Tintinnabulations of a vandalised future

Editor’s NOTE: The following op-ed, penned by me, was published in Daily Times on December 17, 2012. I’m pleased to cross-post the article on my blog from Daily Times without any editing. (Ali Salman Alvi)

Any government can remain in check if the opposition played its role vigilantly and the ruling party’s lapses are reported by the media. However, when media fails to report on sensitive but rampant cases, and the opposition is no better when they come in power but do only lip service to make their position look intact to voters and justified to their critics, it is the responsibility of society to make a note of the ongoing political, social and economic atrocities. For instance, more than 475 Shias have been killed this year in Pakistan to date, with this number increasing every day. The opposition is nowhere to be seen and the indifference of mainstream media to the gravity of the issue is making matters worse. Whilst I hold the federal government responsible for the law and order situation in Pakistan, I cannot give a clean chit to the provincial governments, which ought to provide security to their citizens.

A few days ago, my friend Raza Rumi wrote an op-ed titled, ‘Shahbaz Sharif and his admirable running of Punjab’ that was printed in a national daily. Apart from admiring Mr Sharif for the good things done by his government, he expressed his concern about the rise of extremism and militancy owing to the fragile implementation of law in the province in the following words: “There is a perception that the PML-N is soft on extremist and sectarian groups, due to reasons of electoral adjustment and perhaps, ideology as well. This is a serious omission, which might haunt the party if it comes to power in the next election, as there will be no excuse of a ‘hostile’ federal government and its failures to curb terrorism.” I, strongly but respectfully, disagree with the notion that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) leniency towards groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (now working under the label of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat [ASWJ]) is a mere perception.

The ‘lovey-dovey’ liaison of the PML-N and ASWJ/SSP is nothing new. The PML-N has time and again sought the SSP’s support to contest elections and the latter has rarely disappointed the former. In the recently concluded by-elections in which Punjab saw a thumping win for the PML-N, the ASWJ announced to support the PML-N’s candidate, Haji Nawaz Chohan, in Gujranwala’s constituency PP-129. The announcement came from the ASWJ’s district president Arshad Hameedi at a religious seminary as the latest display of public affection between the two parties. Electoral alliances are not aimed at charity; these alliances are established as a trade-off between two parties and they are motivated by a shared ideology. In February 2010, the provincial law minister, Rana Sanaullah, visited Jhang on a by-election campaign for a provincial assembly seat. He was seen interacting with Ahmad Ludhianvi of the ASWJ as he took the hardliner cleric to a drive in his open top jeep with official patronage. Is it appropriate for a provincial law minister to take a radical cleric with him on an election campaign? Did Mr Sharif take any action against his law minister for giving an unprecedented protocol to the head of an organisation that considers Shias as infidels?

In an interview expressing his biggest concern, the slain former Punjab governor, Shaheed Salmaan Taseer said, “I worry about terrorism. The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)‚ which is in government in the Punjab‚ has old linkages with and a natural affinity for extremist organisations like Sipah-e-Sahaba‚ Lashkar-e-Jhangvi… Let’s face it: terrorists need logistical support from within — somebody funds them‚ somebody guides them‚ and somebody looks after them — and that support is coming from the Punjab… You can’t have your law minister [Rana Sanaullah] going around in police jeeps with [outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba’s] Ahmed Ludhianvi‚ whose agenda is to declare Shias infidels and close down their places of worship‚ and then say you want harmony in this province. You can’t have the chief minister [Shahbaz Sharif] who is also the home minister‚ standing at Jamia Naeemia pleading with the Taliban to please not launch attacks in the Punjab because he shares the same thinking against the US as they do. What message does this send out to the local magistrate and police officer?”

