Adil Najam
Militant suicide bombers brought their mayhem and murder to Lahore today. The well-planned terrorist attack has left at least 26 people dead and some 70 injured.
According to Dawn:
A suicide bomber blew himself up among police outside the Lahore High Court building Thursday, killing at least 22 policemen and 4 civilians, and wounding over 70 others, minutes before a planned anti-government protest rally of the lawyers latest reports said.
“There were about 60 to 70 policemen on duty when a man rammed into our ranks and soon there was a huge explosion,†said police officer Syed Imtiaz Hussain who suffered wounds to his legs and groin. TV footage showed at least four mangled bodies on the ground close to a destroyed motorbike and a piece of smoking debris. The blast fired shrapnel as far as 100 meters away. It also shattered windows in the court house and set off volleys of tear gas shells carried by the police, witnesses said. Lahore’s chief of police operations Aftab Cheema said the bomber had run up to a barrier manned by police and blew himself up. He said 20 policemen and two civilians were killed. More than 70 others were wounded, including civilian passers-by, officials said. “It was a suicide attack,†Lahore police chief Malik Iqbal told Dawn News TV adding that 22 policemen died in the attack. He said police were “definitely†targeted.
An Associated Press photographer at the scene of the attack saw the severed head of a man with long hair and beard, possibly that of the suicide bomber. Police constable Jameel Ahmed said the attacker was a man aged about 25 who had arrived outside the court building on a motorbike. “He parked his bike and walked up to the police and blew himself up,†Ahmed said. Police bomb disposal experts estimated the bomb contained up to 14 kilograms of explosive. The police had been deployed in front of the court premises ahead of a weekly lawyers’ protest against the sacking of Supreme Court judges in November. The rally had been due to start about 15 minutes before the bomb went off. About 200 lawyers were inside the High Court at the time of the blast, and others were marching from a nearby district court.
See more videos on vidPK.com
But Lahore, as they say, is Lahore. I guess it was. Lahore is always dearest to me not only because of my own roots in the city but also because it hosted me through my wonderful University days there. It is not that Lahore was unfamiliar to political violence and murder. Far from it. But it has not been in the cross-hair of these suicide murders like many other places were. Now it is.
I have gone through my own connections to all these place as a form of catharsis for myself, but much more than that because even if I sit far away from them today, I take each of these attacks personally. I can feel the hurt, and feel – quite literally – like screaming out in pain. These attacks are not just attacks on cities and people in cities that I am fond of. These are attacks on the principles that I stand for, the ideals that I wish for, and the aspirations that I hope for. These are attacks on me. On my Pakistan. On my Pakistaniat.
I fear that there are too many of us who have internalized the violence. This is “how things are.” We have made ourselves “get used to it.” We have depersonalized the pain. Someone else died; somewhere else. Sad, but life must go on. We have made ourselves numb to the destruction and in the process legitimized the violence of the terrorist with the argument is that somehow the violence was done to make a point.
But that is the point. Violence is never an argument. It is a verdict. There is nothing more pitiful than a society that “gets used to” violence. I fear that this is exactly what is happening to us.
I realize that I have gotten a little carried away in my emotions here. But, maybe, we should all get carried away in our emotions now and then. I know that the hurt and the pain I feel is not just my hurt and pain. It the hurt and pain of far too many Pakistanis. For many it is much much more than my own because they have to live the hurt and pain every day in the neighborhoods they live in.
Maybe we should all take this personally. Maybe we should all not just feel the outrage but express the outrage. And do so without the violence and without the mayhem that the terrorists express their own outrage in. We as a people have to learn somehow to express our hurt without feeling the need to hurt someone else.
Violence feeds not only on the anger of those who are violent, but also on the silence of those who are not. We must not remain silent in the face of systemic violence.
I agree with you Adil, suicide bombings are now getting personal!
I propose the following.
A suicide bomber (who is hell bent on taking his life along with the life of innocents) once identified by the authorities, should be severely reprimanded by prosecuting his entire adult family including father, mother,wife, brothers, sisters etc by giving them a rigorous jail sentence of at least 15 years! They should also be prosecuted in case they are found to have been given money (which is the general modus operandi) by the perpetrators. It may sound cruel at first to propose such a sentence, but at the end of the day deterrence is the best defense against such maniacal personalities. Once this sentence is in place, any likely suicide bomber will at least think 50 times before he caries out the dastardly task.
The country-less foreigners in the SWA and other likely beneficiaries are taking the entire country for a ride and are using our own people against us, lets unite and nip this damn curse in the bud before we all have to suffer!
This matter is now beyond any political rhetoric of Go Musharraf Go, or Come Zardari Come or Nawaz Sada Sher ay! This is a matter of Pakistan’s security and its high time we should now take the bull by its proverbial horns!
@Saleem Toor,
I agree 110% with you Saleem Toor and ATP can provide us the platform where we can actually start doing something, Examples of cancer charity hospital, sahara trust are in front of us it is just we need a bigger effort now.
Still it seems like we are beating the bush, i don’t think the solution is as simple as “GO Musharaff” , he should be blamed but not “only he” should be blamed. Ok some army generals or agencies could be behind this, but these are not army personals who come and blew themselves up, what ever the motive behind it, the people blewing themselves are prepared and fooled by religious smokescreen, which started from Zir reign, stayed and grew through PPP and PML (N) govts. It’s not a piece of cake for any Govt to remove them, and no Govt, army or political party have the guts to do that, we are all confused, we can’t make our mind on what’s wrong and what’s right, this element was so significant in “Lal Masjid” issue. Only Ulehmas and Mullahs can help, but why would they, they see these militants and suicide bombers as their strength, whenever someone like Bait Ullah Mahsood or Maulana Rashid ghazi is touched, they can easily send one of their follower to go blast themselves up at some busy place of Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi.
@Saleem Toor
I agree with your comments, specially the last part, we need to pray more then ever before.
While the situation looks gloomy, a lot gloomy than ever (during my lifetime at least), the fact is that we, the Pakistanis, should start thinking collectively if we are to take our country anywhere… among all the mayhem, bombings, confusions… we could only stay positive and work on long term awareness and education of our people if our genrations are to reap any rewards!
Believe me, this is the only solution! There are no shortcuts…
I met a few Turkish friends last week and they mentioned that Turkey went through similar turmoil in late seventies and early eighties but it was education that saved them…Time does not appear on our side as we have not invested in education to the level that we could reap the real benfits. True that the feudals don’t have interest in educating Pakistan, true that education has not been a priority of any government in Pakistan, true that even the available funds are not fully utilized by the state machinery for education, true that all our state structure is messed up with round pegs in square holes, at all levels – but where are “WE” – the “blessed” lot of educated Pakistanis. We should understand that no change happens without a sacrfice; we need to come forward, we need to talk about educating Pakistanis, run discussions, then turn these into actions. Many of us are doing it, we need more people to join this effort… Please invest in the future of Pakistan; invest in education. We may be running against time, but there is no other way out probably. We have tried too many quick fixes to-date; none has worked. Let’s try to work on longer terms, yes despite all odds!
Most of us would agree that it is normal to be engulfed in the current state of affairs, but let’s get out of it… most of the Pakistanis want to stick together, want to build this country into a prosperous entity…
Stay positive, all of us; only this way, we shall get through!
May Allah be with us, Ameen! O’ God don’t leave us alone, we acknowledge that we do wrongs, we ask for your forgiveness and seek you help… Ameen!
Ai Watan Piyaray Watan Pak Watan Pak Watan ,Ai meray Piyaray Watannnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!