Adil Najam
What follows below is a repost. I had originally written this on July 19, 2007 after bomb blasts in Hangu, Hub and Kohat, which had themselves followed at the heels of blasts in Islamabad. Today, we just had two blasts in Rawalpindi with more than 15 people already being reported dead.
The continuing story here is of a nation at war with extremists. It is Pakistanis who are being killed here. Pakistanis who are being targeted. This is vile, this is cowardly and this is inhuman. While we are all distracted by the continuing political circus, the big story here is for Pakistan’s survival and the all-out war that has been declared on Pakistan by extremists and fanatics. Where ever you stand on politics, we must stand with Pakistan in this war and against extremists who have been murdering Paksitanis all over the place.
ORIGINAL POST
Suicide attacks today in Hangu, in Hub, in Kohat today.
This adds to the blast in Islamabad a few days ago and many others in the NWFP over the last many days. Even for a part of the world which has gotten tragically used to needless death and murder by suicide killers, this is crossing a threshold. The headline above may seem sensational to some, but is it really.
It is too simple to blame this on the Lal Masjid episode or just on the fact that we have a military government. I must say I get literally ’sick’ of attempts to turn these massive manifestations of a truly divided society into petty political sloganeering for whatever someon’s political preferences is. Thsi is NOT a time for propaganda; this is a time for real thought and real action. By all of us. This, as we at ATP have repeatedly argued, is a society at war with itself. And the war is now beginning to get much more bloody. The most recent attack (Kohat) was in a mosque. Most have targetted security forces; i.e., the apparatus of the state.
Let me be clear here. There is NOTHING ‘Islamic’ about any of these murderous attacks. This is not just anti-government. This is anti-state. This is anti-Pakistan. Indeed, this is anti-humanity. This in inhuman.
Here are the three breaking news items at The News: On Kohat killings (since writing this, number of dead is now up to 20):
A bomb blast in a mosque of Pathan Lines in Kohat Cantt. killed 11 and wounded several persons Thursday night. Immediately after the explosion, security personnel has cordoned the affected area and nobody is allowed to enter the area. According to the unconfirmed reports, it was a suicide bomb attack. However, the official sources did not confirm it.
On Hub killings:
The blast at RCD Highway in Balochistan’s Hub town Thursday claimed 30 lives, while 30 others were wounded in the incident, sources said. Several injured have been admitted at hospitals of Karachi in a critical condition. According to reports suicide bomber detonated the bomb when a convoy of Chinese engineers was passing through the RCD Highway in Hub. The vehicle carrying the Chinese however passed unscathed from the place, while four police mobile vans accompanying the convoy were caught in the blast. After the blast the panic-stricken security guards of Chinese engineers and policemen opened indiscriminate firing killing and wounding several nearby people. Thirty persons including policemen and passersby were killed in the blast, sources said… The huge explosion also destroyed 15 vehicles and motorbikes and damaged 25 nearby houses and shops. Thirty wounded persons were admitted at Karachi’s Civil Hospital, while three others were brought to Jinnah Hospital. Four wounded at the Civil Hospital were succumbed to their injuries, hospital sources said.
On Hangu killings:
A suicide bomber rammed explosives laden car with the gate of Police Training College, Hangu killing eight persons and wounding 26 others on Thursday morning. The bomber struck his car to the gate of the college causing eight deaths and injuring 26 others, police sources said. Civil Hospital Hangu has received 26 wounded persons, hospital sources said. Ten wounded persons were in a critical state and emergency has been declared in the hospital, sources added. Police have cordoned off the area and Peshawar-Hangu road has been closed for all traffic.
Writing earlier in The News, I had written that simply cause-and-effect will not do anymore because what we have is a society and state crumbling at its seams. Each doubtful of the other.
… there is the deepening cleavage between state and society. The difference between Lal Masjid and other similar situations — e.g., the 1993 standoff at Waco, Texas — is that in our case the state had such little credibility that each of its actions was deemed suspect by the media and the public. There was constant chatter that this was a ‘topi drama’ orchestrated by intelligence agencies. There were incessant rumours about how the operation was orchestrated. There were unending doubts about its timing. All of this was not simply a display of our inherent cynicism, these were manifestations of a society that has no trust in its state. This was not just a lack of trust in the government, it was a lack of trust in the state. And that is a truly ugly cleavage.
