I don’t know why rest of the world keeps bothering us with repeated allegations while asking to ‘do more’. Recent report of the US defense department blames religious seminaries in Pakistan’s tribal area and Balochistan fomenting attacks on Afghanistan. Report questions freedom granted to sectarian outfits which are not only killing their own countrymen but also get involved in cross-border attacks on neighbouring countries. All such officially banned outfits are able to operate freely by simply changing the names; there seems to be no action to control and audit their local and overseas fundings. Earlier, Britain’s parliamentary international development committee asked its government to divert presently allocated grant for Pakistan to poor countries. Pakistan is supposed to receive around one billion pounds in grant in development funds during the five-year period. Committee is critical of Pakistani government of its failure to take action against religious extremism; that’s why it considers British funding as waste of tax-payers’ money.
But why these people keep interfering in our matters. It’s our own conscious decision to do everything which is being questioned by the rest of the world. What if a library in Lal Masjid compound is named after Osama Bin Ladin; what if Lal Masjid foundation declares to commemorate May 02 as ‘Day of mourning in the remembrance of OBL’; what if outlawed sectarian and religious parties take out large rallies in support of ISI and army; what if the government feels no shame in holding peace talks with the killers of 50,000 Pakistanis; what if we keep supporting destruction of schools while madrassas are becoming collection points for Taliban’s funding; what if we feel proud of becoming epicenter of polio virus in the world which may lead to travel ban on Pakistanis.
We love to live in contradictions, we only want to live in our own world. Please don’t bother us as we are from some other planet.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arab