Eye on Extremism: Violent fanaticism knows no borders

The army chief General Kayani is reported to have told western ambassadors in January  that there were too many soldiers in the ranks who sympathise with Taseer’s killer and who is hailed as a hero by fellow police officers.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch |
Source/Credit: Express News Service
By Soli J Sorabjee | Mar 13, 2011

Whither Pakistan? Fanaticism is at its violent peak in Pakistan. No person in Pakistan dare propose even an amendment to the country’s blasphemy laws in order to prevent its undeniable misuse in practice. The killings of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian minister in the Cabinet, were condemnable. But what is more deplorable is the public reaction, especially the showering of rose petals by lawyers on the murderer.

Prime Minister Gilani attended the funeral service but many preferred to keep a low profile. The role of the army is intriguing. It has so far failed to express regret about the murders of Bhatti and Taseer or even to convey condolences to their families.


The army chief General Kayani is reported to have told western ambassadors in January  that there were too many soldiers in the ranks who sympathise with Taseer’s killer and who is hailed as a hero by fellow police officers. If this is true the mind set is terrifying. Fortunately there are brave souls like Asma Jehangir, Sherry Rehman and others who in their own way are fighting this monster of fanaticism and who deserve the support of every broad minded person who is a well-wisher of Pakistan. Remember, the contagion of violent fanaticism can rapidly spread transcending geographical boundaries and natural frontiers.

Judicial witticism: Judges are generally regarded as erudite but dull persons engrossed only in their judicial work. This is a misconception. For example, former Chief Justice Hidayatullah in his convocation address to Indian Agricultural Research Institute when he was Vice-President was asked why milk, which used to cost about two annas a seer at one stage, sold at 30 times that price today.

Hidayatullah replied that formerly, the mother milked the cows, the girls set the milk out in pans to bring the cream to the top and one of the boys sold it carrying it in a hand-cart. Then in his inimitable witty style he said “Now, the department of agriculture is mobilised, cowsheds are sterilised, the cows are immunised, the milk is homogenised, the suppliers are motorised, the dairies are organised, the milkmen are unionised, the milk product exports are subsidised, the political leaders are energised and the result is that the Indian consumer is victimised.” This was Hadi at his best.

Judges at times like to embellish their judgments with literary quotes. Justice Krishna Iyer in one of his judgments bemoaned that a particular section was drafted in a jaw-breaking fashion and its cumbersomeness could have been simplified. The legislation he said reminded him of the British jingle:

I’m the parliamentary draftsman
I compose the country’s laws
And of half the litigation
I’m undoubtedly the cause.

Incidentally, lawyers can ill afford to complain of complexity in drafting being the cause of litigation which after all is a steady source of lucrative income.


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