Adil Najam
Pakistan is in tears today. Yet again.
70+ people are dead in Wah today, as yet another cursed suicide bomber targets Pakistan and Pakistanis. The Tehrik-i-Taliban has taken responsibility for them. Only two days ago, 32 people were killed in a suicide attack on a hospital in the northern town of Dera Ismail Khan. Meanwhile incursions and attacks into Pakistani territory by American forces continue and fighting between militants and Pakistani forces rages in Bajur and other areas, killing even more.
In what continues to be war on and in Pakistan, Pakistanis continue to die. Pakistan continues to cry.
Some will call it the largest legacy of the Musharraf years. Some will read unstated messages within this murder and mayhem by these killers. Others will see it as the price in dead bodies that Pakistan pays in the War on Terror. Yet others will remind us that this is reaping what Gen. Zia-ul-haq sowed. There will be, I am sure, plenty more pontifications too – ranging from the absurd to the absurdly profound.
All I know is that today, yet again, Pakistanis die. Pakistan continues to cry.
Why must this murder and mayhem continue? I ask. When will it end? These, of course, are absurd questions themselves. Because we all know the answers. It will continue for as long as we let the killers kill and support their murders with our silence. Silence, of course, also kills. And some are condemned to cry silently.
From Today’s “The News”.
These are the same people who claimed responsibility for the Wah blasts and then threatened to attack other cities. Now they are calling for a ceasefire when they are on the receiving end. Did they give the poor souls who were killed a chance of a ceasefire? I would say no ceasefire until Maulvi Omar is either killed or captured. For once I agree with this government.
Govt rejects Taliban’s unilateral ceasefire
ISLAMABAD: Advisor to prime minister on interior Rehman Malik has said the operation against Taliban would continue until their surrender.
Talking to media in Islamabad today, he said the unilateral ceasefire announced by Taliban is not acceptable, as they had broken previous pledges.
The advisor said the ceasefire can only hold if Taliban surrender their arms publicly in Islamabad.
Malik said that 550 Taliban have been killed in the Bajaur military operation, while a number of dead bodies were still lying in the area.
To a question he said that some of killed and arrested militants are Uzbiks, details of whom will be shared with media soon.
Rehman Malik said that 300,000 people have been displaced in Bajour and eighty thousand in Deer due to military operation.
The advisor said that 80 million rupees have been earmarked for relief and rehabilitation of the affectees, while 10,000 tents have been set-up in Deer for them.
To a question he said that one of the suicide bomber caught in Wah, has told investigators that he was told that he is going to ‘kill westerners’ by his mentors.
Dan… you took the words right out of my mouth… and apparently a number of other like minded mouths too : )
Mustafa…
I’ll reply back since you replied to me… when did mere asceticism make one a leader? Granted that Pakistani rulers lead lavish lives, but how does that imply that Charlie’s aunt (to take a leaf out of Khalid Hasan’s book) would make a better leader simply because she is an ascetic… it is possible to be an ignorant ascetic murderer isn’t it? Simply because someone is “simple” as you say does not mean the ideology he wants to impose on the rest of us is palatable… does simplicity and frugality warrant the bombings of girls’ schools, the blowing up of barber shops and the so-called revenge killings of innocents? I for one am simply not willing to live in a Pakistan where my daughter won’t be able to go to school, where I won’t be able to shave, where I won’t be allowed to clap at the cricket stadium when a batsman hits a four, where my favorite band can’t perform in public and where the Finance ministry consists of the head mullah dishing out money from a trunk hidden under his bed… (yes, its true… read the book I reference next…)
In fact, this is one of the troubles with the Taliban… this “simplicity”… I recall now Ahmed Rashid’s book on them… the ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Jamaat-e-Islami are equally insane, but at least they are fortified by some impressive scholarship from the likes of Maududi or Syed Qutb… these Taliban are completely divorced from that tradition (their alliance with Bin Laden notwithstanding), and their “simplicity”, frugality and asceticism simply adds another very sinister layer to what the Brotherhood or the Jamaat preached…
As for being brainwashed by propaganda, it is obvious that the West isn’t the only entity with a propaganda machine… Nawa-e-Waqt or any similar Urdu daily, and sundry TV hosts do an excellent job as the propaganda wing of the Taliban…
@D_a_N
Well said on every front, and I would add my voice to your words, particularly on the following:
“I believe that it is time that whenever and wherever we see people
I totally agree with D_A_N. I cannot be put in better words then you did bro.
Tehrik-e-Taliban now in Multan;
http://jang.com.pk/jang/aug2008-daily/24-08-2008/u p02.gif