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View all search resultsEditorial: From Punjab to Arizona
Pakistan and the United States are two countries different in almost every aspect except one: The culture of violence permeating their political life
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akistan and the United States are two countries different in almost every aspect except one: The culture of violence permeating their political life. The attempted murder of Arizona representative Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday and the slaying of Punjab Governor Taseer Salman on Tuesday a week ago, both stemmed from a political system that tolerates or encourages violence.
Pakistan is hardly a model of democracy and its political history is filled with violence, including the killing of president Benazir Bhutto in 2007. The US bills itself as the oldest democracy in the world, yet, paradoxically, it has bred a culture of violence thanks to its lax gun control law. Political killings may be rarer there, but the US also saw the killing of a serving president, John F. Kennedy, in 1963.
The assassination of a politician is a tragedy in any society. Giffords and Salman were singled out by their assailants for their political views or actions, in the service of the people. Going by the Islamic expression that says if you kill one innocent person, you kill the entire humanity, then if you kill a politician, you kill the entire community or the constituent they represent.
Giffords, who is still in a critical condition, was chosen by her attacker for her political views even though the Democrat politician had been a supporter of the Second Amendment that protects the right of the people to keep and carry fire arms. But it is not so much the gun control law or her political views that are being debated today as it is the violent rhetoric in the American political discourse.
Salman was slain by a bodyguard in Islamabad after he openly supported the move in parliament to amend Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which carries the death sentence for anyone who insults Islam. Rather than condemning the murder, supporters of the blasphemy law in Pakistan are using the killing as a warning to other politicians.
The two events have that chilling effect of silencing the diversity of voices and views in the political discourse. In the US, there are now calls for better security protection for politicians, a move that would only alienate them from the people. Meeting with constituents, which Gifford was doing near a supermarket the day she was shot, could soon become a thing of the past.
In a democracy, the solution cannot be found in more protection measures for politicians. Both Pakistan and the US must address the question why they have bred a culture of violence in the first place.
