Octobre 31 , 2008
Buying into the Concept of Terrorism
In medicine it’s said that half the cure is recognition of the disease. Pakistan is wracked by one terrorist attack after another but the only reaction that has reached near-perfection is for us to transform into this virtual ostrich and head for the sand.
After each national tragedy there is a collective whodunit and in that vein the Pakistani nation, abuzz with polls and talk-shows, reeling in a perpetual PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) tries to pinpoint the culprits. Fidayeen-e-Islam has stepped forward this time to take discredit. This is its first appearance in Pakistan; its name has apparently been seen written on black flags in Iraq and Afghanistan in previous video tapes claiming ownership of attacks there.
Someone was quick to package the Marriott explosion as “Pakistan’s 9/11” and the stark ruins looking down on the huge crater did bear eerie resemblance to the Twin Towers. The attack occurred soon after iftar and the brunt of the casualties was borne by Pakistanis.
What is of emergent concern is the reaction of the Pakistani nation. In the typical spirit of shunting blame, we either shift it to India or the current bogey-man, America. It cannot be denied that the situation is extremely complex and American drone incursions across sovereign Pakistani airspace do not help, only consolidating this view, but it is important to break it down into simpler units.
Let’s rewind a bit. Muslims by our Creed are not the “chosen people”; the Qur’an addresses us as “O you who believe” and variations of the same. And one of the qualities most hated by God is arrogance. In times of national tragedy though, we behave like arrogant, self-righteous folk, ever-ready to dump blame on the infidels, for the simple reason that “no Muslim can do this to another Muslim, especially in the month of Ramadan”. This country needs a strong splash of cold water on its virtual face.
Journalistic conjecture has it that this attack has Al-Qaida written all over it. The ability to do it at this scale, to want to destroy Pakistan’s economy, the explosives that were used, all point to it. There is some speculation that “the agencies” have had it done. This does not stand to reason. But regardless, it must be noted that the Al-Qaida and the agencies are both Muslim. And before my quick-witted readers pooh-pooh this theory on the basis that “killing one is like killing all of humanity” (Qur’an 5:32), let them recall that in Islam belief is that private professing of faith that occurs between us and our Maker. And that our accounting shall be individual with no bailouts by the more blessed.
The Economist states that Pakistan’s attempt to reign in militancy in Waziristan has been weak for its armed forces are reluctant to kill fellow-believers. On the other hand are repeated incursions of American drones into Pakistan territory. Pakistan is caught in this terrible sandwich of terror -- AlQaida/The Pakistani Taliban on the one hand and America on the other. And the squeeze gets tighter every day.
If Pakistan is not to be blasted into the Stone Age by these recurrent salvos of attacks, the Pakistani nation must take an urgent, dispassionate and very uncomfortable look at the genesis of terrorism.
In medicine when we treat any chronic condition we educate the patient and have them buy into the concept of treatment. Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban have clearly been able to indoctrinate their suicide bombers and they have more than just bought into the concept of terrorism. Their surrogates have infiltrated into regular Pakistani society, for societal condemnation of terrorism has been cosmetic and sporadic.
If those Pakistanis that have not been bought over by the Al-Qaeda-Taliban nexus truly love Pakistan, they must buy into the concept of acknowledging this infiltration of terrorism into regular Pakistani society. The best defense against future loss of life and devastation of our economy is for these good people to be mindful that their neighbor or co-worker might be going over the deep. This is not to say that we should have a society akin to the Soviet Gulag Archipelago or one in which the government plays as police, jury and judge.
On a smaller scale too, people respond to calls to terrorize and kill. Recently the very famous Amir Liaquat Hussain vociferously condemned Ahmedis on a television show, labeling them “wajibul qatl” (deserving of death) and within 18 hours an Ahmedi physician, Abdul-Mannan Siddiqi was brutally gunned down in Mirpurkhas, and a businessman was attacked in another Punjab city.
The mind is unable to fathom that a Muslim could kill another in the month of Ramadan. That this very alien and distasteful concept is being put into practice must percolate through the Pakistani psyche and with the backdrop of the raging fire in the Marriott, and the tears of the surviving orphans, must rise a collective rage of the Pakistani nation that can recognize these terrorist elements within us and then galvanize to flush them to the innards of this world’s hell.
(Mahjabeen Islam is a physician and free-lance columnist residing in Toledo Ohio. Her email is mahjabeenislam@hotmail.com)
