A Polarized Society

The ideology of ‘Enlightened Moderation’, coined by Gen. Musharraf, is still being used to combat extremism in Pakistan. But unlike its name, the ideology didn’t prove to be moderate. It targets Islam and Muslims instead of extremists and terrorists. The governments of Pakistan have been trying to fight extremism in Pakistan by eradicating Islam itself, which in turn is fueling the extremism, and is creating two poles in the Pakistani society. On one side are the people who support extremism, while on the other side are so called moderates, who have actually started opposing Islam. The people in between have slowly been depleted by this constant polarization of the society. They either have to choose the Islamic extremist side, or the ultra secular side, and unfortunately both sides are getting almost equal number of supporters, which is making the polarity stronger.

So, what happens when opposite poles meet? The simple answer is ‘annihilation’. A civil war can break out due to this polarization, and of course it will disrupt the remaining stability of this already unstable country. Such a situation might not be very dangerous for many countries around the world, but for a country like Pakistan, which is very unique in many respects, such situation can bring an end to even its existence. Pakistani media is continuously trying to change the mentality of a moderate Pakistani to either an extremist, or an ultra secular mindset. In an effort to reduce the radicalization of the society, media has started campaigns to promote secularism, and discourage religion. This they are trying to do by showing different plays on Pakistani TV channels that don’t represent the Pakistani population at all. They encourage the young generation to 'free' themselves from religion and the 'backward' traditions of modesty. There are talk shows that criticize religion and try to portray it as a backward idea that can’t cope with the problems of this era. All this infuriates a person who has even a slightest belief in Islam, on the other hand it encourages the secular people to adopt an ultra secular mindset, and hence the ridge between the Pakistani people continues to widen.

Most of the people who can be labeled as religious minded or fundamentalists, reside in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These two provinces have already been deprived of many facilities that the people of other provinces have access to. So, discontent is already there, which combined with this media war will eventually turn them against the people of other provinces. People with a more secular mindset are concentrated mainly in Punjab, and some areas of Sindh e.g. Karachi. This polarization, along with deprivation, can lead to disintegration of this country. There has always been a tendency in the people of Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to get a country of their own, where their rights wouldn’t be violated and where they would be able to practice their religion more openly without being discouraged by the government and media.The future of Pakistan will be darker than what is usually thought, if Pakistani media keeps on this campaign.