Politics of religion: Lethal tug-of-war over the religion card

Allegations of blasphemy have rendered every place from Pakistan’s courts and universities to police stations, factories and worship places a potential ‘crime scene’. Given how sensitive and inherently emotive the issue is for a significant segment of the populace, the threat of death extends beyond prisons and the gallows for those accused or convicted. It waits for them in the streets and the open markets, often before a judicial process can even begin.

Despite the utmost sensitivity that the issue should be handled with, the use of the ‘religion card’ has been seen in Pakistan’s political arena for some time now. The use of hate speech to incite populist sentiment, even violence, against one’s political opponents has become just another tool for political leaders to settle scores. Religiously and politically, things are often blown out of proportion and misrepresented without context to sway the public opinion back towards one’s own camp. Tragically, this approach persists even though the bigwigs of various political parties have paid the price for standing up against religious intolerance.

In the on-going tussle between the ruling party and its ousted predecessor, a dangerous precedent is being set. When a crowded mobbed and hurled slogans of ‘chor, chor’ (thief, thief) the members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation at Masjid-e-nabvi – one of the most revered sites for all Muslims – the supporters of the ruling party accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf of orchestrating the incident. This, they charged, was tantamount to committing blasphemy by completely disregarding the respect for the holy site.