We have tolerated terrorism for far too long

Letter December 28, 2014
Recent events have shown us glimmer of hope since nation has come together to condemn what happened in Peshawar

KARACHI: The recent Peshawar incident, where 148 innocent people, most of them children, were massacred by the Taliban has truly shown us that we are indeed living in the Dark Ages. In every facet of our lives, we are directly or indirectly being governed by religious hardliners. For decades, they have been spewing hatred against other religions, sects, ethnicities, etc. It is an open secret that much of their funding has been coming from our so-called brotherly countries, whose governments, from time to time, hand out charity to our leaders. We, in turn, allow clerics and madrassas to flourish. The consequence of these actions are now before us, in that we have few people left in the country who will publicly admit to being either liberal or secular. All forms of creative arts, thinking and scientific approaches are looked down upon and those who indulge in them are made fun of. Basic rights, such as freedom of speech, are curbed and even the way we dress is frowned upon by others.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that we live in the Dark Ages. Many of us live in homes where, for over half the day there is no electricity, and access to clean drinking water is non-existent. Health and educational facilities are mediocre and a vast chunk of the population lives below the poverty line and is illiterate. Bureaucrats, politicians and other organs of the state use the clergy to create panic and a sense of uncertainty/lawlessness and thereby keep themselves in place, depriving the country of good governance. These circumstances, and the fact that they have persisted for decades, have now led us to believe there is little hope left. This would seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy which would now allow the mullahs to gain even greater control of our country.

We have tolerated this for far too long. Recent events have shown us a glimmer of hope since the nation has come together strongly to condemn what happened in Peshawar. I believe we can be saved by swift and across-the-board actions. Firstly, we must continue the war on terror evenly and justly not only on our borders but also within the cities. We must go after those clerics and madrassas that spew hate. Secondly, we need to revamp our education and health policies to bring them in line with globally acceptable standards. Thirdly, we must create a system of checks and balances thereby insuring that corruption is eliminated. The combined effects of these actions will make Pakistan a strong, viable state. Pakistan zindabad.

Shehzad Salim

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th,  2014.

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