140 dead and 538 injured - this little byline cuts through hearts and our future!
Yesterday was the day of images - moving pictures of excitement, energy, applause and then the saddest of recent tragedies. Innocent men and women charged with emotion and enthusiasm were blown away by suicide bombers, remote devices and alien belief systems. Or was it the case of wilful machinations and deceit. Only time will tell.
She had arrived much like the Greek characters - tearful, maligned, triumphant and a little pawn in the hands of gods. Amid the voices of criticism and hypocrisy that fail to note the complexity of our times, she emerged as a people’s woman - once again. Here were the loyalists dancing, singing and clapping - their queen, exiled and beaten had re-emerged.
They couldn’t care about the cost or the process. That was for the armchair classes of Pakistan to ponder about. The pull of Bhutto-name for the have-nots was once again re-established. So began a journey on the blood-lined roads of Karachi that have cracked with violence, blood and lawlessness. Yet they moved ahead oblivious of the fault lines that run from the drab, destroyed villages of Afghanistan to Karachi passing through a web of seminaries, officialdom and Lal Masjids of this world.
And so halfway, this peaceful journey - a testament of what the real Pakistan is all about - halted. And, something had erupted: imperial projects, state diktats and the crumbling centre. There was flesh, blood, fire and tears. And the wretched TV screens have documented all of this.
Devastating is one word that replaced amazing by the time we crossed the midnight in Pakistan! To quote Rumi here
A splinter is often
difficult to get out.
How much more difficult a thorn
in the heart! If everyone could find that thorn
in themselves, things would be
much more peaceful here!
There is a head now flashed on the screens - they can’t tell if it was a Jiyala or the suicide bomber. The TV channels are flashing bodies again and again – as before, discretion was thrown to winds and we have the singular honour of being a country where human limbs and guts of the dead are not just flashed but imposed on the senses until you are numb, exhausted and terrified. And, glorifying terror is the last thing we need.
Urooj Zia, a newspaper reporter was there:
“The bomb blasts happened while we were there. I was stunned, to say the least. There were people, bits of people, blood EVERYWHERE. An AryOne World cameraman lay there dying in front of us. We moved him to a police mobile, but he died in the hospital. I knew he would. I got his blood all over me — my hands, arms, clothes, shoes. Then there were charred bodies of policemen — smoke rising from them. Slippery blood everywhere….I went back to work after that, filed my story. Got home around 04:00 a.m., couldn’t sleep for two hours coz I couldn’t get the images out of my head. Puked a couple of times too.”
This tragedy is not just about who is responsible for this carnage. When humanity is in danger, we have to rise above our biases and loyalties and condemn what is WRONG. This is an issue that we all have to now live and deal with.
Our religion does not allow targeting women even in wartime and suicides are FORBIDDEN. Period. There is now a consensus at Al-Azhar and various other places of Islamic scholarship. If this is about Waziristan or the Lal Masjid then it should be fought elsewhere and not against the unarmed, dispossessed political workers.
All Pakistanis have to unite in condemning this barbarity. And all variants of Pakistaniat ought to be involved in this process – bickering at this stage will only make us question as to what message are we sending to the world, that we to quote Qandeel Shaam are “multiple little groups all bopping their heads against one another”?
Violence, militancy and suicide attacks are and will remain unacceptable. Legitimate politics must not give way to war-lord-ism! I end with Faiz:
abhii chiragh-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh Khabar hii nahin
abhii garaani-e-shab mein kami nahin aaii
najaat-e-deeda-o-dil kii ghadi nahin aii
chale chalo key wo manzil abhii nahin aaii
You can visit ATP on your Mobile Phone. Here's how!
Dear Viqar: there are no defenders here, or at least I haven’t read any statement that defends the PPP leadership. They are like any other self-serving class in our country. By your account, they are responsible for this carnage and maybe this is the case. The sad reality is poor people have lost their lives and we are shocked at such death.
Grateful to Sidhas for posting this verse from the Quran:
“We ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone slew a person, unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole of mankind. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of a whole people. (al-Ma’ida, 5:32)”
Meengla, MQ and Ahson: your comments are very thoughtful - I agree with MQ - deaths and exiles do not solve anything. Let these ——– do their politics and let the system weed them out.
