We, Pakistanis, are responsible for our own failures.
LAHORE: This is with reference to Raza Rumi’s article of August 20 titled “Those who attacked Kamra were not American, they are from among us”.
Whenever people/nations face a problem, the first step towards its solution is to identify it. We, in Pakistan, on the other hand, are busy demonising the Americans, Jews and Indians and blaming them for our problems. And we do this at the cost of looking at ourselves and seeing perhaps, that the problem is created by our own deeds and actions. For instance, most of us refuse to accept the stark reality that almost all terrorist attacks have been carried out by local Muslims/Pakistanis. Most of us refuse to accept the fact that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a homegrown militant group, which thrives on the anti-Americanism rampant in Pakistani society. To defeat the TTP, we must first accept that Muslims, too, like other humans, can commit acts of violence. There is no grand plan hatched by foreigners to destroy Pakistan internally or externally. We, Pakistanis, are responsible for our own failures and unless we accept this fact, this cycle of violence and bloodshed will continue unabated.
Omer Mahmood Butt
Published in The Express Tribune, August 26th, 2012.
