I came across a very interesting piece of news regarding the drone attacks in Pakistan, while skimming through international news agency websites that I would like to not only highlight but also show my appreciation and gratitude towards. According to Amnesty International report on the U.S. drone program in Pakistan, since 2004 as many as 900 civilians including children have been killed and 600 seriously injured in over 330 drone strikes.
When repeated negotiations and deals between both governments failed, two weeks ago a group of artists, comprising of both local and international nationalities took matters into their own hands and unrolled a 90 by 60 feet vinyl poster of a young girl facing up in a village in the KPK region in northwest Pakistan, where the aerial strikes by the famous pilotless aircrafts have become part of the daily life.
Whilst, US officials have toned down the number of civilian deaths and have stressed the number of militants killed, the residents of the tribal areas tell a different version of the statics. As per the news I read, the inspiration behind the project was the fact that drone operators refer to kills as “bugs splats” since the image projected to the operator is on similar lines to an insect being crushed. Now, the operator will not be able to soothe his/her conscience with an anonymous dot on the landscape but will be viewing an innocent child’s face, every time the bug gets crushed.
The attempt to put a face to the attacks that have caused national outrage is certainly remarkable in its intentions, creativity and humanitarian efforts. Paying respect to the security concerns of the artists their names are not shown in any news articles, however, the thought and gesture behind the effort to halt the murder of innocent victims is certainly applaud worthy and should be appreciated.
AMNA BILLOO
Karachi
Pakistan was pushed into this entire war by no less than dictator Musharraf just to legitimize his dictatorship.
Due to the illegal coup d'état by Musharraf on 12th October 1999, Pakistan was expelled from Commonwealth and other civilized organizations.
Post-9/11 war in Afghanistan gave dictator Musharraf a golden opportunity to throw Pakistan into the war and get his dictatorship legitimized.
Since then more than 60,000 Pakistanis have died and more than US$100 Billion losses have been inflicted to the economy during this unending war. A large number of electricity pylons, gas pipelines and railway tracks were attacked during Musharraf.
The force was definitely ill-applied by Musharraf and we have sacrificed 15000 Military brothers including a Lt General (3 star), which no other country has sacrificed so far other than the world wars!
Whilst, US officials have toned down the number of civilian deaths and have stressed the number of militants killed, the residents of the tribal areas tell a different version of the statics.
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