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.
many of the comments here and the attempts to somehow justify the bombings are very disturbing, even as disturbing as these murders themselves
The good news is that by far MOST comments and the original piece condemn these acts and these murderers strongly. Most of us I think are decent humans and good Muslims who see these fundamentalists as what they are – enemies of Islam.
But the fact hat thee are people here who are actully justifying the murder of Muslims and attacks on Pakistan and on Pakistanis is very disturbing. It shows how much the message of hate has penetrated into society.
@ justathot…
The references to Hazrat e Imam Hussain were deliberate and were meant to invoke some shame in a certain contributor to this forum who routinely advocates for the slaughter of his fellow countrymen….people such as myself and family…
It was not intended for Polemical skills…you would do well to pay attention as this is deadly serious what we discuss….
Mazhar, I partially disagree with you that anyone would “love death and suicide”. Many depressed individuals want a way out and attempt suicide, only to find out that they are too cowardly to “press a button”. Even animals struggle when death approaches. Even worms respond to basic stimuli in order to survive, to not let go and be at ease. An amoeba or a bacterium struggles to steer away from a drop of acid or toxin, which could mean its death, to another part of a Petri dish. Life is an intrinsic choice of protoplasm.
But I do agree with you that in a sense these guys are cowards. And, even in nature, this is seen sometimes – the case of migrating lemmings is one of the strangest examples of voluntary collective suicide. It was believed (still by many) that lemmings deliberately fall off cliffs in large numbers and commit suicide to avoid population explosion. This has been doubted, and it is now believed by some that the urge to continue on along their migration path dominates the fear of death from the fall. Others now believe its a case of stampede, so they don’t really jump; they’re pushed. In any case, instead of the push, among our jawans, one can envision the “push” as peer pressure from other extremists and their mentor mullahs, with whom I certainly do not concur on most all points (so ppl don’t start calling *me* a mullah or mullah supporter). Similarly, systems sometimes use suicide as a way out – apoptosis, when cells of our bodies commit “suicide” during development; and our own cancer and virus-infected cells beg through interferons asking other cells for assisted suicide. So the epistemology is complex.
But my point wasn’t just whether they are cowards or not. My real emphasis was on the fact that these events should not happen, especially at a time where we’re trying to give exactly the opposite, and true, image of Islam. Even if we think these guys who perpetrate these crimes are total cowards and idiots, we should do something urgently to prevent the loss of other innocent lives that they take with them.
The solutions are many, but one of them that always works is catharsis, and the extremists are denied that completely due to our subservience to our masters abroad, which raises the level of frustration among extremists to a boiling point.
BTW: Could anyone post Danish products on the blog so those of us who haven’t yet done anything practically might? I saw this link but don’t know if it’s correct.
http://buydanish.home.comcast.net/~buydanish/produ cts.htm
Appeared in today’s Jang
So I ask questions like Phds like Adil, Aqil that why don’t they ever use their wisdom to figure out why such acts are taken place at 1st place? Why Liberals who are Western Mouthpieces are so mentally impotent that they can’t try to find reason behind such acts. As the other guy said, it even hurts if one tries to cut a finger then how one gets ready to cut his own soul.
How would you guys react if someone kill your kid or your any family member without any reason, you guys might start spending rest of your life in pub or commit suicide yourself when get no justice. What all you liberals want that you keep killing others and one doesn’t even shed a tear? So pathetic, Really “Baghairatness” at its peak!!
There is no disagreement with the premise that attacks against innocent civilians and non-combatants is deplorable