Karachi’s fearless face

In Pakistan, you must be prepared to lose your life if you want to do a job that gets in the way of working mafias, terrorists or corrupted systems. Chaudhry Aslam, on the grounds of his fearless stance on terrorism lines up with the likes of Perveen Rehman, who was killed in relation to her work on land encroachments in Karachi.

As news of Aslam’s death took over, there was panic on the streets and in the newsroom alike. From journalists in disbelief to the guard outside our office, people knew this was a huge loss for our crumbling city. No one needed to be told who the slain cop was, each seemed indebted to his bravery and choice of performance — more action than words.

With his death, the only thing that becomes clearer to me is the need to adopt his stance. He left no opportunity to let his enemies know how strongly he felt against them, or how little they could impact him with their violent attempts. Whether they finally got him or his time was up, he did not depart a defeated man.

Karachi needs to do the same, instead of hiding behind words like ‘brave’ and ‘resilient’. We are under attack and while we’re losing lives, we might as well show a little more dignity.  It’s impossible, but I dream to see a day we announce a war and act against those determined to destroy the soul of Pakistan. I dare someone to use even half the words Aslam used to describe his enemies.

Despite a bomb blast at his residence, he chose to remain in the city and continue his line of work. For an officer like him, we owe a lot more than words. His stance should not be forgotten as soon as his funeral prayer is over; it should be relayed till the last terrorist is wiped out. His widow should not have to mourn, rather she should be told to wait for the day we celebrate the end of all the people he vowed to chase without a second thought.

After Aslam, I hope someone just as courageous takes on. Let us not need a 15 year-old Aitzaz Hussain, in any part of the country, to stop a terrorist from bombing 2,000 students. In this small corner of the newspaper, I pray our security forces as a whole make praiseworthy headlines — not just our solitary fighters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2014.