Pulling punches

This article has been some time in the making.

Its completion was kick-started by the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad, and eventually sped-up after reading Ejaz Haider’s fabulous open letter to our country’s top spy master of June 8, in The Express Tribune, titled “An open letter to General Pasha”.

One cannot try to match Ejaz’s coherence and lucidity — at least I cannot. Yet while what he says is brave and close to unprecedented — given the general fear of the institution that he is addressing — it still stops short of what is on the minds of so many Pakistanis, or at least on my mind.

It’s a pulled punch.

One cannot blame him. At least he has set the bar slightly higher. Made the tone slightly stronger.

But it’s still a pulled punch.

Amidst the debate on how far we can go in our criticism, and how much further we are willing to go, I am reminded of a fabulous piece on another beyond-reproach organisation.

Written by Irfan Malik, the article, captioned, “The abyss gazes into you”, appeared in Dawn in the wake of the carnage unleashed in Karachi on May 12, 2007. He wrote: “The politics of terror is self-defeating in the sense that the number of victims can never be limitless. This is a big city. Starting with me and you, how many can they kill? Their cover, what was left of it, is blown for good.

“They thrive on fear, so let none be shown. Let them do their worst.

“To retain its hold, the psychology of terror demands deafening silence. Eik, dou, teen… But the dams have burst and the unthinkable is being said — openly by some and with the thinnest of disguises by others constrained by corporate policy, not personal choice... In any case, the chinks in the armour are widening, the facade is cracking... There must be no letting up, no papering over, no reconciliation.”

I will not deliberate on how successfully, or not, that window was utilised. It is the notion of the writer that is important.

In any case, the situation is similar to that of the ISI today. It released a clarification pleading innocence in the matter, a rare, if not unprecedented, act on its part. It is on the back foot, and some have, and few more may, get away with saying things in this window of opportunity. It seems to be closing fast with veiled warnings of patriotism and nationalism.

So here goes. Who killed Saleem Shahzad? Come on. Who else could wipe out his cell phone data from the system? And if one is still unconvinced, consider that the ISI should at least be able to uncover who did do it. Surely, it is not beyond the ability of the country’s most powerful spy agency.

Surely, in either scenario, this is at least a case of complicity.

They still might ‘catch’ some poor sap, a fall guy, perhaps a major, perhaps even a colonel. But it won’t really put the doubts to rest.

Surely this is not simply a case of a ‘few bad apples’.

Yet we will never say openly, in print, that the orchard is rotten; that the charges are so much more than Saleem Shahzad. That the ISI has unleashed on the ones they purportedly serve a rein of fear and terror that has been unmatched. Unmatched by India, unmatched by the US and unmatched by all our so-called enemies, even put together.

That they have patronised, or at least turned a blind eye to, elements that are inimical not only to the West, but have proven to be a cancer that has spread across the country, crippling the nation’s heart, body and mind. That their draconian policies have pushed, beyond reconciliation, already disgruntled parts of our population. That their meddling has brought us to the verge of being declared a pariah state. That their manipulation has grievously harmed, if not completely maimed, our political process.

The trial, the inquiry, the commission, should be not only of the abduction and brutal beating-to-death of Saleem Shahzad, but of the organisation itself. This is the window of opportunity.

It should feed a total rethink of what this organisation does, what purpose, what interest it serves, and whether the people of Pakistan want it to continue functioning.

Once, and if, the evidence comes forward, it will be time to stop pulling punches.

We don’t need to pluck the bad apples.

The orchard needs to be cleared.

Completely.





Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2011.