There’s some mighty disconnect between what is happening in our cities today and what we are not doing to stop it, as one more landmark in what is now the blighted Rawalpindi Cantonment is targeted by terrorists.
The Shalimar Hotel, just off The Mall, is the more earthly twin of the glitzy Pearl Continental located across the road, which skirts off to the General Headquarters, the Combined Military Hospital, the fabled Lal Kurti Bazaar, and on to the once high-profile Harley Street. In the opposite direction, just across The Mall sits the old presidency building, now a women’s university, and as such another high-profile target. Going west on The Mall is also the Flashman’s Hotel, another city landmark, located at a stone’s throw from the Shalimar. If this heart of the garrison headquarter city is not safe from terror attacks, then you may well ask what is? And what is Pindi Cantonment coming to?
Amidst all the mayhem that is being wrought on this once peaceful and serene neighbourhood, it is pertinent to ask what the residents must be feeling. The cantonment is also home to a number of ace educational institutions, which now apparently lie in a war zone. How are the parents of schoolchildren coping with these spectacles of horror that are so wily menacing?
This is the fourth deadly assault on the twin cities since Oct 5 last month, when the UN-affiliated food organisation’s offices were attacked in Islamabad killing five people, including a foreign national. Then came the daring, 24-hour siege of the army headquarters in Pindi on Oct 10-11, which left 20 dead. Terrorists claimed another eight lives on Oct 20 when an Islamic university was attacked in Islamabad.
Peshawar has for long been in the bull’s eye because it is more accessible to terrorists emanating from the adjacent tribal areas. Lahore, too, has borne the brunt of suicide bombings and sieges by terrorists. Yet Pindi and Islamabad stand apart for their targeting. The twin cities are home to the government of Pakistan and the armed forces’ top brass. We must also not forget that the twin cities are also home to the slighted Lal Masjid brigade of the July 2007 military operation fame, and its avowed, young and brainwashed breed of suicide bombers, who were let go of rather nonchalantly, along with their burqa-clad mentor, the firebrand cleric Abdul Aziz. The killer cleric continues to enjoy the sympathy of the reasonably powerful in the capital and beyond.
Still, it would be unfair to point the finger at just one misguided madrassah and its brand of fanatics who have a history of nurturing extremists — and getting away with it. Blame should also be assigned to their known well-wishers who bailed them out in the aftermath of the Lal Masjid operation. Remember Chaudhry Shujaat offering the mullah and his supporters more than a shoulder to cry on? The PML-Q, then the ruling party, its chief and his cousin Pervaiz Elahi, who was then the chief minister of Punjab, gave what they called the ‘victims’ of Lal Masjid life-long scholarships and sustenance allowances, ostensibly from their own pockets. One of their deputies, Sheikh Rashid, the proud son of Rawalpindi, kept mum on the whole issue even though he bore his total allegiance to General Musharraf who had ordered the storming of Lal Masjid.
A few weeks and a number of court hearings later, even the cleric Abdul Aziz was released on bail, when he should have been tried under a military court and dispensed speedy justice on the basis of his hate-mongering and waging war against the state that resulted in the killing of many.
But not all rot lies in the bad past over which Musharraf presided. The media’s role by and large remains sympathetic towards an ideology which continues to bring death and destruction to our cities. Analysts and TV anchors don’t tire of voicing their favourite solution of offering the extremists dialogue instead of the bullet to end their killing spree. The media also continues to insist this is not our war — not even just yet. Their defiant heroes remain politicians like Imran Khan and leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami who have now vowed to raise no less than a ‘lashkar’ to oppose the National Reconciliation Ordinance in the streets of Pakistan if extremists’ violence allows them to do so.
Then there is Nawaz Sharif and his PML-N lackeys on the other hand: no word of unqualified condemnation of terrorists ever crosses their lips. As for the PPP, there is now little to stop the ‘relief’ that its broad-based NRO in its existing, amended form, promises to all killers and crooks, including the terrorists, despite the fact that they have their booby traps and suicide bombers killing innocent people in our cities and hardcore, armed terrorists fighting the army in Fata. Is there any sense left anymore in what we are doing to ourselves?
As Rawlpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Lahore simmer with fear and tension, and Karachi and Quetta watch in disgust, bracing themselves to be the next potential targets, internecine, petty politics is all our leaders have time for. The biggest culprit present among us today is the lingering and shocking state of denial, despite the presence of the evil amidst us that is killing and maiming as many as it can on a given day.