As per the report, ‘Pakistan: The Militant Jihadi Challenge’ by the International Crisis Group published in 2009, “The recent upsurge of jihadi violence in Punjab, the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, demonstrates the threat extremist Sunni-Deobandi groups pose to the Pakistani citizen and state. These radical Sunni groups are simultaneously fighting internal sectarian jihads, regional jihads in Afghanistan and India and a global jihad against the West… The Pakistani Taliban, which increasingly controls large swathes of FATA and parts of the NWFP, comprises a number of militant groups loosely united under the Deobandi Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that have attacked not just state and western targets, but Shias as well. Their expanding influence is due to support from long-established Sunni extremist networks, based primarily in Punjab, which have served as the army’s jihadi proxies in Afghanistan and India since the 1980s. Punjab-based radical Deobandi groups like the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and its offshoot Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) provide weapons, recruits, finances and other resources to Pakistani Taliban groups…The SSP and LJ are also al Qaeda’s principal allies in the region.”

Mr Sharif’s government needs to see the writing on the wall. Promoting, appeasing and pandering to such extremist outfits can win the PML-N an extra seat or two in the next elections but in the long run, it will be devastating for the fabric of our society and the law and order situation in the province. According to another media report, the PML-N and ASWJ has struck a deal on electoral adjustments in the provincial and National assemblies in the upcoming general elections. It is just a matter of time before the two parties end up contesting elections together. I agree that the good things being done by the government must be appreciated but at the same time, we must not condone government officials festering extremism this or that way.

On the other hand, in February this year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan expressed its resentment over the performance of the Punjab government when the court was told that several water filtration plants had not yet been completed in the province despite being started many years ago. Non-existent or insufficient infrastructure for clean water and sanitation poses serious health risks. In countries like ours, up to 80 percent of all environmental diseases are because of lack of clean and safe drinking water. Less than 50 percent of Pakistan’s most populous province Punjab has access to piped drinking water. Less than 30 percent of the rural population has access to safe drinking water. Assisting the apex court on polio and hepatitis, Professor Dr Faisal Masood and Professor Dr Javed Raza Gardezi informed the court that the poor and unprivileged class is bound to drink contaminated water because this is all they are being offered. The absence of clean drinking water is resulting in increased infectious diseases like polio and diarrhea.

Punjab government is far from being an admirable one. CM Shahbaz Sharif and his running of Punjab can be best described as the old adage goes “Among the blind, the squinter rules.” Instead of dumping billions of rupees running a parallel education system (Danish Schools) Mr Sharif could have made the existing system more viable. We must appreciate the positive steps being taken by the incumbent government but we should avoid going over the top in praise of a government that has many serious questions to answer.

Source: VIEW : Tintinnabulations of a vandalised future — Ali Salman Alvi

Prophet Muhammad’s Letter to the Monks of St. Catherine Monastery

A copy of the document by which the Prophet Mohammed
gave protection to the monastery

“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.

No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.

No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.

Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”

The letter was taken away in 1517 by the Turkish Sultan Selim I and is now in the Topkapi Museum in Instanbul

English translation from ‘Muslim History: 570 – 1950 C.E.’ by Dr. A. Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq, ZMD Corporation. P.O. Box 8231 – Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8231 – Copyright Akram Zahoor 2000. P. 167.

To read more about the letter visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achtiname_of_Muhammad

Copy & Paste never got better than this.

Express Tribune‘s editorial on 28-08-2011.

Shahbaz Taseer and today’s Pakistan

Analysis by Khaled Ahmed in The Friday Times (September 02-08, 2011)

Who kidnapped Shahbaz Taseer?

Read the first Para in Express Tribune’s editorial and the Analysis by Khaled Ahmed in The Friday Times.  Find the difference and win an instant cash prize

 

Sports: Is winning all that counts?

 

Is winning all that counts? Are you absolutely sure about that?

Very little has been said about this. On December 2, Basque athlete Iván Fernández Anaya was competing in a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre. He was running second, some distance behind race leader Abel Mutai – bronze medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the London Olympics. As they entered the finishing straight, he saw the Kenyan runner – the certain winner of the race – mistakenly pull up about 10 meters before the finish, thinking he had already crossed the line.

Fernández Anaya quickly caught up with him, but instead of exploiting Mutai’s mistake to speed past and claim an unlikely victory, he stayed behind and, using gestures, guided the Kenyan to the line and let him cross first.

