On October 9, 2012, little Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head and neck by a brave and, according to Imran Khan, an ‘ideological’ member of the great TTP, as she travelled home from school in a Suzuki van. Two masked men (which leads one to ask immediately why they were so cowardly as to mask themselves if they are so ‘ideological’?) stopped the van; one of them climbed aboard; asked the girls which of them was Malala; put a .30 Takharov pistol to her head and pulled the trigger.
Two of her friends who were sitting by her were also injured, one in the hand as it was then reportedly raised above and in front of Malala’s head, and the other in the foot as the brave warrior fired one more time hitting Malala in the neck, the bullet piercing it and exiting to hit the third child in the foot.
On the same day, the Pakistan Army moved Malala to CMH Peshawar by helicopter where the COAS went to see her and said, as reported in this newspaper of record: “The cowards who attacked Malala and her fellow students have time and again shown how little regard they have for human life and how low they can stoop to impose their twisted ideology.”
‘He said this was not the first time that militants had targeted children, the attack on Parade Lane in Rawalpindi “was a reminder of their bloodlust”.
‘Quoting Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) saying that “the one who is not kind to children, is not amongst us”, Kayani said the militants did not have respect for the words of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).
‘He said, “By attacking Malala, the terrorists have failed to understand that she is not only an individual, but an icon of courage and hope, which vindicates the sacrifices that the people of Swat and the nation had given ...”
‘He said, “These are the intrinsic values of an Islamic society, based on the principles of liberty, justice and equality of man. Islam guarantees each individual — male or female — equal and inalienable right to life, property and human dignity, with faith and education as the chief obligations to achieve enlightenment.”
“We wish to bring home a simple message: We refuse to bow before terror. We will fight, regardless of the cost we will prevail,” he said. The COAS reiterated that the terrorists underestimated the resolve and resilience of the people of Pakistan.
“It is time we united and stood up to fight the propagators of such barbaric mindset and their sympathisers.”’
On October 15, Malala was flown to Birmingham for further treatment and on October 16 it was put out that the army had, as usual, passed the buck to the civilian leadership having said repeatedly in the past that it would move into North Waziristan at a time of its choosing. On October 16, our National Assembly quite cravenly shelved the resolution for backing military action against the terrorists. It was heart-breaking to see our legislators miss an opportunity when even the army leadership was on board for action to target those among the Taliban who are unmoved by any argument for the rule of law, as part of a Grand Strategy to defeat the mindset that shoots little girls simply because they demand an education.
But why were we ‘heart-broken’? Why do we Pakistanis hope against hope? Why do we cling to straws as we are swept along in a swift and deadly river? Why don’t we realise that all of the standing at the crossroads is over and done for us? That there are no more crossroads for our tortured land and it’s hapless, helpless people; that we’ve taken the wrong turns at all of the many crossroads that did appear before us? That we are at the mercy of self-aggrandising elites who do not even have the courage to call the TTP the TTP when its spokespeople openly and arrogantly accept responsibility for shooting helpless little girls?
And Imran Khan wants to separate the ‘ideologues’ from the ‘good’ Taliban, and then have the tribes go after them? Does he even know how many peace deals these rogues have gone back on? Is he aware of the brazenness with which they are now operating: in the latest action on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar attacking a police station, and when the SP of the area appeared in defence of his by then scattered men, cutting off his head and taking it along with them? The man doesn’t cease to amaze one, just as the brutes of the TTP never fail to astound one with their savagery.
One cannot conclude a piece on the pusillanimous way in which our state is ceding more and more ground to the terrorists who are hell-bent upon its takeover without one more comment on our cowardly National Assembly which, too, has chosen to put up its hands in surrender. Kudos to Altaf Hussain, however, for at least having the guts to stand against the terrorists.
It is time, my friends; it is time.
A little about the Qabza Group I am fighting in Shahdara, Lahore, with the help of some excellent and fair-minded civil servants. As one delves further into the matter and learns more about the identities of these Yahoos and their ‘managers’, one is astounded at the names that turn up. Friends who I deeply trust have all the details in case of ‘need’ if you know what I mean ...
Let me end by appreciating Shahbaz Sharif’s actions re: his son-in-law’s involvement in the Bakery Beating case, and his subsequent arrest. He has been sent to jail: surely a first. However, when we talk about the high-handedness of the powerful, we must recall many other incidents: the army’s kidnapping and thrashing a policeman for checking a general’s car’s blackened windows; a whole army platoon’s invasion of the Motorway police’s Lahore HQs on Multan Road and beating up of several policemen including officials; Rangers beating up policemen in Liberty. And of course, Imran Khan’s slapping a reporter many years ago! No action whatsoever was taken then.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2012.
