Bigotrys march 1929-2011

Dear All,

This week Viewpoint publishes my longer article on the assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer. I have drawn on my independent research related to the partition of the Punjab and that includes an interview with the son of Rajpal, who published a disrespectful book on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and was killed in 1929.

Viewpoint carries several other very interesting articles on this theme as well. I suggest you visit it for the other articles as well. AS ALWAYS comments are very welcome.

Best regards,

Ishtiaq

The writer is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University. He is also Honorary Senior Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He can be reached at billumian@gmail.com

VIEWPOINT, ELECTRONIC  

January 14, 2011, Online Issue No. 33.

http://www.viewpointonline.net/now-or-never.html#addcomments

Bigotry's march: 1929-2011

by  Ishtiaq Ahmed |  |  | 

Jinnah did not endorse what Ilam Din had done. Contrary to mythology, Ilam Din did submit a mercy petition. The Lahore High Court found Ilam Din guilty and sentenced him to death on 17 July 1929. Iqbal pais glowing tributes to Ilam Din. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan too waxed eloquent in a eulogy to Ilam Din at the graveside

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 will always be remembered as the day when Islamist terrorism took one more step towards wholesale talibanisation of Pakistan. Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was slain by his own bodyguard who proudly confessed that he did it because Taseer had had the audacity to describe the blasphemy law as draconian. It may be recalled that some time back a poor Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court for allegedly using sacrilegious language against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Reports are now emerging that the conspiracy to kill Taseer included several individuals trained as police commandos. It has further been revealed that Qadri and several of his fellow commandos had been identified as unreliable for duty to protect VIPs. The assailant belongs to the Brelawi-Sunni sub-sect. Analysts fond of describing Brelawis as moderates and Deobandis as radical need to ponder over such distinctions.

The Brelawis have taken the lead this time and 500 of their top ulema have come out with a fatwa declaring Qadri a true lover of the Prophet and Taseer an accomplice of the alleged blasphemer, Aasia Bibi, who deserved to die. The head of the Jama'at-e-Islami, Munawwar Hasan has, as expected, blamed Taseer for provoking pious sensibilities by describing the blasphemy law in uncharitable manner.

The propaganda launched against him is that Taseer decided to take up cudgels on behalf of Aasia Bibi to please the West. I have tried very hard to understand how the West benefits from a poor Christian woman being pardoned for a crime she did not commit. There are millions of poor Christians in Latin America, India, the Philippines and elsewhere for whom the West doesn't give two hoots. The prevailing rule in Pakistan is, however: commit any crime against humanity and justify it as some noble reaction to Western imperialism and as a punishment to its native lackeys.

Another line of justification of the murder by rightwing journalists is that the governor interfered with the judicial process by declaring the blasphemy law as bad. Such reasoning is of course pure chicanery. Justice Arif Iqbal Bhatti of the Lahore High Court had in 1995 found two Christians, Salamat Masih and Rehmat Masih, not guilty of blasphemy and set them free. On October 10, 1997 he was gunned down. Recently one of the clerics referred to Justice Bhatti's fate as the punishment awaiting anyone who acquits non-Muslims on blasphemy charges: irrespective of whether there is evidence to corroborate it or not.

In another string of emails, Qadri is being described as the fulfiller of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal's vision of Pakistan: one where only true believers live. The basis for such a description is what happened in Lahore long years ago. On April 6, 1929 Ilam Din, a young, illiterate Muslim youth assassinated a Hindu, Rajpal, for publishing a book, Rangeela Rasul (The Merry Messenger of God), scurrilous to Prophet Muhammad.

I talked to Rajpal's son, Dina Nath Malhotra, in New Delhi on April 14, 2004. He told me that the author of the book was Pandit Chamupati who had written it in retaliation for a book allegedly written by a Muslim in 1920 denigrating Lord Krishna and Swami Dayananda, the founder of the Arya Samaj. Malhotra's father, having promised not to reveal the author's name attracted the wrath of the enraged Muslims onto himself.

Raj Pal was sentenced on January 18, 1927 to eighteen months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000 for provoking enmity between Hindus and Muslims. However, that did not satisfy the Muslims of Lahore. Agitations and protests continued. On 6 April 1929 a Muslim youth Ilam Din, a young man of 18-19, got enraged and stabbed Rajpal to death. The Hindus of Lahore in large numbers took part in the funeral procession of Rajpal.