Ivan Fernandez Anaya, a Basque runner of 24 years who is considered an athlete with a big future (champion of Spain of 5,000 meters in promise category two years ago) said after the test:
“But even if they had told me that winning would have earned me a place in the Spanish team for the European championships, I wouldn’t have done it either. I also think that I have earned more of a name having done what I did than if I had won. And that is very important, because today, with the way things are in all circles, in soccer, in society, in politics, where it seems anything goes, a gesture of honesty goes down well.”

He said at the beginning: unfortunately, very little has been said of the gesture. And it’s a shame. In my opinion, it would be nice to explain to children, so they do not think that sport is only what they see on TV: violent kicks in abundance, posh statements, fingers in the eyes of the enemy…

Source: Facebook

Tholobate of silence on a volcano of violence

Editor’s NOTE: The following op-ed, penned by me, was originally published in Daily Times on January 14, 2013. I’m pleased to cross-post the article on my blog from Daily Times without any editing. (Ali Salman Alvi)

A progressive developing nation would cater to the rights of all its citizens, including the minorities. The UN charter for Citizens Rights also mentions the rights of minorities but the rights of the Shia community in Pakistan are presently at the mercy of the game being played by radicals, which is endorsed by political groups as that of ‘pious ones and infidels’. With this mindset, the radical groups are busy eliminating the Shia from Pakistan with vigour. The passing of the buck is the easiest action for those sitting in government to those holding the microphones on primetime programmes. The irony is that no one listens because we do not want to listen to the cries and appeals of the Shias. How can a common man with no power survive when the Quetta police itself is being issued stern warnings by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi to keep its hands off its jihadists or else it will suffer dire consequences?
Amidst all this chaos, where does a common Shia visualise his future? Does he live under the psychosis of fear of following his faith or the schizophrenia of society that is considerate of the entire Muslim community but alienates itself from Shia killings, which go on unabashed? Where should a Shia go because the media remains silent and chooses to look at other trivial issues as ‘breaking news’? The Shias silently protesting for their safety have not been paid attention to by either government or media, as the burning issue of Shia killings remains orphaned at the hands of bigotry and the political tussle of extracting maximum voters by aligning with hardliners. For how long should the Shia community lament the bloodshed of its own, because once again the apathy of the government goes to the drone attack victims but not a word on the citizens being killed by the Takfiri ideology? Where does the blood of Shia martyrs go? Because of bigotry and deep-seated hatred for Shias, does their sacrifice become any less important? Now it seems that the killing of the members of the Shia community has definitely failed to arouse the forever-asleep government officials. What more is required for them to wake up?
The statistics found in a report released by the home department states that 758 members of the Shia community were killed in 478 incidents from 2008-2012 in the province of Balochistan. Of these 758 victims, 338 belonged to the Hazara community while the other 420 belong to other ethnicities. The figures clearly indicate that all these victims were killed for the same reason and that is the school of thought they chose to follow. A bloody 2012 ended on a sombre note for Pakistan’s besieged Shia community. The penultimate day of 2012 saw 20 Shia pilgrims butchered in a massive car bomb attack that targeted a convoy of buses carrying 180 Shia pilgrims to Iran. The year 2013 started in the worst possible way. Alamdar Road, the Shia-Hazara dominated area of Quetta, was targeted last week on Thursday. More than 85 people were butchered, in back to back blasts, and well over 150 were wounded, as members of the Shia community continue to be massacred in cold blood. After the barbaric attacks, the Lashkar-e- Jhangvi, as usual, claimed the responsibility for the attacks.
Quetta has seen a severe downward graph of Shia-Hazaras who have stopped attending schools/colleges/universities. Government employees either have taken leave or are being thrown out of service, a gross murder of the legitimate rights of this Shia minority but it does not move the power bigwigs. Shias from the Hazara community are a soft target since they are easily distinguishable from the other ethnic groups because of their features. In the last few years, scores of Shias from the Hazara community have moved to Australia and Canada. Some of the immigrants take grave risks, as dozens of them died of suffocation in containers. Some of them died while crossing borders while others lost the battle of their survival in shipwrecks. So desperate are people because of this barbarity and injustice that they think of only an exodus as a means of survival. They are willing to take every risk to get out of the land where they are being butchered relentlessly. When will the silence end? Will the others in majority wait until the Shia Hazaras are declared an extinct community from Pakistan? The Taliban have wiped off the Hazara community from the Bamiyan region and its affiliated missionaries have begun to face persecution at the hands of those who are distorting the demographical proportion of Pakistan.
The theory of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban is nothing but a utopia, a fable story, for the think tanks to dwell upon and the world to believe that the ‘poor tribal’ people’s agitation has nothing to do with the people of Pakistan, whereas the same groups hit only those whom their version of Islam declares infidels without any challenge from any corner whatsoever and the result is the mass persecution of the Shias in the name of ‘Islam’. This month, a minister told an interviewer that associations of decades could not be washed away in a matter of months and we have to see the ground reality. The reality for the deep state, they say, is that the Taliban are a strategic asset.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is gaining new ground or is on its last legs, depends on who you are talking to. Interior Minister Rehman Malik insists that the TTP is on the verge of collapse given that its channel of funding is effectively being choked by the government. While the TTP remains apolitical, its off-shoots and allied parties are moving into mainstream politics but the other radical parties are increasing, resulting in a mass exodus of the Shias first from Quetta and now in Karachi, where every other day a Shia is killed. The media goes silent on the Shia killings but the audacity of the Laskhar-e-Jhangvi is that they have issued threats to the media houses to print their threatening statements. It is alarming, as its consequential and psychological effects are too abysmal with the passage of time. The population of the millions of Shias is searching their identity in a tide of radicalism. The psychosis of fear haunts, marking even women and children, like Mehzar and the four-year-old Suhana who was brutally killed, for no reason. But for some the reason is clear enough for them that being a Shia is equal to being an ‘infidel’. The Shias have had the biggest setback of having faced discrimination silently since the black era of Ziaul Haq, lingering to date, which is answered by peaceful protests from the Shia community.
Today it is the Shia community, tomorrow it will be some other, but the bottom line is concrete enough for the concerned authorities to act. It is ‘a Pakistani is killed’ but it should not be played down because that Pakistani is a Shia because as mentioned earlier a country’s first duty is to protect its citizens irrespective of their faith, religion, gender or language. Circa 2013, the country has seen bloodshed because of the political incapability of federal and provincial governments. The theory of vote bank politics stands tall in front of the mass Shia killings; therefore, the political parties remain silent whereas lip service of standardised comments follows for media bytes. Today, the Shias of Pakistan stand amidst blood splashed on the soil of the very country where their contribution stands tall.

