Punishment well-deserved

We need to ask ourselves how a young, college-educated, middle-class man like Faisal Shahzad turned into a terrorist.

Unlike the Aafia Siddiqui verdict, the life sentence handed down to Faisal Shahzad should not lead to outrage and street protests, not least because even the strongest of Taliban/militancy supporters can find fault with his conviction. The proof against him was so incontrovertible that the verdict comes as no surprise. Shahzad had pleaded guilty to charges of his attempted Times Square bombing and in fact had bragged about it to investigators — and he did that in the courtroom as he was sentenced, sending a thundering warning to all and sundry that he was but a “droplet” in the mayhem that Muslims would unleash on the US. Such delusions are bad in themselves but what Shahzad’s absurd bluster does for law-abiding Muslims is to make life even more difficult for them.

We need to ask ourselves how a young, college-educated, middle-class man turned into a terrorist. His case contradicts the widely-held assumption that poverty is the fuel that sparks the fire of terrorism. We need to ask ourselves why Pakistan is both the destination of choice for those seeking training in terrorism and the number one producer of militants and jihadi groups. These groups have now slipped out of the control of their former patrons and are waging war against Pakistan and its allies. If there are any elements that support militant groups within the military establishment they need to be stamped out immediately. The next Faisal Shahzad may not be as much of a bungler as the failed Times Square bomber. Such an attack could destroy our alliance with the US and make every Pakistani a terrorist in the eyes of the world. A start could be made by regulating the content of sermons made by prayer leaders – this is done in several Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia. Mosques are also used for recruitment purposes by various jihadi groups and nothing is done to stop this. And nothing has been done still to regulate the curriculum of our madrassas or to bring them under any semblance of regulation. The mainstream system too is not without its flaws and tends to do a reasonably good job of indoctrination, reflecting the increasing trend in society in general.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2010.