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?”
‘Operation Silence’ has finally arrived at some semblence of an end with the death of Maulana Ghazi. Much will now be analyzed, lost oppertunities will be discussed, situations will be deliberated upon and every single thinking citizen of Pakistan will reach his/her own conclusion.
Was Maulana Ghazi a martyr ( the word martyr is used with so less care and so much repetation that it has lost its fundamental meaning )
Did the govt have any hand in the creation of the Lal Masjid fiasco
How did so much ammunation reach the heart of the security concious capitol, Islamabad.
Was the delay in handling of this situation a result of the govt’s involvement or restraint.
But during all this disection we as a nation will forget the basics of the entire sequence of events and will make martyrs out of criminals and felenious culprits out of the life savers.
Malulana sahab (may allah bless his soul) let go of various oppertunities to negotiate with the authorities and held captive after having brain washed innocent minds, while having illegaly captured govt land.This was a hostage situation and should not be taken as a relegious fight by the rightous.His stubborness led to the massacare of so many innocent people. Had he given himself up, so many of those lives could have been saved so lets NOT put the onus of all those deaths on the govt.
Lets not be led by emotions and lets see the unfolding of all this in the light of logic and what was the “correct thing to do”.
For all those who blame everything on Musharaf (not that i am a fan of the president and i do tend to agree that he has botched up a host of situations)… give the devil its due and give him kudos for handling this situation with restraint and patience.
Before we blame the govt for everything let us keep in mind that they are from amongst us and we as a nation deserve the leaders we have at the helm of affairs.
Lal Masjid: Trouble Spots
http://www.asadasif.com/?itemid=108
Abdul Sattar Edhi, head of the private relief agency Edhi Foundation, told reporters that the army had asked him to prepare 400 white shrouds used for covering the dead.
Adil, I totally agree with you.
More then 400 dead, humans, Pakistanies, muslims.
All of Pakistan is the loser today as we see our own people gunned down by our own army. But this was a necessary evil as they were spreading fasad in the earth which has a punishment of death.We mourn the innocent but not Ghazi and his death since a greater injustice would have occured if such vermin to force their brand of Islam on us all.
Our only way out is to follow the Quran in letter and in spirit and not to follow a pick-n-mix Islam that sometimes allows suicide bombing and so on. As muslims we are suffereing today deservedly in my opinion because we have deserted the Quran, for example we believe we know better than ALLAH when we support suicide bombing when it is clearly not allowed in Islam. We think we as humans can feel the pain of the Palestinians and others and so excuse their unislamic actions and in doing so by hook and by crook we are saying ALLAH doesnt know best (Nozubillah. My final word is a simple reminder for us all that the Quran says that only the righteous will inherit the earth. let us work together to achieve this noble aim.
Feimanallah Pakistan
Wasim