By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera*
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report identifies Pakistan as the highest among the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. Adding to the account is the recent lynching and burning of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot, Pakistan. The brutal act was immediately condemned by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeting, ‘ The horrific vigilante attack on factory in Sialkot & the burning alive of Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistan. I am overseeing the investigations & let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with full severity of the law. Arrests are in progress’. According to a reputed media outlet, the incident was connected to ‘hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)’ where the victim ‘allegedly tore a poster of the hardline group in which Quranic verses were inscribed and threw it in the dustbin. The poster of the Islamist party was pasted on the wall adjoining the office of Kumara. A couple of factory workers saw him removing the poster and spread the word in the factory’ reports PTI.
Prime Minister Imran Khan made a U-turn in his policy decision on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). In April, the Pakistani government moved to ban the TLP under anti-terrorism legislation, taking its leader Saad Rizvi into custody; in November, the same cabinet revoked the declaration of the TLP as a banned group, and a provincial government moved to remove Rizvi’s name from an anti-terrorism watchlist. While the entire government is not in favour of this decision, Minister Fawad Chaudhry cautioned “neither the Pakistani government nor the state is completely ready to fight extremism … the way the state had to back off in the TLP’s case, symbolises that the bomb (of extremism) is ticking”.
While TLP denies its role in spreading extremism and Pakistan authorities debate over the subject, the recent lynching of the Sri Lankans adds clear concerns on uncontrolled and rising extremism, which could move beyond its borders to the region. The ban on TLP was foreseen as an unfruitful exercise by Pakistan scholar Hussain Haqqani saying, “it is unlikely that banning one group(TLP) will diminish Pakistan’s religious extremism problem.” The problem is ‘While Pakistan’s establishment has alternated between various Islamist factions, mainstreaming one while suppressing another, it has never thought about mainstreaming secularists who have been dubbed as traitors or unfaithful to the ideology of Pakistan’. The assassination of Salman Taseer, former Governor of Panjab, killed by his bodyguard for speaking against the blasphemy law where the killer was garlanded in flowers by lawyers, which depicts the clear perception of Pakistan on blasphemy.
TLP has influenced Pakistan foreign policy in the present conducive environment created by PM khan’s administration. French President Macron was a clear target accused by TLP and PM Khan for spreading Islamophobia. The recent summoning of France’s ambassador is an incident of deep polarisation of policymakers on extremism. President Macron explains, “The problem is an ideology which claims its own laws should be superior to those of the Republic,” and continues to defend the laws of freedom of expression. At the same time, PM Khan sees Macron “has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence”. Turkish President Erdogan, who joins PM Khan criticising President Macron, clearly shows division.
The issue of blasphemy and rising extremism has gone beyond borders. In September, a Pakistani man was taken into custody by French police for allegedly attacking and seriously wounding two people with a meat cleaver in Paris over the issue of blasphemy.
While individual cases such as in Paris or the Sri Lankan murder are just one side of the story, the Pakistan government and their military handlers accepting the TLP ludicrous demands and ability to dictate terms to a government on its foreign policy and policy prescription are clear signs of concerns on regional security of South Asia. What is required is that both France and Pakistan should work on reforming their laws to adopt a progressive society, France to respect its heterogeneous society and religious respect and tolerance and Pakistan to reform its laws to accommodate religious harmony and curb extremist thinking with a consistent policy.
Priyantha Kumara, who was in his 40s, working as the general manager of the garment factory in Sialkot, became the first Sri Lankan victim of blasphemy in Pakistan, and it’s a clear signal to the Pakistan government to manage its internal volatile security situation. The TLP will influence the rise of far-right political parties that could further push the country towards extremism. India and South Asian security are directly vulnerable to the rise of extremist forces. Seeing the early signs of rising extremism in its periphery, India strongly condemned the terrorist strike in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. India told the UN Security Council that these attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand united against terrorism and those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister for External Affairs, called for adopting the Convention on Terrorism, an important step to minimise the security threat. With significant financial assistance being stopped, poverty is on the rise, with many people suffering in the current environment in Afghanistan. This is the exact landscape where terrorism and extremism thrive. This will further propel the right-wing extremist factions in Pakistan. The South Asian nations are vulnerable in this unfolding security environment, where Sri Lanka was an apparent victim in the 2019 easter Sunday terror attack. The regimes in power should not propagate and support extremist fractions for political gain. Political and military actors orchestrate the Islamization and extremism campaigns for their political legitimisation in the region. A policy prescription for moderate and religious harmony is a top priority for the region, where intertwined political supported extremist structures must be dismantled to promote regional peace.
The dual policy prescription to condemn extremism and promote extremism needs to end. Unfortunately, the political narrative to propagate right-wing ultra-nationalist extremism is visible even in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Minister Namal Rajapaksa tweeted acknowledging the gravity of the situation, saying ‘we should be mindful that this could happen to anyone if extremist forces are allowed to act freely’, forgetting the same Rajapaksa regime has elevated the extremist Buddhist force BBS to draft legal recommendations ‘one country one law’ for the nation which is a concern for the governments own minority community.
*Asanga Abeyagoonasekera is a Geopolitical analyst, Strategic Advisor and author from Sri Lanka.