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Religious Bigotry

46 0
12.10.2024

Religious bigotry has been a hidden force that undermines society and continues to evade the full weight of the law. This is partly because the state has not prioritized countering such extremism, and partly due to the government’s vested interest in maintaining a ‘divide and rule’ strategy. The glorification of perpetrators of religiously motivated violence further exacerbates the situation in Pakistan. Even more concerning is society’s failure to combat this growing strand of extremism.

Ironically, radicalism has significantly infiltrated the police force, turning it into a tool for extrajudicial killings, especially of blasphemy suspects. The presentation of garlands to police officers by religious fanatics to celebrate the extrajudicial killings of these suspects serves as a blatant attempt to influence law enforcement agencies. This underscores that even the police are not immune to deep-rooted religious extremism, which should prioritize upholding the law, not religion. If the police become complicit in the deaths of individuals facing unproven blasphemy allegations, justice remains elusive.

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So far, there has been little effective resistance against this dangerous religious extremism, with notable exceptions being the recent cases of Dr. Shah Nawaz Khumbhar, a blasphemy suspect who was extra-judicially murdered by police in Sindh, and Mashal Khan, a student who was lynched by his fellows at Abdul Wali Khan University in KPK. This situation is........

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