Cycle of death

The Taliban have proven by their acts and misdeeds that there is not much of a difference between them and animals. What else is one to make of a video of the execution of over a dozen captured policemen in a remote part of Dir, allegedly by Taliban operatives, following fierce clashes in the area. We can only wonder what impact this is having on the minds of people everywhere, particularly the young. The latest outrage captured on film in truly graphic detail filled with gore and placed over the internet is especially shocking. It shows a death squad made up of Taliban fighters pumping bullets into policemen dressed in civilian clothes, even as they attempted to escape certain death.

We are told that the horrendous incident took place in the Upper Dir area after the Taliban attacked a check-post. The rhetoric that precedes the killing is especially shocking. A Taliban commander claims that the victims have abandoned Islam and deserve the death that is coming their way. It is hard to imagine a more brutalised society than the one we are living in, or a further drift from the ideals of a religion that advocates peace and tolerance. The Taliban have obviously succeeded in completely distorting the meaning of the religion they are so-called guardians of. Incidents such as these leave us to wonder if there can ever be a return to the normalcy that once existed across our country and the humanity that was once shared amongst people. We have come a long, long way from this.

The police officials who have identified the incident as taking place in Upper Dir have naturally expressed horror over the grotesque events we see in such vivid detail on screen. But it is also a fact that the police and the security forces have been engaged in similar killings. The Taliban executioners made a reference to this when they spoke of six ‘civilians’ being gunned down in Swat. We have initiated a cycle of death which is whirling faster and faster by the day. There seems to be no easy way to get off this deathly merry-go-round and to restore to people the respect for human life and the notion of the rule of law which is fundamental to civilised behaviour in any part of the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2011.