The News International Pakistan  
Wednesday February 22, 2006-- Muharram 23, 1427 A.H.
ISSN 1563-9479
 

Opinion

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Why protest turned violent

 

Ameer-ul-Azim

It beats logic why the protests turned violent in Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar on a spiritually sensitive issue like blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The protestors were grieved and were mourning the deliberate blows the European press and governments have dealt to their hearts. To ascertain why they turned extremely violent needs honest analysis instead pinning the responsibility on religious elements, as a number of columnists and intellectuals have done.

It was expected that the mobs could express mild anger through sporadic pelting of stones or damaging the symbols of business concerns of the European countries involved in the blasphemy. But large-scale arson, and that too involving whole buildings, and the burning of dozens of vehicles is not a form of violence one expects from mobs.

It is naive to put the entire blame on religious workers. Media reports and TV footage clearly showed that all the participants of the rally were unarmed, and the groups setting fire to vehicles and buildings were frustrated youth from the middle and lower classes.

It is a mystery why the police was deployed in far smaller numbers than required. Even stranger was the fact that riot police personnel had orders to give a free hand to the protestors and were deployed without supervision by top officials, who could have ordered them to act according to the changed scenario.

Two incidents reported in the press show that what triggered the violence was the unprovoked tear-gas shelling by the Lower Mall police and the opening of fire by a guard of a private security agency at a bank, killing and wounding two protestors among a group banging sticks on the closed doors of the bank.

In civilised societies, protests are handled carefully and only water cannon and rubber bullets are used, so that violence may not erupt as a result of deaths and injuries to protestors. An equally large but peaceful rally in Karachi proved that if sufficient police had been deployed and had acted sensibly, the violence in Lahore could have been averted. There is strong evidence that personnel from secret agencies were at the forefront of the violence, guiding the rioters as to what targets they should hit. Leaders of student organisations claim to have seized a few of them. They admitted to belonging to official law-enforcement and intelligence agencies and confessed to have committed acts of destruction. But they eventually slipped out of the hold of their captors during the police crackdown and fled. Besides, the involvement of foreign agents cannot be ruled out.

The violence at Mall Road began about one-and-a-half hours before the rally started from Data Darbar. It was almost over when the rally reached the Mall, except for the arson incident at the Punjab Assembly building. Police officers and Rangers were called in only after the trouble had almost ended. Similarly, the fire brigades arrived on the scene after three hours and many traders complained that the phones of the fire offices were off the hook.

A building or a shop could not be set ablaze with matches. Ample fuel was needed and those who carried out these acts came well prepared. Similarly, ordinary youth or students would not continue to rampage and plunder one shop after the other, and set ablaze one building after the other. For ordinary people, anger is vented after one shop is broken or set ablaze. It needed clear intention and planning to commit rampage and arson on such a large scale.

Religious workers have never rampaged or committed arson against private property. They have a history of clashing with the police but not destruction of property. The plundering could be accounted for by the presence of ordinary, small-time criminals in the rally because the entire city markets had already announced their closure. Since it was an unprecedented, complete strike, petty criminals and pickpockets had nowhere to operate but amidst the rally.

The causes that triggered violence in Lahore are many and require a deep look into the state of mind of the general public. The most important is the growing sense of frustration and helplessness about the galloping prices of essential commodities, which has made life hell for the lower classes. For ordinary, salaried-class families it is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet and to have three meals a day. Basic necessities like food, shelter, clothing and travelling is becoming increasingly difficult. The pressure is felt by the upper classes as well.

As if exorbitant fuel prices were not enough, the latest blow dealt by the rulers has come in the shape of skyrocketing sugar prices that have left people stunned and angry. Their frustration and sense of deprivation was building up with every passing day, and angry people tend to stay quiet instead of venting their feelings. Fuelling this frustration for the last five years has been constant indignation and a smouldering hatred for the West. People have watched US-led western forces massacring, maiming and humiliating Muslim brothers in Afghanistan and Iraq. All this while our rulers have assisted these forces, instead of fighting against them.

The situation is compounded by reports of Washington preparing for an imminent attack on Iran. While a deadly US attack on Bajaur Agency shook the whole nation, Pakistani rulers again adopted an apologetic attitude. Meanwhile, extremely outrageous incidents like the desecration of the Holy Quran in Guantanamo Bay prison went without protest by Muslim governments. The inhuman and humiliating torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison shook the whole Muslim world. The average Pakistani is not only caught in deep economic hardships but also feels bitterness and rage against the well-orchestrated recent blasphemy, which remains unchecked without any suitable action from the rulers. This is the state of mind of every common person while the scarcely educated, angry youth of the poor classes easily fall prey to the surge of violence because of lack of proper guidance. Their sense of deprivation can quickly become hatred against the wealthy and affluent classes since they see them as being responsible for their miseries.

This violence was bound to occur because its ingredients have been carefully mixed together by our rulers over the last few years. It was bound to happen even if the rally and strike had been called by some secular political group, not the Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz. It is strange that the majority of intellectuals and analysts have been ignoring the underlying causes of the sudden outbursts of violence. Instead they are just beating about the bush and advising the rulers to take stern action against the religious segments of society.

As for those pro-West writers and intellectuals who are maligning Muslims, they are committing two sins simultaneously. On the one hand, they are supporting the blasphemers. On the other, they are trying to strengthen the present dictatorial military regime, thus exposing their lack of commitment to democracy, civil liberties and freedom of speech -- the goals they cherish above everything.

 

The writer is secretary-general of the Lahore chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami

Email: jipmedia@jamaat.org


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