COMMENTS (74)
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@unmet46: Since you keep referring to the Stanford/New York University Drone Report, then let me supply the casualty statistics that the report uses. The REPORT uses statistics supplied by the three most prominent followers of Drone Strikes in Pakistan. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that, since 2004, between 474 and 881 Civilians have been killed out of between 2562 and 3325 total deaths. (Note, the TBIJ does not use the category militant, instead using killed, injured and civilians). That leaves a total of Non-Civilians killed between 2088 and 2444! The Long War Journal reports that, since 2006, 2396 "leaders and operatives...Taliban/Al Qaeda were killed, and 138 Civilians killed! The New America Foundation reports that, since 2004, between 1584 and 2716 militants were killed, between 152 and 191 civilians were killed, and between 130 and 268 unknowns were killed! These statistics were the basis for the Drone Report. As for your miss quoting of Daniel L Byman of the Brookings Institute, what he REALLY said back in 2009 was "(Drones) May have killed 10 or so Civilians for every mid- and high-level (Taliban/Al Qaeda) Leader"! ONCE AGAIN, nowhere in the Drone Report does it say that 98% of those killed in Drone attacks are Civilians as you have stated!
@AJ:
Maybe SS son can be freed with the poor Hamesh Khan who just cannot seem to get bail in a Bailable accusation...
The statement that 'only 2% of those killed are high level militant targets' is that of the report itself and NOT of the cnn story referred to in the footnote. If you start reading from the first paragraph, the writers of the report are stating their own conclusions/summary and not quoting the CNN story. If that is not true then all the world news papers and people have a big problem comprehending things! That is because all of them including 'The Guardian' has stated that this is what the report itself claims. In fact CNN itself claims that the Stanford report says only 2% percent of those killed are high level militant targets (here: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/index.html) ..And as you read on you'll know that the US uses the word 'militants' for any male of the age of a warrior and its tragic to read of the horrific situation the people of Waziristan are undergoing because of the drones. And abt how the US targets any one who comes to rescue of those being hit and how the US targets every funeral of those that were targeted. This is so barbaric! Thus only 2% confirmed militants die as per the report. And will you please quote, where in the report does it say that most of the one's dying are confirmed militants? Daniel L Byman of the Brookings institution also said in 2009 that 10 civilians also die of every militant death.
@unmet46: ONCE AGAIN, if you would have followed that footnote (#106) at the end of your Wikipedia section you quoted (just one in 50 victims are terrorists) you would have been directed to a DailyMail.co.uk story that restates the "2% of drone strike victims are top militant leaders" as "just one in 50 victims are terrorists"! The Daily Mail refers to the Stanford/New York University report to support this misstatement, but ONCE AGAIN, NOWHERE in the report does that number or conclusion (one in 50 victims are terrorists) EXIST!!!
Any reading THE REPORT reveals that, from all the conflicting and questionable casualty reports sourced and listed, the vast majority of casualties are Militants!
AND (foot note # 4) you refer to leads to a CNN story that again gives numbers to state that the vast majority of drone strike casualties are militants!
@numbernumbers oh really? I quote from wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droneattacksin_Pakistan
so that makes 98% civilian casualties.
And
http://livingunderdrones.org/report/#_ftn4
@unmet46: If you bothered to read the Stanford/New York University report you should have noted the NOWHERE in the report does it say that "98% of those killed are civilians" in drone strikes! In fact the report states (with statistics) that the vast majority of those killed in drone strikes are Militants!
@gp65:
This was in return to your comment about not learning from history only to repeat it posted above. All the savagery by the US forces in Vietnam did no achieve anything and neither will this strategy work in Pakistan. I hope this is clear now?
@gp65:
Precisely. You will find the history of war in vietnam most instructive!
@numbersnumbers this number is pure hearsay and there is no credible source which tells us what exactly is the number of those that have been killed. Even the reports by Stanford and New York University have not given us the actual number, but they told us that 98 % Of those killed are civilians!! I put up a question mark (if you can scroll up and see) with the number i put by which I meant I don't know if this number is true. The New American Foundation gives us a number of 3191. My message was that we mustn't compare the number of deaths in the way some people are.
@gp 65 i wrote a reply for you bt it wasn't approved for reasons I do not know. basically i said the same thing as I said in response to Mr. PS.