Other sources provide the following information. When the trial began the initial defence of Ilam Din was prepared by Mian Farrukh Hussain. A death sentence was passed on Ilam Din at the Session's Court. Allama Iqbal and Mian Abdul Aziz were leading the Muslim effort save Ilam Din. Iqbal urged Jinnah to come from Bombay and appear before the Lahore High Court on behalf of Ilam Din. Jinnah agreed. Jinnah's plea was that Ilam Din was an illiterate youngster man who was incensed by the disparaging language against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used in the book and should therefore not be sent to the gallows. Jinnah did not endorse what Ilam Din had done, however. Contrary to mythology, Ilam Din did submit a mercy petition. The Lahore High Court found Ilam Din guilty and sentenced him to death on 17 July 1929. The judge who delivered the death sentence was Kanwar Sir Dalip Singh, a Christian who hailed from the ruling family of Kapurthala.

Only persistent processions and demonstrations, on the one hand, and assurances by the notables of the Muslim community, on the other, that peace and order would not be disturbed if his body were returned to his family and buried in Lahore convinced the British authorities to comply with that demand. Ilam Din's father requested Iqbal to lead the funeral prayers for his son, but he excused himself by saying that he was a sinner and therefore a more pious Muslim should lead the prayers. He did however pay glowing tributes to Ilam Din. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan too waxed eloquent in a eulogy to Ilam Din at the graveside.

In 1982, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq amended Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code to declare blasphemy a major offence. Initially the maximum punishment was life imprisonment. In 1986, it was made even harsher and read, "whoever by words either spoken or written or by visible representations or in any manner whatsoever, or by any imputation, innuendo or institution, directly or indirectly defiles the sacred name of the holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine." Further amendment in 1991 resulted in the death penalty becoming the automatic punishment for blasphemers and life imprisonment was deleted.

Since 1986, hundreds of non-Muslim, mainly Christians, as well as some free-thinking Muslims have been charged for blasphemy since 1986. Mostly it has been petty disputes over property or jobs that have been the basis of attacks on the Christians. At the lower levels the courts have found them guilty and passed the death sentence but because of the agitation by human rights organizations and pressure of international public opinion no individual has been executed up till now. Rather, at the higher levels the courts have found some technical basis to reduce the sentence or set such individuals free.

That has of course not been the end of the matter. Such persons have either been killed by fanatics, or, granted humanitarian asylum in the West. In some cases fanatics have taken the law into their own hands and brutally killed alleged blasphemers. To this day, no such killer has been punished. Justice Arif Iqbal Bhatti of the Lahore High Court had in 1995 found two Christians, Salamat Masih and Rehmat Masih, not guilty of blasphemy and set them free. On October 10, 1997 Justice Bhatti was gunned down. In 1998, Bishop John Joseph burnt himself to death to protest the injustices meted out to Christians under the blasphemy law.

It is time for Pakistani liberals and leftists to study the rise of fascism and Nazism from the late 1920s and follow how these movements ended up capturing the state and plunging Europe into a bloodbath that claimed millions of life. Initially the fascists and Nazis were considered fools and upstarts, but already before World War II broke out Italian and German liberals, social democrats and communists - all had been cornered; not to mention that the Nazis had begun to target Jews and Roma (Gypsies) though the gas chambers had not yet been put into service.

The whiskey-drenched upper classes of Lahore think that the Lahore Canal is some insurmountable physical barrier that protects them from the tentacles of the growing fascist monster. Just look around and see how well-prepared, co-ordinated and skilfully orchestrated is the foul propaganda barrage that has been let loose to project the assassin, Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, as a great champion of Islam.

Pakistan is in a state of near anarchy. The government lacks parliamentary majority in the National Assembly and the PML-N seems determined to bring it down. Pakistan is a fast failing state, but has not failed yet. Contrary to the fatwa of some ulema that Salmaan Taseer should be refused an Islamic burial, other clerics were willing to lead his funeral prayers. Thousands of people took part in the ceremony. He was buried with full official protocol, his bier being carried by men in uniform. He was given a state funeral with full honours. It means that not all people have gone mad.

Salmaan Taseer was a brave man and one with strong convictions. Such individuals are becoming rare commodity in Pakistan. Something drastic needs to be done. Our very active judiciary must do its duty. Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri and his accomplices should be tried and meted out punishment they deserve for the crime they have committed. This is the opportunity. It is now or never. Unless the PPP-led Federal Government repeals the blasphemy law, it might as well pass on the unenviable task of proving Pakistan to be a failed state to someone else.