The Verdict
Terror attacks: Slippery slope towards a violent society

Terror attacks: Slippery slope towards a violent society

The enemy within Pakistan has started to permeate the soul of our nation like a malignant tumour.

D Asghar November 11, 2010

Details are still emerging but one thing is certain - another powerful blast has shaken Karachi to its core. People were still in the shock of Abdullah Shah Ghazi blast, a few weeks back, and now this.

As these lines are being written, 15 precious lives have been lost and regretfully, more will probably follow as many are seriously injured. The epicenter of this recent blast was the DIG CID's office. A high profile terrorist was recently captured and the data on that individual is reportedly lost. The terrorists have targeted law enforcement personnel once again, showing the rest of the world that the law of fear supersedes everything.

Those of you who are familiar with the location of this incident, in my home town, will agree that it is one of the many landmarks of the port city. In close proximity you have the prestigious Pearl Continental and Sheraton hotels and my all time favorite paan shops of the city. Throngs of people visit that area even late at night due to these attractions.

The enemy within has struck again

Many may be buried in the rubble but with each incident of this magnitude another thing gets buried. Our hopes to be a nation of civility and order. The law and its supremacy are rocked and blown into pieces by the threads of the lethal explosives.

Something has gone severely wrong with our nation. There is not a single nation on the face of earth, where disagreements and conflicts do not emerge. But there are very few nations who resolve their differences in such a callous manner.

The culture and acceptance of violence has denigrated our society and nation in such a manner that it will be a monumental task to reverse its course. But reversing this course is not an option, but a necessity.

With bloodshed, murder and mayhem all around, the hope for survival as a nation dwindles. The enemy within has started to permeate the soul of our nation, like a malignant tumor. This tumor is growing day by day. Soon there will be nothing left except some memories of Jinnah and his dream of a country called Pakistan.

WRITTEN BY:
D Asghar A mortgage-banker by profession who also loves to write.

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

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COMMENTS (25)

Milestogo | 14 years ago | Reply I think it's time for Pakistani intellectuals to be strong and expose themselves to the alternate views of people in othe camp. There is no harm in listening to the othe side. God/Allah will be glad to see that Muslims are enquiring and investigating. Criical thinking is a gift of Allah to the mankind - an Allah wants you to use it.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Naeem Bhai, My apologies for the typos, the statements should be read as: "These idiots raise hollow slogans... " "1400 years so so" "The faith is a moral compass..." Sorry for the typos. Thanks again for your contribution.

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D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Naeem Bhai, Thank you so much for your brilliant and accurate additions to further the discussion. No doubt in my mind that these barbarians are clever as hell. They know that we are a total bait when it comes to religion. These idiots rise hollow slogans that "Islam is in danger." The question that I raised earlier and I will raise again, 1400 hears or so, a billion plus Muslims on the face of earth. Despite all the negativity around growing and thriving, how could faith be challenged. The faith is amoral compass, if you will residing in your heart. No cartoon, no book no speech can defame or malign it. Actually as mentioned in the Holy Book, which means that "ALLAH is the Khair ul Makireen (Biggest of the deceivers to those who deceive).

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Faraz Bhai: Agreed with your narrative and assessment. I hate to say this, when you play with fire, sometimes the fire burns you and you are burnt beyond recognition. I would say this and I am going to take a leap over here that, if Quaid e Azam would be alive , he would have been ashamed of his creation. This is not the Pakistan he envisioned nor he wanted a Pakistan where supposedly a Muslim majority cannot even get along with each other. So serious introspection is needed, are we even an inch closer to the Pakistan that millions gave their lives for.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Faisal Bhai: I am sorry but I tend to agree with Faraz Bhai on this one. You have people on the border trying to supposedly secure you from the invasion of a "percieved enemy" when there is an enemy within, chewing you like termites. It is incumbent upon the people who we have chosen, to save and protect us, from these enemies. Many thanks for your input.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Hassan Bhai: You may say this that "we are living breathing zombies", but I beg to differ. We are a nation of breathing and living souls who pur their hearts out when their brethern is in peril, be it quakes or floods. It is time that we unite and feel the urgency much like a natural disaster, against this man made disaster. Thanks for your heartfelt comments.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Hina Sahiba: Thanks for your comments. All of us are in shock much as you. Lets pray for the ones who have given the ultimate sacrifice prior to the upcoming Eid of Sacrifice. May GOD give them best of places in heaven. Ameen.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Humanity Bhai, you and I are on the same page as we criss cross each other on other popular forums as well. To me religion is first and foremost the tool to better myself and the life of my loved ones. If all of us just stop at that, we will see our country and this world will be a much better place. Thanks for stopping by.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Syed Nadir El-Edroos: Nadir Bhai, I agree with you. In one of my scribbles here ( In Suicide Attacks We Trust) I went in great lengths of what the issue is and what needs to be done. The culture of violence is so pervasive that we are totally paralyzed by its effects. All of us know that our religion is severely against the use of violence and there is severe punishment ahead for such offences. How do we change the mind set of people who are so hell bent on resorting to such acts is more of a paramount question. I have said it earlier and I will repeat again, even if Americans depart from Afghanistan today, this is not going to change. The shock and disaster value of such attacks suits these brutes. Their anger will find another cause and this episode, unfortunately will be repeated.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @zehba alim: Ms. Alim, As much as I disagree with Musharraf Sahib, the way he he came to power and the things he did in his tenure, I have to agree with him that he had very few options. Now these Talibans were raised by his organization for "strategic depth" in the backyard. Bottom line is even if a domestic pet becomes lethal, you have no option other than to put it to sleep or take it to shelter, where it can be incarcerated. Your argument that since the orders came from the US, hence the anger is a spill over effect. I humbly disagree. In guerilla warfare, when allegiances change, no rhyme or reason functions. If you have doubts, look at the history of Afghanistan. The swing between the warlords, Talibans, Northern Alliance and various different factions generally depends on who can pay the most. Had there been a Nawaz Sharif or Late BB Sahiba on the saddle the course of Pakistan would have been the same. Many thanks for your comment.

