Adil Najam
The news is developing by the moment. But the bottom-line is clear. The security forces have taken control of the Lal Masjid from militants after a severe gun-battle. But the story is far from over.
It will continue to unfold. There are too many unanswered questions. They will certainly be asked and discussed threadbare; here at ATP and elsewhere. But the real story of tomorrow remains the same as the real story of yesterday. Can a society that is so deeply divided against itself learn the lessons of tolerance? This question will continue to haunt us well into the future, in multiple shapes, in multiple forms, in multiple contexts.
This is a question that we at ATP have confronted from our very beginning and will continue to confront. But now is not the time to ponder on this. Even though what has happened had become inevitable over the last many days, I am too heartbroken to be able to do so.
Right now I can think only of Muzammil Shah (photo, from Associated Press, above). This photo was taken as he waited for his son who was inside the Lal Masjid. I do not know whether his son was there voluntarily, or as hostage. But I do know what the look of Muzammil Shah’s face means. The more important question is whether his son came out alive or not. I pray that he did.
Analysts – me included – will discuss what happened at length. They will try to understand the meaning of all this. What does this mean for Pakistan politics? What does this mean for Gen. Musharraf’s future? What does this mean for Islam? For Democracy? Does the fault lie with Abdul Rashid Ghazi and his militant supporters for creating a situation that could only end this way? Why did he not surrender? Is the blood of everyone who died not on his head for his stubboness and arrogance? Or, maybe, it is the government that is to blame because it did not act earlier? Act differently? Waited just a few days more for a negotiated solution?
Right now all these questions seem really petty and small. This is not the time for scoring cheap political points. This is not the time for spin.
Moreover, there are too many questions to ask. To answer. The head hurts as you think of them. But the heart hurts even more as you look at the face of Muzammil Shah.
Maybe the only really important question is the one that you can read between his wrinkles: “Why? Oh God, why? Why must things happen this way?”
The moderators have a tough job. They can’t allow the blogs to degenerate into youtube blogs.
ATP moderators,
Keep up the good work! We don’t want you guys getting down. All your work is greatly appreciated by the bloggers.
Ayjay is exactly right. These Lal Masjid molvis (criminals really) have forced the killing of Pakistanis. They have killed and had killed other Pakistanis and have therefore dirtied the name of Islam as well as of Pakistan.
Such a sad day…
Some are proud of killing our own people..
if these some are a majority, my pride in being a Pakistani diminishes further.
Toryalai, the comment you mention is actually live (scroll up) and has been for a while. (The remainder of this message is general and not specific to your comment).
This is not related to the above, but let me take this opportunity to repeat yet again, for everyone’s benefit that the system often automatically puts certain comments in moderation or even in the spam list. This could happen because they use words that are on the banned list, or because they have more than two URLs, or because a user is posting too many messages (or too fast) and therefore the system considers it spam, or because a user has been banned on other WorldPress sites, or because we have placed a set of posters in temporary moderation because a particular thread is in danger of violating our comment policy. (I am sure there are other reasons too that have nothing to do with us). If you post something at it immediately goes into moderation that means that the system has AUTOMATICALLY placed your comment in moderation. Our moderation team will periodically check this list and all messages that have been mistakenly placed there are unblocked.
As we have mentioned enough times,
Umar says:
July 10, 2007 at 1:41 pm
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Kruman…
I just read Saleem Shahzad’s earlier articles… quite good articles they were… thanks for introducing this newspaper…
In one article he speaks of the possibility of US/NATO forces being called in… the TNSM in Swat says a brigade or two of the army can easily be defeated… the MMA has declared a three-day period of mourning, and in Mansehra the fundos have attacked UN offices (whatever the logic behind that is)… looks like the chickens are here to roost, and looks like we are in for it now… I just hope Mush wakes up from his stupor and finishes this business now…
As as aside, anyone noticed how most of the soldiers in the Pakistan army have beards now? Not that they’d have refused orders, but you never know do you… Zia flooded the army with Jamat-e-Islami literature… the fruits are before us…