An unfortunate incident occurred in Lahore on Sunday when an angry mob surrounded a woman spotted in Lahore’s Ichhra Bazar wearing an Arabic calligraphy embroidery dress. Disturbing videos of the incident quickly circulated online, showing the mob confronting and shouting at the woman while she was dining at a local restaurant. The assault was triggered by allegations that Quranic verses adorned her attire, leading to angry protests and threats from bystanders who were unaware of the true content of the inscription. Luckily, a police party reached the spot and rescued the frightened woman from the violent mob tactfully. This shocking incident largely shattered the Pakistani society as the footage also showed the woman denying the allegations of insulting the religion, saying she belongs to a religious family and the clothing with Arabic calligraphy was commonly used in Gulf states. After the revelation of Arab calligraphic dress, the mob got divided into groups having different views, still, some people kept on insisting on blasphemy charges and were ready to attack unarmed innocent woman.
Pakistan is a Sunni Majority state, with significant religious and sectarian minority populations, including Shia Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists, who live in urban as well as rural areas across the nation. The country has witnessed a sharp rise in religious intolerance whilst incidents of target killings, misuse of blasphemy laws, vigilantism, lynching, and personal vendettas including lighting entire communities and targeting places of worship. These rigid behaviors manifest collective social disorder, ignorance of religion, and an abuse of Islamic teaching which categorically asks the preservation of minorities’ rights, and stresses peaceful coexistence and respect for weak and marginalized segments of society.
Historically, Pakistani political institutions and the criminal justice system failed to address serious societal issues, despite the repeated occurrence of mob violence, and vigilantism one after the other in recent years. Although, the government and parliament categorically acknowledge this serious issue but failed to address this problem satisfactorily so far. There is an urgent need for reforms in the education, social, and criminal justice systems along with enforcement of concerted practical measures to curb growing militancy, and extremism through awareness campaigns, suitable legislation and stern punishment of the offenders. Meanwhile, religious seminaries and Ulema-o-Mashaikhs can play a potival role in curbing extremism and intolerance from our society.
