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?”
pm, if there isn’t any army, who is going to protect us from these Mullahs? I understand that there is Mullah Military Alliance when it suits both to but still there isn’t another power in the country that can deal with these militant mullahs. Army is the necessary evil.
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lots of question are spinning through the head but one thing that is crystal clear is that Abdul Rasheed Ghazi is nothing more then a murderer and a terrorist. No matter what your believe is, you do not put others live in jeopardy.
Whatever happened or are happening in Islambad are feared to bring some serious repurcussions in the form of an increase in the voilent activities throughout the country and the news coming out of Batagram aren’t incouraging at all. It has been learnt that some infuriated madrassa students went on a rampage of airial firing which broughtforth a sense of fear and insecurity among the residents of the locality. There are reports of violent protests from Swat, Bannu and some other parts of the country over the steps taken by the government. Let’s hope for the things to get back into normality as soon as possible otherwise it might become difficult for the government to check the damaging slide.
@Dan: the only thing which made sense in your rant was:
My Dear exalted, Almighty, All knowing, All seeing Allah…
May God make you capable enough to comprehend things in your surroundings.
A/C to daw, Ghazi’s mother has died due to suffocation. Inna LIllahe wainna alahey rajion
read this modified dan’s post. makes sense. Doesn’t it? please note that i agree with original Dan’s post completely.
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…army’s..these vile..wretched beings are at the core…
consider if you will please…
If this was stage managed..then the armys were in collusion and a party to this national nightmare….
if this was not stage managed and is a genuine crisis…then again…armys 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 armys who hve twisted and de shaped pakistan into something recognisable…of Allah…give my people the wisdom to see past their wickedness…
Damn you armys…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 army 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 army…. 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 armys…leave us be…and pray the Allah sees fit to forgive you…for the wages of Munafiqat are heavy…very …very heavy…!