Humanity | 14 years ago | Reply @Naeem Siddiqui, Australia "The Afghan ‘Jihad’ in 80s against Soviet was essentially ‘Jihad Fi Amrika’ and not ‘Jihad Fi Sabilillah’, and the so called Mujahidine were actually rented killers paid by CIA." True. The leader of the rented killers was Zia, the butcher of Palestinians! The devil incarnate, in his quest to become ameer-ul-momeen, perpetuated the monster of jihadis. These killers are the children of Zia. So blame lies more on these enemies of the state and less on Amreeka, India, and the Jews. People must grab the mullahs who preach hate and bigotry and shove them in jail for treason. Nobody should refuse to allow these bigots and hypocrites to lead prayers , as these mullahs are snakes in disguise. Nobody should give any money for the perpetual "masjid fund" and "jihad fund" that enable the bigots to wreak havoc. Those in love with KSA should be transported en mass to the KSA to enjoy the love and mecry of their Muslim brethren. Natural disasters are God's way to shake people out of their slumber reminding them to mend their ways. Nations usually survive natural disasters. It is the man made travesties that cause the entire societies to collapse. Pakistan is heading towards collapse unless people unite to eradicate intolerance. Don't expect the government which is controlled by the jihadis to do much. It is upto the people to marginalize the mullah. That will cause the politicians and the army to shake in their pants. People must unite to save the country from the strangle hold of ignorance being peddled by the mullah.!

Naeem Siddiqui, Australia | 14 years ago | Reply @zehba alim: The Afghan 'Jihad' in 80s against Soviet was essentially 'Jihad Fi Amrika' and not 'Jihad Fi Sabilillah', and the so called Mujahidine were actually rented killers paid by CIA.

Naeem Siddiqui, Australia | 14 years ago | Reply @Faisal: Since 2007 Terrorists have killed more then 4000 innocents Pakistanis including women and children throughout the country and you are saying this is not our war!! TTP, Lashkars, Sipahs and Jhangivs are gangs of crimnal they are killing muslims and Pakistanis Not Kafirs and Infidels they need to be condemned crushed and killed instead of being justified.

Naeem Siddiqui, Australia | 14 years ago | Reply Dear D. Asghar, We as a nation talk big and do nothing in practical; can we stop giving charity to terrorists organizations like lashkars, Sipahs standing outside mosques every Friday !!??, can we condemn those people who justify these brutal killings of innocent Pakistanis on talk shows as 'retaliation of lal masjid' and 'US atrocities in Afghanistan/Iraq' !!?? Will we ever stop condemning and start respecting our security forces who are sacrificing their lives in the line of duty!!?? Will we as a good citizens will inform police/security forces if see someone suspicious in our neighbourhood !!!?? The answer is a big NO. In my view this particular incident in Karachi seems to be an attempt to teach a lesson to CID and police by terrorists for their successful operation against sectarian terrorists Lashkar Jhangvi, Police recently hunted some key members of this terrorist organization. We should pay respect to those personnel who payed this heavy price for doing their duty and protecting us. We are dealing with bunch of hardline criminals who are ruthless and brutal and determined to kill innocent men women and children everywhere even in mosques!! The battle is hard and enemy is tough so we have to be strong as well.

