Adil Najam
The enemy struck again. Killing Muslims in Lahore and then in Karachi.
In this blog our vocabulary has always been the vocabulary of Pakistan, of Pakistanis and of Pakistaniat. It shall remain so. Yet, today we deliberately choose to use the vocabulary of religion because those who were targeted were targeted because of their faith. The killers were targeting processions mourning those killed at Karballa. There was nothing ambiguous about the horrific murders of Muslims in Lahore and Karachi. There should be nothing ambiguous about our reaction to it.
The intensity and the frequency of violent intolerance may have escalated, but there is nothing new about the scantimonius self-righteousness that has, for so long, and so consistently, made us our own worst and most enduring enemy: Hum he Qatl ho rahey haiN, hum he Qatl kar rahey haiN.
That both attacks were intended to be much bigger had police and security personnel not intercepted the attackers – one reportedly just 13 years old – is of little consolation to the loved ones of those who died. Including the loved ones of the lowly policemen who gave their lives intercepting these murderers. But it should be yet another moment of reflection for the rest of us. As we wrote in December 2009: “… the Pakistani policeman’s life – very literally – [has become] the only thing between a suicide bomber and his would-be victims.” The Pakistani policeman is not perfect. Nor are we. They represent the same violent schizophrenia that the rest of society does; the same violent schizophrenia that has made their job more violent than any job deserves to be.
@nah says:
January 27th, 2011 6:29 am
“This shows that there is no difference between you and the animals you criticise.”
Thank you for the praise. This was what I wanted to bring home that the persons who murder people or eulogize their acts, which are not worthy of praise by any standard, are worse than animals.
@ Jawed
You got it totally wrong again and in your secular hatred against right-wing elements, you are doing exactly what I pointed out, i.e. blaming Islam for terrorism.
There is a need to distinguish between terrorists (like TTP) and illiterate muslim clerics (like Hanif Qureshi). I denounce both a like. But what people like Adil Najam and you are doing is to label the illiterate ones as terrorist implying that followers of Islam are terrorist. This is just what anti Pakistan elements want and so-called jihadist TTP (funded by forces across Durand Line) is giving you people every opportunity to malign Islam and Muslims.
So in this game, everyone’s happy. TTP rouges earning dollars from across the border, anti-Pakistan forces seeing Pakistan cripple in chaos, so-called allies assuming the role of sole benefactors of Pakistan, corrupt and dumb rulers making money out of “aid” meant for governance issues and secular elite & pseudo intellectuals maligning Islamic thought under the cover of terrorism. Every entity is getting what they desire.
Who is suffering? simple, easy going, hard working but helpless rather squashed middle and lower class people of Pakistan.
@kaliwal/@monano
You guys are so smart. the ONLY ones who know. Please dig your head a little deeper in the sand so that you become even more wise!
Just one question for you all knowing ones. So, why is it that when outside forces are looking for sellouts and traitors it is always the mullah types that are most willing to do the dirty work for outsiders. The more mullah type one is the more likely one is to sell out, according to your theory, since all the killing is being done by them. Is it because the mullah types were always enemies of Pakistan and will always be sold to anyone willing to harm Pakistan?
Thank you for making clear to us that the real enemies of Pakistan are these mullah types who are constantly selling to outside agents and so willing to kill Pakistanis. Amazing, isn’t it, that all the sell-outs (the ones doing the killing) are mullah types!
@Monano
The best picture is shown by Monano………..way to go brother, you have got to the bottom of it and no matter who agrees or not……that’s what we have got. This is the reality, Pakistan is under attack from outside by using INSDIE antisate forces……….the cheapest war ever, doesn’t cost much like bombing and eradicating a country or a nation……..this is the 21st century version of WWll………..!!!
We have been conditioned into thinking of suicide bombers as targeting civilians and so putting themselves beyond the established conventions of war. As it happens, however, the nature of war has changed in our time. In the twentieth century, armies began to target civilians as a way of destroying the will of the population, and so bringing down the leadership of the enemy country. As Tom Engelhardt of TomDispatch.com writes, “In Pakistan, a war of machine assassins is visibly provoking terror (and terrorism), as well as anger and hatred among people who are by no means fundamentalists. It is part of a larger destabilization of the country.”