I truly hope I am wrong. But if I am not, then we really need to stop shouting and start thinking. Anger is never a substitute for analysis; and neither is of much use if it does not lead to real action for real change.
The picture of that old lady holding her hands together is worth a million words, and thats exactly what the picture of majority of Pakistan is right now, pleading to these terrorists, for God sake stop this insanity. This kind of an episode always reminds me or a sher from Iqbal’s Shikva:
RehmataiN haiN Teri aghiyaar kay kaashaanoN per
Barq girti hai to baychaaray MusalmanoN per
But then I refer to Javab-e-Shikva to get the answer
YuN to Syed bhi ho Mirza bhi ho Afghan bhi ho
Tum sabhi kuch ho batao tum Musalmaan bhi ho?
May God Bless Pakistan.
There really isn’t much to write home about since we were destined to meet this fate, the day we turned ourselves into touts for hire (for both the Islamic and the non-Islamic world). And instead of looking after ‘our’ interests we became a playground for the bad and ugly of this world.
But what sickens me is the fact that the people who are actually responsible for bringing us to this stage are still sleeping tight in their secured bedrooms whilst it’s the common people of Pakistan who are suffering. And frankly speaking I don’t see this ‘war’ coming to an end anytime soon.
Ofcourse its war, and its about time too. For too long the radicals have hi-jacked Pakistan and have turned it into a hateful, paranoid (everything is usa’s fault), intolerant society. Their response for everything is violent force and they deserve the same in retaliation.
however, untill we get rid of the madrassahs, educate the younger generation and give them a healthy outlet, all the military in the world cant overcome these fanatics. The “face-off” has been avoided for too long. Previous generations of Pakistan were foolish enough to think they could use these people for their means and then forget about them. Lets do our children a favor and take care of this problem in our lifetime!
It is definitely a war. But what to do about it? One cannot stop suicide bombers with “threats” of punishment. What is the most our government can do? Threaten them with death sentence? The real war is the war of ideas.
The question is how come Pakistan now has the space, the network, and the social fabric to create the dangerous and inhumane ideas that lead to Hangu, Hub and Kohat?
We could have avoided this situation if our earlier (and current) governments allowed a free discussion of ideas, particularly as they relate to matters of religion: What is Jihad? Can you fight against your own state in the name of religion?
These questions are not new, and have been raised for decades now. The “Mullah” view has been propagated AND protected by successive governments. What is worse is that alternative voices of reason within the religious debate were actively suppressed through laws and police actions. Blasphemy laws, declaring citizens “non-muslim” against their wishes, putting people in jail for suggesting an alternative view point …. These are not acts of individuals or madrassas. These have been acts of governments and its institutions.
Does the present government have the nerve to reverse this process now? For the sake of Pakistan, I hope so.
Well since we have US as our advisor on this whole thing, I doubt the government can solve this issue with any success and avoid more such incidents!!
Some strong decisions are to be made and one of them is for the Musharaf to step down!! This is all towards Musharaf and the way he is running the show……… if he gets out of the equation then only things can return!! However, I doubt anything like that would happen.
Perhaps the other suggestion of getting some help from Israel makes sense……. they should try to do that, however Isreal could easily do it by seprating Arabs from Jews……. I dont think we can filter out any people since it could be anyone!! its true the people at war with themselves ( either by choice or due to other influcen) but the situation is greatly detoriating!!
What is going to be the end of it?
We need to sort it out sooner rather than later.
People of Pakistan are frightened & insecure.
Yes, this is war… every time I look at the news online, there’s something tragic to read about…
Well It is politically in-correct but only country which is able to control suicide mombers is “jew state”. We should study their strategy.
When Bush attacked Iraq and Afghanistan, he wanted to give clear message to muslim world that we will retaliate 10X more then you.
In Iraq USA is failing because they have not controlled it in initial phase. We have to deal with it now.