by Nadeem F. Paracha at Dawn: Numerous books have been written on Islam in Pakistan. So, two years ago, I set out to write a book on the history of liberalism in Pakistan. It is still an ongoing project requiring additional research.
There is one realisation, though, that continues to be strengthened by the research: Pakistani liberals and so-called ‘progressives’ are the most uncanny embodiments of what are called ‘useful idiots.’
A ‘useful idiot’ is a gullible person who can be manipulated to advance someone else’s cause or agenda. Liberals and progressives continue to become the means of outcomes that are actually the opposite of whatever liberalism stands for. And, no, by this I certainly do not mean what the former prime minister Imran Khan posited while talking about liberalism. He imagined himself as being the ‘real liberal’, not because he was a committed democrat but because, apparently, he was ‘anti-war.’ Rather, one particular war — the one against Islamist militants.
To him, the militants were fellow Pakistanis who were fighting against US imperialism, and the Pakistani state’s conflict with them was part of a war that was imposed on us by the West. During the period when militants were blowing themselves up in markets, mosques, schools and shrines, Khan was opposing a military operation against them, insisting that the security forces should be helping him to root out ‘corruption’ instead.
He lashed out against those who were supporting the possibility of a military operation. He called them “fake liberals” and “khooni [murderous] liberals.” Yet, he never called out those who were actually doing all the murdering. When a prominent Indian journalist once asked him why he didn’t condemn the militants, he conveniently replied that it was too dangerous a thing to do for a politician. So, ‘real liberalism’ meant condemning political opponents to hell for supposedly being ‘corrupt’, but not uttering a word against terrorists, and then trying to stall any action against them because “liberalism stands for peace.”
Any sensible person can see through the doltish nature of this narrative. But actual liberals haven’t been very smart either. They have been some of the most handy useful idiots in this country. In 1974, when Islamist parties decided to table a bill in the parliament to oust the Ahmadiyya community from the fold of Islam, the then government, led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, blocked all debate on the issue in the National Assembly.
The Islamists poured out on the streets (mostly in Punjab) and began attacking Ahmadiyya homes and members. Bhutto threatened to unleash the military. But, instead of condemning the violence, newspapers (especially the ‘liberal’ ones), began to criticise the government for not granting the opposition its “democratic right” to table a bill.
A review of newspaper op-eds and editorials of the time suggests that this was ‘discussed’ more than the intent and possible fallout of the bill. Eventually, the pragmatic Bhutto changed tact and allowed the bill to be passed, especially when told by his trusted advisers that there was ample support for the bill within his own ‘progressive’ party as well.
When the bill was passed, newspaper editorials hailed the event as an act that would strengthen parliamentary democracy in Pakistan. And here’s another curious fact: it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that the liberal and progressive intelligentsia began to truly revisit what had happened in 1974. Yet, it still wasn’t a reflective realisation but an outright condemnation of the Bhutto government. Liberal/progressive journalists and intellectuals conveniently exonerated their own questionable conduct in the whole affair.
More here.
