Fluttering in Disarray By Oroba Tasnim

We live in a paradox. On the one hand, we demand justice, on the other, we condemn capital punishment. On the one hand, we make a law, on the other, we call it a black law. On the one hand, we ask people not to take matters into their own hands, on the other we hail such people as heroes and martyrs.
The purpose of this column is not to give an opinion, neither create rifts nor fuel fights. But the simple goal is to portray the varying opinions present in our society today.

1) The first belief and the increasingly growing one, is the idea that Salman Taseer committed blasphemy and thus deserved to be killed, albeit by a man who does not have the authority to do so. Therefore, executing the murderer Mumtaz Qadri makes him not only a hero, but a martyr as well.

2) The second belief is that although Salman Taseer committed blasphemy, no one has the power to kill him but the state itself. Therefore, Mumtaz Qadri should have been hanged but the timing was inappropriate.

3) The third belief is that Salman Taseer did not commit blasphemy, all he did was condemn the wrong usage of the blasphemy law and due to the illiteracy of Mumtaz Qadri with regards to religion, he murdered an innocent man and so was a liability which needed to be removed.

4) The fourth belief is that there are far too many criminals on the death row, who have been sentenced a long time before Qadri, and are not being hanged. Hence, singling out and executing Qadri is an unnecessary ‘panga’ on our government’s behalf, specially considering the turmoil we are currently in.

5) The fifth belief is that this is just a test by the government and army to gauge the reaction of certain acts they may want to commit later, to discover the response of the common man about such matters, and how efficient a complete media blackout about the matter would be.

The startling fact about all these opinions is that it is backed by educated people. Even the most educated and elite class is divided as to what should have actually been done. There is no clarity and for some, the complete blackout on news channels is making way for so many narratives. There needs to be a strict check on what these channels show, but there is also a need to create a clear cut policy, a bold narrative and a single stance to unite the nation.

Because in these dark times, every single matter, no matter how big or small, matters. There are forces out there, meant to wreak havoc upon our country, and with so many views surfacing and dividing the nation, it will be hard to counter those forces.

Finally, the argument of whether Salman Taseer or Mumtaz Qadri was Shaheed or not. I believe, this is an utterly foolish argument. There is no need to delve in such debates, since the matter is with God alone, if he wants to grant martyrdom status to either or both of these people, who are we to complain? Let’s just pray we can occupy that position and not make it a controversy.
O’ Allah guide us all, for we have strayed. Guide is towards peace and clarity, love and compassion and all things leading towards the right path.

by webmaster@insaf.pk (tkiadmin)