9 to 10 blasts in the heart of Pakistan, Lahore rocked the nation yesterday. At least 2 of them were reported to be suicide attacks causing significant human and economic loss. The terror that engulfed the city specially after the back to back blasts in Iqbal Town, Shadman and nearby areas of Lahore, bought the cultural capital of Pakistan to a standstill.
Pakistan and its heart Lahore in particular have faced many tragedies and terror attacks but this was no doubt amongst the worst in terms of the psychological impact and fear mongering. The atmosphere in the city was unprecedented. This is the Lahore where people came out in large during Indo-Pak wars to cheer on their army. But this time the enemy is unseen and the people are confused.
Furthermore the prevailing injustices of a system where poor and weak are made an example of and the powerful go free, coupled with such fear mongering terror strikes are a perfect recipe for economic annihilation of any country.
To avoid the disaster we are moving towards, Govt of Pakistan needs to review its policies at all levels, be it strategic, tactical or operation level which are all, as of now, classic examples of failures except for some of the operations carried out by the PDF (Pakistani Defence Forces).
Some prime examples of such failures range from the alledged collaboration re Drone Strikes causing unrest among people and providing ideological ammunition to those calling for revenge, the flawed strategic policy and approach on the so-called War on Terror to the import of expensive non-working scanner doors from China (does kickbacks ring some bells here?).
Recently there were some news that caught my attention.I’d refer to atleast two:
- The Punjab police was running a basement “female only rape and torture center” where innocent and young girls, many not even adults, were detained and abused illegaly, for the enjoyment of its officers and some politicians. They even had a girl abducted from her wedding ceremony. Despite extensive media coverage the culprits are still free.
- A member of the assembly let his hungry hunter dogs “teach a lesson” to a women in her constituency and defended this in the name of tradition on the assembly floor. The killing was rewarded with him been made a minister and is said to be in the good books of the President.
I wonder if one of the girls was Bakthawar Bhutto would the reactions have been the same?. Certainly No. And this explains where the basics are wrong.
This battle for Pakistan’s survival cannot only be fought and won on the battlefield but by providing social justice to the people. It is the injustice prevailing in the society that is drawing the masses towards revolt. And in that eagerness for a revolt they don’t care much if those taking charge are the people commonly referred to as “terrorists”.
It is said that drastic circumstances requires drastic measures and its high time we start taking the long overdue drastic steps. Once there is justice for all, people will themselves eradicate these terror-mongering maniacs to justice.
Omer Zaheer Meer's Blog 