A game of thrones

The events of Friday the 13^th in Paris played out like a horror movie, as did the events of Beirut just a day earlier, as well as the events in Tunisia, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan and every other place on this planet where innocence is targeted by terrorists, holding warped religious ideologies and ideas of ideological supremacy. Interestingly, the numbers that make terror organisations are minuscule in comparison to the vast armed forces of countries around the world. What stops these countries from annihilating terror? Nothing; it’s just that they don’t want to confront the roots of the problem.

Looking at the terror problem from the Pakistani perspective, it is clear that the problem has its roots in the policies of General Zia. The creation of madrassas all across the country, and the planting of the seed of using radicalised fighting militias to further one’s ends was the handiwork of the US and Middle Eastern powers. In more modern times, we have seen the fostering of sectarian conflicts, the mass killings by Bashar al-Assad and the destruction of Iraqi institutions in the aftermath of the Iraq war. The disintegration of Iraq’s armed forces left thousands of its personnel without a purpose or a means to earn their living, leading eventually to the formation of the Frankenstein monster that is the Islamic State (IS). This monster has now turned on its creators and the rest of the world. The refugees pouring out of the Middle East number in millions, and their plight is an unfolding tragedy, yet there seems to be no solution in sight.

There is much intrigue and history surrounding this conflict. Many have raised the question on social media as to why the Paris massacre got more attention than the everyday massacres of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Maybe this is because ordinary Parisians did not actively do anything to invite this tragedy upon themselves, unlike in Afghanistan, Iraq or Pakistan where local populations had tolerated the festering of a violent and extremist ideology. The misguided leaders of these countries have encouraged sectarianism, divisiveness and radicalisation. What has Pakistan done in recent times to cleanse itself of extremism? An extremist interpretation of religion is encouraged in the country, with the middle classes readily lapping it up.

The rhetoric of hate can only be annihilated when the Muslim world starts focusing on domestic issues of importance rather than being used as a pawn by foreign powers. What we see, however, are corrupt leaders willing to sell their poor nations, with rich countries all too willing to exploit them.

I pray that wonderful Paris continues to thrive as one of the greatest cities of the world, with its beauty, people, charm and fashion, and I pray that the much-ignored Beirut, Kabul and Karachi regain their glories of the past. May all the innocent blood shed be deemed of equal value, and may no loss of life be seen as collateral damage. May the leaders of the world understand that the world bleeds when innocents are attacked and it doesn’t matter which race, nationality or religion the victims belongs to. Whether a child is shot in Paris or in Palestine, it hurts all the same.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2015.

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