The Express Tribune Editorial 12 November 2019

Babri Masjid verdict

Secular India is dead. Just read the world’s most respected newspapers for proof. India is now “fundamentally a Hindu nation” and “not the secular republic promoted by the country’s founders”, reads The Washington Post. “India’s Supreme Court…[handed] the prime minister and his followers a major victory in their quest to remake the country as Hindu and shift it further from its secular foundation,” reads The New York Times. The “major victory”, of course, is the verdict in the Babri Mosque case. The case was, as described by The Wall Street Journal, a “litmus test for how vigorously the court would enforce protections for minority religions in an era when Hindu nationalists are pressing for the government to more-prominently advocate for the interests of the country’s Hindu majority”.

Well, long story short, the court failed. The destruction of the mosque and the case for rebuilding were always political acts of illegal violence, but no court dared to stand up to the BJP. They have seen what Hindutva mobs do to people they disagree with. After all, “Since Modi and the BJP took power in 2014, the rebuilding of a Ram temple at Ayodhya has been at the forefront of their Hindutva agenda,” read The Guardian. And then, there is the unfortunate truth that BJP members led crowds of thousands during the attack on Babri Masjid in December 1992. More than 2,000 people were killed in the rioting and violence that ensued, and some BJP members are still facing trial for their role in the violence.

After the verdict, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi rightly asked on Saturday night that if Babri Masjid was illegal, why were former home minister and BJP co-founder LK Advani and others being tried in connection with its demolition. “If Babri Masjid was legal, then why was [the land it was built on] handed over to those who demolished it. If it was illegal, then why is a case going on? Withdraw the case against Advani [if it was illegal],” Owaisi said.
Unfortunately, this was a verdict born not out of legalities, but rather out of the Indian state’s capitulation to a fascistic ideology.

On a lighter note

Some recent government decisions and politicians’ statements remind one of a line of verse read in school, Day by day, in every way, I have been getting better. The government of Balochistan has made wearing of uniforms compulsory for students from March 1, 2020. A government circular says the uniform will be available from a particular shop in the provincial capital.

Here it does not take much intelligence to see the element of patronage. This also shows a skewed sense of priorities. First, the university should have paid attention to improving its public image that recently received a battering after a scandal of sexual harassment at the varsity surfaced. Students alleged that officials of the university administration placed hidden cameras in student washrooms and other places within the campus to blackmail them. This has reportedly resulted in many female students leaving the university. This, of course, does not augur well for the future of education in the province. Whether the decision about wearing of uniforms will really bring the intended result, it does not matter. The low literacy level does not matter. Ghost schools and ghost teachers don’t matter.

However, politicians’ shenanigans do not stop in one province. At a time when the smog level has gone beyond the tolerance level in Punjab, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul has not only downplayed the smog issue, she has dismissed reports as entirely fake news. She has tried to give a political twist to the issue, saying smog has increased in Punjab because smoke-emitting vehicles carrying people to the JUI-F dharna are passing through the province. Another hilarious comment has come from a Sindh minister. As Karachi has been witnessing an attack of locusts for the past few days, the provincial minister of agriculture has advised people to make biryani and barbecue with these bugs, saying people will love this insect food. Do politicians believe what they say?

Ignored gold

Pakistan is always touted as the country which has the potential to produce world’s best athletes in all sports. And it is not said without evidence. Pakistan has already gifted to the world some of the best talent in cricket, squash and field hockey. However, except cricket, no sport and athlete has been able to survive in the country. Every rise has seen a fall. All stars faded without receiving recognition. All actually is doom and gloom if you are an athlete of any sport other than cricket in this country. The best example is that the 1992 World Cup winning captain, Imran Khan, is the Prime Minister of the country at the moment, but how many hockey Olympians can think of such as rise? Well this is not to discredit his personal effort over the course of his long political journey.

With the context clearly set, let us for a moment consider the case of cueist Muhammad Asif, who recently won his second world snooker championship title. The Faisalabad-born cueist won his first title in 2012, but never received the promised Rs10 million which is given to the athletes of Pakistan who display outstanding performance for the country. If it was for the government, the cueist would have discarded hope and disappeared, but his grit saw him conquer the world once again, and for whom? For Pakistan.

Pakistan athletes’ faces shone with hope when Imran Khan rose to power to become the premier of the country. Every athlete of every sport was hopeful that Imran Khan will lend an ear to their problems and help them reach the epitome of excellence. However, the reality struck them hard when funding for federations was cut under the banner of austerity measures. Asif, on his arrival in Karachi, said that “he only needs the government’s support” to win more laurels for Pakistan. His words encompass the feelings of thousands of athletes who have done a lot for Pakistan, but without a bat and ball in hand.