Source: VIEW: Tholobate of silence on a volcano of violence —Ali Salman Alvi

Sermon of Syeda Zainab (sa) in the court of Yazid

Background:

After Imam Hussain (as) and all his devoted companions were brutally killed at the Battle of Karbala by the order of, Yazid, Muawiyah’s son and successor. Syeda Zainab (sa) was taken captive by Yazid’s army. Syeda Zainab and the other survivors of Imam Hussain’s expedition, most of them women and children, were marched to Kufa and then from Kufa to Damascus, Yazid’s capital, where they were held hostage.

The court of Yazid

The caravan of the prisoners of Karbala entered Yazid’s palace and they were made to stand in front of Yazid.

Yazid recited a few couplets which enshrine a diabolical confession, a confession that explains the history of the division in Islam and the motives not only his but of his father and grand father in accepting Islam! He said:

“If my venerable ancestors who fell at Badr fighting Muhammad had witnessed how the supporters of Muhammad’s faith were thrown into confusion with thrusts given with my spears, they would be blessing me today. The Banu Hashim played a trick to win power. There was never any “Wahi” to them nor did they receive any revelation. Today the souls of my ancestors and their friends killed by Muhammad at Badr will rest in peace!”

Yazid looked at the prisoners lined up in front of him and said: “It has pleased Allah to grant us victory! Look how He has caused the death of Hussain and humiliated his family!” He then recited a verse of the Holy Quran which means ‘Allah grants honour to whom He pleases and brings disgrace upon whom He pleases.’

