Adil Najam
Pakistan remains at war. Whether it is schoolgirls in Lower Dir or Shia mourners and those waiting outside Jinnah Hospital in Karachi. All Pakistanis everywhere are targets for these murderous enemies of Pakistan.
It may be true that we do not have many friends abroad. But it is certainly clear that our cruelest enemies are all amongst us.
Day in, day out, they kill and maim and terrorize Pakistanis all across Pakistan. No city is safe. No Pakistani is safe. The ritual is now well entrenched. We mourn our dead. We cry. And just as the tears begin to dry, we are called upon to mourn some more. To cry, again.
The tears are unavoidable, and maybe even necessary. But they are no longer sufficient.
Let us begin, at least, by refusing to tolerate any excuse, any justification, any argument for such violence. Denial must no longer be an option. Yes, there may be forces great and small that are against us. Yes, Pakistanis are being killed also by outsiders too. Yes, the world is an unfair and unjust place. Yes, the wheels of history are complicated. All that, and more, may be as it is. But it is our children who are doing the dying. Everyday. Everywhere.
Those who train themselves to commit such acts – in whose ever name and for whatever purpose they do so – make no excuses for what they do. No excuses must be made for them either.
Let us listen, once again, to how the enemies of Pakistan justify this murder and mayhem:
I have noted your points. Thank you.