American aid, the NRO, the street protest, the call for a mid-term election, even the crippling power and economic crisis can wait. What cannot wait for the public backing expressed through their leaders is the war on terror that is being fought in our cities today. This is a war we cannot afford to lose; it’s time we owned and fought it with full power of the state and the people behind it. After all, lofty, elusive ideals like democracy and rule of law cannot be safeguarded or held dear by doing nothing to stop the death and destruction that is all around us today.
Murtaza Razvi is Editor, Magazines, of Dawn.
Dear Abdullah Hussain,
Assume that when Pakistan had no Nuclear weapons and a foreign country, a fierce enemy of Pakistan had attacked Pakistan and the fear was despite strong army of Pakistan, the enemies will destroy Pakistan. If at that time one of the Super Power country such as USA, had made an offer to fight side by side with Pakistan against the attacker enemies, will you accept the offer or reject the offer?
Mustafa says:
Fatma, you wrote well.
But also remember, if you are fighting evils, it does not matter if angels help you to kill the evils or the devils help you to kill the evils. The ultimate goal is to wipe out the deadly enemies of Pakistan.
……………………………………..
It is better to kill with a surgical knife than a butcher’s knife. Killing is common in both the cases however there is a vast difference between a devilish killing (suicide attacks) and an angel (legal) way of killing (Army action). We definitely need to get rid of the Talibans but the idea should be to clean Pakistan of the dirt and not to burden Pakistan with more dirts.
AH
Fatma, you wrote well.
But also remember, if you are fighting evils, it does not matter if angels help you to kill the evils or the devils help you to kill the evils. The ultimate goal is to wipe out the deadly enemies of Pakistan.
I agree with Fatima, our intelligence agencies have long supported jihadis for their own cause. Women, children are dying and lot of blood has been shead, will the people in uniform get this to their heads.
Is this the Pakistan that Jinnah and Iqbal thought about, that we will be ruled forever by men in uniform who will put the country thru all the trouble just to come back to power?
All the seeds of Terrorism that Zia-Ul-Haq and the Military Establishment and ISI have sown in the 1980’s are coming back to haunt us.
Hello fellow Pakistani’s,
It really saddens me to see innocent people getting killed again on Sunday in Peshawar.
When will the bomb blasts and violence stop?
When will we realize that we have to set our house in order rather than blaming other country for our own problems.
We all know that certain elements in our system have been supporting jihadis for their own objectives.
But today our nation is paying the price as Taliban is spreading more violence, resulting in women and children deaths also.
When will our country be independent of USA as the Americans have their own agenda. We are under obligation as always from USA for we are taking their aid in dollars. But that assistance is not reaching the common people of Pakistan. Corruption has invaded our govt. past and present also.
Wake up fellow citizens before our country disintegrates!
The press and the media are doing a good job of reporting the facts!
Congrats to DAWN newspaper and GEO TV!
Fatima
I have been to Pakistan twice for some projects. Believe me all the Pakistanis I have met are true gentlemen.
All they want is progress!
Unfortunate though that the projects we were to do together may have to be shifted to some third country because of the current situation.
It will provide employment to some third country and deprive the same to local hard working and enthhusiastic youth of Karachi that we met!
This unemployed youth will then become angry and land up with some ill advised groups and the cycle will continue.
Can we do something to stop this together so that this does not happen?
Let us join hands
Concerning what akbar khan Says: November 6th, 2009 at 10:16:- For a long time i have often thought about the question (Isn’t it funny to see that there is seriously something common between Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan?) you have asked.
Nearly eight years ago i concluded that Pakistan now has, like Iraq has always had, an unstable demographic balance between communities.
Now i can safely conclude that Muslim civilization has never successfully tackled, where jurisprudence is concened, ethnic conflicts. This incapacity has been accentuated by problems being created by ever-increasing populations which fact has not been helped by the theory of certain economists, in the past forty years, that growth is a plus.
The net result is an unsustainable pressure on material resources of the earth.
Zafar:
I agree with you.
Everything in this is world and beyond has been created by God. Nobody is closer or further from him. The word ‘Kaffir’ can only be used by people who are against God, because they commit the ultimate blasphemy of telling God who is with him and who is against him. God knows and doesn’t need certifcation from humans!
