Opinion | Populism, religious zealotry, social media: the unholy trinity that made a lawless mess of Pakistan
- Kevin Rafferty says the blasphemy case against Asia Bibi is an emblem of a Pakistan that has broken its founding father’s promise of safety for people of all faiths, and a nation that has lost its way
The judges ordered that Bibi, a poor Catholic farm labourer who had spent eight years on death row, be released immediately. But Muslim extremists reacted to her acquittal by threatening to bring Pakistan to a bloody halt and demanding that she be put to death, whatever the evidence.
Pakistan is a potentially rich country that has become an unholy lawless mess through the combined evil forces of populism, religious zealotry and mob rule.
But Jinnah died from tuberculosis within 13 months of independence. Squabbling politicians tried to keep a government together until generals took over in 1958. I first encountered Pakistan just before the country fell prey to modern populist religious savagery. It was a time of opportunity, of elections to restore democracy from discredited generals.
West Pakistan, now Pakistan, was taken over by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had swept to power promising “food, clothing and shelter” for all. He could have become a great reconciler, admitting defeat, cutting the military down to size, making proper peace with India, and throwing his energies into building on the assets of this historic land to forge a new tiger economy. But he did not.
He played the populist card, promising reforms and land for all; nationalising leading industries and banks for the people; decreeing universal, free education; bashing the fat cats of Pakistan’s 22 richest families. But there was no follow-through. He chose ministers, badly, for their loyalty, not competence, while he devoted himself to bringing down new opponents.
When Bhutto felt his popularity slipping, he cynically played the Islam card – developing an “Islamic bomb” to appeal for Arab money and outflank a growing number of Muslim parties. He overrode army seniority and Zia ul-Haq as army chief, mistakenly believing that Zia would be blindly loyal.
How wrong: Zia overthrew Bhutto, imprisoned him, and had him hanged. Zia then trumped Bhutto’s Islam card, encouraging madrassas and the influence of Salafist Islamic doctrines from Saudi Arabia; ensuring that the military, bureaucracy and judiciary were dominated by Islamic purists; and tightening laws, including against blasphemy, to ensure an Islamic state, in defiance of Jinnah’s promises.
After Zia’s death in an aircraft crash in 1988, Pakistan’s march of Islam continued with generals and politicians vying for the spoils of power. Social media, featuring attacks on religious minorities, encouraged outbursts of mob rule. Christians with the wherewithal left; the poor ones, like Asia Bibi, had no such recourse.