The war of an idea

It’s the politicians, stupid. It’s the Americans, stupid. It’s the religious right, stupid.


Ayesha Tammy Haq January 27, 2011

It’s the politicians, stupid. It’s the Americans, stupid. It’s the religious right, stupid. It’s the establishment, stupid.

It is so difficult to make any sense of what is happening to Pakistan or perhaps it’s so easy to make sense of it that we just missed the obvious in our efforts to complicate the issue. Salmaan Taseer’s assassination may be one in a series of political murders that have roots deeper than anyone is willing to dig, but like a big Punjabi Banyan tree the roots are also aerial and visible for all to see. The reaction to his assassination is perhaps as terrible as the murder itself. We keep talking about how Pakistan has changed and while we were talking, the changeling jumped right out and bit us.

Economists and doomsayers tell us we are as bad as sub-Saharan Africa and we argue back and talk of a deep-rooted culture, a more advanced economy, megacities and the like. Yet we are no better than the missionaries in Africa who can pack stadiums to sell salvation. There is no hope on earth, but the price for a bowl of gruel is your salvation. Is Pakistan today no better? Is there no hope? Can you buy a soul for a little money and the promise of heaven? Or is it even worse than that, all the souls have been converted. They are ready to die if called upon. Ready to die for an idea. A notion.

It started a long time ago. We needed an ideological enemy so we fashioned our neighbour into one. We taught generations of Pakistanis suspicion and, in doing so, we skewed all our priorities and taught them how to hate. We spent all our money, then borrowed more and spent that too on fattening up the military. We shunned any kind of useful education and busied ourselves with the task of bringing ourselves to our knees. In all this self-loathing, we subverted the political process and dismantled institutions. Not stopping to think of the consequences, or what it was that we were doing to ourselves. Each time we would come under attack, we would just build the wall around us higher and stronger. The rest of the world was outside and, deluded, we continued defying the odds.

But once the wall is penetrated, we are left reeling from the shock that there is a thought that we cannot identify with. It terrifies people, prompts them to take cover behind what they think is safe and pious rhetoric. All the while allowing the new thinking to advance and occupy more space. Fear has overcome us, cowed down by fear we have started to fall in line with its ideology. It has shown us its cowardly face in the reaction to Salmaan Taseer’s assassination. Where people, for fear of invoking the wrath of the religious right, fall short of condemning the taking of a life.

Years of neglect and dependence on a benign tradition where everything has been left to God’s will. All we have focused on is building a national security state, where the citizens’ most basic needs are ignored, where there is no education, health or other basic civic services and the only thing that is growing is the population. Can you expect any other reaction? A burgeoning population, bursting at the seams, searching desperately for a share of the meagre and dwindling resources, turns to the state for answers and gets none. The only people engaging are the clerics and their influence is growing. It started with a holy war against the external infidel; today that infidel is you and me.

Salmaan Taseer died for many things, for a poor Christian woman who is languishing in a filthy jail for taking water out of a well. For being himself — an outspoken and fearless man. For an idea — the same idea that is being fought over today in the media and on the streets.

The genie, they say, is out of the bottle. The question everyone asks is: Who let the genie out and who gets the three wishes? As they say, it’s a no-brainer.

It’s the military, stupid.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2011.

COMMENTS (37)

Freeha Shaukat | 13 years ago | Reply "Over 30,000 Pakistani civilians and armed forces personnel have been killed or injured since the global war on terror began in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, while over 17,000 terrorists have been killed or captured, the country’s military said Thursday. According to data released by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), from 9/11 till now, 30,452 people have been killed or injured. These include 21,672 civilians and 8,785 military personnel. In 2009 alone, when the Pakistani military went into action against the Taliban in the country’s restive northwest, 10,000 people were killed, Online news agency reported." http://www.ummid.com/news/2010/February/18.02.2010/costofwaraganistterror.htm
observer | 13 years ago | Reply @Freeha Shaukat I do not know where did you get the figure of "30,000 Innocent Pakistani civilians and armed personnel killed ", all in drone attacks if you are to be believed. But I did some data checking and found that a total of 833 persons were killed in drone attacks between Jan 1,2010 and Nov 16,2010. May be from the link below you can make out how many of them were 'innocent Pakistani citizens'. http://material.ahrchk.net/pakistan/DroneAttacksStatistics.pdf And if you are serious about 'Terrorism needs to be treated holistically',then perhaps you realise that Counter Insurgency operations are bound to claim casualties amongst the security forces too. If you would rather have them capitulate to those who attacked the GHQ and masjids frequented by officers of the armed forces, have it your way but, please do not balme these deaths on the 'war on terror'.
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