Taking a stand

Let us hope that govt not only sustain its resolve to fight terrorism but also looks at areas we have ignored in past

It is brave of people like Gibran Nasir, who once stood for elections from the infamous NA250 constituency against Dr Arif Alvi of the PTI, and other members of civil society to protest against Moulvi Abdul Aziz of the Lal Masjid fame.

That Moulvi Abdul Aziz finally apologized for his earlier statement in which he had not condemned the Peshawar killings is a small victory for those who oppose extremism in the country. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. How many more do we have to name and shame and how many will actually see the error of their ways.

The army has reacted swiftly to the tragic killings in Peshawar and rightly so. But can we sustain the momentum that has been built up? It is not just a war of might. It is also a war of the mind. We may win momentarily on the battlefield but how are we doing in terms of the propaganda war. There are still people in the country who are convinced that the Taliban are not responsible for the actions that have taken place and that a third force is at play. What more is needed to wake these people from their slumber.

We are told that the National Action Plan to fight terrorism will go to the roots of the problem. This means unearthing the different sources of income of terror organizations across the country and identifying those who support such entities. This is easier said than done and requires a very clear political will.

We have to set aside past allegiances and work for the betterment of the country. A number of people who worked for our country’s interests are now working against them. We have to identify them and take action against them.

Lord Palmerston (1784-1865), Foreign Secretary and two-time Prime Minister under Queen Victoria once said “We have no permanent allies, we have no permanent enemies, we only have permanent interests.” We should work under the same principle.

No militant organization can survive without money no matter how strong it is in terms of its ideology. What have we done to cut that lifeline? Money is collected in a number of ways - from voluntary donations to money raised through bhatta, kidnapping, bank robberies and other avenues. We have not done much to catch those behind these crimes. And the more the criminals are successful, the bolder they get.

While many lament the killings of children in Peshawar, there is no sincere effort to understand how this happened and why it happened. On the one hand, as a country we have continued to slide into intolerance and militancy but we are not ready to address this and look for short cuts and scapegoats instead.

Take for example how we treat people who take the law into their hands at the behest of one ideology or another. In most instances, we let them go. Our justice system blames the law enforcement agencies and vice versa.

More unforgivable is how we have not reacted to the killings of people who took a stand. There are several cases of law enforcement officials and civilians who were targeted because they took a stand against extremists.

In most instances, we have not traced their killers or in any way set an example so that such acts may not be repeated. In fact, we have done the opposite and not done much, which in turn emboldened the killers into spreading their terror even further.

Politicians have also played politics. There are those who have directly applauded the extremists while there are others who have done it indirectly.

In the words of Ms Sherry Rehman who in 2011 accused her own party of appeasing extremists, “if anyone engaged in the apologist narrative when it comes to terrorism and terrorist attacks, they would be considered as terrorists and allies of the terrorists.” These are brave words from a brave woman.

The question now is whether we have learnt our lessons. Only time will tell how serious the government is in tackling this problem. So far the prime minister and the army chief have made all the right moves. Let us hope that this resolve to fight terrorism and extremism is not only sustained but also looks at areas we have ignored in the past. Only then will things change for the better.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd,  2014.

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