Syeda Zainab (sa) could stand it no more! In a loud and clear voice she said:

Sermon of Syeda Zainab (sa) in the Court of Yazid:

“O Yazid! Allah and His Prophet have said that committing sins and considering the signs of Allah to be false is ridiculing them”, i.e. deny the sign of Allah today and hold them in derision and have become happy, and recite poetic verses on account of the martyrdom of the children of the Holy Prophet just as the polytheists of Makkah became happy and sang songs because of the martyrdom of some Muslims in the Battle of Uhad, and talk about taking revenge upon the Holy Prophet. This is how you become like them and how you have reached this stage? You have reached this stage because you have committed too many sins. Whoever treads the path of sin and persists in committing sins will, according to the verdict of the Quran, deny the signs of Allah one day and eventually will ridicule them and then deserve Divine punishment.

She added: “O Yazid! Do you think that we have become humble and despicable owing to the martyrdom of our people and our own captivity? As you have blocked all the paths for us, and we have been made captives and are being taken from one place to another, do you think that Allah has taken away his blessings from us? Do you think that by killing the godly persons you have become great and respectable and the Almighty looks at you with special grace and kindness? For this reason and on account of this wrong thinking you have become elated and arrogant. You have become boastful because you have seen that the matters have taken a turn in your favour. You have, however, forgotten what Allah says: The disbelievers must not think that Our respite is for their good We only give them time to let them increase their sins. For them there will be a humiliating torment.” (Surah Ale Imran, 3: 178)

The place, in the court of Yazid, where Imam Hussain’s (as) head was kept

Then Syeda Zainab (sa) reminded Yazid that on the day of the conquest of Makkah which took place in 8 A.H. the Holy Prophet did favor to all the men and women of Makkah and set them free. Yazid himself was a descendant of those very freed persons. His father Mu’awiyah, his grandfather Abu Sufyan and Mu’awiyah’s mother were among those who were set free at the time of the conquest of Makkah. on that day the Holy Prophet very magnanimously set all of them free irrespective of what they had done in the past and said: “Go, for all of you are free”.

In the second part of her speech the daughter of Imam Ali made the conquest of Makkah her topic and said: “O son of the freed ones! Is it justice that you keep your women and slave-girls in seclusion but have made the helpless daughters of the Holy Prophet ride on swift camels and given them in the hands of their enemies so that they may take them from one city to another”.

Then she said: “Why shouldn’t Yazid be spiteful against us, it is he, who looks at us with hostility. You say with perfect intrepidity and without imagining that you are committing a sin: ‘I wish that my ancestors who were killed in Badr had been present here today’. Then you strike Imam Hussain in his teeth with a stick in your hand! Why shouldn’t you be like this, although you have done what you wanted to do and have pulled out the roots of piety and virtue! You have shed the blood of the sons of the Holy Prophet and have hidden the brilliant stars on the earth from amongst the descendants of Abdul Muttalib under the clouds of oppression and injustice. However, you shall go before Allah soon. You shall meet your ancestors and shall also be taken to their place. At that time you will wish that you had been blind and dumb and had not said that it was a day of rejoicing for your ancestors”.

At this stage the daughter of Imam Ali prayed to Allah and said: “O Lord! Procure our right and take revenge upon those who have oppressed us”. Then she turned to Yazid and said: “By Allah you have pulled off your skin and cut off your flesh. You will soon go before the Prophet of Allah and will see with your own eyes that his children are in Paradise. It will be the day when Allah will deliver the descendants of the Holy Prophet from the state of being scattered and will bring all of them together in Paradise. This is the promise which Allah has made in the Holy Qur’an. He says: Do not think of those who are slain for the cause of Allah as dead. They are alive with their Lord and receive sustenance from Him. (Surah Ale Imran, 3: 169)

