And persecution of Muslim minorities, such as the Ahmadi, has been intensifying in recent years in Indonesia as well as Pakistan. A police bodyguard who assassinated the governor of Punjab in 2011 for the latter’s opposition to blasphemy laws, and “westernized” lifestyle, became an instant hero, showered with rose petals by lawyers in court. What’s new and more disturbing is growing support for anti-blasphemy activists among a population believed to be largely moderate. However, they offer to many people a deeply gratifying substitute for actual political, social and economic power: the language of moral opprobrium, which is weaponized through anti-blasphemy legislation. For now, however, it represents an aggressive will to power of a rising —and thwarted — class against an old elite.

Source: Mint December 08, 2017 06:11 UTC