By  Dr. Mahjabeen Islam
Toledo, Ohio

June 13 , 2014

The Taliban versus Pakistan

Terrorism in Pakistan plays out like clips from Hollywood. Ten men armed with backpacks and shopping bags full of sophisticated arms storm the cargo terminal of Karachi airport and hold the Airport Security Force, the army, police, Rangers and even the Special Services Group at bay for five and half hours.

Television media provides live coverage, with one of the reporters hitting the ground and breathing heavily into the mike while the camera zeroes in on one of the terrorists standing in plain sight on a roof top. It finally dawns on someone that they might be compromising the fight against the terrorists as well as the lives of the journalists so the coverage becomes a great deal distant.

We are always wiser afterwards. Now we’re crowing on how the army and other security forces were able to defeat ten terrorists. There was positivity and back-slapping all the way and questions of security lapses and intelligence failures were all shooed away.

And though I was very concerned about how the media was compromising the security forces’ efforts, the five and half hours of being glued to the television were very enlightening. The news then came out uncensored; the interviews were unvarnished. One said that there was no security forces response for the longest time after the attack. Another said that efforts were aimed at getting the terrorists alive and one had been so captured. Next thing, all ten terrorists were dead.

The cargo terminal entrance where the terrorists barged in at 11:25 pm is guarded by sleepy ASF workers who were about to go through shift change. That entrance is reserved for VVIP officials who receive smart salutes from the ASF and reward them with baksheesh. Gunning down the ASF was seamless for the terrorists who then ran a kilometer toward the Jinnah terminal in an effort to enter and hijack a plane. Thankfully the sprint was two kilometers and they met resistance half way.

It was nerve wrecking to hear that they had bunkered up on the runway and first off seven security personnel were killed and slowly, very slowly there was one and then two and finally all ten terrorists were killed. The death toll of the security forces keeps rising and is 17 at the time of this writing. And of greater concern, there are now three terrorists that have re-engaged the security forces.

Regardless of the Pakistanism “sab theek ho jayega” (everything will be alright) or the political chest-thumping that “we will never let this happen again” it is vital for the Pakistani nation to demand answers and insist on solutions.

Chief Minister Sind Syed Qaim Ali Shah pathetically stated that there were intelligence reports that important people or places were under threat, but that Karachi is such a large place, it is very difficult to know. I can essentially guarantee that the internal response to this intelligence was to beef up security for all the important people. I was mortified to know that he had arrived at the scene while the “ghamsan ki jang” (furious fight) was going on between the security forces and the terrorists, for his own security detail probably takes up a lot of manpower and space. He had to have been a hindrance.

The terrorists had come for the long haul; dates and dried food and water reminiscent of the Mehran naval base attack in 2011. Perhaps we did learn from the Mehran naval base attack for that took 17 hours to control and this took only five and a half.

The terrorist attack on Shia pilgrims returning from Iran on the same day got dwarfed in the news by the airport attack.

But like Bob Dylan asked “how many deaths does it take till we know that too many people have died”. Innumerable minorities, numerous religious devotees, several armed forces personnel, countless innocent people have died and audacious attacks on the Marriott hotel, the Mehran naval base and now the Karachi airport among others have occurred. But we are not up to self-examination: the media repeated ad infinitum that the attackers looked Uzbek. In the melee the media was told that the weapons were manufactured in India, and slowly but surely, it is being molded into a hunood-yahood-nasara (Hindu-Israeli-Christian) conspiracy.

Immediately after the 2005 London train bombings one of the friends of the terrorists said that killing Al-Qaeda operatives didn’t make a difference because, pointing to his head, he said “Al-Qaeda is inside”. Pakistan’s population has been similarly radicalized and like infection circulating through the bloodstream of a seriously sick patient, streaks of the population has bought into the Taliban ideology. And these streaks infiltrate the army, the government, the judiciary, educational institutions, mosques, the business community, onward to an infinite list.

We don’t dare question Nawaz Sharif’s commitment toward erasing terrorism. Why are we speechlessly tolerating absurdities in an interview he gave to the BBC a week ago that he was hoping for a peace deal with the Taliban? Why didn’t we see through Saudi Arabia pressuring us to send our military to combat Hafez Al-Assad in Syria? Why do we forget that Nawaz Sharif is beholden forever and ever to the Saudis for providing him amnesty after his Musharraf adventurism? We lend a blind eye to Saudi Arabia’s export of its violent and extremist Wahabi ideology.

The prognosis for Pakistan’s survival is grim as it is, it will become essentially zero if an immediate, concerted and mighty attack is not mounted on each and every militant holdout. And Taliban-like extremism in the population must be outed and punished publicly, swiftly and effectively.

