Adil Najam
The cowardly suicide attack on the Danish Embassy in Islamabad which has led at least eight people dead is not just an attack on a foreign embassy in Pakistan, it is an attack on Pakistan.
There is and there can be no excuse for this dastardly action, and to make excuses is to become part of the apparatus of validating the terror itself. There are those who will make misplaced claims about this being an act of ghairat (honor). Let us be very clear, this is a bay-ghairat (dishonorable) act, no matter what the concocted excuse or justification might be.
The Associated Press pictures above (and below) tell the story of hate and destruction; here are the details, from The News:
The death toll in a huge blast near Danish embassy in F-6 II area in the Red Zone of the federal capital Islamabad on Monday has reached to eight, while seven wounded said to be in a critical condition. The car blast near the Denmark embassy damaged a boundary wall of the building, while nearby UNDP office premises were also damaged in the blast. According to sources 10 to 15 kilogram explosives were used in the blast, which also shattered the vehicles parked in the area. Huge clouds of smoke were seen over the area. The blast created four feet deep crater sources said. Police have cordoned off the area to collect evidence about the incident. Relief operations were underway and the wounded being transferred to hospitals.
While leaders in Pakistan as well as Denmark have condemned the dastardly act, we the people of Pakistan also need to condemn and be outraged at this. These acts of venom and hate are being done in our name. And no matter what the cause we need to stand up and say that this cannot, must not, be allowed to happen in our name.
This is just the latest in a string of hate blasts across Pakistan, including in Islamabad. We at ATP have been worried and have been warning against this culture of violence that has been festering in Pakistan. ATP commentator Deeda-i-Beena has provided some thoughtful ideas of steps that can be taken to begin addressing this cancer. It is time we think of them seriously.
Sharam inn ko magar nahin aati.
Spreading lies about people and putting jhottay buhtan (lies and accusations) on people is just a step away from blowing them up. Khuda kay wastay, sharam karo and please stop spreading lies and doing character assassination of people.
– NO ONE has said that they feel sorry for 9/11 but not for innocent tribal killed by drones. Please show me a single comment that says that.
– This website is about Pakistan, what does what happens in Iran have to do with anything when we are talking about who kills INNOCENT Pakistanis… whether those innocent Paksitanis are the ones killed by drones or the one killed by mullah suicide bombers.
– Why do you keep changing the topic by trying to throw keechar and lies on the messenger when you have nothing to confront the message on.
– And by the way, don’t confuse people. Pakistani operations against rebels and fanatics in the Northern areas is NOT about killing “innocent people”. There is nothing innocent about them, they are waging a war against my country and say so very clearly. So, don;’t lie to prove your false case.
– But, yes, killing of innocent civilians by US drones is condemnable. As condemnable as the killing of innocent Pakistanis by Mullah suicide bombers and teh killing of innocent tribals by the Talibans who are waging a war against innocent Pakistanis in Swat and elsewhere.
I appreciate that at least Ibrahim clearly lays out his moral stand and rightly says that “This act is horrendous, stupid and wrong
“Do we Muslims have anywhere to go to plead our case?”
Do Christians have a place to plead their case? Do Hindus have a place to plead their case?
My friend, you make your place in the world. Blowing up other peoples’ places does not improve your place. Others would be more sympathetic to your “causes” if you don’t spend the rest of the time killing each other. The casualties in all the conflicts you mentioned don’t even come close to number killed by Saddam in the Iran-Iraq war. They pale in comparison to the people killed by Arab militias in Darfur. The atrocities committed in Abu Gharib pale in comparison to what goes on in your local jails every day. According to Adnan and your own standards, you shouldn’t be able to condemn any atrocities on muslims (real or perceived) until you have condemned every atrocity that muslims have committed .
You don’t have any institutions of your own but ask for accountibility from others’ institutions. You don’t contribute an iota to the world but demand the world from everyone else.
I am not against ATP at all. I am pointing fingers at all those who go after anything happened out of sheer frustration after being pushed to the wall and stay indifferent to all that which is done with the ill-feeling against our religion and our people. At all those who feel sorry for 9/11 but not for tribal people. At all those who still think that war on terror is really a war against terror and not against Islam and militants as culprits for all this violence. I just want to know who killed Mosadegh of Iran, who imposed Shah Iran on Iran, who gave strength to Saddam, who settled Jews in the hearts of Arabian peninsula and run tanks after small children, who devastated large part of Asia in the name of counter-communism, who blindfolded Saudi kings and who is enjoying Sunni-Shiia conflict in Iraq? MILITANTS. It must be militants. Who else can think about endangering world’s peace so cowardly, dastardly and inexcusably?
I am talking about the whole nation who has indulged into sheer hypocrisy. Sorry for my bitterness but I cannot help myself. We need more Chomskies, Edward Saids and Arundhati Roys because we are still looking in the wrong direction.Yes, Militancy is the evil but we have to kill the bigger evil, the bigger devil. Let’s decide it yourself who is bigger evil! Can we have a post to take opinions of reverend readers of this blog to decide who is the biggest danger to this world? Militants or ……………..
<i>
The lesson here is that before you condemn any act of violence, make sure you review your history of past condemnations and make sure that you have condemned all acts of violence, even though related to the current
</i>
that’s what Ashan and others tried to teach you my friend that ATP has long documented baised history to condemn things which can save them from Western heat. I can feel the pain and restlessness in your statement since what all wa said was actually TRUE!
What never ceases to amaze me is the utter lack of rational thought in our neo-cons. Adil called for a condemnation of a suicide attach on the Danish embassy. An attack on an embassy is universally thought of as an attack on a country. So, in essence some Pakistanis planned and carried out an attack on the country of Denmark. Our neo-cons are saying that a Pakistani attack on Denmark cannot be condemned until the American attack on Pakistan is condemned by the same person on the same platform, even though the two have nothing to do with each other. Perhaps the American attack on Pakistan cannot be condemned until the Japanese attack on America is condemned first and then we have to go back to the Meiji dynasty and to find who attacked the Japanese shoguns. The lesson here is that before you condemn any act of violence, make sure you review your history of past condemnations and make sure that you have condemned all acts of violence, even though related to the current. Otherwise, you don’t have a leg to stand on. Mashallah !