It's a sad yet interesting situation. I guess a relatively bigger majority is either celebrating the unlawful death of Salman Taseer or have no regret whatsoever in comparison to the folks who r standing with the fact Mr Taseer's death is not only unfortunate but also tears apart law of the land that we must all abide by.
I think you're right - but I would like to elaborate a bit on your point, if I may. An overwhelming majority of Pakistanis today would be in the camp where they may not celebrate his death, but certainly do not mourn it either - that's certainly my position. I think his murder was wrong and condemnable, and the killer should be properly and swiftly punished by law, but more than that - not really.
In reality, this case shows very clearly that there are
three broad camps in Pakistan. The TTP religious extremists on one hand, who are killing and murdering through bomb blasts; the liberal extremists on the other hand, who are also killing and murdering with impunity, whether in Swat, in Lal Masjid, in FATA, in Wana, or in other similar instances, whether through army actions, through CIA black-ops etc, or through drones. And then there is the great majority of Pakistanis in the middle.
Sadly, most discourse is dominated by the two extremes. The TTP and their affiliated terrorists would not have more than 1 or 2% support in Pakistan (
if that!), yet the media gives their people prominence as if they speak for every religious or practising Muslim in the country!
Similarly, the extreme liberal and secular elite, the Western educated or trained uber-rich who run many of the English websites, newspapers and TV programmes etc etc, would not be more than 1 or 2% of the population, but as they are the elite, they control most things (at least financially) and get affronted whenever their control or hegemony is thwarted or threatened. Where they don't have actual control (for instance in legal and religious matters), they at the very least control the public discourse and the debate.
Both these extremes are as bad as the other, and have grown stronger and more entrenched as a reaction to each other. The great majority are neither at these liberal extremes nor at these religious extremes. The majority is mostly conservative, believes in Islam and an Islamic society (
often, hypocritically so), and certainly does not believe in violence to murder innocents, whether in Lahore, FATA, Swat or Karachi. They might not all be overtly religious, or all follow Islam as a way of life, or practice many Islamic acts; but their mindset and their outlook is mostly very conservative, and that conservatism mostly grows out of Islam. Some of them might also be hypocritical, so there will be those who might do the very things they condemn or disapprove in others, but mostly, in their minds, even these people would have a clear view of "right" and "wrong", and even when indulging in pastimes they would categorise as "wrong", they often manage to stay on the moral high horse and maintain a sense of self-righteousness.
This majority might vote for the PPP, PMLs, even the MQM or the ANP - many of whom are "secular" parties and/or politicians, but for these people in the middle, their vote does not define them or their lifestyles. They remain conservative in outlook and practice, which is why even the great secular hope Musharraf, or many of a similar outlook in the higher echelons of the MQM / ANP / PPP [
and the current Army high command], are relatively powerless to achieve most of their secular objectives. Not because they are scared of the 1% who support the TTP and the other 1% who support JI / JUI-F etc - but because they know the majority won't stand for it, even their own voters and constituencies.
Hence two of the shrewdest and smartest political operators in the PPP, Babar Awan and Jamshed Dasti, two people who are incidentally amongst the closest to the President and the PM respectively, came out very strongly and even vehemently against Taseer et al's views on the blasphemy issue right at the outset - because they know which way their bread is buttered, they know what their electorate wants and cannot stand and they are politicians. [
As an aside, it was ironic that these two alongwith Taseer are also amongst most ill-reputed and even odious members of the current government, but I guess that probably explains why they are given such importance by their respective patrons!]
The subsequent and wrong murder of Taseer was actually a reaction from this "great majority". The liberal extremists [just like their religious counter-parts] sometimes go too far in their desire to subjugate the thoughts, the social mores and the laws of the rest of the country, and this issue was one of those. If one notes the names and the organisations of the hitherto unknown people who have come out vocally and forcefully in support of the murder and the murderer, and have refused to pray for Taseer and condemned him - they are those who hate the TTP ideology and people, and in fact, they are the very people who were previously described as "moderate" and "mainstream".
Often, the liberal extremists would extol the virtues of this type of "Barelvi" Islam and of its adherents, and give them great prestige - personally I am not a Barelvi and disagree strongly with their theology, but one has to acknowledge that the involvement of our Barelvi brothers in terrorist violence and bloodshed in recent years has been minimal, almost non-existent. They have been often been a victim of TTP terrorism sadly, but not the instigators.
The point that many of us are now missing is that its not the TTP or some other fringe terrorist who has committed this murder. Its a mainstream Muslim who is apparently not part of any extreme organisation. Hence, the surprising (
to me, at least) great public support for the murderer, or at least, tacit approval now. Even those who are out on the streets burning tyres at this murder, ie the PPP die-hards and the paid political mischief-makers, are primarily doing so out of political motives to score points off the current Punjab govt. - hence the recent comments from Awan and others in the PPP hierarchy giving political connotations to the murder as opposed to religious or societal ones.
The mainstream majority are rationalising the issue very easily, it seems - they consider Taseer's life and the events leading up to his death, and they see a series of actions and behaviours that they consider vile - they contrast that with his murderer's life and action, and they see a man acting for the 'greater good' and in fact, sacrificing his life and his freedom for it. In their appraisal, its easy to know whom to support, or at least, whom not to support. They might not be joining the murderer's FB page, but they are certainly quite sanguine and even relieved at the event, and ambivalent on the whole issue.
Whilst vigilante justice is IMHO always condemnable and wrong, it is nonetheless instructive to understand the reasons and the drivers which lead to it, in particular where it has wide public support, as in this instance.
It seems the same points had already been made and discussed before.