Someone in their post yesterday said:
“Can you imagine the value of a single human life in front of Allah and then see these evil animals taking so many innocent lives in each suicide blasts? Do you call them Muslims? They are worst than Kaafirs.”
What do you mean by “worst than Kaafirs.” This arrogance of ‘us’ better than ‘everyone else’ coupled with the ever-narrowing definition of ‘us’ is the root of all the present-day evil in Pakistan.
Until we accept that ‘non-believers’ can be better human beings than us ‘believers’ due to their noble deeds, there can be no respite from this state of affairs. But what to do when generations have been brainwahsed to kill anyone who expresses any free thought in this land.
I would not like to comment why all this problems are happening in in neighboring country. The reason is my comment can be taken as if I am critising or feeling jumpy about it.
You have many well good thinking people who can tackle this problem decisively once for all so that the lives of innocent common people is not lost.
I will be the happiest person when there is peace in Pakistan. I want a peaceful Pakistan with good Indo-Pak relations.
This is not the war of religion.
This is to solve the problem where many innocent people are losing lives, many children are not able to go to school. It is just a loss, loss, loss and nothing else.
Good Luck my brothers.
Sarcasm is not appreciated. In Pakistan case it looks very relevant. Last week in Peshawar, bombings reflect the evil of fanatacism. What is evil? When anything is done is in excess. In Pakistan’s case its religion. Deny this fact – this country will perish. Isn’t it funny to see that there is seriously something common between Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan?
The terrible situation in Pakistan needs a rational analysis. What is happening to Pakistanis? We call people who are attaching the Army center and civilians terrorists but Pakistani army is killing the children, women and men of the NWF in Waziristan and has done so in Swat valley. Who started it? We are doing these horrific things to our own brothers and sister. Pashtoons are our brothers and if they choose to implement the Islamic laws in their territories they have right to do so. And, in reality the Sharia laws are part of their life for centuries. Now, why is Pakistani army fighting the people of NWF? Because the US wants us to do so! They, the US and its allies have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan by pitting one group against another-the old divide and rule method. Now, we hate our own brothers. Pashtoons hate Punjabis and vice versa. Are we sure that the terrorists are not the “Enemy” of Pakistan? And these are just the tricks that the US did to Iraqi’s and Afghans. It is the same tricks that Muslims fell during the early British Raj when India was divided based on religion and casts. Why Pakistani’s should fight the others war. If, NWF gives asylum to another fallen Muslim in need of protection it is allowed in our faith. It is not a crime and we should support each other’s instead of killing each others. Our enemies are not Pashtoons but the other powers who want to divide and control us.
We do not have any nationalism. We think we are the best patriots but we do not care about any body because we are a bunch of selfish people. We see our selves as Pathan’s, Punjabi’s, Sindhi’s and Balochi’s. We never think that we are Pakistanis too. Karachi should suffer the same pain when our brothers and sisters in Peshawar suffer. We should bleed in Hyderabad if somebody bleeds in Nowshera or Quetta. Unless we have that kind of feeling, I am afraid we will never be able to stand up for Pakistan.
The people of Pakistan have no one to fear but THEMSELVES. Mr. Jinnah is crying at the sad state of affairs, as the militants drag this great country to hell and back.
Look closely insides before you blame others for the ills in our society, you are killing your own brothers and sisters for a few who want total religious and power control.
I pray that we will find a PEACE !
I am very much afraid of what is going on in the world in the name of Islam. I think it is a conspiracy to defame a religion that only gives the message of peace. The problem of the present time is that Islam is the most misinterpreted religion of the world and the so called mullas have brought defame to this beautiful religion. What today we need to change the philosophy of Islam these people are propounding. We are not getting preaching of the real Islam. It is misguiding our youth and fill them with hatred against non-muslims. Prophet Mohammad(P.B.U.H) never did this. He rather loved the non-believers and gave them good treatment and having been impressed by the real values of Islam, they embraced Islam. It was not force or hatred that spread Islam all over the world but the core values of this religion. I think that the clerics of
Islam must use their energy in spreading the real values and true message of Islam rather than misguiding people and the world would be at peace.
Concerning Rakesh Says: November 4th, 2009 at 11:33:- Remember the Nazis! They’re Still Very Much Alive And Well The World Over AND Most Likely Collaborating With The Taliban Too!
