Two brave boys

Here is a nominee for what could be the feel-good story of the year. Two boys in Karachi, aged 11 and 14, who wash cars to make ends meet, found a bomb concealed in a block of cement in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. They immediately informed the police and were able to avert a major terrorist attack. Dozens of people in the area owe their lives to these young heroes who, after their brief moment of glory, will surely return to their anonymous lives of poverty. That is unfortunate as Noman and Amir should be held up as exemplars of what citizens can do to contribute in the fight against militancy. It is unfortunate that law enforcement authorities have done precious little to educate the populace on how they can report suspicious activity. With the threat of terrorism ever-present, an alert citizenry can be a valuable tool that needs to be utilised as a last line of defence. It should go without saying that the boys should never have been placed in a situation where they were all that stood between a destructive act of terrorism. Given that this is not an isolated incident in a country where bombs go off nearly daily, one has to ask whether the intelligence agencies are up to the task of preventing terrorist attacks. As much as this thwarted attack is an example of bravery and initiative, it is also an indictment of law enforcement authorities that have shown themselves incapable of acquiring and acting upon advance intelligence. The world of intelligence-gathering is by definition a murky one that operates in the shadows but the results are clear as day. The vast resources at their disposal have led to very few thwarted attacks. This suggests that the agencies have not been particularly successful at infiltrating militant groups, paying off informants and using the power of the surveillance state.

After the initial bout of publicity, the two boys will in all likelihood return to a life of flagging passing cars and washing their windshields. Instead of rudely brushing such boys off, we may want to consider politeness. You never know where our next saviours will come from.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21^st, 2011.