O Yazid! On the day when Allah will be the Judge and Muhammad will be the petitioner, and your limbs will give evidence against you, your father, who made you the ruler of the Muslims, will receive His punishment. On that day it will become known what reward the oppressors earn, whose position is worse and whose party is more humble. O enemy of Allah and O son of the enemy of Allah! I swear by Allah that I consider you to be humble and not fit even to be reprimanded and reproached. But what am I to do? Our eyes are shedding tears, our hearts are burning, and our martyrs cannot come to life by our reprimanding and reproaching you. My Hussain has been killed and the partisans of Satan are taking us to the fools so that they may get their reward for insulting Allah. Our blood is dripping from their hands and our flesh is falling down from their mouths. The sacred bodies of the martyrs have been placed at the disposal of the wolves and other carnivorous animals of the jungle. If you have gained something today by shedding blood, you will certainly be a loser on the Day of Judgment. On that day nothing but your deeds will count. On that day you will curse Ibn Marjāna and he will curse you. On that day you and your followers will quarrel with one another by the side of the Divine scale of Justice. On that day you will see that the best provision which your father made for you was that he enabled you to kill the children of the Prophet of Allah. I swear by Allah that I do not fear anyone except Him and do not complain to anyone else. You may employ your deceit and cunning efforts, but I swear by Allah that the shame and disgrace which you have earned by the treatment meted out to us cannot be eradicated”. The daughter of Fatima Zahra ended her speech with offering thanks to Allah. She said: “I thank Allah Who has concluded the task of the chiefs of the youths of Paradise with prosperity and forgiveness and accommodated them in Paradise. I pray to Allah that He may elevate their ranks and favor them more with His kindness, Allah is Omnipotent”.

[From "Balaghatun Nisa", by Abul Fazl Ahmad bin Abi Tahir]

Saudi Wahabi Cleric Issues Fatwa Allowing Jihadists To Rape Syrian Women

A hardliner Wahabi religious cleric in Saudi Arabia, Muhammed al-Arifi, who is very influential in Jihadi circles, has recently issued a Fatwa (religious edict) that permits all Jihadi militants in Syria to engage in short-lived marriages with Syrian women.

These sexual relation lasts for a few hours in order to satisfy their sexual desires and boost their determination in killing Syrians. He called the marriage as ‘intercourse marriage’. It requires that the Syrian female be at least 14 years old, widowed, or divorced.

Blackguards of fanaticism silenced Bashir Bilour

Editor’s NOTE: The following op-ed, penned by me, was originally published in Daily Times on December 29, 2012. I’m pleased to cross-post the article on my blog from Daily Times without any editing. (Ali Salman Alvi)

The reprehensible murder of Bashir Bilour is not only the Awami National Party’s (ANP) loss but it is a dent in the war against extremism that is fought by all progressive and peace-loving Pakistanis. “It is our fight and we will die fighting,” said Senior Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bashir Bilour just a day before he was martyred in a suicide blast. It was the third assassination attempt on his life that proved fatal. Despite having survived two suicide attacks earlier, the ANP’s stalwart remained undeterred against the Taliban and their ideology of barbarity.

The ANP’s leadership has been relentlessly targeted by the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Pakistan for their staunch stance against them. Almost 700 party workers and four leaders of the ANP have been killed by the Taliban. A man of his word, Mr Bilour, indeed died fighting terrorists and their nefarious plans of hijacking Pakistan. His murder is not about just Peshawar, the ANP, Pashtuns, KPK or Pakistan for that matter; it is about humanity that was brutalised, terrorised and butchered. Terming it revenge for the murder of Sheikh Naseeb Khan, the TTP claimed the responsibility of the blast that also left nine others dead and 17 wounded. Khan was an instructor at Darul-Uloom-Haqqania, a religious seminary located in Akora Khattak, dubbed the ‘University of Jihad’ due to methods and content of instruction along with future occupations of their alumni. The seminary propagates the Deobandi trend of Sunni Islam and was founded by Maulana Abdul Haq, father of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, along the lines of Darul Uloom Deoband. It is also famous for having many senior leaders of the Afghanistan Taliban among its alumni, including Mullah Omar, and its role in supporting the Taliban. Not to mention that Pakistan’s FIA has claimed that the plan to assassinate Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was hatched at the same seminary.

Lest you forget, dear reader, let me remind you a joint protest was staged by the workers of the JUI-F, JUI-S, Jamaat-e-Islami and Sipah-e-Sahaba (Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat) in front of the Peshawar High Court demanding the arrest of the killers of the same cleric whose murder is avenged by the Pakistani Taliban. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that the radical groups that have been dismantling peace are all affiliated with the TTP. The workers of these parties share the same school of thought as that of the Taliban. On the other hand, the apologetic discourse of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban is empowering the one outfit that is responsible for callous atrocities on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border. While the bad Taliban are responsible for thousands of ruthless murders in Pakistan, the good Taliban are the perpetrators of massacres of the thousands of Shias in Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamiyan. There is no difference at all between the two categories of the Taliban.

