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BETWEEN YOURSELF AND ME

What do they want?
***From Udichi Mancha to Gujarat, from Karachi to Batamul, there seems to be a certain refrain that is shared -- of a certain type of zealousness, bigotry and intolerance. No this trend is not limited to South Asia. It is a worldwide trend where everything is now seen in black and white, where the world has become neatly divided into those 'with us' and those 'against us' -- thank you Mr. Bush...The forces of darkness have cast their long and heavy shadow. What has happened in Karachi is just a small reminder of what lies in store for the future. Perhaps Mr. Home Minister you should reopen the Batamul case?***
KARACHI is a troubled city and used to all kinds of strife and violence: sectarian, ethnic, factional and political. Yet what happened here recently has managed to faze even the battle-hardened inhabitants of this once-proud place. Indeed the shock waves emanating from the suicide bombing that killed eleven Frenchmen and two Pakistanis continue to alarm and horrify. It was in these columns that I recently wrote that South Asians have a special gift -we are able to sink further deeper into the mire even after the bottom has been reached. If any proof of this was needed here it is once more, for all to see! This bombing episode is a 'first' in Pakistan -- i.e. this is the first ever suicide bombing. The question now is 'why the French?' Indeed this choice of target suggests either a serious blunder or a perpetrator other than the Al Qaeda. What did it achieve? Well whatever faint hopes there were of
stimulating foreign investment to the country, it has now all but disappeared. The demons unleashed on September 11 will continue to wreak its fearful revenge for a long time to come. One thing is fairly certain however: this mystery will also remain unsolved, just as the perpetrators of numerous murders and target killings all over Pakistan have remained largely undetected. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Remember Udichi Mancha in Jessore?
Remember the bomb blasts in the Ramna Batamul? Or the ill-fated Commissioner who was successfully decommissioned by one of his con buddies? No those murders and bombings will not be solved either. I suspect that investigations into the bomb attack e.g. in Ramna, have been discontinued. If indeed this is the case, one should ask why.
There are two types of evil that currently afflict us: the evil of evil men and the evil of good men. The first type of evil leads to your ordi-
nary, garden-variety law and order problem which any government worthy of the name should be able to contain. This is essentially reflected in what we refer to as mastani. I don't worry about it too much although I understand the real potential for damage here is in terms of changing norms of behaviour in our society, to the point where we now accept the unimaginable and the unthinkable with total equanimity. The day may soon come when
the word itself becomes devoid of any derogatory connotation so that you would be quite proud to introduce your son-in law as, 'meet my son in law -- he is a mastan!' Or your son may say, 'Baba, I want to become a mastan when I grow up.' Just ask yourself how much evil we now accept without question, indeed sometimes with pride: 'Here is my great cousin the meter-reader! He has twelve houses in Gulshan', or 'Jodumodu (remember him?) has invited us to dinner!' I am trying
to convince myself that it is not too late and that the days of the mastanraj are numbered -- although I must admit I have no solid basis for such wishful thinking. I am more worried about the second type of evil, the evil perpetrated by Good Men. And we all know who they are, don't we?
Who are they? In Pakistan (and to a certain extent in Bangladesh), a massive outbreak of apparent religiosity appears to have
occurred. Take the case of Mr. Nasim (not his real name), a management consultant working for a well-known multi-national company. He looked 'modern', spoke good English and appeared to have all the trappings of a secular mind. He has taken his eldest son out of school and sent him to a Madrasah to become a Quran e Hafez. 'Does he study any other subject?' I asked. No, he did not. His main goal is to memorize the Quran in the next two years after which he will rejoin his
classes in his regular school. I was shocked.
Closer to home, my son came up to me one day and accused me of being 'strange'. Apparently all the (male) children in the neighbourhood regularly went to Friday prayers with their fathers. My son was under a bit of peer pressure to conform. The following Friday I obliged my neighbours' children and took my son to the nearby mosque. The place was packed like a can of
sardines and it was with great difficulty that father and son managed to participate in the ritual. I had no idea that Friday prayers had become so popular.
So here we are faced with a massive outbreak of good counterpoised against an equally massive outbreak of evil. Thus, people are more religious minded today, more prone to say their prayers, fast for thirty days and go to haj than ever before. Similarly, people are just as prone to steal, plunder and pillage
without batting an eye. Perhaps many are equally comfortable in both worlds. Who are they you asked? Look within, as the sage would say.
Actually, I started out by wondering what it is that good and violent people want. From Udichi Mancha to Gujarat, from Karachi to Batamul, there seems to be a certain refrain that is shared -- of a certain type of zealousness, bigotry and intolerance. No this trend is not limited to South Asia. It is a worldwide trend where everything is now seen in black and white, where the world has become neatly divided into those 'with us' and those 'against us' -- thank you Mr. Bush. The symptoms have been there for sometime now, in France, Germany, the U.K. and of course the U.S. -- countries that are desperately trying to retain a foothold over the 'high moral ground' even as the earth slips under their feet. The support given to Sharon by the forces of good is indefensible and unjust. The impending strike against Iraq and Iran will irrevocably convince the Islamic and the developing world that if you don't play ball you will be squashed. And if that is indeed your fate why not go out in blazing glory all the way to Jannat? The forces of darkness have cast their long and heavy shadow. What has happened in Karachi is just a small reminder of what lies in store for the future. Perhaps Mr. Home Minister you should reopen the Batamul case?
Dr K A S Murshid is an economist and Research Director, BIDS.