Religious Extremism and growing Majoritarianism | op-ed |9-july-2024
In recent years, Pakistan has been steadily moving towards a precarious majoritarianism, marked by increasing incidents of religious violence and blasphemy allegations. On June 21, 2024, another innocent man was killed over blasphemy accusations, highlighting the religious extremism in the state. During the occasion of Eid, religious extremists-initiated vandalism against the Ahmadi community, further highlighting the targeted persecution of religious minorities.
While these incidents are draconian in nature, the most perplexing aspect is the response from the Government of Pakistan. Despite the spread of extremism and religious hate by these motivated mobs, the government remains paralyzed, doing nothing to counter this threat and damage caused by them. This inability of the government to act swiftly in this important realm of human security reflects Pakistan’s dwindling towards majoritarianism, where the religious ideologies of majority are enforced at the expense of minority communities and common people, without any decisive action from the state.
Religious hate and extremism is not a new phenomenon in South Asia. This trend of violence based on religion has been shadowing the region since partition of the subcontinent. Since partition, there had been various protests and attempts to challenge the harsh blasphemy laws of Pakistan. These laws were inherited by the British colonial rule and were established out of fear of right-wing Islamists at time of the independence. According to Center of Social Justice, an independent organization advocating for minority rights, more than 2000 people have been accused of blasphemy cases and 90 have been brutally murdered.
Most of these accused people are either illiterate Muslims or mentally retarded persons who are unable to understand the dynamics of the religion. In the recent years, taking law into one’s hands has become a norm of religious extremists. The law enforcing agencies hardly register any of their cases in fear of mob activists and if the case is registered, people get out due their affiliation and financial assets. Every blasphemy case in the state is followed by mob activists murdering the accused publicly in name of religious right.
In most of the areas, this kind of organized mob violence is carried out under the shadow of a group, named as Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan. Although there are many groups of this niche in the state but TLP has emerged as the most powerful one. TLP has been successfully setting up the religious trap and have promoted an extremist mindset which is shared by many in the society. TLP has also set a strong foothold in the government which is the main reason why the stake holders’ side with these extremists when any issues of religious extremism evolve. This group is mainly strengthened by the middle-class youth of the state, specifically in the semi-urban areas where the group also has constituencies and is seen as the only Islamic party fighting against the liberals. The government has no proper policy implementation against these extremists’ group even though their explicit involvement in many murders and illegal ventures. Even if anyone among the power elites plans to do, that individual is being shut down to be an anti-Islamist.
The power dynamics in Pakistan have become complex. The extremism in the country is not countered by ensuring punishment of the culprits but the power elites and the government tends to open public communication channels with these extremists’ group which only delay their plans instead of eradicating them. The focus of the government is placed on securing deals with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while the roots of the peace are being burned by these groups Internationally, Pakistan has always criticized India of being intolerant to the minorities but the current security environment of minorities highlights the hypocrisy of the state.
Promoting human and religious rights internationally while most of the minorities in your own state are unsafe. The recent incidents and the silence of government indicates that the state is dominated by religious extremist and can be an ideal case for religious majoritarianism.
Extremism is common in the states whose foundational roots lies in the ideologies of religion. States like Saudi Arabia and Indonesia have successfully countered extremism through Islamic reforms. Although, the practical implementation of these reforms take time but once started they can successfully counter religious extremism. Pakistan should also work on Islamic reforms to moderate the intensity of extremist ideologies counter groups like TLP. The leaders also need to aware of the significance of the Islamic reforms in the changing and highly complex global politics.
The state also needs a proper mechanism to ensure proper policy implementation, for example a institution can be established to ensure the implementation of these moderate policies and also to act and mitigate religious extremism in the state. Events and conferences on governmental level should be promoted in enhancing the role and space of minorities in the society. This can decisively change the perspective of the masses which has been become sick when it comes to these minorities.
All in all, Religious extremism is effectively hurting the domestic and international environment of the state. A state should never make faith and religion its business rather a state should be based on stringent acts and policies which can enhance prosperity in the society.
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