Nawaz Sharif’s and previous governments have been wholly absorbed in shoring up money and power. It’s clear that Nawaz Sharif and company shed crocodile tears on the endless loss of life and economic damage in Pakistan. It might be instructive for Nawaz to remember that while the Taliban continue their volley of attacks in every province of Pakistan, pretty soon all that Nawaz Sharif will be ruling will be his bullet-proof Mercedes.

(Dr Mahjabeen Islam is an addiction and family medicine specialist)

PREVIOUSLY


Modesty Is a Multimensional Prospect

Cronyism and Killing: All in the Spirit of Democracy

Question Du Jour

Bismillahs and Ameens

The Bias about Media Bias

A Gem in the Murkiness

Hajj and Connectivity with the High

Crying over What We've Sown

The Pakistani Plague: Personalities but no Processes

Prisoner Abuse at Abu-Ghraib

Wishing Our Pioneer Inner Peace

Remembrance and Reflections: The Repetitive Rungs of Spiritual Ascent

APPNA Convention

When I grow up I will be...

Can Kerry Carry the Muslim Vote?

From 1984 to the Gulag

The American Muslim Voter: Participate or Pout?

What Moral Values?

Nuclear Vacillation and Duplicity

Pleasing God versus His Creation

That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It

Making Sense of Misfortune

Muslim Americans: Galvanizing Post-Persecution

Selectively Erring on the Side of Life

Honoring the Hitler to Muslims

Self before State: A Paradigm in Pakistan?

APPNA: Doctors without Focus

All Image and No Substance Makes for a PR Disaster

Shared Blame Needs Joint Action

Project Friday Khutba: Taking the Initiative to Spark Change

When Custodians Destroy

Soliciting Rape

Earth-Shattering Lessons

PTSD, Tests and Tears

Jews and Muslims Can Communicate

Going Too Far

The Sale of Sovereignty

Denial, Double Standards and Destroyed Lives

A Virtual Siege?

Hooked on Lahore

The Lebanon Crisis

Silent Spectators

Will Polls Translate into Legislation?

The Reigning Art of Self-Praise

The Sole Redemption

Killing at Will

The Sole Redemption

A Tribute to Serenity

Hypocrisy and Highhandedness

All Care Should Include Palliative Care

Desperate Measures

Eerie Prognostications

Dispassionate Apportioning of Blame

State-Sponsored Hooliganism

A Chorus of Crises

The Panacea for Pakistan

Musharraf’s Messiah Complex

Changing of the Guard

The Pakistan Election Dream Team

The Makings of an Uncivil Society

The Thin Veneer of Power-Mania

Puppet on an American String

A Method to the Mourning

Dropping Names or Money

The Ethics of Disagreement

What Would Muhammad Do?

Necessary Cacophony

Pakistan’s Vibrant Media Ensures Accountability

Maligning Muslims and Electing McCain

Buying into the Concept of Terrorism

Now That Barack Is President

A Talented Nation but

We Must Apply Restraint and Wisdom

A Nation on Notice

What Perpetuates Violence against Women?

Preparing for Adversity, Disability and Death: a Muslim Perspective

To Try or Not to Try: That Is the Question

The Seeds of a Revolution

Self-Hating Muslims

Lies, Deception and Hypocrisy

My Name Is Islam

Changing the Muslim Conversation

The Power of the Friday Sermon

Sequel to the Power of the Friday Sermon

Are We an Unjust People?

Muslims in the American Frame

Of Pens and Names

The Continual Killing of Physicians

A Gun-Slinging Nation

Surging Suicides in Pakistan

An Erosion of National Character

Comprehending the Catastrophe

A Thought Revolution

Perish or Rise

Patriarchy the Hijacker

Abolish Feudalism

Transmission of the Culture of Corruption in Pakistan

Brushing it under the National Carpet

Ignominy and Mayhem

Muslims: Everyone's Favorite Punching Bag

Equal Opportunity Defenders

The Righteous Are Those That Control Their Anger

Mighty Dichotomy

Misplaced Fury and Odd Expectations

Complicit in Cowardice

A National Sellout

The Two Faces of Pakistan

Of Abdication, Vacillation and Decisions

Heading for Divorce?

Rapid Effective Solutions

Survival of the Predators

Profiling and Personal Fatwas

Grandiose Paralysis

Poor Parenting and National Looting

Owning Qur'an and the Hereafter

Haunting, Bold Bol

Hooked on Lahore

A Year of Energy, Activity and Unity!

From Ephedrine to Ecstasy

An Emotional Pendulum

Just another Mosque Burning

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.