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?”
All my life I have wondered how people can take such extreme views that they are ready to abuse and kill each other. Then I read the comments here from those opposing the mullahs and those supposedly defending them. And both sets are equally reprehensible. I guess extremists on all sides are alike. They can not accept anyone else’s opinion except their own and can only spew hate at others. Too many comments above on both sides of the argument are like that. This is scary because if supposedly intelligent people can take and write like this then there is very little hope left.
I was just reading through all the posts and I was also against maulvis and used to say all the things u all said. Today I saw the press covering the insides of Jamia Hafsa after The Red Mosque massacre (there is no other word for that). There was one thing that opened my eyes forever. There was a message above the switch board. It was saying to conserve electricity as it is a blessing of God.
Believe me I have studied for my whole life in the best of educational institutes and I am a doctor. I have had the best of teachers but never in my whole life for once any one of them taught me this thing. Umme Hassan has become my teacher in some way and I salute her for this. They are not illiterates but we are.
@ Ajnabee..
very right..the same can be seen with the Lunatic Mullahs in the UK…spouting hatred against all other living beings all the while drawing a fat welfare cheque from the UK government and living with their brood in a council flat…and they see nothing wrong with that
That is their worth….Mullahs always …without exception crap where they eat..
These wretched people were opposed to the creation of Pakistan anyway and have been working to undermine and destroy us ever since…
I wonder if any of you has seen a house made of wood with a termite infestation…the termites leave the outer shell standing even as they have eaten the inside of the wood completely…but these Mullahs are even worse…they do not leave the outer shell standing…they devour with a fervour that is frightening.. all is consumed and all is lost…
Adnan Siddiqi Saab,
Regarding your vicious attack on Edhi Saab’s so called ‘babbling’. I will not even afford you enough credence to debate with you since the responses thus far have clearly put you to shame and on the defensive.
All I will say is stick to your computer engineering and comment on only that, for your comments have shown contempt for the greatest living Muslim in the world in my opinion. Edhi Saab for me is the undeclared lifetime President of Pakistan and the Amirul Momineen. I hope you will ponder and reflect on your post and come of your high horse and apologise instead of boring the pants of ATP readers like me with your lame excuses and foolist rants.
Feimanallah
Wasim
This is amazing. These Mullahs opposed Quaid e Azam but had no problem coming over and benefiting from – actually, taking over – the country he founded. They oppose Edhi but have no problem using his services – Edhi’s ambulances took injured of all those bomb blasts in various mosques, nishtar park etc. If he is such a kafir, why use his services? Ironically it’s these Mullahs who need Edhi often with all those madrassas induced acts of terrorism on opposing mosques and religious gatherings.
Should we ask these Mullahs what good THEY have done for the country… and for Islam? …..Lal Masjid comes immediately to mind.
If it were not for people like Edhi, Mullahs would have ruined completely Islam’s reputation as a humane religion. We need more like Edhi and less (in fact none) of these hypocrite Mullah types. In all the bearded ones, Edhi has understood the message of Islam the best.