Neena: I agree that the discussion has been civil here though some of our friends think that there is “obscenity” being spread here and censorship in action. Poor Adil has also been asked to feel ashamed for this. Though, I’d say include Owais in this as well !!!
Khayal apna apna, pasand apnee apnee :)
MQ - Good one
Thanks to Adil we all are exchanging our views here in a civil manner. All other public blogs such as KMB are taken over by nuts.
I don’t even want to talk about Benazir, or Musharraf or any of the other leaders… this tragedy is a national catastrophe and its implications are just too huge to contemplate. People here are arguing whether Benazir should have flown in a helicopter or driven in a car or led the parade in a truck. The problem is not her choice of transport, but the increasing presence of suicide bomber squads, terrorists and assassins in our country. Dozens of incidents have occurred just in the last 4 months. Preventing people from collecting in large groups is impossible in our society. What will you do during Muharram? What will you do on Eid prayers? What will you do during Basant? There are bound to be large collections of people for long periods of time. Unless we decide to lock every one up in their homes…
The interior minister has stated that suicide bombers are unstoppable pretty much by any government in the world. And his comments are quite justified, because despite its technological superiority, the US has not been able to stop suicide attacks in either Afghanistan or Iraq… or on its own soil. They’ve happened in the UK as well and all the relevant intelligence services have claimed that another attack on UK/US soil is not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’. And these, by the way, are countries where extremist populations are absolutely infinitesimal in contrast to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The suicide bomber is such a powerful and seemingly unstoppable weapon when it comes to disrupting society at every level, and those who seek to use it are so Satanic in their intent, that one is completely at a loss to understand if and when this will ever end. As a society, we continue to respect the mullah, a large part of the mullah brigade then raises brainwashed children in madrassahs, a segment of these children in turn get highly radicalised, a subset thereof get trained and armed and wait their turn to blow themselves up.
How do we stop this phenomenon at its roots without tearing our society apart? Without a solution to this problem, there can not be a bright future for us. And the reverse of the tipping point phenomenon will strike us… our progress in all areas will be curtailed just enough to keep us from ever “breaking out”, and by the time we look up and compare, we would have been left far behind. A non-entity.
I am utterly depressed and despondent today. I am convinced that a change of government will not help this situation. A change of policy will not help this situation either. The fanatics will find some other issue; women’s rights, music and CD bans, compulsory purdah or some other depraved agenda as a ruse to continue their mass-blackmail of our society and our people. I can only pray that God destroys these depraved fanatics, and subjects them to unending torture both on earth and in hell.
To my mind, there is more to it than just a plain and simple suicide bombing/assassination attempt on Benazir Bhutto’s life. There are force structures within the Pakistan setup, some recognized and others not-so-recognized that are against any kind of change that can de-stabilize their hold and the monopoly on the system.
Notwithstanding the powerful show of popularity that was put up on the ex-prime minister’s arrival and the emotional scenes that followed to mark her homecoming, I believe someone somewhere had an idea what was in the offing on BB’s arrival. The fact that General Musharraf ‘suggested’ a few days back that she should delay her departure from the UAE did provide an indication that something was ‘cooking’! Not that one is blaming the President’s intention but maybe, just maybe, he got a hint or two that there are elements in his establishment who are not in favor of Benazir’s return. Pakistan’s inability to tackle the menace of terrorism is one stark example of the country’s not-so-recognized force structures resisting the idea of detalibanization.
Moreover, as details unfold, it is beyond my understanding at least as to why the lights were turned off as soon as Benazir’s convoy descended the bridge near Karsaz. The government contends that it was a precautionary measure while the Benazir supporters see the blackout as a non-virtuous act of a rascal operating in the government domain.
Whatever the case may, although I sympathize with the lady for the horrifying experience that she had to encounter so soon after returning from years of exile, I’m not surprised by the way she’s handling the PR activity related to the ‘event’ appropriately.
As the leader of the biggest political party in the country and one who is a strong candidate to become the next prime minister, she needs to calm down, not act like a jiyala but as an individual who is determined enough to effect a change in country’s fortunes. Her statement that the blast was an attack on democracy perhaps does not mean anything – it just portrays the outrageous senselessness that has been the defining characteristic of the PPP politics ever since its inception.
