must for us, whether a formidable religious majority or a negligible minority. However, the steady rise of an insane, mentally deranged, and maniac citizenry with neurotic tendencies towards the country’s minorities alludes to the state’s continued disregard for democratic norms and gross neglect of basic human needs. Consequently, this has now metamorphosed into an abnormal society that hates its minorities, vilifies the most vulnerable gender, and demonizes progressive thought, rendering the entire body politic hell-bent on dismantling civil decorum and urbane etiquettes under the guise of mob justice. Behind the nonstop penetration of violent radical beliefs into local communities, the matter of profound concern is that extremism, tinged with hate-fuelled majoritarianism, has now been instilled in the minds of the general populace, even though the country officially believes in a religion that teaches peace, brotherhood, and love with equal respect for all.

When an irreligious polemicist like George Bernard Shaw finds Islam as the best religion but Muslims as the worst followers, it behooves the Muslim priesthood to do some soul-searching and deeply introspect about what stops the non-Muslim community from having a positive image of Muslims. Other than state institutions, the clergy is equally culpable as it has miserably failed to turn raw individualism into its most refined form, both culturally and socially. The abject failure of the pulpit, together with the steady profusion of extremist narrative via the loudspeaker, is now pushing the country to the edge of a socio-political precipice. The onus lies on our collective determination to bring the ongoing faith-induced frenzy to a halt and work together for the establishment of an enlightened, progressive, and moderate society by eliminating hatred and divisive ideologies that exploit religious sentiments, tear apart the moral fabric, and unravel the country’s unity and peace.


Syed Jawaid Iqbal
President & Editor in Chief