Also I said Swat is a completely different scenario. If you are not aware Imran Khan had a completely different stance on swat. Swat had extremists fighting an ideological war. Though just for the record, although this has nothing to do with Swat but there were 48 drone attacks in 2009 and 2 in the month of february! The Tribal areas on the other hand include people who were not militants and have turned miltants post drone attacks, it has militants which have been called from outside Pakistan that are fighting because they have been told that its a 'Jihad' against the US allies. The tribal people will keep joining the militants even if they have no sense of the ideology that Ehsanullah is talking about. Then there are some pure 'idealogues' too.
The peace pacts that took place in Waziristan; the biggest one was with 'Nek Muhammad' which was broken by an American drone attack. And at least two others were broken by the Pak army under American pressure-as the Pak army's own general, General Aurangzai confessed.
Fighting the militants altogether would be foolishness because then you ignore the purpose behind what MOST of the people are fighting i.e. Revenge and the sense that it is a Jihad against the US supporters. If you attack them, there are going to be more 'revenge militants" and more support from the WHOLE WORLD coming in to join the 'jihad' against the supposedly 'US supporting' Pakistan Army. So this would be counter productive. On the other hand If you come out of America's influence on this war and the drone attacks stop, these few "pure idealogues" will lose almost ALL the foot soldiers they are USING for their war. We can get all the tribal people towards our side and then fight against these "ideological militants" (we would have already been gotten rid of the one's fighting for revenge and the one's fighting under the perceived notion of 'jihad' against US.
And yes you are right we should learn from history. History tells us that fighting in tribal areas leads to more militancy and more lives being lost. We have been fighting them for 12 years and not succeeded. So pls learn from history because you are suggesting nothing new.
@Ejaaz:
"What will be left of the Pakistani civil society by then is completely another matter."
We need to learn from Sri Lankan experience. How long it took Sri Lanka to fight out the Indian supported menace. Please read this wikipedia entry from top to down and you would have some idea how to successfully fight in similar situations. The problem Pakistan is facing is much more grave than the Sri Lanka. Crying like babies wouldn't eliminate it. Just be patient, our turn will also come.
@Introspection: "So, would you blame the Muslims of Pakistan for following the Constitution? " It is unclear what exactly in my comment prompts you to conclude that I am suggesting that the Pakistanis should not follow their constitution or that I am blaming them if they follow it. Please provide the exact quote from my post that you have interpreted thus.
@gp65: Are you suggesting, or implying that ET has a 'strictly-hard-core-and-unflinching-secular-policy', and allowing anything Constitutionally opinionated, should be immediately struck down by ET Blog Administrators without a blink of an eye? I think you are misinterpreting and unmeritedly restricting their 'very-broad-and-quiet-fair-comments-and-Op Eds-Policies'...It would prove very unbecoming of their current image, if they ever opted to do otherwise... Here's a refresher-excerpt from the Constitution of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
"Whereas sovereignty over the entire Universe belongs to Almighty Allah alone, and the authority to be exercised by the people of Pakistan within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust; Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed; Wherein the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in the individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah".
So, would you blame the Muslims of Pakistan for following the Constitution?
@unmet46: Please give us some credible references to back up your " but only a few thousand ‘civilians‘ (6-7000?) have died in drone attacks" comment! Otherwise we may all think that your are inventing numbers as you go along!
@zeeshan it is called tamming put khan on theior course i mean american course like they play with mush put him on the course all the shouting on imran is due to he said about drone and did march nothing more . shafi shaib i got advice for u come to pakistan from london sometimes and spend sometime in tribal aea all i and imran khan want to end the hypocracy by so called american liberals and pakistan govt to come out and tell the people of pakistan yes we allowing done srtikes and yes we r involve in killing of innocent civilians kids and women who r citizen of pakistan but we abandon them long time ago this debate will settle once for all and then no matter what imran says let the people of pakiatan to decide what they feel about it .sorf munafqat band ho jaye that it
@general shaib did imran hold the hand of army or zardari gang ?he is not in power if army keen to do operation with american blessing go ahead leave him alone ,he had piont of view he beleives on it if u think all pakistan problems have military solution then call general kayani to do operation. but i have one question for u will it bring peace in pakistan ?i beleive no i think u r retired general think as civilian now .
@Sultan: "@gp65: You don’t promote anything by denigrating something else!"
And that "something else" is bigotry, falsehood, lies, violence and double games perpetuated in the neighborhood.