I did hear someone say that BB needs to realign her strategy with the changing times now that she’s come back since the ground realities in Pakistan are far different than they were at the time when she was last the prime minister.
Instead of acting manic (apologies for using this strong word but I’m afraid that is how she appears to be), Benazir must now concentrate on giving a plan to the nation vis-à-vis the socio-economic progress and development. With the prime minister ship almost a done deal, the focus should now be on where do we go from here.
Beyond the realm of power politics, Benazir needs to set the house straight by effectively disclosing/conveying the terms and conditions of the deal that she’s made with Musharraf to the Pakistani nation. The people should not be treated as if they are merely pawns in a bigger game.
Also, what type of a power-sharing formula is in the works between her and the President? Are we going to see any constitutional amendments taking place? Are we moving toward another experiment with the system or will the traditional norms and principles of the presidential or parliamentary be followed?
Also, one aspect BB might bear in mind – if provided with a third opportunity, she must respect the feelings of the people, keep Mr. Twenty Percent as far away from the Prime Minister House as possible and most of all play a fair and neat game.
Politics in the Third World, I understand, is all about seizing opportunities and fooling around with the masses, yet, a little bit of sense of conviction may help the erstwhile ‘Alice in Wonderland’, leave an indelible marks on Pakistan’s history. Times have indeed undergone a drastic transformation – if the same old tricks are employed again, things might get too stressful and uncontrollable. The people have had enough – BB needs to appreciate this frustration and agony.
Only Nawaz can fix problems in pakistan because he has genuine public support. BB is just another puppet from USA.
BB is now again playing on dead bodies of her workers. Tell me what she is going to. bombing tribal areas? And what will be the result. civil war. God save us from this “churail”.
some of the comments are really worth listening,hearing
to be worked on .
[quote] I can’t think of anyone who is not disgusted at the tragic loss of life.[unquote]
I am sure you didn’t mean it. It has to be a peculiar type of person who is “disgusted at the tragic loss of life”. Bad breath, foul language or foul smell can be “disgusting” but never a tragic loss of life. Loss of life can be shocking, saddening or upsetting but not “disgusting”.
[quote] Why does no one have the guts to talk about the criminal responsibility of the awami leader and her party’s leadership who mindlessly led a rally of hundred of thousands of unsuspecting poor…? [unquote]
In my view the only way you could make such rallies unpopular and unemotional affairs is by not forcing political leaders go into exile. When Nawaz Sharif returns you will see a similar rally in Lahore. And, when Altaf Hussain returns Karachi will come to a standstill. So, the answer is let the political leaders live and do their politics in the country and let the people get used to them. When any one breaks the law try him or her in regular courts as you would try any other accused — in an open and fair trial. People will accept that.
[quote] The entire leadership of PPP deserves to be lined up against a wall, facing a firing squad. [unquote]
I thought we tried that already. Didn’t we hang the man who was the source of all this “evil” called PPP? Obviously it didn’t work. Killing and exiles are unlikely to work in future either. On the contrary, you would create heroes and legends.
Yeah, blame the victims! Well, there were no specific warning that some would definitely happen! The sense of security got to such an extent that the season journalist like AAJ TV’s Nusrat Javed started saying a few hours that the militants generally do not target political parties!
And what difference would it make if BB were to land on 18th Oct. or 15th Nov? Would she, and like-minded ‘American Agents’ be forced to forever rush through election campaign during day hours? Do you guys think that this kind of carnage is going to stop here? Do you guys not know that several of the topmost PPP leaders themselves got hurt in that truck and it was only the effort of the police mobile and PPP Jiyalas that managed to save the truck by sacrificing their own lives.
PPP leadership made a terrible miscalculation: Pakistan is changed now. No longer can any ‘liberal’ politician go out and reach out to the public without jeopardising theirs’ and their workers’ life. For that one can accuse BB.
But ‘lining up’ the whole leadership and shooting them up?! Well, they came very close to being dead themselves and several of them got hurt.
What kind of non-sense people would go to in their hatred for BB. Yes, she may be corrupt but the hatred shown to her here makes one think she is a demon.