When eating in Ramazan means asking for a beating

A man was beaten to pulp in Karachi because he was eating during Ramazan. Everyone heard his story but no one helped..

Zara Shahid July 17, 2013
With the holy month comes an all encompassing wave of piety - dairy companies’ fuss over how their milk will make Iftar a more spiritual experience and television actors don designer shalwar kameez to host Ramazan transmissions. Yes, Ramazan is very festive in our part of the world.

Amidst these merry happenings, a video went viral, recently. A man was beaten to pulp in Karachi for eating during this sacred month. The video showed him bleeding profusely as a few fretted around him and a camera man struggled to get the best shot of his blood smeared face. It was a circus. No one cared to provide him with any help and his attackers could not see that he was evidently hurt.

Yet, in that state, the poor man narrated his tragedy to anyone who was willing to hear. However, everyone heard but no one budged to help.

The thrashing was a boost of faith for some but for the millions of peace loving Pakistanis it came with a tinge of shame; we had yet again let the Frankenstein take over. Much like the umpteen instances of ‘cosmetic Islam’ that we drumbeat, this would, in all possibility only serve to disenfranchise him from the religion of peace.

But the event does a lot more than that, it presents an archetypal example of the attitude of so many in this country - if a man does not follow your religion make him do so by force, if he dissents from your opinion declare him an infidel, if he wishes to understand religion via a means you do not deem ‘correct’, shun him.

This mindset may not be that of the majority but it is of the loudest and the powerful.

In the rat race of ‘who is more pious,’ the most salient message has begun to slip. This message is one of harmony, peace, justice and tolerance preached by all the religions of the world. However, in the context of modern day Pakistan, religion is a monopoly of a clique of self righteous and all powerful extremists who play the Islam card to reap political benefits whilst the silent majority does little to reclaim this religion or this country.

Has this bigotry not steered us miles away from Jinnah’s vision? Was this not the very bigotry on which Pakistan was created? How have we become so blind, so deaf and so immune? Is it because we choose to ignore an atrocity assuming that if it doesn’t affect us, it doesn’t exist?

In the commotion of this debate we forget one basic idea of human psyche- conformity can be commanded by force but not respect. Respect is a state of mind that comes from within. No legislation, law or use of violence can accomplish this.

Maybe that man will no longer eat where people can see him; maybe he will eat hidden behind the four walls of his house, but then again, he will eat and he will eat during this month.

Do you propose we depute a few ‘pious believers’ in his bedroom to uphold the respect of this month?

Injustice gnaws at our social fabric. Bombings and sectarian violence have made a lasting place in our worldview. Minorities and the underprivileged stand at the precipice. The solution lies not in a dictatorial emphasis on the state religion but embracing Pakistanis in their differences, tolerating conflicting view points and putting humanity before all else.  We do not have another 66 years to do this.

It has to start before more Hazaras are killed, before there are more Rimsha Masihs, before we lose something more valuable than Ziarat.

Before we lose Pakistan.

Follow Zara on Twitter @ZaraShahid_
WRITTEN BY:
Zara Shahid A Youth Activist and a student of Politics at LUMS. She tweets @https://twitter.com/ZaraShahid_
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (110)

MarahaK | 10 years ago | Reply My dad has a chronic illness that renders him incapable of fasting. In fact, even during normal days he has to eat something every 2-3 hours otherwise he suffers from severe pain. If we as a society have reached this level of fanaticism, i shudder to think how my dad is treated when he eats in ramazan.
Think again | 10 years ago | Reply @ Desi dada I'm not sure about what you mean... but it's true that Mr.Jinnahbhai was a sophisticated ,highly educated angliophile who consumed alcohol,married Ruttie Petit,inspite of her Parsi father prohibiting the relationship,approved and defended Ruttie's low cut dresses at high society gatherings. He did dissapprove of his daughter,Dina Wadia's choice of husband...a Parsi-Christian gentleman...a prominent Indian industrialist. His daughter defied Mr.Jinnah ,just like Mr.Jinnah himself defied his father-in-law to marry Ruttie. This didn't stop him having a relationship with his Parsi daughter....she was always his little darling...just like Ruttie was. Islamic extremists mustn't twist Mr.Jinnah's image and pose him as an extreme muslim ... He was not...he was way too polished and sophisticated. Blacking out parts of his life from Pakistani history only serves islamic extremists.
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