I do not support deaths of civilians; I am just saying that we should not selectively apply the principle of justice.
ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to the article by Ejaz Haider “Of holy lies and Lal Masjid” (October 30). I was never convinced by the arguments presented by the supporters of the Lal Masjid incident. Mr Haider has simply written what I have been thinking for a long time. If the argument was that the state crossed its limits by conducting an operation, then it would have been debatable but the same principle then must also be applied to Swat, North Waziristan and even Karachi, etc. However, there we accept the collateral damage and civilian deaths as an acceptable evil. I do not support deaths of civilians; I am just saying that we should not selectively apply the principle of justice and mould the dough as we want it.
On the other hand, the supporters of the Lal Masjid operation, while criticising the action of the state, not only present themselves as pure innocents, they also do not feel ashamed that a mosque was used as an arms depository and militant training institute. Recently, in an interview, the cleric of the Lal Masjid not only supported his actions, he also defended the construction of illegally constructed mosques and said that they are sharia-compliant.
We have gone too far in discussing the matter; the media has gone too far. Where it should have only focused on the nature of the operation, it has protected the militants of Lal Masjid. This is the special nature of our media, which first screams about the government not taking action and then criticising it when action is taken. It will do the same in the case of the TTP. The writer is right and the truth must be discussed by all, within the correct context and background. Let us hope that water flows as it should.
Adil J Qureshi
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2013.
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