@ Satya Issrar
Name calling won't help. Its better to argue than to make such 'generalisations'
@ PS
You say:
But How is Imran Khan or any one "siding" with the Taliban? Is it more intelligent to get the militants who are fighting out of revenge and the militants who are fighting because of a perceived 'jihad' against the US allies, to come to a peace agreement and then fight the very "small number" of criminals who are 'pure idealogues'? Or is it more intelligent to make EMOTIONALLY CHARGED counter productive decisions of fighting a "large number" of people which will increase militancy and be counter productive (just as they hav been in past 12 years in Waz.)? So Imran khan is actually making intelligent plans to get rid of the taliban and making our war small and easy and ensuring that not more Pakistani lives are lost and ensuring that we succeed (since we are fighing them in waziristan since 12 years and NOT succeeding)
Also, going with your logic, we need to do a military operation in South Punjab, a military operation in Gilgit Balitistan, a military operation in Karachi, a military operation in Baluchistan are you up for all these military operations too??
And then coming to the argument of comparison of the lives lost in Pakistan in different areas.
All life is sacred and atleast my conscience does not allow me to think 'low' of the innocent Pakistanis (yes they are Pakistani too!!) tht died in drone attacks even if they were less in numbr than the Pakistanis that died in other areas of Pak as a result of the TTP. We should condemn and feel bad about any innocent life being lost. Its depressing to hear people say things like : 'oh 40,000 Pakistanis have died as a result of the TTP but only a few thousand 'civilians' (6-7000?) have died in drone attacks" aren't the civilians dying in drone attacks supposed to be at least 'called' Pakistani and not singled out as animals or aliens from some outside world? A true Muslims and Pakistani would condemn both the TTP and the Drone attacks and make no comparison of deaths.
@gp65:
You don't promote anything by denigrating something else!
Nawaz Sharif was created by the Pakistani Armed Forces way back in the late 80s/early 90s. He was encouraged to contest elections on behalf of IJI against PPP's Benazir after Zia was assassinated in a bombed down plane! During their closer days, Nawaz was a "kathaputli-puppet" of the Army! However, Nawaz broke free from their hold and has learned his lessons to become a much wiser politician. As they 'lost' Nawaz, now Pakistani Army has recruited a new 'Kathputli': Imran Khan. Presently, he is the darling of the Army and so has been made the darling of the masses. His trip to Waziristan was all pre-arranged affair. He was supposed to go till the border, then Army would (conveniently) forbid him to proceed. Imran would act the role of an aggrieved activist & return angrily (relieved) to Lahore or wherever. All was preset and the whole "operation" went like a clockwork! So wake up, Pakistanis! Beware of Army stooges!! Beware of Imran Khan.....
The '' BIG BANG " was also because of Imran Khan since he calculated it wrong . Period ....
@Lt. Gen (R) Umar Janjua:
Great work General Sahib. Your forceful words killed half the terrorists. May I ask when you retired and what did you do to eliminate these monsters when you were in power? Okay, forget it, let's move on to Hole 3, 480 yards, par 5! May I suggest a Big Bertha driver?
@Fahad Khan: "ET should not compromise on objectivity."
Sir, Op/Eds by defiition are opinions not news. So there is absolutely no requirement for them to be unbiased. The newspaper has a clear editorial policy of promoting liberal values. It should be expected that more of the OpEd writers are likely to be libereal leaning. In the blog section though you will find much more of variety.
Kamran, if you want an 'anxiety-free-and-happy-future'...do these 3 things right away:
Renew your allegiance to Allah and His Messenger (PBUH). Antidote the 'lethal-venom' in your spleen that your are spitting around so wantonly. Leave Imran Khan alone, you can never beat him...an honest 'future-leader' for Pakistan.And if you still have time available, 'go-eat-your-heart-out'!
ET's op-eds are loosing its value and objectivity with every passing day. This op-ed is a good example of masala mix. Bash Imran Khan to make people read and respond to it, report some news to fill the space, talk about some of your personal matters/problems to highlight them, bash Imran Khan again to make a sandwich then praise someone in govt (Punjab govt will do better for settling your problem as the problem lies in Punjab). I hope ET will reconsider its policy and will provide us with objective op-eds. No matter how established a columnist may be or how long he has been associated with ET, ET should not compromise on objectivity.
What Pakistan needs is a clear cut constitution, which has been corrupted by dictator generals for their own convenience. The civilian elected govt and the military are playing hide and seek blaming each other and not allowing each other to function. If there has to be a solution it is in the hands of the public, who must be able to force whoever is wielding actual power to act against terrorists.