Concerning what Man from Rawalpindi Says: November 4th, 2009 at 22:11:- “drawing room philosophers” have long been obsolete. We are now faced with “The Bedroom Philosophers” and don’t even know that these ones were first discussed during the “French Revolution”!
“Similar historical events occur first as success, next as failure” and so much for any ideology, above all, nihilism itself.
There are many people the world over who were born to muslim parents and have learnt the hard way that the taliban are as Islamic as they come.
Excellent article, I guess Pakistan needs more people like you to raise their voice against what is going on.
I know that the whole of Pakistan is going ga ga over the army’s offensive in South Wazaristan but was the army not responsible in letting these terrorist organizations spring up in the first place?
I saw a CNN news report few days back and from it I guess people in your government & intelligence agencies have still not learned the operation is being carried out against only the terrorists in South Wazaristan but what about bases in North Wazaristan & in Pakistan occupied Kashmir? No operation is being carried out in these areas as the Pakistani military still considers Terrorsists in North Wazaristan as a strategic asset against Afganistan & the terrorists in POK as a strategic asset against India.
Please people rise up & tell the “few bad elements” in your government to stop doing this you need to get rid of each every single terrorist. There is NO “good” or “bad” here, all terrorsists are like snakes no matter how much you feed them, they are going to come back and bite you.
I am an Indian & trust me at the basic level, no Indian hates Pakistan. Trust me the Pakistani army wants its dominance & thats why it scares the common people against India, when actually there is NO threat.
I know India has its own share of problems & I condemn all the so called Hindu extremists as well even they also just want power to rule people, even they don’t care a damn about my country, but still we are more or less a secular country, we do not have blasphemy laws, we do not hang people if they disrespect Geeta or Ramayan, please friends it is really sad to see all these blasts almost every single day get rid of all these religious leaders, these maulvis they don’t want your well being all they want is power to rule people by any means.
I have so many friends & we always talk of how Pakistan can be a prosperous democracy if it learns to separate religion from politics.
Common friends, we want to give our coming generations a peaceful country where they have a chance to prosper & realize their dreams, where religion does NOT decide how they live, where they can choose for themselves. Please get rid of these religious fanatics & let religion be a part of life, NOT the sole aim of life.
yes it is very sad that we have bomb explosions, sucide attacks in major cities of the country. Every one on electronic media is talking about it, the ordinary people are more concerned. The politician are more interested in their own thoughts rather then the real issues. I recal my past three years in kurram agency when small childern, women were taking shelter from mortars and frequent attacks on our villages. The media, the politicians and the civil society were tight liped. Some expert on tv named the war a secterian one while some called it an afganistan sponsored conflict. Unfortunately no one tried to know the ground reality.
pranav: The religion seperates us. Religion has nothing to do wih God- which is a totally personal issue. But religion, with its tribal beliefs and prejudices seperates us, even though we are genetically pretty much the same.
To all those who say “government” has done nothing for improving the lives of it’s people, I agree grovernment should do it’s “job” to improve lives, law, and justice. BUT, let me remind you what all Muslims know or should know well, “Allah (SWT) helps those who help themselves.” Please don’t misunderstand. Point again is, let’s not lay all the blame at the feet of “others” take some personal responsibility also. I’m sure many have heard of a famous quote from JFK, “ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what YOU can do for your country.”
Even though in this day and age, we may not make much of the first man to moon, but remember a common phrase, “bringing the moon to your feet” or “are you from moon” generally referring to the “impossible,” but MAN has put man and woman to moon. It requires effort, in a positive way so anything is possible but to do good, you have to be good.
God Bless.
Dear “Man from Rawalpindi,”
From another man from Pindi, how many times do you want to talk to them? And, do you really think they are “rational” people? Their mission is un Islamic. Their ways are un Islamic. For the sake of “our” generations in Pakistan, and Muslims the world over, “we” need to clean up our “act” and leave no place as “off-limits” as some of the tribal and other parts of the country are.
One law, for all. When we hold ourselves accountable, and our leaders and governments accountable, only then will we see law and order in the country. I was appalled the other night when I heard that the “other” brother of Lal Masjid was released after however many lives were lost because of this guy and his brother and their backers in the government and outside, it is an injustice that continues to keep us on our knees and down.
