Daily Times

Much of whatever could have been said about the massacre in Peshawar has been said. There have been large-scale terrorist attacks before with casualties in excess of many dozens but this is the first time that primarily children were attacked and killed. For once, even Taliban apologists are staying mum though they will slowly crawl out from whatever rocks they are hiding under at present. If only we could somehow keep these bottom feeders hiding under rocks forever.

There is righteous anger that prevails in the country today and the political leadership understands the need to respond to this anger. As his first response to the tragedy, the Prime Minister (PM) made the rather peculiar decision to proceed with executions of terrorists in our jails that have already been sentenced to death. That I suppose is like shooting all the wolves in captivity because a bunch of wild wolves just killed our children. But then that is exactly the sort of logic one has started to expect from our PM.

Riding the public wave of anger and a need for revenge can lead to bad policies. I was 25 miles away when the twin towers came down on 9/11 and I saw how the US changed due to a need for revenge combined with a state of fear. Of course, the US and Pakistan are two entirely different countries yet we in Pakistan can learn from how things started to change in the US after 9/11. Primarily, three important things happened. First, the US essentially became a national security state with the continuous erosion of individual rights, so much so that even small town police forces now act as if they are on the frontline in the war against terror. Second, the US embarked upon two misguided wars of revenge that besides the cost in men and money have destabilised much of the Middle East and South Asia. Third, a very mediocre president became a war president and even went on to win a re-election.

Let us look at these changes in the Pakistani context. First, Pakistan already is a national security state. Individual rights are violated by the state with utter aplomb. For all practical purposes there is no rule of law and the security apparatus is already in control of much of what goes on in the country. Can this get worse? Yes it can! Second, about wars: Pakistan is already in a state of war. This tragedy can allow the army to proceed with its action against the terrorists with even less oversight and transparency than is available at this time. As far as the question of mediocre leadership is concerned, sadly we are stuck with mediocrity since the immediate alternatives are no better.

Pakistan was taking small steps towards becoming a better place. On a national level, the moratorium on executions was one such small step. It is extremely unlikely that any terrorist is going to be executed during the tenure of this government, especially anyone with a long flowing beard and a prayer scar on his forehead. This announcement by our PM to end the moratorium on executions is, in my opinion, a vain attempt at bravado and at gaining some cheap popularity. However, I hope that no one is executed and the moratorium on all executions is reinstated for good. I oppose the death penalty and believe strongly that lifetime solitary confinement with no chance of parole is probably a better alternative to execution. More importantly, considering the mindset of our terrorists who willingly embrace death, execution will only confirm their status as ‘martyrs’ as far as their supporters are concerned.

The other important improvement in Pakistan was the increasing independence of the judiciary. Sadly, the present atmosphere of revenge and fear can well limit the ability of our judicial system to function properly. Even the US judiciary at all levels is extremely receptive to public opinion, for good and for bad. So we might see more low level terrorism suspects being convicted even without much proof but we will then also see these convicted criminals living it up in our jails and getting a chance to spread their virulent message to other inmates and even prison guards as we have seen happen recently.

What we were seeing was a tentative but definite ‘Malalaisation’ of Pakistan and our system of education. Perhaps that is what the terrorists wanted to stop most of all by attacking a school. I hope that both the government as well as owners of private school systems pursue the trend that we were seeing of a more open and diverse system of education. Already there are news reports that the Punjab government wants to make the school curricula more inclusive, tolerant and pluralistic. That trend must continue and, in my opinion, it is the most appropriate response to the tragedy in Peshawar. Also that will, in the long term, be the best antidote to the rise in extremism that we are seeing in our country today.

What would I like to see happen? First we as a nation should stop and take a collective deep breath and, no, I do not think any committee is needed to make a decision about what needs to be done. We already have a PM with a mandate; it is now time for him to exercise that mandate and for a change actually lead. Hiding behind the proverbial skirts of other politicians is not an option. The army is evidently doing a pretty good job already if reports from its public relations arm can be believed. But let there be more transparency and if anybody needs to listen to politicians, it is perhaps the army. No, the army does not have to accept all or even most of the advice it receives but it should definitely become much more receptive to what the public and its representatives are saying.

The writer has practiced and taught medicine in the US. He can be reached at smhmbbs70@yahoo.com