Hats off to KS for his bold article! Yes although not a supporter of SS but appreciate his action of sending his son in law to prison. IK is sadly a very confused person. He keeps on changing his statements every morning after his daily briefing from Aab Para office. High time that we should uproot these monsters from the face of this planet who shot a innocent girl Malala.
@amir jafri: "Time for generation born before 70s is past"
Ahem.... Didn't know that the great leader was born after 1970.
@unmet46: "Its a shame that people are dragging Imran Khan's name in this issue. . . "
You are right people are raising fingers more at Imran Khan than may be his due. This is because we all already knew where politicians like Qazi Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Fazl ur Rehman and to a certain extent the Sharifs stood vis a vis the Taliban and the Jihadists. Imran Khan draws the anger of people because a large number of them pinned hopes on him to extract the country out of its present morass. Seeing Imran Khan siding with those who have brought and continue to bring huge misery to this country and its people is what frustrates and angers a lot of people. Six months ago I also became very hopeful seeing someone who promised to fight against and eradicate corruption. I would not have been so enamored had he talked of there being "good" corrupt people and "bad corrupt people and presented strategies for negotiating with them. For the sake of record, Pakistan has gone down that route several times. Just recall all the so called "whitener" schemes. Have those schemes made the people more honest in their financial affairs. The country is now corrupt to its core. Similarly, the only way to control crime is punish the criminal. Punishment is not just a way of taking revenge from the criminal. It is also important as a deterrent. You tell the world that those who commit crime will be held accountable.
TI talks of about identifying and isolating your enemy. My friend, the enemy of this country is the Jihadi mindset. And this mindset is not confined to the tribal belt, it exists in our towns and cities as well. So long as we keep indulging in this violent thought behavior, we will not only continue to be the pariah of this world, but will be exposing ourselves to the likes of 'drone attacks' and, God forbid, worse.
It is quite fashionable to talk of the unfortunate 40,000 deaths that Pakistan has suffered in this war. Just take a deep breath, and think - how many of these deaths were caused in drone attacks or by the NATO and ISAF forces and how many were caused (and claimed) by the Taliban. If you are able to find an honest answer to this question you would have identified and isolated the real enemy of this country.
Good one Kamran. You wrote brilliantly as always taking a bold stance. Its high time that Imran Khan stops confusing the nation and a concerted military action is taken against these inhume lunatics. Enough talks with them.
Gen. Umar
Chronic Imran Bashing :) !!
First sentence of the article shows how credible this article would be. Do not mis-qoute Imran Khan. Where IK said that the person who has shot the brave girl Malala is "‘ideological’ member of the great TTP"?? Can you give a reference to it?
No its not the time.... Till Taliban is actually knocking at the doors of Islamabad its not the ripe time...
I agree with Mr. Khan of Janduls comments above. this Oped is not for the Punjabi's, Sindhi's Baloch's or Paushtun's it is for his "Masters" Not "Friends" The other day I had to digest some portion of the speech of Man from London who was addressing to his people in Pakistan, Every one in the audience under stood Urdu yet he had to translate certain portions in English for his "Masters" Not "Friends" Though he is neither fluent nor comfortable in the language.So all this hue and cry is not for love poor Malala, it is to transmit "Their Masters Voice". I want an operation too, I want the Army to eliminate these criminals who call them selves TTP but most of them including their Commander Fazalullah are in Kunnar Afghanistan and the ones who are in NWA are mostly wanted by NATO. So go send a team of Commando's and get them just as US did to get Osama.. Suggest this to your govt. and Army but they wont, Cant annoy their masters.
Shame on Imran Khan who has been in power for the last 20 years and has 100,000 policemen at his command.
Kudos to Shahbaz Sharif for doing something that was his job, 11 days late.
There are two aspects of this issue the first issue is related militants and terrorist who have created havoc in the country no one and I repeat no one is safe from them and yes this is not in reaction to drone or American invasion if it was the case they would have spared our innocent and after lossing more 40,000 people there should be no ambiguity. The second aspect is related to the redicalization of our society, which has rendered us insensitive to these issues couple with a group which are found politics, media, judicary, security apparatus, and civil society who's job is create confusion in tHe larger population by means of justifying these acts and diverting and derailing the discourse. Who can anyone, who believes in a free, fair society can continue to justify these elements. As we all know that there twisted ideology have total disregards to our constitution, judicial system, and our way of life. Over the last few years there has been lot of finger pointing and point scoring, however, it is time for all of us to put heads together and find a solution clean our society of these militant and ideological maniacs. The solution can be achieved by means of multiprong approach and the first step needs to based on stopping the bleeding and the follow up step must consist to restructuring and recalibering to social balance to create a sustainable process which takes the oxygen out of the support system.
