Salute to the martyrs of Lahore

[RescueRanger]

Friday, March 06, 2009
by Mian Saifur Rehman

P the Pygmy: We must salute the martyrs of Lahore.

Fair & Square: Yes, we must. The entire nation is praying for these blessed souls who laid down their lives while trying to defend the guest cricketers from Sri Lanka.

P: But while we pray for the Lahore cops, we must also ponder the old question of terrorism.

Fr & Sq: Some people are already taking care of this area with finesse.

P: Who are you talking about?

Fr & Sq: A good few analysts and TV anchors.

P: But some questions still remain unanswered.

Fr & Sq: Like what?

P: They are many in number? And, moreover, the list of these questions is without any order and sequence.

Fr & Sq: There is no harm in trying to find the answers. This endeavour might help the people and the authorities in tackling terrorism more effectively.

P: Well, then let me know how can civil society, which now stands more awakened, can help combat terrorism?

Fr & Sq: If we remain confined to the ‘quotable abstraction’ of the term civil society, it will help us in no way.

P: Then, what do you suggest?

Fr & Sq: Grass-roots methodology.

P: Any example?

Fr & Sq: The awakened segments of civil society in major cities and towns should go to the elders and notables of areas where terrorists reside, plan their operations and make preparations.

P: What is the rationale?

Fr & Sq: It is very simple. The terrorists usually get a pat on the back or a smiling acquiescence from their neighbours, locals and elders. This in turn motivates the militants to go for suicide sorties and hitting at soft targets with pleasure and confidence.

P: But I thought they were only lured into this trap by the dazzle of bounties and beauties promised to them in the glorious life hereafter.

Fr & Sq: That does motivate the youngsters but this motivation can fade soon in case the public, especially friends, kin and neighbours, opt for the terrorists’ censure.

P: Don’t you think terrorism also gives a sense of superiority over others, those others who fall like ninepins before bullets fired by militants?

Fr & Sq: You’re right. By killing others, one feels like being a true vicegerent of the Lord Almighty in whose hands lies our fate- and death.

P: You’re thus trying to say that the power of the gun also gives a sense of pride.

Fr & Sq: Of course!

P: Then, where goes the concept of holy war or Jihad?

Fr & Sq: The concept is holy but those who are in this game are playing an unholy game, killing innocent people.

P: By the way what do you mean by soft targets?

Fr & Sq: The non-combatants. Even a gun-carrying police constable who is standing guard without a threatening posture, is a soft target.

P: Are there any hard targets?

Fr & Sq: Yes, the fully guarded sensitive installations and buildups where live ammunition, in bulk, can ‘welcome’ terrorists, are hard targets.

P: But the US leaders think the terrorists can attack even the VHTs (Very Hard Targets) in Pakistan.

Fr & Sq: The militants are very shrewd people. Why should they create an impact (of destruction and terror) by losing more men and weapons?

P: Someone was telling me that militants some times don’t bother even if the weapons come from un-Islamic sources like Tamil Tigers, Russians, Columbia’s drug lords or elsewhere etc ?

Fr & Sq: Militancy is a cause. And everything is fair for a cause, even un-Islamic weapons.

P: Even un-Islamic agenda behind un-Islamic weapons?

Fr & Sq: Yes, why not? It is always the ends that justify the means.

P: I wonder how explosives and lethal arms can be transported so freely in well-regulated cities like Lahore.

Fr & Sq: I wish you had seen our youth in Lahore and other cities, in possession of hand-grenades, Russian Sten guns and Baarra-and-Dara-made plastic explosives in the shape of kneaded dough under cellophane covering, way back in early Nineteen Seventies.

P: To my astonishment!

Fr & Sq: Nothing so astonishing. This pygmyland has, since Independence, been a hub of freedoms of all kinds.

P: What freedoms?

Fr & Sq: Freedom to stage sit-ins, long marches; freedom to suppress, humiliate and kill; freedom to usurp others’ rights and possessions; freedom of slander and character-assassination.

P: What it has to do with unchecked transportation of illicit weapons?

Fr & Sq: I think you are the naÔve-most being on earth. Even people with ordinary prudence know that cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi are volcanoes of arms and ammunition.

P: What do you mean?

Fr & Sq: These volcanoes can erupt any moment. Name any weapon and it is in the possession of hundreds of thousands of our compatriots.

P: Oh, my God!

Fr & Sq: In fact, our LEAs and other authorities have never been able to ‘see’ these ‘transportations’ or to cut the ‘umbilical cord’ between gun-lovers in big cities and manufacturers of killing devices in our tribal region.

P: It makes me think that our land would have become a hub of large-scale terrorism even if there would have been no US-USSR war in Afghanistan or even if there would have been no US intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Fr & Sq: You’re right. I say it with authenticity that we would have faced the same scale of terrorism due to our own security lapses.

P: What is the remedy?

Fr & Sq: We must immediately put an end to parallel systems of justice and administration even if they go against the old agreements between some FATA/PATA districts and Pakistan government.

P: But some stubborn ones way: “Over our dead bodies”.

Fr & Sq: What are so many political parties meant for? Why can’t they show sanity and move forward with collective wisdom in keeping with abovementioned facts?

P: But that requires sacrifice of stated positions, public images and egos.

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