And honest answers, not slogans
The government will no longer be able to sidestep questions on NAP. Paying rich tribute to our martyred children is proper and appreciated. But it is far more important to make quantifiable, on ground progress. And on that front, unfortunately, the government has not won many points. That is why the parents were unhappy and opposition in both houses of parliament was up in arms. If the government thought criticism of its inaction would die down with time, it was wrong. The first anniversary has only sharpened the rebuke, and raised questions the government has been avoiding all this while.
And it is about time the interior minister changes his standard reply in the House. ‘We will fight this fight to the last terrorist’ is an admirable slogan, but it will no longer suffice. He will have to answer, point by point, just why there has been little or no follow up on most items on NAP. Why, for example, are armed militias in Punjab not being apprehended? Why is progress on madrassa reforms so slow? What of the national narrative that was going to spearhead the fight for hearts and minds? When, if at all, will scores of our intelligence agencies finally be integrated to share information in real time? And how long will extremists like Lal Masjid, etc, be allowed to spew hatred without check?
These questions rang loudly in the National Assembly and Senate. Opposition in the latter even demanded a judicial investigation into the tragedy. In all this time we have made tall promises, yet made little advance on the ground, nor fixed any measure of responsibility (for the attack) on the official machinery that was supposed to guarantee safety. It seems that while the whole nation – government and people alike – have mourned for the children and stood by their families, those in charge have not gone all the way in honouring their promises. The sooner the government confronts these hard questions, the sooner it will take meaningful action instead of resorting to slogans and stopping there.
