Sectarian conflict is nothing new to this region. It certainly pre-dates the Partition, and brawls in Moharram in Lucknow were a near annual occurrence. But the scale of the conflict was nowhere near what it has become recently. Since 1989, sectarian violence has claimed the lives of 4056 people. An alarming trend that has snowballed into a Shia-genocide that is happening up and down the country simultaneously.
Many attribute this increased trend in armed sectarian violence to the former dictator Gen. Zia-ul-Haq's militarisation of the religious extreme in the 80s. Just as many hold former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's declaration of Ahmedi's as non-Muslims as the biggest hit to Pakistan's religious minority's chance for peaceful co-existence. Others would raise circulating conspiracy theories about the involvement of foreign entities in promoting the violence in the country; especially, the recent Shia-genocide.
I do not have a hard time accepting any of these opinions. I, however, do not believe them to be at the root of the problem. I think that they have been catalysts that accelerated a tendency that already existed, and maybe even help justify the discrimination of religious minorities in the deranged social mindset. The true cause lies in an even more auspicious place.
No matter how many intellectual discussions we have on Mr. Jinnah's intentions and try to reinterpret the Two-Nation Theory, the undeniable fact remains that Pakistan is a country formed for the purpose of obtaining and cementing the dominance of a certain group of people: Muslims. Lines were redrawn on maps and millions of people were displaced to insure this dominance. So essentially the ideology of this country is one that at its core negates difference and seeks uniqueness.
In no way am I questioning the need for the partition or even the wisdom behind the ideology itself. What I'm merely pointing out is that generation after generation we've carried the hangover of this ideology. The segregation of Indian society did not stop in August 1947. In fact, we've been at it in different ways, at different place, in different times since. At every opportunity, the dominant mindset of society has identified and discriminated against anyone who is different from the established norm; be it on the basis of race or religion. Add to that tendencies for violence and mob mentality of a third-world country and you have the situation we face all over the country today. A warped mindset that justifies brutality against fellow countrymen just because they are different. A society ripe for manipulation by anybody who wants to kick things off. All they need to supply is the means and the opportunity; the motivation to do harm is already there.
So where do we go from here?
I recently had a conversation with psychiatrist and blogger Awais Aftab about the different psychological tendencies of Pakistani society. We mostly focused on the prevalent 'victim's psyche', where society as a whole believes that the source of the problems that plague them is external and so the solutions to these problems must come from there as well. There is very little sense of responsibility in society. Awais was of the opinion that even though victim mentality is studied at the individual level, it can also be a characteristic of society as a whole; especially in one such as ours. When we discussed possible solutions for this, he said that in the individual's case you need a motivation from within to get over this victim mentality and make proactive efforts towards improving his/her situation. A society cannot get over its collective victim mentality on a social level until its individuals have overcome victim blaming individually. Once sufficient number of individuals have changed themselves they can help motivate the rest of society to change as well. Yes, a highly improbable solution. It's the same when it comes to the social inability to co-exist. You just cannot have a 100 million people in therapy.
Or can you?
There are close to 40 million children enrolled in pre-primary, primary and secondary levels in Pakistan. With major reforms to the education policy of the country we can start instilling values of co-existence, patience, and instil a more proactive, solution-oriented attitude in society that is clearly lacking. Raising citizens who will not only stop adding to the problems of the country, but also start contributing to solutions. Maybe this won't be enough in the short-term to create a society that celebrates co-existence, but it may go a long way in diluting the venom that is present that justifies taking a gun in your hand and taking the life of a fellow countryman.