Looks like Shahbaz Sharif does not deserve as much credit as is being given going by the sequence of events described on Kashif Abbasi's show on the 16th October. 1. On 7th October SS's daughter goes o cake shop while it is closed for cleaning and demands cake. Employee says shop is shut at the moment and requests her to come later. 2. A few hours later the same security detail who had accompanied her on first trip comes, picks up the employee puts him in a car and whisks him away. HE returns later with a broken arm. 3. Attempt to file FIR is stopped by SHO. A video of the event makes it to the social media. Electronic media starts asking questions. 4. On 15th October, an FIR is registered against unknown assailants - when the faces of the people concerned are pretty evident on the video. Media continues to ask questions. 5. On 16th October a case is filed against 4 security guards - under sections that allow bail when in fact the original FIR requested by the family of employee was kidnapping and physical torture which are non-bailable. Media continues to ask why are the security guards the ones against whom case is filed when it should be the daughter and son-in-law who would have ordered such action. 6. On 18th October finally case is registered against SS's son-in-law (Daughter who is root of whole fasaad is spared even now). Also the sections are still the more benign sections and not the ones that apparently should have applied per experts. 7. SS has done the right thing after trying everything else - which did not work.
@Caramelized_Onion: Then I am sure you could explain to us your view of the "complicated problem" and show us all how well you understand it!!!
@Caramelized_Onion:
Oh dear, here comes K. Shafi’s over simplistic rant about a complicated problem of which he has no understanding.
I guess that about sums up YOUR understanding of the 'complicated problem'.
Oh dear, here comes K. Shafi's over simplistic rant about a complicated problem of which he has no understanding.
Islam through Hadith gives guidance on governance including on how to coexist with other non Muslims. But it does not allow alternative sources of state power.The Taliban are non state actors who state that apostates ( mur tad ) have to be killed whereas (monafique) it is good practise to kill. Can the state allow this twisted ideology to exist and be practised against its own citizens and against our neighbours including Afghanistan, Iran, China and India. Now this is not fundamentalist Islam but hiding the truth about Islam and in fact blaspheming against our beloved Prophet pbuh, may I suggest this is obscurantism ( falsifying the truth ). I am against war to I, believe light the candle when you fight darkness. But then if the obscurantists blow out the candle and think they have a monopoly on violence and the state should be prevented from protecting its citizens, then I am afraid at some stage you will have to unsheath your sword. But agreed you have to first take the moral high ground to show this ideology is twisted wrong and not according to a great religion. The concern is , are PTI PML n JI Jui, on the same platform or are they simply spokesmen for this twisted philosophy , I believe the jury is out and time will tell. But I hope and pray that sanity prevailed.
@Izaz Mir Hats off to you for your courage for writing the truth!
@Lala Gee: Even if angels are send to save Pakistan they will fail to deliver with present constitution let alone IK.Thing is, whole building of Pakistani state is standing on wrong foundations. (khasht-e-awal choon nehadd mehmaar kuj-Ta suriyya merawadd deewar kuj) IK or the present, lot dare not challange bunch of crimminal what to expect from him to touch this 'HOLY' constitution which stays behind every evil.
"Imran Khan’s slapping a reporter many years ago!"
As I know Imran, he is not a natural politician in the true sense, but a sincere, straightforward person, perhaps lacking diplomacy altogether. Well, this could good and bad at the same time, but luckily he has the leadership qualities and commitment and tenacity to the cause. We have already tried shrewd politicians who always used their talents for their own personal good instead of the country. Lets give him a try and see the result, after all who wants the current lot of politicians anyway.
Also while we're at it, its also imran's fault that the sky is blue.
"Kudos to Altaf Hussain, however, for at least having the guts to stand against the terrorists."
Ironically, his own party, Muhajir Qaumi Movement, was declared as a terrorist organization by Canadian court.
Imran khan is the only politician who is not in GOVT , PTI is the only party who is not part of the GOVT. Imran khan and PTI even never been in GOVT but still everybody blame them . Very strange. Nobody blame fedral Govt and Provisional Govt for failing to provide security to citizens. They blame opposition.
