Political jargon alone won’t help us
Taliban in a recent video have threatened to repeatedly target schools, colleges and universities. They know what the schools and universities stand for; the question is, have we realised their importance? These schools and colleges are the curators of our future generations. These are the places where we want to ensure there is no room for irresponsible, insensible representation of religion.
This is not the first time that the schools and universities are being targeted in Pakistan. Many of them were blown up in KP and Waziristan in the last couple of years. It is no secret that the Taliban had destroyed the social structure in these areas. Initially the tribal elders were killed in a series of attacks but later innocent people and the schools became the target.
KP and tribal areas aren’t alone in facing these problems. The case of Gilgit-Baltistan is no different where many schools were forcibly closed down either because of the threat from extremists or a lack of local support. The people in these remote areas do not see any reason to send their kids to school where their life or future is not safe. The schools of Diamer, Kohistan and Chilas stand in ruins. Moreover, these areas lack basic facilities like hospitals and schools. To them state is an alien and absent entity which cannot protect them from any disaster, manmade or natural.
At the root of all these ills is the inability of the state to put a check on deviant ideologies being propagated in these areas. Sectarianism and jihad have ruined social and religious fabric of these people living on the fringes. The policies that fostered Islamisation, conducted over several years from 1969-88, laid the bloody trail to sectarianism and hatred, and continue to bleed our country.
For the people living on the peripheries and remote areas, life has never been easy and schools have never been safe. They have lived like wretched since decades in their own country. The vacuum in their lives created by the state was filled by the mullahs who taught them what they themselves never quite understood — the religion. The extremist groups like Da’ish, TTP and Al-Qaeda, emerged as fillers of the void left unfilled by state institutions. They targeted mosques, shrines, market places and military instalments, yet won the sympathies of the locals.
The rotting machinery of the state is now unable to defend the indemnity of masses. Swat is an example where Sufi Muhammad took over the area and was succeeded by Mullah Fazlullah, also known as Mullah Radio. It took two full-fledged military operations, Rah-e-Haq and Rah-e-Rast, to get rid of the terrorist invasion. The unbridled corruption of the political factions and the incapability of the institutions to address the issues of these vulnerable areas, added fuel to the fire.
The people of Pakistan and the world have failed to understand the logic of the policymakers who turn a blind eye to these terrorists when they are gaining ground and later opt for military operations. After every attack, like APS and Charsadda attacks, the political parties, ruling or opposition, always come up with auto-generated statements for condemning the brutal terrorist acts.
DG ISPR in a press briefing said that the terrorists in Charsadda attack were controlled from Afghanistan, but what he didn’t tell was where the terrorists got the logistic support from. Where did they get the information about the entry points of the university? The strange part is that these terrorists and banned outfits get their supporters not just from geographical peripheries but from mega cities as well. Religious seminaries are not the only breeding grounds of extremism, colleges and universities are also among their recruiting grounds where young minds are radicalised. Safora Chowk incident, for instance, was carried out by “well educated” young people. In some cases, even teachers have been involved in carrying out terror attacks.
This is an unconventional war; we do not know where the enemy might attack next. The evil of extremism has deeply infested our social fabric. The primary reason for this menace is our collective failure to apprehend the gravity of the situation and the necessity to spread awareness in this regard.
Poor governance and the inability of the institutions to address the basic needs of the public have aggravated this damage. Counter narrative mantra would not do any good unless we procure a healthy social environment where counter narrative proves effective. Speedy justice and improved education policy is the need of the hour. Pakistan is in dire need of institutional reforms. Heavy jargon in favour of political and human rights will be relevant only when the basic security and needs of the people are ensured.
