This is a war that can only be fought through forceful establishment of the rule of law.
LAHORE: I pray for the safe recovery of the son of our controversial former prime minister, who was kidnapped in Multan. As a parent, I can feel the enormity of the pain that afflicts parents of kidnapped children, and hope that in this case, at least, the torment comes to a happy ending. However, it is time to reflect for those who have ruled us by default, to feel the pain that thousands of Pakistanis endured during the past five years, while their kith and kin were brutally killed by target killers, or those involved in heinous crimes such as extortion and kidnapping for ransom, while the elected executive and establishment stood by for the sake of political expediency, as if this was a price fit to be paid for the sake of democracy, when in fact, it was the greed of the ruling elite that led to such compromises to be made in their pursuit of politics of power. Parents of Shahzeb Khan and Hamza Ahmed, whose young children have fallen victims to bullets, feel the same pain that Mr Gilani is today feeling for his kidnapped son.
The terrorism of the Taliban is an offshoot of our own wrong policies and compromises and it can only be eliminated or curbed by establishing the rule of law, without any fear or favour. Otherwise, this monster will consume our way of life and the future of our children. This is a war that can only be fought through forceful establishment of the rule of law, for there is no way to distinguish between a criminal belonging to various mafias patronised by political parties or land-grabbing dons and the fanatics belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, killing innocent, peaceful citizens of Pakistan.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2013.