When some of our brothers in the tribal areas and other parts of our country withdraw their support, and government has it’s writ over the entire country, and we refuse shelter to the criminals and terrorists, and our leaders learn their lesson from trying to spread terror to achieve their “perhaps justified goals” with “completely unjustified and un Islamic” means, will we see peace in Pakistan?
Mr. Musab,
Simple question that begs a simple answer. What justifies these criminals (taliban, and like minded people) to take life that Allah (SWT) forbids?
Those with Drones and Pakistani army atleast have the mission of removing terrorists from harming the general public so the schools can remain open, Islamic universities can remain open, parents and retired ones can peacefully collect their pay checks and pension money to support their families. The “so called” torch bearers of Islam are completely opposite to the core teachings of Islam. What do you have to say for this? Please save your energy trying to put the blame on “everyone else” to justify “committing” the most egregious crimes a human. By the way, please name a person among companions of Prophet Muhammad (PBUP) who “celebrated” death, even during a ghazwa? What I know the most is Islam spread due to the “C H A R A C T E R” of it’s followers especially the way our Prophet lived His life. To deny the ground realities of who these people really are and what they do to gain power is just plain ignorance.
By the way, who counts how many civilians die from Army or Drone attacks? These same terrorists?
Most importantly, what have the tribal people done to refuse protection to these terrorists? Tribal areas with their “off-limit” places where all the criminals of the country and out of country find escape and a major reason the “world” and not just Pakistan is suffering from this. I pray to Allah (SWT) to finish the terror of these mad people from our country and the world.
Taking responsibility means holding oneself accountable for ones own actions not that “he made me do it”.
God Bless.
not with standing the zealots active in both countries and afghanistan also, i wish the people of Pakistan all the best for their fight for survival. I live for the day when relations between us will be so good that I can take my children from Delhi to Jammu and Srinagar and onwards to Gilgit and then to Murree/Swat/Khyber pass without fear. Guys both our countries have our own battles to fight, squabling between ourselves serves no purpose other than keep our poor and our generals armed to the teeth.
Shiva: This is not an issue of killing Muslims or non Muslims.
First on the subject of Islam, which over the years I have tried to understand. It is a stunningly simple proposition. There is one God, and nobody comes between you and God. This aspect of it makes it universal. For example, if there was life on another planet this dictum could apply.
However, most ‘Muslims’ seem to be taken in by tribal traditions. For some reason, this essential dictum of Islam is forgotten and some places become ‘holy’ some ‘not holy’ etc. etc. The dictates of the Prophet(P.B.U.H) are rules for living. But God is above everything and Islam says that your relationship with your God is totally yours. In that sense, I am a non Muslim but follow Islam.
The hatred for non-muslims must stop. because now it doesnt mean just people of “other” religions. It now includes any muslim to who doesnt agree with the “bad” muslims. Learn to realize that when you kill someone you kill a creature of God. Stop thinking that a “good” muslim will not kill another muslim but its okay to kill non-believers. It’s how the young minds are poisoned to view the world as “believers” vs. “non-believers”. Start believing that the universe and we humans are the creation of a Supreme Being called by whatever name. Only then religion not be a dividing factor among people.
Dramod has put his fingers on the weak nerve of Pakistani’s. It is a sad fact that majority of Paksitani’s talk in this way. It means they are too much sensitve about religion. After every sad incident of a bomb blast our political leaders, religious leaders and even our media persons issue this stereo type statement that “terrorists are not muslim”. Even our prime minister has recently issued such a statement. We need to ponder why we can’t come out of this state of denial.
Rastogi is absolutely and 100% correct. We must ensure that the society sheds all rubbish beliefs which are backward. These man made customs and social tribes. What the Muslim society needs to focus is on simple tenets of the religion and not on rituals and customs. ALLAH requires that we be good human beings, kind, tolerant, forgiving, non-discriminatory, honest, charitable, helpful,sincere, and respectful of all his creations. If ALLAH wanted all humans to be ritualistic Muslims, HE would not have allowed China & India to have multiplied their population to become 1/3 rd of the Worlds population, Do not question HIS wisdom! Be a good human being.
Well, pramod raised an excellent point on muslims/non-muslims and humans/non-humans. It is here where pakistan looses it completely and I am surprised that this comes from an editor of dawn magazines, who is a well read, and a well educated person.