faraz | 14 years ago | Reply @Zehba alim We also faught for the US during the 80s. What do you mean by "their civilians"? Terrorists are not a legal political entity; its the duty of every individual to respect the writ of the state, its not the other way around. If we had stayed neutral, taliban would have entered FATA and Balochistan just as they did post 911. Pushtoons constitute 50% population of Afghanistan and taliban dont represent all of the pushtoons; and good taliban didnt come to power through vote but through a civil war. The civil war was in progress when the Americans invaded. Afghan Taliban faught against Tajik muslims, killed 4000 shias in Mazar Sharif in 1997 and when they entered Kurram agency in 2001, they unleashed their brutalitites on the local population. And what about the private militias that we nurtured for 3 decades to wage proxy wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Lashkar e Jhangvi's men were supposedly held in that building; do you know when LeJ was created? Thousands were killed in sectarian battles during 90s, it only accelerated after 911. Please dont romanticize such ruthless terrorist organizations.

faraz | 14 years ago | Reply @Faisal So should be hand over the country to these fanatics? We nurtured extremists to wage proxy wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Out these extremists, many groups emerged which were purely sectarian or anti-minority in nature. We entered the Afghanistan crisis during the 80s and later tried to create strategic depth. Post 911 neutrality or non-neutrality isnt an issue because in either case taliban would have secured a safe haven in balochistan and FATA. US will simply pack thier bags and leave; this is our land, we have no other option but to fight this war.

Faisal | 14 years ago | Reply Not our war.... We should learn from Afghanistan and Iraq, which despite the support of US and other foreign powers are still one of the most dangerous countries in the world. This is not our war to fight. We will only be the casualty. Let the powers that be handle their issues, and leave us people out of this. Violence begets violence. Lets not get stuck in the cycle and get out of this war while we still have a chance.

Hassan | 14 years ago | Reply "People were still in the shock of Abdullah Shah Ghazi blast, a few weeks back, and now this." I dont think so people in this city and country have forgotten what it fels like to be human, to feel, to emote we are infact living breathing zombies. We blame the barbarians but we wont stand up to them, its a matter of time when our turn comes and if things continue to unravel the way they are... our turn will surely come!!!!!!!!

Hina | 14 years ago | Reply very sad, but true!

Humanity | 14 years ago | Reply "The enemy within has started to permeate the soul of our nation, like a malignant tumor. This tumor is growing day by day. Soon there will be nothing left except some memories of Jinnah and his dream of a country called Pakistan." The dream got quashed many decades ago when Pakistan, while still in its infancy, mutated into Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Quaid's vision was derailed with the Objective Resolution by the mullahs with the blessings of the nation. The mullah/poli-tics alliance nurtured a sapling of evil which is now a mature tree bearing fruit of hatred, intolerance, and bigotry. The sages advise against polluting deen with duniya for a very good reason.The resulting concoction is toxic and explosive. This nation must choose between salvation by separating religion from state or continue to watch the superior Muslims decimate the country and desecrate the name of Islam. God help this nation come to its senses, before it is wiped off by the devil incarnates.

D. Asghar | 14 years ago | Reply @Ms. Haider, Thanks for your comments. The barbarians are thriving inside our home with relative impunity. Their goal is to impose the hateful ideology on everyone. Condemnations can only go so far. It is high time that the "sons of the soil" responsible for defending it, defend it from the enemy within. The culture of peace and tolerance is injected in our society from the very first grade in school. The places of worship and governing institutions emphasize the reason for our being and our purpose. Otherwise the hole is getting deeper and deeper with every such episode.

Syed Nadir El-Edroos | 14 years ago | Reply The tumour has been growing for years, with the seeds of extremism planted in the early 80's, yet not one is willing to realise that our own inaction and lack of condemnation emboldens terrorists. There is always someone offering excuses, expressing sympathies or suggesting a foreign hand. Round and round in circles we go. When the Marriott was bombed a couple of years ago, people in Islamabad/Rawalpindi said exactly the same things that the author writes above.

zehba alim | 14 years ago | Reply Thank u pervez musharaf for the Karachi bomb blast! Do read the article given below and just think for a second how peaceful our lives would have been had we stayed neutral in this war!! http://pakistan-revealed.blogspot.com/2010/11/thank-you-pervez-musharaf-for-karachi.html

zehba alim | 14 years ago | Reply Well we decided to fight this war for our god, the USA! So why complain now? All is fair in love and war!!!! Don't we kill their civilians??

Sarah B. Haider | 14 years ago | Reply Woe to the barbarians.

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