Good comments by the Shaheens of Iqbal and the helpers of the Shahbaz of Allama Iqbal...Imran Khan.
Time for the generation born before the 70's is past..These mushroom and cactus relics of corruption , nepotism, and westoxicism better let the young ones take charge, cleanse and purify Pakistan made Naa-Paak by these secular-liberal nexus .
Speaking in forked tongues with their colonial "education" their mummified and ossified minds are incapable of formulating a thought without a British or Anglo context.
Imran Khan has no vision he has confusion.
ttp n malala both are the tools used by US think tank u see, sawat flogging issue, ttp involved. swat malala issu, ttp involved... think it... had there not been sentimental issue, america would would not have succeeded in acheiving their desired goals... coz pakistanis are jazbati nation... while cunning are the US 6 minutes ago · Like
Kharijis in early Islam too promoted high virtues, corruption, nepotism free pure Muslim society. They too challenged status quo, broke with traditional structure of hereditary political system, stood for what they believed to be the "right" Islam. In their mind killing of those who disagreed with their version of Islam and society were Wajibn ul Qatl i.e., declared apostates thus making their murder in the name of Islam permissible. Their wrath did not end with the men, it extended to their families, women and children. Taking their opponents family as slaves and confiscating their properties was allowed. Yet, they were regarded by some as honorable men who stood for whatever was right and against what was wrong. Kharijis had their share of admirers, secret, verbal and those who openly sided with them. Some may say it was out of fear, but then there were those who chose to stand against evil. Scourge of Taliban belong to the same creed of Kharijis and like Hazrat Ali we too must stand for what is right and avenge the death of thousands who have perished and thousands more who will die if this disease is not eradicated. Yes KS, its time we stood shoulder to shoulder with Malala and say, enough is enough....no more fear! And, demand justice for the 40thousand Pakistanis murdered.
Kharijis in early Islam too promoted high virtues, corruption, nepotism free pure Muslim society. They too challenged status quo, broke with traditional structure of hereditary political system, stood for what they believed to be the "right" Islam. In their mind killing of those who disagreed with their version of Islam and society were Wajibn ul Qatl i.e., declared apostates thus making their murder in the name of Islam permissible. Their wrath did not end with the men, it extended to their families, women and children. Taking their opponents family as slaves and confiscating their properties was allowed. Yet, they were regarded by some as honorable men who stood for whatever was right and against what was wrong. Kharijis had their share of admirers, secret, verbal and those who openly sided with them. Some may say it was out of fear, but then there were those who chose to stand against evil. Scourge of Taliban belong to the same creed of Kharijis and like Hazrat Ali we too must stand for what is right and avenge the death of thousands who have perished and thousands more who will die if this disease is not eradicated. Yes KS, its time we stood with Malala and say, enough....no more and we demand justice for the 40thousand Pakistanis murdered by these parasites.
Malala,your blood, along with other hundred thousands killed or injured, is not worth a penny in the eyes of ruling elites.Don't believe them as they are lying and shedding crocdile tears.
God doesn't descend on earth himself to punish.There are so many ways to punish a nation and one such way is to seize the collective aqal (wisdom) of a nation.Otherwise now a child can read what's written on the wall.Sadly ship is sinking Allmighty save us from shortsighted hypocrites who are unfortunately our rulers.
@unmet46: "There are abt 30 gps with weak links among them, who are all named Taliban) will stop fighting if a peaceful pact is made and the American influence (including the drones) ends. Then we can may fight the remaining gps. "
There wre HARDLY any drones in 2009 February when the peace agreement had been signed with Mulla Fazlullah. DO you not remember what was happening in the khooni chowk mingora at that time? Did the Mula radio not threaten and itimidate people? Did Suf Mohammed not say that he did not believe in Pakistan's constitution? Did the TTP not blow up girls' schools (I am wondering how that squares with the education emergency Khan wants to bring in)?
As is well know, Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it".
the liberals of Pakistan want to overlook Kashmir and lick India's boots, but no sympathy is there for the downtrodden people of their own land whose lack of education and development has lead to such misguided ways.
Tsunami khan's had more sense to leave him and take the children with her. Or maybe tsunami khan does not want his children to grow up in 'the land of the pure'
@unmet46: Crossroads: " that we have taken the wrong turns at all of the many crossroads that appear before us".
This wrong turn can be safely credited to Mr Imran Khan and his hoards of 'blind' followers that have given their so called 'opinions'. God save.......
