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?”
It is indeed a very sad day for Pakistan. I have no heart to leave a comment but only prayers for all those who have lost their lives and those who have lost their loved ones. May Allah have mercy upon us all. Maybe some day analysts like Dr.Shahid Masood will be able to explain to us all who were the kings( or queen) and who were the pawns in this deadly game, but today is a day for prayers and reflections. “O Allah! We have done wrong to ourselves so if You have not forgiven us, we will be the losers.”
i am speechless, and u r right Adil, all the political issues aside: will they ever be able to make up the loss of those who suffered: they never will be able to.
in the game of the big animals, its always the small ones who get crushed, and thats what just has happened: these hypocrits (mullahs and dictators) have split our country into two: they dnt want to let u live with harmony.
And Dan! i agree cent percent with what u wrote above.
My heart weeps to see my country go through this…but I can fast see that my tears will dry up soon…
Call this what you will..wether this is stage managed or a genuine crisis I do not know…but one thing is for sure…Mullah’s..these vile..wretched beings are at the core…
consider if you will please…
If this was stage managed..then the Mullahs were in collusion and a party to this national nightmare….
if this was not stage managed and is a genuine crisis…then again…Mullahs are the cause of evil..
My Dear exalted, Almighty, All knowing, All seeing Allah…please rid us of these wretched leaches who feast upon the blood of the faithful….rid us of these Mullahs who hve twisted and de shaped Islam into something recognisable…of Allah…give my people the wisdom to see past their wickedness…
Damn you Mullahs…Damn you to the darkest corners of hell…for I am sure it is waiting hungrily for you…as Allah has told us..that the wages of Munafiqat will be heavy…very…very heavy…
Let me ask you this…when..just WHEN did you ever see a Mullah do anything good? What was the last benifit the faithful derived from these Madrassas…these houses of Peadophilia and factories of hate…Non Muslims should not be worried about these places..its Muslims who should be scared…for the amount of hate preached against fellow Muslims of a different school of thought far outweighs anything they could ever say against any non muslim…
So be scared Mullah…. be very scared for Hell fire awaits as surely as the sun rises in the east….and again…the wages of Munafiqat will be heavy….very..very heavy….
take your hate…take your half bakedness..take your blood lust…..take your passion for peadophilia….take your hunger for power and just leave…for Allah’s sake please leave us alone…go …go somewhere…where I dont care…just as long as you go far far far away where I and my family are safe from your wickedness..no Muslim is safe from your tongue….from your hand…from the venom that you spew forth against fellow Muslims…
Please go…..please just go…I know that you didnt want this country to come into existance anyway..and you have been working to break it apart ever since…but please…this is my Home…my familys home now….you have done enough to shake it to its foundations….
please just go now…leave us alone with this shattared house so that maybe…just maybe we might set it right and be at peace…
leave us be Mullahs…leave us be…and pray the Allah sees fit to forgive you…for the wages of Munafiqat are heavy…very …very heavy…!
I would like to comment on specfically the reaction of the Muslim world to these events and to the extremists. There has been condemnation amongst the Muslims. People have said they do not represent Islam. These terrorists only account for 1% of the Ummah etc etc. etc
HOWEVER,
On the BBC News website discussion forum I found the following interesing comment posted by someone. It was voted the most recommended comment with 171 recommendations.
“Why are we not seeing clerics and Muslims protesting around the world, voicing their opposition to the Red Mosque’s perverted version of Islam? Why does a single cartoon cause mass protests around the world, but taking hundreds of innocent women and children hostage and using them as human shields doesn’t garner a peep? Where are the normally outraged in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and on and on? Who will stand up publicly and denounce extremism? Their silence speaks volumes.” AK, Riyadh
The point being, the ‘condemnation’ of the Muslim world has been so minimal, a mere whisper of protest compared to other incidents. Why? If really the Muslim world feel these people are non-representative, why dont they replicate the street burning actions that are so common? On another point, why dont the Muslim Ummah come together, and as they have declared Ahmadis non-Muslims, do the same for these terrorsts? Again yes, there has been condemnation, but Muslims know VERY WELL that it will have no effect on these extremists. It will not eradicate them from Mosques. They will continue to preach their hatred to young Muslims.
Doesnt this smack of total hypocrisy. Now Compare what Ahmadis have done to give a good image to Islam. Ask non-Muslims around the world, they will give you a good view of Ahmadis, who emphaises inter-faith dialogue, build hospitals, schools etc etc. We produced the first Muslim Nobel Prize Winner in Science for example. Yet the ummah, and ordinary Muslims, went to extraordinary lengths to ensure we are declared Kaffir, to persecute us, torture, impison, and most importantly, TO SILENCE US. Yet now, with this Lal Masjid Saga, the worlds eyes are on Islam. Why do not the ummah unite and not just whisper a condemnation so silent that it is in effect worthless, why don’t they get up and declare these people out of Islam, as they have done Ahmadis? Not just with words, but get together all the Ulema and declare officially as you did in 1974, that such and such extremists groups are officially out of Islam. Why don’t they SILENCE these EXTREMISTS as they have been trying to with the Ahmadis. The Ahmadis have never used force, yet Muslims have used force against us.
Muslims cannot seperate themselves from these terrorits unless you unite and totally declare them out of Islam. Until then they are a part of your Ummah, and that is how the world will see them, as representatives of Islam.
Ayman, let’s not spin doctor the situation to death. Let’s stick to facts. These instances you quote are fabrications. There has been no “surrender” to the US. If Musharraf had not fought against the bloody Taliban, on the other hand, then there WOULD have been one.
You are referring similarly, to the anti-qadiani riots of 1953, I presume? How was that the military fighting against its own people? What should they have done? Let the rioters loot and plunder? One can continue to show how many of the other instances you quote are absolute bull$h1t, but then I imagine you are not here to gain scholarly understanding of the issues at hand, as is evident from the last line in your post.
The issue is not with the military, it is with people with the psyche you are exhibiting.
AS for the Laal Masjid, which is the real topic of discussion here, the Pak Army has done an absolutely miraculous job. Compare this with Tianmen square, the Theater action against the Chechens in Moscow or any recent hostage drama. The Government did not capitulate, did not exhibit a knee jerk reaction or a rush to bomb the complex to smithereens. They waited and gave the terrorists and Abdul Rashid Lanatullah every opportunity to surrender… but they didn’t.
The action itself didn’t involve the use of airpower even though the Laal Masjid complex is the size of several city blocks and were someone like the Americans running the show, that would have been the opening salvo. Commandos were sent in at risk to themselves, in order to save the lives of innocent people. It was this extremely brave and human approach to the operation that has allowed dozens and dozens of hostages – including a single group of 20 children – to escape post commencement of hostilities.
The Maj. Gen. in charge of the ISPR said the operation would take 4-5 hours to finish, and that’s exactly how long it took. This was professionally executed without any malice or excessive use of lethal weapons. The Army could have resorted to severe force after SSG Lt. Col. Islam was martyred two days ago… but they didn’t. That is true bravery.
God bless our officers and Jawans and may God grant the 4 martyred armymen who gave up their lives today to save innocent women and children, a place in Heaven. As for Abdul Rashid Lanatullah, may God roast him in Hell.