Karachi: History tells us that it is not the majority but a resolute minority that brings change. Those pained by the bigotry in Pakistan often argue that it is an intolerant minority that is holding Pakistan hostage. Has the Peshawar catastrophe given birth to another minority capable of changing Pakistan? Events as brutal as the Peshawar massacre can do one of two things: it can permanently change the way we understand terror, or it can keep us grief stricken for a few days till a spate of revenge killings calm our rage and allow us to return to business-as-usual.
Terrorism was created and bred by diverse factors: the misconceived jihadi project and its use by our military for pursuit of national security goals; a criminal justice system too corrupt to curb terror; a political elite too expedient to act against those aiding terror; a religious elite that is a direct beneficiary of the political economy of terror; and a society which has developed blindness to all kinds of savagery unleashed in the name of God. Has Peshawar shaken up our conscience enough to acknowledge these deep rooted fixations that have made our national mindset a sanctuary for bigots? Within the realm of evil is there something abnormal about those who brazenly kill children to achieve goals?
What sort of men kill the enemy’s children instead of the enemy to exact revenge? The kind that has no qualms about transforming impressionable children into suicide bombs? If the Taliban are loathsome, what about their abettors providing a steady supply of raw material for its suicide factories? What about their relatively peaceful cousins in religious parties who endorse the Taliban objective of forcibly creating the state of Khorasan, even if they publicly don’t justify terror for that?
The mindset that apologises for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) being earnest but misunderstood, allows Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid to preach terror in the heart of Islamabad. It explains the hacking of a young couple by a mob before burning them alive in a brick kiln for alleged blasphemy. It proclaims Mumtaz Qadri as a hero and requires the judge who sentenced him to death to leave Pakistan forever.
The mindset that justifies Salmaan Taseer’s murder is being logically consistent when it justifies the killing of Shias or Ahmadis because of their faith. If Muslims are ordained to conquer the world and it is all to start from Khorasan, what is so wrong about forcing Christians and Hindus within the Khorasan to convert to Islam or have their places of worship burnt? And if the young can wage jihad in India or Afghanistan, what is repulsive about using them to wage jihad against the Pakistani state if it has become an agent of the infidel?
Those who induct youth to wage jihad to liberate Kashmir, who justify killings, who defend vigilante execution of alleged blasphemers and who justify evil means in the name of doing God’s work, all drink from the same fountain of misconceived religious righteou-sness that nurtures bigotry. This fountain doesn’t dry up because the community at large is infected with the belief that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages.
Lifting the moratorium on the death penalty or conducting strikes against the Taliban in Fata might be cathartic but is no evidence of our intent to quit being a terror sanctuary. We are a terror sanctuary because there is widespread support for the terror infrastructure within our state and societal institutions. We will begin winning the war against terrorism when resolute anti-terror minorities across these institutions begin to trump fellow terror apologists. The test of our resolve to quit being a terror sanctuary will be tested on at least five fronts. One, will the khakis pull the plug on all jihadists and will the logic of not distinguishing good and bad terrorists on the western front be extended to the eastern front as well? Two, will our politicos be able to lead the drive to establish state control over madrasas?
Three, will the maulvi’s self proclaimed monopoly over interpretation of religious texts end? Four, will our justice system be cured of its inability to convict terrorists? And five, will we rid delusionary conspiracy theories and acknowledge that the fault is with us? Is there a silver lining emerging from the fog of war? For the first time our military leadership seems to have resolved that there are no good Taliban. For the first time TTP apologists seem to be running out of oxygen. For the first time the Chief Justice has felt the need to publicly state that terror cases will have to be decided quickly. For the first time there has been a public protest against the vicious Abdul Aziz outside Lal Masjid.
Let us hope that we have resolved to make Pakistan safe for our kids, not just by guarding them better but by eliminating the beasts amongst us whose presence threatens their lives and blights their future.
By arrangement with Dawn