If people look deeper into the reasons why pakistan is in the mess that it finds it self in, then one reason will certainly point to religion and the way the whole concept has been politicised and projected in pakistan, to the extent it has become a state subject where it should have just been left as an individual preference.
The more you look at the world through the prism of muslims and kafirs the more squeaked mullah brigade is going to be propped up and there will come a time when even the liberals will be ready to take refuge in the militant psyche pushed across by such mullahs as they will eventually start justifying the same.
mind sets dont take long to change, Zia did it in late 70s and 80s and another generation down the line it could very well be a recipe of complete disaster!
but then i dont completely blame you either, after all pakistan was created on th basis of religion, but then it is better late than never!
I am an Indian as well and am extremely saddened by the current state of Pakistan. While growing up in Hyderabad, India, my impressions of Pakistan were based on my Muslim neighbours who have relatives in Pakistan, who used to visit us every couple of years and bring us wonderful western chocolates and video cassettes of Dhoop Kinare.
There was a time when Pakistan was more “modern” than India and this I know from watching Dhoop-Kinare
Why have we (Pakistan and India) devolved to a state where narrow interpretations of religion mean more than broader understanding of humanity?
I am an Indian and we have been victims of terrorism. My personal opinion is that Pakistan is suffering today because of the misdeeds of General Zia-Ul-Haq.
First he radicalized and indoctrinated a highly disciplined military force in the name of Islam.
Second, to avoid the spill over of the Russian-Afghan conflict into Pakistan he diverted those agents into India.
Bottom line is he is the father of all disasters of all problems in Sub Continent.
First and foremost support pak army in the present war on terror. Segregate state and religion asap, close all the madrasas run by mullahs and religious fanatics, they are breeding grounds of these terrorists. Pakistani’s must do this to save themselves and their future generations.
@ Paramod,
You raised a good point.
Indeed I said this: “Do you call them Muslims? They are worst than Kaafirs.”
I admit, I should not have said that as this gives the impression that all those who do not believe in God, His Messengers and the last day of judgment are worst human beings. But this is not true. There are many Atheists who are serving humanity very well.
In Islam, killing any innocent human being (whether he/she has a religion or no religion) is forbidden.
Allah says in the Holy Quran “If any one killed a person, it would be as if he killed all mankind; and if any one saved the life of a person, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.” (Quran V: 32).
Here Allah makes no exception. It does not mean you killed an Atheist and you are excused.
Thank you for raising this point.
I agree with Bhaskar. India is not against Pakistan. We have more muslims than Pakistan. Muslims in India have reached greater heights in India than any minority community in Pakistan (or any other country on the planet).
We’ve had Muslim President(s), Sikh Prime minister, Women Prime minister and President, Christian Chief Ministers, to name a few. Can’t get more secular.
Many countries don’t want India and Pakistan to be friendly (Taliban, Al-Qaida etc).
Wake up, let’s unite and be friends, shun politics, lets become the super power of Asia and bring prosperity to everyone including Hindus and Muslims. Our arms are always stretched to embrace you, help you. We have no desire to hurt you.
Go to the bottom of your heart and ask yourself who is truly Pakistan’s friend at the end of the day?
China? What is common between China and Pakistan? Look at India – history, culture, tradition, background, people all are linked and common. Who else can be better friends than India and Pakistan? Just ask the people of both countries.
-True, Secular Indian.
Judging from the comments, the strategy of generating opinion for the army’s attack on the tribal areas seems to be working well. Although the discussion has gone off on various tangents, the prevailing opinion seems to be to back the army operation and in fact criticism in a lot of cases that the army and government has not done enough.
Let me try pull many of you out of the narrowness of your field of vision and try to give you a broader perspective. Indeed, the grim reality of muslims being slaughtered on a daily basis is indefensible. But people are not being killed only by the recent spate of bombings in the cities.
How many innocent muslims in Pakistan have been killed at the hands of the American drone attacks? Perhaps they don’t count because as long as it happens outside the boundaries of our cities, far from our daily lives, its not an issue!
How many innocent muslims in Pakistan have been killed by the various operations by the Pakistani army? Perhaps they don’t count because they are conveniently labelled ‘collateral damage’ which makes it ok!
