140 dead and 538 injured – this little byline cuts through hearts and our future!
Yesterday was the day of images – moving pictures of excitement, energy, applause and then the saddest of recent tragedies. Innocent men and women charged with emotion and enthusiasm were blown away by suicide bombers, remote devices and alien belief systems. Or was it the case of wilful machinations and deceit. Only time will tell.
She had arrived much like the Greek characters – tearful, maligned, triumphant and a little pawn in the hands of gods. Amid the voices of criticism and hypocrisy that fail to note the complexity of our times, she emerged as a people’s woman – once again. Here were the loyalists dancing, singing and clapping – their queen, exiled and beaten had re-emerged.
They couldn’t care about the cost or the process. That was for the armchair classes of Pakistan to ponder about. The pull of Bhutto-name for the have-nots was once again re-established. So began a journey on the blood-lined roads of Karachi that have cracked with violence, blood and lawlessness. Yet they moved ahead oblivious of the fault lines that run from the drab, destroyed villages of Afghanistan to Karachi passing through a web of seminaries, officialdom and Lal Masjids of this world.
And so halfway, this peaceful journey – a testament of what the real Pakistan is all about – halted. And, something had erupted: imperial projects, state diktats and the crumbling centre. There was flesh, blood, fire and tears. And the wretched TV screens have documented all of this.
Devastating is one word that replaced amazing by the time we crossed the midnight in Pakistan! To quote Rumi here
A splinter is often
difficult to get out.
How much more difficult a thorn
in the heart! If everyone could find that thorn
in themselves, things would be
much more peaceful here!
There is a head now flashed on the screens – they can’t tell if it was a Jiyala or the suicide bomber. The TV channels are flashing bodies again and again – as before, discretion was thrown to winds and we have the singular honour of being a country where human limbs and guts of the dead are not just flashed but imposed on the senses until you are numb, exhausted and terrified. And, glorifying terror is the last thing we need.
Urooj Zia, a newspaper reporter was there:
“The bomb blasts happened while we were there. I was stunned, to say the least. There were people, bits of people, blood EVERYWHERE. An AryOne World cameraman lay there dying in front of us. We moved him to a police mobile, but he died in the hospital. I knew he would. I got his blood all over me — my hands, arms, clothes, shoes. Then there were charred bodies of policemen — smoke rising from them. Slippery blood everywhere….I went back to work after that, filed my story. Got home around 04:00 a.m., couldn’t sleep for two hours coz I couldn’t get the images out of my head. Puked a couple of times too.”
This tragedy is not just about who is responsible for this carnage. When humanity is in danger, we have to rise above our biases and loyalties and condemn what is WRONG. This is an issue that we all have to now live and deal with.
Our religion does not allow targeting women even in wartime and suicides are FORBIDDEN. Period. There is now a consensus at Al-Azhar and various other places of Islamic scholarship. If this is about Waziristan or the Lal Masjid then it should be fought elsewhere and not against the unarmed, dispossessed political workers.
All Pakistanis have to unite in condemning this barbarity. And all variants of Pakistaniat ought to be involved in this process – bickering at this stage will only make us question as to what message are we sending to the world, that we to quote Qandeel Shaam are “multiple little groups all bopping their heads against one another”?
Violence, militancy and suicide attacks are and will remain unacceptable. Legitimate politics must not give way to war-lord-ism! I end with Faiz:
abhii chiragh-e-sar-e-rah ko kuchh Khabar hii nahin
abhii garaani-e-shab mein kami nahin aaii
najaat-e-deeda-o-dil kii ghadi nahin aii
chale chalo key wo manzil abhii nahin aaii
There seems to be a concerted effort to steer the discussion a certain way on this blog. I wonder why it is so damn important to some that we all think and act a certain way, a way of their liking and choosing?
I can’t think of anyone who is not disgusted at the tragic loss of life, or does not sympathize with the bereaved, or defends th perpetrators? It is about time that some people stop acting as “holier than thou” .on this blog
The insistence is that we should all restrict ourselves to condemning and denouncing the extremists and the militants. Why the extremists alone? AFAIK no one here is dying to erect a statue of OBL or Mullah Omar on Pakistan Chowk in Karachi.
Why does no one have the guts to talk about the criminal responsibility of the awami leader and her party’s leadership who mindlessly led a rally of hundred of thousands of unsuspecting poor, in security circumstance that would, otherwise, have Dracula scurrying for cover. Did they not realize what could happen in the face of the prevailing violence in the country, and in the face of clear and explicit threats? Are they that stupid? If so, what right do they have to be the leaders and deliverers of the masses?
Or, perhaps, they were aware of the risks that this lunatic act entailed. From Brig. Mohatarem’s press statement, they were not only made aware, they were specifically asked to plan things so as to complete the rally during the daylight hours. They refused. BB was requested to travel to the Quaid’s mazar by helicopter. Again, she and her callous chamchas refused. It is one of the first principles that in security-risk circumstances, the time frame for any activity such as a march or a political jalsa be minimized; yet here was this insane act extending well over 12 hours into the wee hours of the night. What the f**k were these idiots, and their defenders on this blog, expecting? That we should all come out and dutifully denounce whoever they tell us to denounce, and close our eyes (and minds) to everything else?
The entire leadership of PPP deserves to be lined up against a wall, facing a firing squad.
Shame on those of you who take us for cows and sheep. And shame on you, Adil Najam, for permitting this obscenity to be played out on your blog.
Reluctant Expat: Good idea – let’s think this further and involve others..Count me in..
Badar: thanks for the comment – your analysis is credible but the sad reality is that so many poor families will become poorer..
Neena: how can I not agree with your eminently sensible comment
MG: the daddy and the daughter may be the worst specimens of humanity but have some mercy: “Unfortunately, these morons died ignorant deaths to satisfy BB
I am sitting in my comfortable house in US and wondering what I can do on a small scale to help the families of those innocent people who died in this fight of the dictator, the spouse of Mr. 10 percent, Talibans and so called followers of Islam. Ms Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, and Generals with biillions hoarded in foreign countries are not going to help these people.
I hope some honest person in Pakistan can start a trust for the families of the dead that can provide for their immediate needs and education of their children away from the Maddrassas which teach hatred and suicide bombings. I hope all of us donate our Starbucks coffee money for one month to this fund.
I just found that majority of people who died were from my area, the count is in 60s. And i knew atleast two of the people. I am saddened by this.
Most of the people who died come from low income families of liyari, some might be the bread earners. The bomber or the people behind this din’t want to kill BB thats for sure, they wanted to kill innocent people. They don’t hate democracy, they hate the people of pakistan. Like stated earlier on this blog by many, this is a war against the people of pakistan. They sent a message of fear, intolerance and hate, a message is now due back.
Islamic Principle on value of life
We ordained for the children of Israel that if anyone slew a person, unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, it would be as if he slew the whole of mankind. And if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of a whole people. (al-Ma