MISUSE OF RELIGION
ALI SUKHANVER
Exploitation could be of so many kinds and so many shapes but in every form and every type, it is simply an evil, a menace and a nuisance. Among all forms of exploitation, emotional exploitation is no doubt one of the most effective tools, very frequently used or misused by most of us at different occasions throughout our life. Usually the people involved in the act of emotional exploitation are very well aware of the soft-corners hidden somewhere in the seclusions of the heart of the person they intend to exploit.
Children exploit their parents, the politicians exploit their voters, the voters exploit the candidates, the employers exploit their employees and the employees exploit their employers but the worst form of exploitation is the religious exploitation. The Christians, the Hindus, the Jews, the Buddhists and unfortunately the Muslims; all are exploited in the name of religion by those who in fact use the garb of religion for their personal gains and benefits. It is a very strange contradiction that no religion of the world ever preaches hatred and disgust for humanity; no religion ever propagates bloodshed in the name of fanaticism but every year thousands of human beings are slaughtered at the alter of religious extremism. Sometimes it is Burma, sometimes it is Gujrat; the sword of religious radicalism keeps on cutting the throats of innocent human beings.
The only crime of these slaughtered ones is that they do not follow the religious ideology followed by the butchers. But what to say if people belonging to the same religion start killing one another in the name of religion; not for religion but for the sake of their own petty interests. Such type of slaughtering could be frequently seen in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and above all in Pakistan. Once there was a time when a rapid growth in the Muslim population had become a serious threat to the existence of other religions; people were eagerly embracing Islam; Islamic traditions, culture and teachings were becoming popular with the people belonging to other religions but now the scenario seems altogether changed.
The only reason behind is the impression of extremism, fundamentalism transforming into various forms of terrorism. In actual Islam has nothing to do with terrorism; Islam is simply a message of peace and harmony; it has such a strong magnetic force that it vehemently pulls every one towards itself. According to recent report from the U.N., Islam is now world’s second largest religion after Christianity. The U.N. statistics state that annual growth rate of Islam is around 6.40% compared to 1.46% during the same time period for Christianity.
Also according to these statistics, one in five people on the planet are Muslim. If this growth rate keeps on moving at the same speed, very soon Islam would become the largest religion of the world. This expectancy is on one hand very much encouraging for the Muslims but on the other hand very much depressing for the people belonging to the other religions. The Jews, the Christians, the Buddhists and above all the Hindus would not be very happy with the situation. They are left with only two options; either to bear the situation with patience or to strive for stopping this growing rate. They have opted for the second one. They have concluded that genocide of the Muslims at a large scale is the only way which could put a comma or full-stop to this rapid increase in Muslim population.
To achieve their aims and objectives the anti-Muslim and anti-Islam forces have very intelligently designed various plans. The drone attacks, the suicide attacks and the bomb blasts in different Muslim countries are a part of this Crush-the-Muslims strategy. Unfortunately some of our own people are knowingly or unknowingly playing in the hands of these international conspirators. In their complete innocence and ignorance, they are providing full co-operation and full support to the forces eager to wipe off the Muslims from the world scenario. The situation calls for a very serious attention from the Muslim leaders, Muslim organizations and rulers of all Islamic countries. Unless until we all get united, unless until we all sit for table talks, things would never get better. It is the time when we need the same spirit which the Muslim countries showed in 1974 during the days of 2nd Islamic Summit Conference at Lahore. But at the same time at individual level also we all need a lot of sincere effort and struggle. Every Muslim country will have to be very much vigilant in putting the things in order.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, this country has two basic problems; the menace of terrorism and the resultant shattering economy. The terrorism we are facing belongs to our own land and our own people; we never heard of any Hindu or Christian or the Buddhist exploding himself as a suicide bomber; here, a suicide bomber is never from any other religion. First of all we will have to trace the origin of these suicide attackers; we will have to talk to their patrons and convince them to review their approach and opinions. Be it the suicide bombers or their patrons; they all must be dealt as the people who have lost their direction, not as terrorists. We are lucky enough that we have so many respectable and honorable Pakistani politicians and religious scholars who have a very strong influence on different Muslim militant groups. Recently Maulana Sami-ul-Haq a very popular religious scholar with a lot of devoted followers has offered his services to the government of Pakistan to work as a bridge between the militants and the government of Pakistan. Maulana Sami-ul-Haq had been a guiding star for many of the top ranking Taliban leaders including Mullah Omar. There are countless Taliban leaders to whom Maulana sahib is a mentor and they could never reject his advice. The government of Pakistan must take benefit of his offer and utilize his expertise and influence for the betterment of situation. In short things will have to be treated very carefully and very wisely. Any negligence or laxity in this regard would simply complicate the situation.