Before the American army arrived in the region, the successive Pakistani governments didn’t feel the pain of the people of the tribal areas but all of a sudden, when the American interest in Afghanistan is not being met, Pakistan feels the sudden urge to rescue the people of the NWFP from ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism’. How noble of our rulers! Strange how they’ve never felt this urge to rescue the millions of citizens of this nation trapped in endemic poverty! or trapped in slavery at the hands of wealthy land owners! or dying daily due to diabolical sanitary conditions! or destruction of the society from drug abuse! and the list could go on and on.
No, we are to believe that the people who have demonstrated time and time again that their corruption has known no bounds, that their self interest is above all else and that the subservience to western imperialism is their primary objective, have sent the army into the tribal areas to root out ‘terrorists’ to protect the citizens of Pakistan!
The fact of the matter is, successive governments have never taken the welfare of the citizens as a priority and its not going to change anytime soon. What is going on today is the normal disregard for innocent life. All the events unfolding today are a direct consequence of this and the starting point for the current episode being played out was the day our government completely support America in killing our neighbouring brothers and sisters.
When are we going to wake up and understand that as long we have corrupt governments, there will never be security and prosperity. Only when we free ourselves from this slavery can act and independently and safeguard our own interest rather than that of other nations.
This is where our thoughts and efforts need to be concentrated.
I think this article will or should really lead for an introspection of the ground realities in Pakistan. I am from India and we too have our own share of problems. But the scale of intensity is not the same as we are now witnessing in pakistan. From reading all the various comments on the blog and the candid view expressed in the article as to how do all pakistani people get together regardless of their political/religious/class/colour/regional etc etc(as we subcontinental beings have become specialists in segmenting a normal human being into as many various categories as possible) put up a united front against this mindless killing and mayhem is the most urgent need of the hour. Once that task is accomplished then I think we can all go back to leading our lives normally squabbling over issues like LOC, never ending disputes like Kashmir, power politicking, Inflation and so on. Since our politicians are quite used to these day today issues for you as citizens the most urgent one that calls for immediate action is to decimate or completely annhilate these fanatics once and for all, as thats the only way pakistan can get back on it’s feet and redeem its national pride as well as the recognition it deserves as a sovereign nation among the community of nations. Jinnah’s first promise to it’s citizens in 1947 was” providing law and order to all it’s citizens and religion is not the business of the state”. 62 yrs down the line I don’t think the writer of this article nor all the well wishers and the angry pakistani brothers & sisters would have even dream’t or rather in their worst nightmares thought that things should come to such a pass. My sincere heartfelt condolences to all the families who have lost their loved ones to this mindless killing. My request to all is to put aside the all the differences for the moment to fight this terrorists with a common cause, because the very basic existence of your country and its people are at stake here. Afterall what could be more important than one’s life.
You can blame India you can blame the United States, you can blame Afghanistan you can blame Iran for the turmoil in Pakistan, you can blame the entire world for your ills but Pakistan’s worst and the only enemy is another Pakistani and nobody else.
Great piece written there Mr. Murtaza Razvi, it is heartening to see atleast there are some people in pakistan who are not ready to shy away from the facts as they stand.
Got to completely agree with you when you say, everything else can wait other than the what or as is said in some corners, “Pakistan’s own war”, since if these terrorists are not put to an end today these people will entered your towns and cities then soon enough there will be no stopping them once they enter your houses.
You kill them they kill you!
You think you can kill all of them before they can kill all of you. Think Again!
We must talk to these people and they must talk to us. We must have a sensible conversation with them. This is the only way to ensure our continued existence.
Else we are a doomed country!
Can we survive another 30 years killing these people and they killing us?
No we certainly cannot.
Let us stop listening to these drawing room philosophers!
The gauge of any nation’s international standing is the number of close friends it has. Right now the only nation that is standing shoulder to shoulder with us is China, we owe immensely to them. However we should not lose sight of the fact this relationship is based on on the reality where enemy’s enemy becomes the friend. If we keep slipping south at the current rate it’s only a matter of time we became a liability to the chinese as well and be left to fend for ourselves.
“Pakistan’s survival is at stake”. This is not a daily cliche anymore. We as a nation need to honestly and openly ponder about this chilling possibility. The only way out is complete and bold reversal of our misguided strategy.
