On November 22, a bomb stashed in a vegetable vehicle near an imambargah in Karachi was defused successfully. Another concealed in a can was more amateurish and its five-kilogramme load was without a timer or any other detonation device. Karachi, despite adverse publicity from the probing media, seemed somewhat better prepared. For the Ninth and Tenth of Muharram, the city will have 40,000 officials of the police, Rangers and FC deployed with CCTV cameras and restricted traffic in critical areas.
In the rest of the country, the Taliban had devised more organised destruction: the suicide bombing of a Muharram procession in Rawalpindi killed 23 but a closer look at how the mayhem unfolded tells us that the bombing did not go as planned after the bomber was stopped from entering the main body of the procession. Telltale hand grenades told the story of the attackers’ original plan. Suicide bombers were caught in Peshawar and a planted bomb defused.
The D-Day is the climax of Ashura, the Ninth and Tenth of Muharram. The government is losing the media battle and has lost trust of the people but is nonetheless facing up to the challenge despite paucity of funds and untrained police manpower. It is relying on the people themselves to take precautionary measures, which are not popular: suspending cellular services and banning pillion riding in cities where people have to go to their jobs or starve in a collapsing economy.
Punjab, better off on record than the other provinces in countering terrorism, is also worried this time because of a number of daring acts carried out on its territory earlier, including the killing of military personnel near Gujrat. The inspector general of the Punjab police has made elaborate antiterrorism plan and is strengthened in his confidence by the capture of two Taliban-linked terrorists who had killed our soldiers.
As for the rest of the country, the situation seems bleak as ever, with every passing day of the month of Muharram, causing either high anxiety or bringing reports of an actual attack. In the past few days, several attacks have taken place, causing scores of deaths, suggesting that the assault on the country’s Shias, by highly misguided bigoted groups is, unfortunately, continuing and instead of coming with any long-term strategy, the state is left with little choice but to respond to it — for now — on a day-to-day basis.
Every Muharram, the Taliban and their allied sectarian and militant outfits make a show of their strength. It is psychological war against the state and it is succeeding every time the victim after escaping death says the Americans had tried to kill him. This is humiliating because this pathology of fear comes after the Taliban have claimed that they mounted the attack. And it will, unfortunately, continue to happen until the state is united and mounts a wholesale offensive – military and non-military – against those involved in perpetrating violence on its citizens on the basis of their sect.
Where Pakistan is losing the battle is the mind. And that includes the minds of our ministers and political figures who take great pains to ‘explain’ terrorism as ‘foreign hand’, carefully ignoring the claims of strikes made by Hakeemullah Mehsud’s spokesmen in North Waziristan. Psychologically, it can only be explained as defeatism because the ‘foreign hand’ posited by them includes countries Pakistan can do nothing against. If America, India and Israel are involved in terrorism here, then we should say goodbye to Pakistan because we are not in a position to attack them except that we should reactivate our non-state actors who have brought only shame to us.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2012.
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First be a human being.Religion and other man made set up make nobody a human being
Combination of weak govt, weak military, and a xenophobic nature which readily assigns blame the outside world for all of your problems - no surprise that terrorist are winning. . Your military is large, expensive and functionally inept - when you blow through the smoke the reason that half your country is controlled by the terrorist is that your military doesn't have the ability to defeat them. They use words like "no consensus" which is rubbish - when has the military ever asked the people whether going to war with India was appropriate? The rare military offensives are slow/ponderous, lack imagination, and are more focused on public relations than eliminating an enemy. To top it off your military in infiltrated from top to bottom with individuals who share the same ideology as the terrorist. Further - many who don't share that ideology still believe that every soldier who dies on the Western front is one less available for your true enemy India. . Your civilian govt is both corrupt and inept - a terrible combination. The President doesn't have the guts to even pursue the people who assassinated his own wife - not surprising he shows no leadership and confront the extremist.
Most Pakistanis have always lived in a state of denial. Even when foreign radio correspondents were reporting that the Indians were poised to enter Dacca, our politicians were assuring us that it was all anti-Pakistan propaganda. And even though it is evident that it's the Taliban who are bombing girls' schools and using suicide bombers to create mayhem, our leaders (the religious ones, particularly) blame Israel/India/US. Really, it's too depressing. Even some of my educated relatives are behaving like ostriches.
Pakistan has crossed over to the point of no return. According to the people, all terrorists are supported by CIA/MOSSAD/Raw and yet its establishment does not go after them will full might. What are they afraid of? Are they not the best in the World? They are just milking their country dry for themselves and not protecting Pakistan.
The fact that we have allowed the PAKISTANI - TALIBAN to exist and spread its mayhem is a clear reflection on the people of PAKISTAN, its elected officials, its Military and Army. As long as there are excuses and NO ACTION we Pakistanis are DOOMED & should be prepared to live in one of the worlds most terror driven countries.
I like that photo women are in Burkas, It reflecting tradition, Pakistan government should act in sense to protect our subcontinent traditions and culture. Terrorism is the main problem in our both countries. I don't understand why Pakistan people supporting terrorists?? We both countries people can live happily, we can unite in future to become one nation like Germany, we can rule world. We are the great race in the world, we are Aryans, we only can rule rest of world.
Everything black in the pictures . Do ladies don't get any other color to wear?
"If America, India and Israel are involved in terrorism here, then we should say goodbye to Pakistan because we are not in a position to attack them except that we should reactivate our non-state actors who have brought only shame to us".
Confused editorial. These non-state actors are attacking you. They are also claiming that they have attacked you. Now if you activate them, it is not a matter of shame for you as much as death and destruction. For your own sakes, I hope you dismantle the infrastructure of jihad.
And yes there is a foreign hand which is funding TTP and its anti-Shia war. It is not India, US and Issrael but it is KSA and UAE.
In Chasing a Mirage, Tarek Fatah Writes: Islamists argue that the period following the passing away of Muhammad was Islam's golden era and that we Muslims need to re-create that caliphate to emulate that political system in today's world. I wish to demonstrate that when Muslims buried the Prophet, they also buried with him many of the universal values of Islam that he had preached. The history of Islam can be described essentially as the history of an unending power struggle, where men have killed each other to claim the mantle of Muhammad. This strife is a painful story that started within hours of the Prophet closing his eyes forever, and needs to be told. I firmly believe the message of the Quran is strong enough to withstand the facts of history. It is my conviction that Muslims are mature and secure in their identities to face the truth. This is that story. Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic lllusion of an Islamic State Publication Date: April 14 2008
To paraphrase Nation Rifle Association slogan “People kill people guns do not kill people” People kill people cell phone, twitter, facebook, LinkedIn or You tube do not kill people Ban People not technology