Will Peshawar tragedy bring a change to our mindset?
If gruesome murder in Peshawar of 149 people including 132 students, many of whom were underage kids, does not start our war against terror and we still allow certain depraved minds among us to continue to propagate and confuse us saying that it is the American war, then we have lost everything. Even the country as conceived by its founder.
If this does not become 9/11 of Pakistan then the sacrifice of innocent people in Peshawar has ‘gone to waste’. If anyone has any doubts about Taliban’s depravity and inhumanity, that should end now.
The old game of ‘eyewash’ has not left even this tragedy. Prime Minister of Pakistan has announced the formation of a committee that has come up with a National Action Plan against terrorism. The committee that has members from intelligence agencies along with representatives of all political parties will submit the plan within seven days.
What’s this? A government? We have been fighting terrorism for the last twenty years. And since June 2009 Pakistan Army is in active pursuit of terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has fought pitched battles in Swat Valley and South Waziristan. Operations Rah-e-Raast, Rah-e-Nijat and since 15th June 2014 Zarb-e-Azb have seen Pakistan Army offering sacrifices fighting against terrorists on Pakistani soil. What has the Pakistan government done so far other than the PM forming a new committee to come up with a National Plan Action?
The prime minister and his government both have completely failed Pakistan. The PM should perhaps be left alone to appreciate biryani, dal chawal, siri paye and nihari. A quirk of fate has catapulted him to riches and fame.
The blame game has gone too far. Every time a tragedy strikes Pakistan we start complaining that Afghanistan is not doing its bit or Indian RAW is involved and that India should stop meddling in Pakistan. However, have we ever realised how much more should we have done on our side? What’s lacking in us? Have we removed the confusion that has engulfed us? Are we clear in our objectives? Aren’t we befogged by our hate for others? And how much do we know of Islam that we profess can solve all our problems?
There are no easy answers to all these questions. Where do we stand then? Wherever we are we don’t have solid ground under our feet. Our behaviour and confused state of mind has even questioned the integrity of our way of life and the ideology we profess as ‘Pakistan Ideology’.
This is the end of the beginning. We have never started off as an independent, confident, aspiring and futuristic nation. Through our behaviour we have proved that we are the product of an ‘accident’. There does not seem to be any grand godly plan to make us shine in the comity of nations. Is there any justification for our failures despite being the standard bearer of Islam? Either we or Islam has failed in ‘the land of the pure’.
A couple of months ago the person who had questioned ‘why should we strike Taliban who are not fighting with us?’ later talking to AFP said, ‘Attack on Pakistan Army Public School, Peshawar, is a game changer. ‘From now on we’ll not distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban.’ Who is going to believe you?
This is Mr Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs. According to him, “The distinction between some groups you want to target and some groups you don’t want to target has virtually disappeared.”
We are gullible people and tend to believe him. As per him a watershed change in government circles regarding terrorism has taken place. He said, “It was realised that in the end they support each other and that if you do this you’re creating space which can become dangerous in the future. So it’s a game changer.” Mr Aziz says that, “This has shaken the entire Pakistani society to the core, and in many ways it’s a threshold in our strategy for countering terrorism.”
In a civilian set up army cannot act alone. To refresh our short memory, in 2004, 2005 and 2008 the army had targeted the Taliban leaders on three separate occasions but had to walk away each time after signing ruinous ‘peace deals’ that only served to embolden terrorists.
Can Peshawar tragedy bring in the required change in our mindset? Can this tragedy give us some consistency in our fight against terror which is our last hope as well?