“Unfortunate is the land that has no heroes.”
“No… unfortunate is the land that needs heroes.”
–Bertolt Brecht, Life of Galileo
As I have discussed in the accompanying piece, the prevailing trend in the media of not questioning the military and its intelligence agencies in the aftermath of lapses on its part is deplorable.
But there is also another trend around, one that is no way deplorable, but slightly problematic.
That is the glorification of the brave souls who fought back in the incidents of terror. How is problematic, the reader would ask. Well, it is problematic only if one avoids the initial step of not holding the security agencies responsible.
The counter-intuitive decision to hold one’s ground in the face of clear and present danger would inspire as much admiration in a stock-broker in New York City as it would in an indigenous forest-dwelling tribesman in Indonesia; so universal is its appeal. It is the stuff heroes are made out of.
That is the reason that chemistry lecturer Hamid Hussain’s story was broadcast, with much fanfare to the hero, by the Indian media. That is why the courage of APS Principal Tahira Qazi was profiled by the American media.
But that is not what they were supposed to do. In the fanfare that surrounded the Charsadda attacks and also the APS attacks, the students and teachers were presented as some sort of brave warriors by the national media. Some were brave, yes. Others weren’t as brave, but weren’t cowards either. They were just students. They aren’t supposed to be judged by martial courage, but by math scores, Urdu essays, debate competitions, and social skills.
They did not sacrifice themselves for our tomorrow. They weren’t asked. They didn’t make a decision. They were just ordinary students who had gone to class that day to learn, not be heroes.
This lollypop of titles like “brave” and “resilient”, doled out more to the Pashtuns than any others, have wrecked the national narrative of the war against terror. It has allowed for the creation of canon-fodder in the deep state’s larger designs. “Collateral damage,” said the ISI’s former chief Asad Durrani on Al Jazeera.
With cantonments right in the middle of the city, almost invariably the most expensive parts, and universities like the Bacha Khan varsity in Charsadda out in peri-urban areas, we need a national re-evaluation of just who it is that should be doing the fighting.
“Their sacrifice will not be in vain.” A line heard ad nauseum since the APS attack and now the Charsadda incident.
The sacrifices of the heroes, and the unfortunate deaths of the other students and teachers, will most certainly be in vain if the attention isn’t diverted from them back to the individuals and institutions whose job it is to protect the people of Pakistan.
As the poet Faraz says,
Dekhna, sab raqs-e-bismil mein magan ho jayenge
Jis taraf se teer ayega, udhar dekhe ga kaun?