I agree with Ummet. Actually, Captaan saab & Taliban have some common factors/ideologies. Establishment of Islamic state which even Imran khan has expressly stated in a speech. The means of achieving is different. Imran khan, overtime, can convince Taliban to stop violence against Pakistan. As a first step, the drones need to be stopped. Which is what he's trying to do.
A proud insafian
All Pakistanis are politicians,They will analyse each and every incident. media has one object how to get better ratting. political leaders are different. They are gang of looters, they only think how to stay longer target looting is not completed. the other gang which is not in the government. They have no love for Pakistan they are waiting when their turn will come. In this anarchy , General Zia's monsters have grown up,these are the product of Saudis petrodollars madrases product. These guys are the hard core wahabi salafi illiterate brain washed and looking for 70 virgins in their final. in this life they want women to stay home and produce children and work as slave of men. Pakistan was doing great till General Zia took over, since than we are going down hill. Now we have a president everyone knows about Swiss accounts villas in Europe and America, Swiss bank and offshore accounts.There are old horse Sharif brothers and Altaf Hussein, some illiterate bunch of Mullahs. Sharif brothers when in power wanted to be start Khalifa kingdom and rule the world, They have also looted Pakistan. Altaf Hussein self centered criminals sitting in Britain and playing politics in Pakistan. All mullahs are hopeless their politics are limited to Islam. Than we had Imran Khan every one was pinning hopes. but Malala incidence, he supported theTTP (General Zias product).and he is exposed. Army is setting watching from the edge. Pakistan was a great country if it can produce a 14 years girl which can change the tide. Just like Malalas miracle I am waiting for miracle which will bring Pakistan out of this depression. God bless Pakistan.
Sure it is disgraceful that our leadership is too afraid to call out the TTP. But it is equally shameful that they allow USA to kill and maim its own people with impunity. They are mostly people who have nothing to do with the 'war on terror' and this has been substantiated recently through studies by Stanford university and NYU's school of law so there is little doubt about their authenticity. The only way we will ever get out of the war on terror (which is not ours) is to pull out of it. It is time to stop beating the drums of war. For they are already sounding loud and clear.
Quite a disjointed blog_ biased as ever_ aim was to praise Shahbaz Sharif. Best for him was to stop writing.
Nicely written. You have correctly blamed the politicians for being indecisive on ordering the army to take action against these criminals. What is baffling is that the TTP who claim responsibility are names like Sufi Mohammed and Faizullah etc, names who were in our custody some years back and now it is reported that ...........they melted away and are in Afghanistan. If so, we deserve to be where we are.
No Sir, it is not time. As long as there are defenders like Lala Gee, a patriotic intellectual defender of the ideology of Pakistan, the blind demonization of the agents of CIA and RAW will not work. We will not fall into the trap of those who wish ill for Pakistan. We will choose the time and place for taking on the jihadis. Imran Khan will lead us to victory.
What will be left of the Pakistani civil society by then is completely another matter.
It seems that according to the author the only problem this country has is Imran Khan. All else is "honky dori" in the country. Golden times would be there and peace, tranquility and prosperity would reign supreme if Imran Khan was not there to rock the boat. The rulers who do not have any shame appointing some one who justifies burying alive of women as a senior minister, and during whose reign vani, honor killings, and religious persecution of minorities are daily happenings aught to be provided cover by pointing the guns else where. And who better than Iran Khan?
Also Imran Khan has strongly condemned the Taliban who did this act and called them "inhuman" but you choose to falsely potray his word "ideological" as if he meant that in a good way. What a shame! And as we read through your article, you probably unconsciously mention that he meant that in a bad way: "Imran Khan wants to separate the ‘ideologues’ from the ‘good’ Taliban"!
Salute to the brave terrorist fighting Kamran Shafi, he has done so much to combat terrorism, just about as much as the heroic PPP gov has done.
Mr. Kamran Shafi! You are appealing to those people for protection and security, who are responsible for all this mess. Instead of demanding them to take action, you need to call on good conscious of the ordinary people of Pakistan to stand up to these monsters. For this you will have to give up writing in English, and instead talk to the people in their own language, such as Urdo, Pashto, Sindhi etc. Again to remind you that neither killers will hear you nor they will provide the protection and security that you are demanding.
Friends who I deeply trust have all the details in case of ‘need’ if you know what I mean …
May you live many many years more to see a Pakistan that we all can be proud of wearing a flag of!
Karbala also happened because of Imran Khan (Shafi Sb forgot to mention)