Friday, December 26, 2014
My religion is Pakistan
We can win this war, no doubt about it. I also have no doubt that this war is not confined to the tribal areas Syed Kamran Hashmi December 26, 2014 Comment DAILY TIMES Home ePaper Today's Paper MAIN NEWS National Foreign Business Sport Entertainment NATIONAL NEWS Islamabad Punjab Sindh Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Balochistan Gilgit Baltistan Azad Jammu & Kashmir OPINION Editorial Opinion Letters MULTIMEDIA Picture Of The Day Cartoons SOCIAL Facebook Twitter RSS OTHER About Us Contact Us MAGAZINE Sunday Magazine AAJ KAL Aaj Kal �Allah o Akbar� (God is the Greatest), they shouted together before opening fire on their targets, the young students of Army Public School, Peshawar, ranging from eight to 16 years of age. Through their single yet well-coordinated and well-planned attack, the terrorists mowed down 132 children last week, all of them innocent, unarmed and helpless. Their fault? They were all Pakistanis. Vengeance, they have called it, for the children of the tribal areas who were also innocent like the ones in Peshawar but lost their lives in aerial bombardments and attacks by the the Pakistan army. Even if we agree with their assertion for a moment without asking them why those children were being used as human shields, and even if we ignore that many of them held guns in their hands and acted as trained spies or soldiers, the attack in the public school is still so barbaric and heinous that Pakistanis will never forgive the perpetrators (or the supporters) of such violence let alone accept their justification. After the massacre, one thing should be clear to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP): if there had been any chance for the Taliban to win over the hearts and minds of Pakistanis in the name of an �Islamic revolution�, that window has permanently closed. If the terrorists thought there was any possibility of regaining their strength in the tribal areas and putting th e administration on the back foot again, then they have lost that opportunity too. People are angry, even those who stood in favour of a dialogue with the TTP in the past and those who thought that the Taliban could be kept as assets to help win across-the-border objectives. Pakistanis have tolerated the TTP for a long time despite its attacks on our soil and its suicide bombings. People thought that the religiously misguided guerilla warriors had some genuine grievances that needed to be addressed. But now, the time to stay patient has gone. Whether you are a cleric, politician, religious leader, an officer or criminal, it is time to sever all ties with the terrorists. There lies no middle ground anymore, no grey areas where people can be fooled in the name of religion or retaliation. And, at least for now, you either stand with us or against us. By the way, in 2001, this is exactly how the US felt after the twin tower attacks but maybe 20 times more than us as the number of their casualties hangs close to 3,000. I know most Pakistanis do not feel their pain as much and some even believe that all this is the US�s own doing or a reaction to their policies. We can be blamed for the same crime in that regard. After all, the TTP came into being as a result of our bad policies in the tribal areas. Furthermore, some of us can even construct a conspiracy theory holding the Pakistani army responsible for the Peshawar massacre in the same way we have contrived so many for the US. How preposterous would that be? However, the reality is that innocent US citizens lost their lives in 2001, people who had nothing to do with foreign policy. The horrific images emerging from Peshawar of the school floor coated with human blood are no more horrific than the images of the people jumping down from the top of the World Trade Centre. 9/11 , even after more than a decade, brings out the same emotions of anger, pain and grief in US citizens as the Peshawar incident brings out in us. Nonetheless, I am happy with the people�s verdict. I am not happy because so many children have lost their lives, of course, or happy because their parents will suffer for years to come but I am happy because the children who have sacrificed for their country will defend us as our guardian angels. They will protect us not only from the real Taliban who kill and blow themselves up but also from the fake ones, the ones who always seem to find a way to justify the cause of the Taliban. From now on, these angels will stand between us and the TTP or their sympathisers, guiding us to identify the enemy within us and encourage us to fight all of them till the last one has met justice. We can win this war, no doubt about it. I also have no doubt that this war is not confined to the tribal areas nor do I think it is limited to the US-led war against terrorism or its invasion of Afghanistan. Instead, this war is like a demon with multiple heads out of which only one can be attributed to US foreign policy. The remaining heads of this devil lie in Pakistan. And trust me, we have to chop off every single one to be completely free. The good news is that with the army operation in North Waziristan we have started the process. Although sceptics, including myself, believe that the army operation is too little too late, still it is a step in the right direction. Considering that as baby step one, the next few steps need to follow soon. However, they pose a bigger challenge to our society. I am alluding to our struggle (jihad) against extremism and religious intolerance. This requires real courage � much more than standing in front of a death squad � to lead that struggle. Giving up life is easy, even the Taliban can do that. Fighting extremism is difficult; it questions our existence as a sovereign nation, challenges our Islamic identity and objects to our defence paradigm. It demands revising the blasphemy law where it cannot be misused and insists on bringing down the constitutional amendment through which Ahmedis are declared non-Muslims. The time has come to make all-inclusive Pakistan our only state re ligion, no more no less. Are we ready for that? Will we ever be ready? The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com As I write this column, I am continuously reminded of three birthdays that fall on this day, ... My hometown is red again. As 2014 slowly steps towards the exit gate it takes happy and cheerful ... Two years after being elected the world�s first Muslim woman prime minister, Benazir Bhutto ...
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