The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has shown deep grief on the assassination of renowned religious scholar Dr Muhammad Farooq in Mardan and termed it a part of extremists plan to silence voices that present to people alternatives to the retrogressive interpretation of Islam.
According to HRCP, Dr Farooq had been able to achieve distinction as he exposed militants' theory of jihad and espoused the cause of women and minorities who are regularly being targeted by extremists. His assassination points towards two facts: firstly, the government should have known that the scholar's work has made him a target of extremists' anger and thus, it should have made adequate arrangements for his security.
Media reports regarding the murder clearly depict that security arrangements were conspicuously inadequate. The government might have to regret this lapse because such actions not only snuff out rare voices of sanity, but also embolden militants to perpetrate their reign of terror, the statement added.
According to HRCP, the murder also points to the escalation in militants' activities, which have hitherto been targeting law enforcement personnel and their opponents among politicians whom they consider obstacles to their scheme. Now, they have decided to silence the voices that present the Muslims of Pakistan an alternative to the extremists' retrogressive interpretation of Islam.
Therefore, what needs to be done includes not only increased protection for scholars who challenge extremists' thinking, but also increased and meaningful state initiatives to develop social forces capable of resisting the militants, it concluded.