difficult to figure out the answers to these questions. We thought of what had happened during Partition that brought the human race to shame — the parading of naked and helpless women, the murdering of lakhs of human beings, the raping of thousands of girls. We thought that after this, the problem was behind us. That Partition would rid us of the hatred and the violence. But now we learn that the hatred has not been expended. It thrives.
What had happened during the communal riots was explained away as group action. But now it’s clear that the violence is still within us. Every single day brings news of this.
We must ask ourselves why have these people become so violent. Why are they so intent on actions that do such damage to others.
I think the intensity of violence during Partition could have been reduced. Unfortunately nobody attempted to do this. The result is before us. We have hardened killers living in our midst. Their actions are being reported to us in the papers.
Their hands became familiar with dagger and pistol during the communal riots. What’s being done to control them now? The fact is that these people are a product of that event.
They weren’t used to killing, it is the circumstance that transformed them. They loved their mothers surely, and their friends. They understood the value of honour and respect for their wives and daughters. They feared god.
That one event obliterated all of this. An event so bloody as never witnessed before. What happened then is done and there’s little gain in analyzing it. But it’s absolutely essential that we examine its fallout. The changes that have come because of it. This is not the work of judges, therefore, but of psychologists. They alone can investigate the phenomenon and come out with some solution for it.
It’s troubling that our government is doing nothing about it though every single day, as I keep saying, brings news of violence.
One party confronts another, guns are pulled out, daggers are drawn and plunged in, soda bottles and rocks and whatever comes to hand is flung at the other side. It’s not clear where the administration disappears while this is happening. I don’t want to comment on the police. They are needed to stop this, of course, but the primary work is that of psychological examination. Why is this happening at all?
If we don’t examine it psychologically, I fear the situation will become worse. An era of barbarism will begin in Pakistan. Will begin? Let me correct that — it’s begun.
What day passes without evidence of it? And it has been happening in the open. Another problem in preventing it is that the killers are people whom the witnesses fear. They worry for their own lives. It’s often happened that a man is killed in public. The police may even catch the killer and produce him in court. But then the witnesses are not supportive and the man gets away.
I’m no supporter of the death penalty. Indeed, I’m not even in favour of jail. I don’t think jail reforms people. I’m in favour of that which turns them normal again. We often talk of saints and elders who with one word made terrible people repent. The most ordinary faqir in one meeting making the devil himself take the path of angels. So the soul is undoubtedly something that exists and can be influenced.
In this, our world of science when we understand atomic structure, it’s surely possible to examine ourselves, our soul, scientifically. Of course, we can’t dismiss those who approach the soul through namaaz and roza and aarti and kirtan. The soul is whole. And I’m convinced that the way to reform killers among us is through educating their souls.
They should realize that they can yet be saved. That they are ordinary men and it is the circumstances that made them monsters. They should also realize that it is man whom god made venerable and excellent. Whom He made the last Prophet.
If they understood that about themselves, I’m quite certain they will
What had happened during the communal riots was explained away as group action. But now it’s clear that the violence is still within us. Every single day brings news of this.
We must ask ourselves why have these people become so violent. Why are they so intent on actions that do such damage to others.
I think the intensity of violence during Partition could have been reduced. Unfortunately nobody attempted to do this. The result is before us. We have hardened killers living in our midst. Their actions are being reported to us in the papers.
Their hands became familiar with dagger and pistol during the communal riots. What’s being done to control them now? The fact is that these people are a product of that event.
They weren’t used to killing, it is the circumstance that transformed them. They loved their mothers surely, and their friends. They understood the value of honour and respect for their wives and daughters. They feared god.
That one event obliterated all of this. An event so bloody as never witnessed before. What happened then is done and there’s little gain in analyzing it. But it’s absolutely essential that we examine its fallout. The changes that have come because of it. This is not the work of judges, therefore, but of psychologists. They alone can investigate the phenomenon and come out with some solution for it.
It’s troubling that our government is doing nothing about it though every single day, as I keep saying, brings news of violence.
One party confronts another, guns are pulled out, daggers are drawn and plunged in, soda bottles and rocks and whatever comes to hand is flung at the other side. It’s not clear where the administration disappears while this is happening. I don’t want to comment on the police. They are needed to stop this, of course, but the primary work is that of psychological examination. Why is this happening at all?
If we don’t examine it psychologically, I fear the situation will become worse. An era of barbarism will begin in Pakistan. Will begin? Let me correct that — it’s begun.
What day passes without evidence of it? And it has been happening in the open. Another problem in preventing it is that the killers are people whom the witnesses fear. They worry for their own lives. It’s often happened that a man is killed in public. The police may even catch the killer and produce him in court. But then the witnesses are not supportive and the man gets away.
I’m no supporter of the death penalty. Indeed, I’m not even in favour of jail. I don’t think jail reforms people. I’m in favour of that which turns them normal again. We often talk of saints and elders who with one word made terrible people repent. The most ordinary faqir in one meeting making the devil himself take the path of angels. So the soul is undoubtedly something that exists and can be influenced.
In this, our world of science when we understand atomic structure, it’s surely possible to examine ourselves, our soul, scientifically. Of course, we can’t dismiss those who approach the soul through namaaz and roza and aarti and kirtan. The soul is whole. And I’m convinced that the way to reform killers among us is through educating their souls.
They should realize that they can yet be saved. That they are ordinary men and it is the circumstances that made them monsters. They should also realize that it is man whom god made venerable and excellent. Whom He made the last Prophet.
If they understood that about themselves, I’m quite certain they will
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