The destruction of a Hindu temple in the town of Bhong in Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab is full of commentary about the country, none of it complimentary. For a start, it highlighted the low credibility of the courts. It was a mob’s reaction to a lower court’s granting bail to a Hindu boy accused of urinating in a seminary. That shows that no one felt that the court’s decision was to be respected, even if one did not feel it was justified. There was due notice taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who tweeted being upset and disclosed his orders to the IGP Punjab to arrest those responsible, and the same IGP was summoned by the Chief Justice of Pakistan to report on the matter.
However, this official activity should not disguise the fact that the incident was not some one-off occurrence, but reflected a deeper malaise within society, that of intolerance generally, and specifically towards minorities. While it is true that mistaken religious beliefs are taught at certain seminaries, and may have played a role in the protesters taking this step. After the APS massacre, a shocked nation’s public representatives laid down a National Action Plan, which included firm action against hate speech, but it was slowly diluted to nothing. It needs to be dusted off and implemented to prevent repetition. It should not be forgotten that while such incidents are rare, they are not unknown. The current climate of religious violence may seem to be a sort of inchoate response to the anti-Muslim sentiment spread by the current BJP government, but it should not hide the fact that two wrongs never make a right.
However, the incident may also be traced to the growing intolerance in society, which is reflected in the rising of political tempers and the use of extremist rhetoric. When a society’s leaders use such intemperate language, is it likely that their followers will not follow suit in all aspects of their life? All parties must dial back their rhetoric, otherwise fellow citizens from minority religions or even minority sects of Islam, may end up paying dearly.
