Lest we forget the struggle

December 16, 2014 began with the normal hustle and bustle of human life, but it ended etched into the collective memory of the world. One hundred and forty-four innocent lives were taken — majority of them of children — at the Army Public School, Peshawar. This barbaric incident was one of the thousands that Pakistanis have endured. As a frontline state against terrorism, Pakistan has paid a huge price since 2001 — more than 60,000 Pakistanis (Bloomberg, July 2015) have been killed and the nation’s economy has suffered to the tune of billions of dollars. Operation Zarb-e-Azb seems like our final campaign in this long drawn-out war against a barbaric and immoral enemy.

It is a known fact that no other nation in human history has sacrificed so much in blood and treasure for the cause of world peace as Pakistan has ever since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the late 1970s. Despite suffering unprecedented human and economic losses, Pakistan’s efforts are not fully recognised by the rest of the world. This may be due to a number of factors — the principal one being that as a nation, we have not fully owned this war or our shaheeds. And we have not created a strong narrative that could communicate to the global community the grave losses suffered to ensure the safety and security of the world.

To fully own and commemorate the martyrdom of our children, civilians, police and the military, the nation should build a memorial. This memorial should be international in its appeal and can be called the ‘World Peace Memorial’, a monument to mark Pakistan’s struggle for world peace. Once the monument is completed, a visit to it should be a mandatory part of the protocol of visiting heads of states, ministers, diplomats and military personnel. The Cenotaph — a war memorial in London — and the Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem are examples of internationally recognised memorials that foreign dignitaries visit to pay their respects.

The development of the ‘World Peace Memorial’ and implementation of the recommended protocol will create awareness of our sacrifices among the key decision-makers of the world. This personal recognition will be of great help diplomatically when Pakistan presents its case at international forums, including at the UN, the ICJ, the Commonwealth, the World Bank, the IMF and others. Since many senior dignitaries belonging to these forums would have witnessed the quantum of our sacrifices through the memorial, their understanding of Pakistan would have enhanced, helping us present our case effectively in front of the international community.

There seems to be a strong focus in recent months on developing public awareness in Pakistan of the efforts made by the military. This could be enhanced by publicly encouraging international artists and writers by way of competitions or literary awards so that they are encouraged to focus on the sacrifices made by Pakistanis from all walks of life in their novels, dramas, films and songs. This initiative will bring to international attention many individual stories of courage, sufferings and triumph. There is an urgent need to develop this pro-Pakistan narrative internationally so that we can win the hearts and minds of the world. Our failure to develop and promote this narrative would continue to give uncontested space to anti-Pakistan lobbies in our region and across the world. These lobbies will continue to establish their narrative and tarnish the country’s image. Unfortunately, until now, these forces have proven to be quite sophisticated in creating and publicising their narrative, which has resulted in creating an image of Pakistan as a failed state, rather than as a state which has taken up the challenge of defeating terrorism.

The gruesome incident where 144 lives were barbarically taken is fresh in our minds, but let’s not forget the killing of more than 60,000 children, women and men, including police and army personnel. For their sake and for the sake of the nation’s harmony, we need to immortalise our shaheeds and not let Pakistan’s great sacrifices be forgotten by the world.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2015.

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