Nothing is impossible, You can do it when others can do it, why can’t you? A work done with good intention will always yield good result. These people (Taliban, Al Qaida, etc) are coward. Please remove them for peaceful world.
the craziest thing i always listened to is when people try to back the version that its not us, not Muslims, its the other agencies that are involved in the bloody mess we see. this is unearth perception prevailing in our society. who cares, what religion they belong to. important is that they are the killers who have held such massive destruction all over the country. what they keep on focusing is; it is not Muslims but what they don’t care about that these so-called non-muslims are involved in a carnage like situation. we see the emotionally charred faces everywhere. provided with the best of security arrangements nobody is safe. And the failure of the law and order agencies to protect civilians from this bloodshed has added to the already crippled security conditions.
Unifying as a nation and raising the voice against on-going unstable situation is the need of the hour. we should openly accept now that it is our war… because we stand at the loosing end.
@ Mustafa,
I liked most of what you said except the last part
“Do you call them Muslims? They are worst than Kaafirs.”
I dont know why you people always take things in muslim and non-muslim way. start talking about human and non-human beings.
I have seen so many people who sees only one side of coin. They wont speak a single word when something happen against non-muslims with the hands of Muslims.
eg: Before gujrat riots in 2004, 62 hindus were burnt alive by muslim in godhra gujrat. I have heard lot of Muslim speaking about that but not even saw one muslim criticising Godhra incident which was root cause of ahmedabad riots.
Here also you stated muslim and Kafirs which according to most of the muslim are Non-muslim.
First thinking of a common man need to be changed which makes him easy target for terrorist. Terrorism will be finished automatically as there wont be people to follow the terrorist.
I am gratified to see how many of my fellow Pakistanis abhor terrorists. Pakistan as a nation has to do some serious introspection. But, this is one trait that is glaringly absent in our society. The moment somebody questions the ‘establishment’ he/she is branded as a traitor or a foreign agent. There is no doubt that we invested in the wrong people in the past. We supported and nurtured the Taliban without realizing that one day they’ll consume us. Sure, the war against Russia contributed to it. But if we could not fix the problem in nearly 30 years, we really can’t blame anyone. The infrastructure we have laid out for these anti-social elements has to go. Being a victim of terror ourselves, we cannot distinguish between good and bad terrorists. Some leaders in the past made some wrong choices and we have an existential crisis on our hands now. Inshallah we will prevail.
1. Taliban who kill other muslims cannot be considered real muslims.
2. Taliban who kill non-muslims (Hindus, Jews, Christians) are good muslims.
What kind of logic is this ?
And that too coming straight from the silent majority of Pakistanis through this blog really explains why Pakistan is where it is.
When you stop looking at human beings without being colored by their religion – that is the time Pakistan can hope to come out of this situation.
Doesn’t seem like it’s gonna be happening any time soon.
I read with surprise a comment that ,if they are terrorist, they cannot be a muslim. A terrorist not only kills innocent people, it kills their psyche also and we see examples everywhere. A person who forces his family to live as per his dictum is an extremist. Men who ask females to remain illiterate and remain behind a burqa are also extremist. We see all this and many more terrors in the muslim society and still we do not accept the fact that our social life itself is an example of extremism.
I agree with what is mentioned in the article and want to stress the responsibility of the political parties. Mr. Rizvi has rightly mentioned that PML-N never condemns the militancy of Taliban brutes – and the reasons in my opinion is simple. Sharif brothers don’t want to loose the support of Saudi royal family as they never know when they need their help again.
And the other major responsibility lies on Imran Khan. After recently been following the shariya he has continuously arguing that militants are trying to take revenge of attacks by Pakistan army and US. Can I ask Mr. Khan what revenge these brutes were taking from different community during last two decades?
I think Noor E Sahar lives in an another world. She wants the fighting to stop and the Gov to find out what the Taliban & Al Qaeda want and to sit on a table & negotiate. Why does she not tell this to these terrorists? Do they understand any civilized language? Are they a civilized bunch? Do they understand tolerance, human rights, fair play, or for that matter Humanity??
Noor these are animals. They live in a world which is by gone with the Bedouins of Arabia. Even in Arabia they have changed. What the Bedouins did or do has nothing to do with Islam. That was a culture of the past, which was prevalent prior to advent of Islam. Let us stop this bigotry and nonsense about Jihad & etc.
These non-state actors must be thrown out of Pakistan. We’ve no other choice except to fight with these militants who are not Muslims at all. in order to bring peace and tranquility to our country we need to put them out of our homeland. They are destroying the infrastructure of our society. They must be condemned.