Lahore shudders with terror again. After completing the whole circle across Pakistan, the blast struck a plaza in the upscale market of Defense Housing Authority (DHA) last week; tearing down the whole building, killing eight people while injuring dozens more, and needless to say, setting off ripples of fear through the provincial capital-one more time.
Just a day before this tragedy, public spirits were uplifted by the renewed commitment of the armed forces, who had announced to launch an enhanced, more powerful version of Zarb e Azab, Operation Raddul Fassad, to uproot terrorism once and for all.
The question that emerged after was if Zarb-e-Azab had done as well as it was claimed it to have, then why its name needed to be changed? Or will it be an entirely different project altogether? Not getting a good explanation from the top, I came up with my own: I think of the latest assault as the iPhone 7 version of the Apple mobile phone, which was introduced a year after the success of iPhone 6s, which itself had come one year after the iPhone 6 — all of them looking similar; the latest one being more advanced and equipped with a stronger hardware than the older versions! Here, I must apologise for my example from a private business firm. However, the association between Pakistani Military and business is so close that I could not resist the temptation.
Anyways, the officials proclaimed that now not just the planners and executioners but even their supporters and abettors would not be spared. Everyone in the network, no matter how peripheral their role might have been, would face justice. Peace has to prevail at every cost. Furthermore, they would extend the area of operation to include Punjab as well, the largest province, which has notoriously been safeguarded from military actions unlike the rest of the smaller three provinces, who have faced one army operation after another for decades.
So when the news of the blast appeared on the television screens on day two of Raddul Fassad, Lahoris felt their hearts sinking; their spirits plunging down. To them, the jihadis seemed more prepared than the law enforcing agencies to take the offensive and win the war. No sooner had the children watched the images, they too refused to go to schools; asking their parents if they would return home alive. Do not get me wrong. Parents felt unsettled and unsafe sending them as well. Tears rolling down their eyes, they did not know if they should risk their children’s lives or education: a choice that I hope we never have to make again.
Even in these circumstances, if asked about the level of commitment of the establishment to eliminate terrorism, with some cautious optimism, I would say that they are fully committed. The caution I observe is because I still do not see any action against the banned sectarian outfits. For one reason or another, no one mentions their name; no one discusses their involvement in sowing the seed of intolerance; no one recalls their hatred towards minority sects.
If long lasting peace stays the main objective of the administration then it has to severe all alleged ties with such organisations up to the last thread: not as a matter of choice but as a matter of necessity. In the presence of even a remote association between the two, we can achieve anything but peace. This has to be kept in mind. Why? Because we cannot attempt to put out the fire and add fuel to the fire at the same time. It does not make sense.
We, as a nation, will have to decide whether we want to make someone else’s faith our own problem, the state’s problem and the problem of the society or we want to leave the matter of the religious persuasions up to the individual to choose whichever god he or she wishes to prostrate before, and decide wherever he or she wants to offer prayers at, be it a mosque, church or a temple. If we choose the former option, we will see more of what we have seen in the last thirty days no matter how strongly we perform the operation clean up. However, if we go for the latter choice, we still can still pry our good fortune out from the current situation. Sadly, I have not seen our society moving even an inch towards that objective.
Then how can I call myself as optimistic? Simple, because I base my judgment on the basic principle of economics: first, I find where the financial incentive is, and second, I search for the association of the ‘deep state’ with that incentive. I believe that they have realised that the economic growth and prosperity depend upon keeping the peace, especially in the absence of any hope of the influx of the US dollars to export jihadism. Then they have an additional responsibility of protecting Chinese investments as well. But more importantly, over the last three years, with the combination of two Sharifs — one focused on economic recovery while the other peering at restoring peace — they have seen the glimpse of our potential: the booming real estate sector, the soaring stock exchange and the expanding industrial growth. It means if Pakistan wants to keep the same pace of recovery, law and order have to be guaranteed: the only way through which all the components of their ‘economic empire’ can run smoothly.
The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at [email protected]