Daily Times

I hope you remember the term “cautious pessimism”, when it came to the much-repeated phrases of “national consensus” and everyone being on the “same page”. Call me whatever, but I could sense and see through the fog of sudden shock. It was more of a momentary reaction after such an enormous tragedy. The people on the political spectrum had pretty much no choice but to sit with the khakis and get wind of the new direction. However, politicians, being true politicians, said one thing at the All Parties Conference (APC) and something else as soon as they left the venue.

I did see a seasoned and mature parliamentarian shed tears while telling the audience about how sorry he was for voting in favour of military courts: a true democrat with a heavy heart fulfilling his obligation towards his party. In Punjabi, there is a phrase called wehliyan gallan (idle and meaningless talk), which seems very apt here. The respected senator should have resigned from this shameful parliament and should have lived with his conscience.

Do not get me started on the two religious parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and Jamiyat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUIF). Both these had their reservations about the meaning of the term terrorism and wanted the law to be very broad. These were folk who had abstained from voting in favour of the amendment. Their ideological partner, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), was available for photo ops but when it came time for voting, it took what we Karachites call in slang patli gali (narrow escape). In layman’s terms, it is called hypocrisy at its best. Again, in this layman’s very lay interpretation, it was fear of backlash from their ultra-right wing constituency that made these folk act in this callous manner. The much-revered maulanas of both parties added another layer of confusion by initiating a ‘secular versus Islamic’ debate. I am still looking for that page and that book, where all and sundry were in agreement.

I know there is this sudden urge of the incumbents and their mothers-in-law to yell that civil military relations are at their utmost best. The otherwise conflicting pillars of the state are, you guessed it, on the “same page”. Show me that book please to make me a true believer. I recently enjoyed a talk show where a spokesperson of the legendary government of ‘cardboard lions’ admitted that the government has ceded a lot of turf to the khakis. Counter intuitive reasoning is being peddled on the idiot box about extraordinary circumstances and being the “time of war.”

With due respect to all peddlers, it is quite a lame argument. I always wonder where these guys went to school to learn such meaningless spins. Let me say this and say this with respect to the respected peddlers and the equally respected folks carrying the operation: please rally and gather this fragmented and jaded nation in one spot. The difference of opinion will always be there but the spin coming from every quarter is quite depressing. Barely a month ago an incident that shook the conscience of the entire world is now being overlooked at its own epicentre. Overlooked in a sense that besides the constitutional amendment granting the military courts the power to try hardcore terrorism related matters, there is not much of a movement on the so-called action plan.

Although a lot of noise was made right after the horrific incident, the action is seemingly invisible. The prime minister is seen giving his signature sound bites of how serious he is and how energised he is when it comes to eradicating the menace of terror. For those who take his blabber very seriously, I just have to repeat my aforementioned Punjabi phrase. You may think that I am being sarcastic and pessimistic for no reason. Let me just say something in my own simple way: in an ideal situation, if the prime minister’s action plan works like magic and all the bad guys are arrested, tried and sentenced through the time barred military courts, the nation will still remain in its signature denial.

The confusion of whether the bloodthirsty monsters are, in fact, monsters or not will hog air time. The deliberate “what aboutery” will be used as an argument to obfuscate and deviate from the issue. I know I have said this earlier but I will repeat once again: had these monsters been non-Muslims, the national sentiment would have been quite the opposite. Please spare me from my pet Punjabi phrase again by blabbering that “these terrorists are not Muslims”. The fact is that these are Muslims like many of us. Remember the argument that it is not up to you and me to judge who is and who is not a real Muslim. That argument sticks here as well. Anyone who says or professes the kalima enters into the fold of our religion. If I were a gambler, and thank God I am not one, I would not be hedging my bets on our political leadership. I hope for once they embarrass me and prove me wrong. I yearn, hope and pray for that personal embarrassment, just once.

The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar