What Mr Shafi and others of his ilk need to realise is that failure to sit with our own marginalised people.
KARACHI: This is in reference to the article “The world’s worst masochists, ever” (September 27).In Kamran Shafi’s not-so-surprising analysis of the hottest current issue these days — peace talks with the Taliban — the writer presents his viewpoint, on the last decade, quite clearly. The fact remains that when you do not know who your enemy is, who do you fight? ‘The Great Khan’ is perceived to be always right because he presents facts and logic no matter how bitter they may sound or how bold his strategy might be for some.
Have the past 10 years of war given us peace? Why are we afraid to talk to those who are ‘not’ blowing themselves up in public? We are insistent upon tagging them as terrorists without bothering to verify the true situation on ground. What Mr Shafi and others of his ilk need to realise is that failure to sit with our own marginalised people, who have been hijacked by the real terrorists will continue to strengthen our enemy. On the other hand, winning over these undecided men to our side with the help of local tribesmen would weaken the hardcore terrorists. However, this haze would fade away only if we relax a muscle or two — give the experienced political figures time to win a few battles without bullets or the blood of our valuable soldiers. This might cover up for years of governance failures by the same leaders who have been supporting a counter-productive war.
War is an option but it should be the last resort. Every other day there are attacks and our government files FIRs against unknown men. If peace talks commence, the culprits can finally be identified, isolated and dealt with! A nation that opts for positive change reflects vibrancy, not masochism. So, the real masochists are still subjected to fears of the unknown enemy — trying to avoid a strategy that may possibly bring us out of our misery. Please for once, stand up for the truth.
Hafsa Siddique
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2013.
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