With terrorism peaking in Pakistan, the only institution — the Pakistan army — that has the potential to halt the ever-increasing menace of terrorism is reluctant to take the bull by the horns. For more than two decades, the elite of Pakistan army and some government officials envisaged the Mujahideen and then the Taliban as strategic assets to be used to foster their interests on the other side of the Durand Line.

Presently, Pakistan is going through one of the most crucial phases in its history given many tribal areas are without any writ of the government. War is upon us and we are being attacked every day. More than 40,000 Pakistanis have lost their lives and we are still not ready to own this war waged upon us. Probably every war is fought on at least two grounds: one is the battleground and the other is the minds of the people via propaganda. Nothing has hurt Pakistan more than the propaganda of the good and bad Taliban. It has essentially turned our nation in a mob with confused minds. According to this propaganda, those Taliban who are present in Pakistan but operate on the other side of the Pak-Afghan border against the occupational forces are good Taliban, while those who are carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan are bad. Have the genius minds behind this theory spared a thought about the situation in the region after the US-led coalition mission ends in December 2014? Will the good Taliban lay down their arms and start selling miswak sticks for a living? What will keep these overenthusiastic jihadists limited to Afghanistan?

Wars are fought and won by nations and not only the armed forces. Pakistan army is fighting the extremists but this war can only be won with the support of the public and not with a mob with split minds and depleted souls. If we are unable to root out this monster now, terrorism and extremism would eat up the entire body fabric of our society.

During the 1990s when the Taliban movement, thanks to the Pakistani mullah-military alliance, was on the rise in Afghanistan, a group of mullahs gathered outside the Lahore High Court on May 15, 1994. They were chanting slogans ‘Kabul kay baad, Islamabad. Taliban! Taliban!’(After Kabul, Islamabad. Taliban! Taliban!). They had assembled for the hearing of a review petition on the capital punishment awarded to two Pakistani Christians, the 14-year-old Salamat Masih and 46-year-old Rehmat Masih. The Lahore High Court judge, Arif Iqbal Hussain Bhatti, acquitted both of them only to be killed in his chamber later by an unidentified man for giving that very verdict. Last month, an Additional District and Sessions Judge granted bail to the man accused of killing Shahbaz Bhatti. Need I say more?
As the demands for a military operation in North Waziristan grow, it is pertinent to note that Pakistan cannot win this war by launching operations in only the restive areas. The hand that is feeding and sponsoring the centres of these militants — the religious seminaries — that continue to produce fresh stocks of militants and thus keep providing recruiting grounds to the militant outfits of the likes of LeJ, TTP and al Qaeda must be chopped. If the intent is clear and sincere then we have to eradicate the root cause of terrorism and extremism in Pakistan. If the objective is to launch another operation for the sake of an operation then I see no hope of having peace in Pakistan.

Since its independence, Pakistan has become a strategic player in the subcontinent free of terrorism, which has begun feeding itself on the home turf now. Pakistan has to move ahead with global giants whereas internal crisis is weakening the might of an otherwise prospering nation where the common Pakistani is facing the brunt of terrorism. Of course, sovereignty of the state of Pakistan matters the most, without any external interference. The onus now lies upon government in the upcoming elections, which will weed out germination of terrorism.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear,” wrote Mark Twain. Bashir Bilour resisted and mastered the fear with unparalleled courage. He had the guts to stand up to his views unlike many other cowards who live on fake and hollow slogans of America bashing. His ruthless murder is a serious blow to the aspirations of peace in Pakistan but the resolve of his son to not to surrender to the Taliban is a ray of hope. Mr Bilour, I would always remember the courage you showed against the TTP and anti state elements in the face of death. We have lost a true hero in you. May you rest in eternal peace, Sir.

Source: VIEW: Blackguards of fanaticism silenced Bashir Bilour —Ali Salman Alvi