Data Darbar attacks — living in denial

On July 1, 2010, the Data Darbar was bombed. Apparently, scanners had been installed at the entrances, checking was routine, cars were not allowed to park next to the Darbar due to terrorist threats, and the shrine had its own security cordon to ensure that no untoward incident took place. And yet, two of the three suicide bombers got through and blew themselves up in the Darbar, taking with them a multitude of innocent bystanders and injuring scores of devotees. The security forces seemed absolutely clueless as to how to stop these attacks, so much so that they were not even fully aware of the magnitude of the blasts, with some officials labelling them as “low-intensity” explosions. When questioned as to how these blasts could have taken place, the same officials coyly stated that suicide bombings can’t be stopped, sheepishly avoiding the reality that although they can’t be stopped, their entry into the Darbar surely could have been.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that such security lapses have occurred. In the Jinnah hospital terrorist incident, unknown gunmen gingerly walked into the hospital, took hostages, caused mayhem and carnage, and then briskly left the premises undetected despite an apparently airtight security cordon around the hospital. And let us not forget the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, where the only saving grace was the valour of the driver who saved the lives of our foreign guests.

Despite a disturbing pattern of negligence and incompetence, no official has been taken to task. The PML-N-led Punjab government seems set to squander all the goodwill it had gained through supporting the lawyers’ movement and it is doing so by flirting with extremism for the sake of petty politics. Why else, if reports are to be believed, has it given a grant to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. In addition to this, it has openly stated in public that the Taliban should spare Punjab as the ruling PML-N has similar views on the issue of American presence in Pakistan and their policies as they do, and has shamelessly tried to cement relations and links with controversial sectarian misfits such as Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi of the Sipah-e-Sahaba in order to gain votes.

Furthermore, it has been seen suppressing the publicity of certain operations conducted by the Punjab police in order to avoid taking a clear and comprehensive stand against extremists. A few days ago, on busting a group which was allegedly supplying arms and ammunition to terrorists, the Punjab police sent out a press release stating that a huge breakthrough had been made in relation to ending terrorism. However, within a day, they had to retract the said revelation. Many analysts attribute the retraction to the reluctance of the Sharifs in owning the operations and going against a segment of society traditionally inclined towards their party.

All of the above seems to indicate that the PML-N government appears to be more of an obstacle in eradicating extremism than a factor in defeating it. And if this is true, it could have serious repercussions for the war on terror as well as the law and order situation in Punjab, and perhaps even Pakistan. The Data Darbar incident should be an eye opener for the PML-N. The battle lines have been drawn, and in the words of Rabindranath Tagore: “let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. Let me not look for allies in life's battlefield but to my own strength. Let me not cave in...”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2010.