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?”
Yes but why is it that the Mullah brigade gets away, quite literally, with murder, before the state feels compelled to act? You can rest assured that if lesser, beardless/burqa-less, mortals were to occupy libraries, burn places down, kidnap cops, or try to hoard AK-47s, the state would act so fast and with such brutality that we wouldn’t know what hit us… it is only the mullah brigade that gets away with this… even in this operation, they were given umpteen opportunities to surrender, or at the very least allow the students to leave… and after that if there has to be this sort of action against them, well, its about time…
a small Thankyou to Lt.Col. and Capt Salman of the SSG….
Thankyou both…..we are in your debt and will remain so……thankyou for your sacrifice…for your courage…we do not know how this will affect us in the long term..but when you were called upon…your courage was not found wanting and you did not falter you did not fail us..you did your job with dignity and sacrificed you life for something good….something that Mullahs cannot lay claim to..
I only regret that two Lions were felled by bullets from Mullahs who were cowering behind women and children….
but then again…what do you you expect from people who ask others to fight to the last only to escape in Womens clothing…..such courage..such scarifice!
I pray that you are in Paradise now enjoying Allahs everlasting and infinite bounty..
I do not know who Capt Salman leaves behind…but I know of Haroon Islams two little girls…may Allah look after them…
Pakistan Zindabad!!!!
Pakistan Paindabad….
Br.Adnan Siddiqi has hit the nail on the head (about the contradictions and hypocrisy). Many Pakistanis are afraid to speak out against the revulsion and brutalities of our state’s so-called security apparatus – for obvious reasons. Even the expat Pakistani communities have been mute on this subject, until quiet recently. This unfortunate situation suits the tyrants – who benefit and thrives on our silence.
Extremism of any kind – religious or otherwise, abhors. “Only a more indigenous and inclusive approach to issues can restore tranquility.
From professional point of view army-rangers did a great job.
1. First they were able to save most of childrens/womens.
2. They took 15 causualities out of 150. It means every 10th. Beleive me it is a very heavy loss of life and great sacrifice.
They could have gun-ship and tanks but they did commando-operation to save women/child lives.
Job well done!
By commandos I think you mean the terrorists with him… but yeah it is very likely that he wanted to surrender but his friends/patrons shot him…
Good riddance all the same…