Pakistan and Talibans:
Darkness Strikes Again
Mahboob A.
Khawaja, PhD.
Darkness hit
Pakistani mainstream society again on December 16, the day of mourning for the
loss of East Pakistan more than 40 years
earlier. Pakistani leaders seem to have ignored the pertinent lessons of time
and history. TTP- Pakistani Taliban
group claims the cold blooded massacre of 132 innocent school children and 10
teachers at Peshawar.
Had the authorities listened to advanced warning by the principal, the 8 hours
bloody carnage could have been prevented. The BBC interview tells that School
Principal informed the authorities for two years how Taliban were threatening
to the school. Yet, the civic authorities failed to ensure the appropriate
security measures to prevent the expected terrorist attack. Despite convenient cynicism of some Western
mythologists, violence and terrorism are not inscribed in the genes of
Pakistani people. But Pakistani masses continued to be victims of bloody
violence raging across the nation. This is the direct outcome of Pakistan‘s
former military dictators to join the bogus war on terrorism. Nobody can or will understand the fullest
nature and scope of tormenting pains and anguish unleashed to the mourning 142
families in Peshawar.
Condemnations simply do not alleviate the sufferings of the common citizens from
the ripple effects of the monstrous killings. Those responsible for the
security must face public and respond to legitimate concerns of fear and hatred
of the official dictum. Pakistani politicians and military security officials
would have hard time to provide rational answers to critical questions.
The Questions to be Answered
The question is -
why did it happen again? There are vital
questions of accountability, effectiveness of security apparatus and leadership
responsibility. The fault lines are widening day by day without anybody being
held accountable for the heinous crimes. Are there any elements within the
political elite or security establishments having conspiratory alignment with
the TTP extremist groups? Few weeks
earlier, Taliban hit at Wagha India-Pakistan border to kill more than 50
citizens and injured 100 or so innocent spectators. Such a vital location was
left unattended by the security apparatus. In June, Taliban attacked the Karachi international
airport and killed hundreds of innocent people resulting in closure of the air
terminals and destruction of several aircrafts. Why Pakistani Government is
indifferent and neglectful of the basic security and safety of life of the
citizens? Are the Pakistani leaders
worse than being useless? Do they have
the essential know-how and knowledge-based intelligence networks to prevent
such monstrous attacks from happening? If
not, why not? Are the political rulers
waiting for some foreign aid package to protect the lifelines of the common
citizens of Pakistan? There are numerous questions but no clear
answers from the authorities. Is the
Taliban phenomenon a new and strange notion to understand and to cope with?
Who are the Talibans?
The Pakistani media reports
blame Afghanistan-based Maulvi FadulahUllah faction for the latest atrocities
at the Peshawar School. Was this factor unknown to the
Pakistani security establishments? Taharak-e-Taliban
of Pakistan
(TTP) claims adherence to unknown perceptions of Islamic precepts and
practices. But Islamic faith does not embody or allow cruelty and killing of
innocent people and it does not sanction individualistic absolutism against the
collective interests of the Ummah. The Taliban groups failed miserably to
capture Islam as a force of moral and intellectual persuasion to spearhead
change and reformation ("islaha") in Afghanistan
and Pakistan.
Naïve jihad and violence tell the real Taliban narrative of life and struggle
to forge presence in Pakistan.
Taliban are diverse and
scattered around all the tribal regions of Pakistan-Afghanistan. Taliban are
not a legitimate political entity in Pakistani politics as their aims, mission
and guidance originate from the embattled Afghanistan landscape. Their
secretive recruits hide their faces while perpetuating violence as means to
sustain their identity. Their standing in public image is hardly of any
appreciable strength in moral and religious values. They are known to have used
extortion schemes, drug trade and killing innocents in major cities across Pakistan. How
could anybody open a peaceful dialogue with such bloody monsters who claim
faith in God, yet target and massacre innocent people across the land? TTP is a
continuing threat to civic, moral and intellectual consciousness of Pakistani nation.
Time and Opportunities Stolen from the Innocent School
Children
Students who are hurt and witnessed
the eight hour long massacres of their fellow classmates can never imagine the
school being a normal place of learning. Their parents and families whose trust
and hopes were shattered by the bloody massacre cannot forgive those who failed
to protect them. Often telling the truth is offensive in the political culture
of Pakistan.
But the call of time and humanity demands rethinking and concrete steps for
accountability and futuristic security to be strengthened. Kids and parents who
have been traumatized by the horrific experience will carry on not only
physical injuries but psychological impacts for long time to come. Who is
responsible for the remedial actions and lifelong support to such victims of
home-grown terrorism? What will be the
means and opportunities offered by the state and society to children whose future
is stolen by few thugs and gangsters calling themselves “Pakistani Talibans”? Would any amount of compensation bring back
the lives and future of the heartbroken kids?
Pakistani rulers and their
behavior typifies what can go wrong when leadership is indoctrinated and
barricaded by the deliberate evolution of corruption,
dishonesty and treason; embracing a culture of convenient nepotism, gangsterism
and killing as a political tools to manage the political absolutism.
Consequently, the world is adding insult to pains and anguish of the morally
and intellectually conscientious Pakistanis and more so to those citizens of Peshawar whose human
losses are irreversible.
Pakistan in Need of Political
Change
Pakistan lives in self-inflicted
turmoil of political and military intrigues - all deceiving all - all trying to
gain their footing in power either by attracting foreign interventions or creating
catastrophic political up hazards to dismantle the fabric of the originality of
the nation. All the stage actors want power and use it as a divine right of
absolutism against the interests of the besieged masses. Public interest was
never a core thrust of the political governance
in Pakistan
except as a shadowy window to patronize few sadistic monsters who desired to
play with the lives and values of the people. When would the politicians and
military leaders learn from the current complex affairs having dehumanizing
impact on the Pakistani culture? The 21st
century intelligence networks are no longer fixed entities seen from the eyes
of guns and bullets and aerial bombardment as going on in North
Waziristan. In a complex and diverse Pakistani society, security
and intelligence gathering needs to be horizontally spread through traditional
and unconventional methods. This is how, it seems that Taliban select targets
and undertake killing spree of the innocent civilians. There appears to be no
useful surveillance or public engagement and feedback process and no effective
intelligence gathering in major areas of the crisis belt. It is probable some
hidden elements within the security forces continue to collaborate with the
terrorist groups to strike the public nerves and enlarge the scope of political
fear and hatred.
The killing of school children portrays a naive
image of Pakistan
operated by temptation and compulsion of evil that is -- a divided and renegade,
nuclear-power nation that co-exists with political corruption, irresponsible
leadership and extremist murderers. The culture,
intellect and values these military and political elite follow are foreign to the
genius of the people of Pakistan.
The country appears to have its ennobling enemies within itself and daily death
tolls and societal destruction provide ample data to document the growing
despotism and politically geared domestic madness undoing the foundation of Pakistan's
existence. The masses cannot wait to expect something happen out of the nothing.
Nawaz Sharif, the embattled Prime Minister and the Pakistani Generals need to
look into the mirror. Rationality is losing on all fronts of Pakistani political
spectrum and future-making. People aspire for political change and new
responsible leadership and that is what nowhere seen as coming soon. To ensure political stability and
future-making, arguably, a Government of National Unity under some educated and
intelligent non-partisan leadership could pave the way for peaceful
transformation into politically sustainable future. Pakistan desperately needs educated,
intelligent and proactive people of new vision, new ideas and strong political
imagination to articulate the unity of the nation and to protect the freedom and
security of the people from ultimate chaos and ruins.
|