Sir: After seeing and suffering so much, the fact that we do not learn from history is just reiterated again and again. The perpetrators of violence know that it is all too easy to call the shots; they just need to detonate a blast to control the ground situation and tilt it in their favour. The church blast resulted in a hue and cry about the plight of minorities although it was, first and foremost, an attack on Pakistanis first. The Qisa Khawani market blast is leading us exactly towards where the bombers want us to be, i.e. a place where there are no peace talks.
Five men were killed along the Line of Control (LoC) and we all know that the peace train that has been trying to stay on track for months will be derailed. Why can our leaders not see that if they really want to go somewhere they have to stick to their objectives? India and Pakistan, if they look towards peace, must go beyond the motives of the miscreants to steer our leaders’ decisions. Our leaders should come out of their reactionary decisions and stay focused; after all, a leader is supposed to lead rather than be led.
M SIDDIQUI
Lahore