BANNING and burning books is a manifestation of a culture

that is afraid to face the truth. It is ignorance of the book’s

message or the fear of the latter that is often the reason for
someone trying to ban a book. We have a long history of
suppressing dissenting views perceived as posing a threat to
the prevailing order. Not only have books been banned,
writers too have been persecuted. The space for reason and
freedom of expression is further shrinking thanks to growing
authoritarianism and rising bigotry in society.

The reported confiscation of copies of the Urdu translation of

Mohammed Hanif’s book A Case of Exploding Mangoes and the
recommendation by a Punjab Assembly panel to ban three seminal
books on Islam are the latest examples of the growing intolerance
towards critical thinking. The books include Lesley Hazleton’s The First
Muslim and After the Prophet.

Where Exploding Mangoes is concerned, some personnel allegedly

belonging to an intelligence agency were said to have raided the office of
the publisher in Karachi and taken away copies of the translated book
that came out last year. Interestingly, the original English edition of the
book — a satirical take on Gen Ziaul Haq’s plane crash — was published
in 2008, and the work has been internationally acclaimed.

It seems that certain elements have suddenly discovered something in

the Urdu version that they feel threatens our ‘national security’. It says a
lot about their lack of understanding of a literary work. The raid itself
could, perhaps, be a plot for a new bestseller satire by the author.
Apparently, the government has not banned the book, so who ordered
the raid on the publisher?

Confident societies face criticism rather than silence

the messenger.
More insidious is the suggestion to ban the books authored by Lesley
Hazleton, an American journalist and scholar. Both books have been
impeccably researched. “The First Muslim illuminates not only an
immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.”

I have read the two books by Hazleton and found them to be extremely
instructive, more than any other work on the subject. The books have
been a bestseller in this country for more than a decade, and suddenly
some unscrupulous lawmakers want these books to be banned just
because of their own narrow-mindedness and prejudices.

Rising bigotry has been the main reason for the decline of sound
scholarship regarding religious matters in this country. Some genuine
scholars like Javed Ghamdi have had to leave the country because of the
threat to their lives. Many enlightened clerics have been killed by
extremists, with the result that the interpretation of religion is left to
semi-educated mullahs. It will be a tragedy if these books are banned in
this country. One hopes that the government has the sense to ignore
such mindless recommendations.

How paranoid certain sections of our establishment have become with

any critical narration of this country’s history is apparent in their
reaction to a recently published book, The Battle for Pakistan: The Bitter
US Friendship and a Tough Neighbourhood. It is a remarkable work by
Shuja Nawaz, an acclaimed writer on Pakistan’s military. Although the
book is not banned, its launch in Pakistan was blocked allegedly by
certain quarters said to be unhappy with the objective study of the rocky
relationship between the Pakistani military and the US in the past
decade.

But the reality is that this is a well-researched book and the arguments
are substantiated by facts and based on interviews with senior Pakistani
and US military officials directly involved in policymaking during that
period. Nawaz previously wrote an authoritative history of the Pakistani
military: Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army and the Wars Within.

Despite the attempt to block the launch, the book has already drawn a
large number of readers. Instead of learning from their mistakes and
accepting the reality, the powers that be are attempting to restrict the
freedom of views. It is such a narrow-minded approach that turns a
country into an intellectual desert.

Lies and deception have often been used to cover up blunders,

conspiracies, and military misadventures spanning Pakistan’s seven-
decade history. Over the years, great pains have been taken to hide facts
from the nation, even if these are generally known. Failure is celebrated
as victory. This situation has led to a widening trust deficit between the
public and the authorities.

Unsurprisingly, the people tend to believe foreign publications on the

issue, however unrealistic they may be. So sensitive have the concerned
authorities become that even a public debate on such issues is seen as
breaching national security. As a result, we can never learn from our
mistakes and wrongdoings. It’s all in the name of ‘national security’ — a
handy term when it comes to suppressing saner voices. Such strong-arm
actions are actually a sign of weakness. Confident societies face criticism
rather than silence the messenger.

People want to live in a society where they enjoy freedom of thought and
action and can freely exercise their right to speak. Liberal democracies
thrive on the freedom of expression. Unfortunately, the past few years
have seen an attempt to roll back democratic values.

Freedom of expression is the principal target of authoritarianism. In

fact, one of its symptoms is the creeping expansion of ‘deep state’ power.
The raid on the office of a publication house in Karachi and the attempt
to stop the launch of an important book on Pakistan-US relations is a
grim reminder of a country adrift.

Equally alarming is the rise of bigotry in society and the growing

confluence of religious extremism and politics. The call by some
lawmakers for banning seminal works on Islam is troubling. The
strengthening of right-wing religious extremism threatens not only to
weaken democratic institutions but also to divide the country.

Repression, achieved either through direct censorship or other forms of

pressure, will turn the country away from the path of progress and
enlightenment. The weakening of democratic institutions gives non-
government forces greater opportunity to get involved in manipulating
politics as they attempt to thwart fundamental rights. More worrisome
is that all this is happening under a democratically elected government.

The writer is an author and journalist.

zhussain100@yahoo.com

Twitter: @hidhussain

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2020