Terrorism of the kind Pakistan is confronting now a days is not that the job of few religious zealots who don’t approve the ways of life in the Pure Land. One may criticize and even hate what one does not understand and appreciate but trying to eliminate it altogether requires a lot of planning and resources that is beyond the reach of an individual or even takfiri groups, which have found so much space in Pakistan due to Afghan Jihad.
That the terrorist attacks in Pakistan falls beyond the means of an individual or a group, for the reason that it requires an expert planning, intelligence and, above all, huge fiscal resources, one ultimately has to seethe phenomenon of terrorism in strategic realm. So, authorities are true in the sense that there is some state, even a consortium, behind the saga of terrorism. However, one needs to be careful while accusing the neighbors for the whole mess in Pakistan.
There are profound reasons to believe that Afghan NDS and Indian RAW are behind the move to destabilize Pakistan. Weird of bad governance and misplaced development priorities, terrorist attacks on spiritual centers may urge people to question the rationale of the whole security apparatus and its capacity to protect life and liberty in Pakistan. And it is quite dangerous, for it puts a question mark on the integrity of the state.
One may not go into details of what happened at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar or many other shrines earlier but it is fact that leaving such places, which people visit to heal themselves from worries of life in a society marked with widening inequalities, unprotected may undermine the unity in diversity and create very anarchic situation as was witnessed right after bombing on Sehwan shrine.
One worrisome development following Qalandar shrine was that the provincial governments turned to jacking up security at religious sites shutting down them altogether. It is the same situation which resulted after Punjab government’s decision to strictly implement Amplifier Act in connection with NAP but only to penalize artistes, not the hate-mongering mullahs.
The Qalandar tragedy has revealed the fact that the government feeds thousands of Auqaf employees, many of whom even don’t believe in the sanctity of shrines and disapprove the whole culture associated with them, but spends too little on providing healthcare and safe food to the devotees. The large estates associated with shrines and huge sums of money contributed by the followers of Sufis are not meant to go into pockets of corrupt and swindlers but to be utilized in feeding and sheltering the devotees visiting these revered places.
Sindh government has not learn a lesson from the situation following attack on Balochistan’s Shah Noorani shrine last year whereby the injured had to be sent to hospitals in the radius of 40-50 kilometers raising death tolls to 88. Punjab, which abounds in spiritual places and centers, only maintains a single web-page to inform the public that the provincial government has an Auqaf department and has some functions to perform — no accounts, no spokesperson to deal with the media.
So, the whole saga of terrorism in Pakistan is a full-fledged war against the people of Pakistan. It is about pursuing strategic interests by means other than mobilizing militaries into our heartland. Just think about a consortium of terror, which benefits our confusion on religion and religiosity and picks recruits from among us. It is thinking about using our own guns to bleed us. It is scheming against our culture so delicately woven in norms and values inspired by teachings of Sufis and sages.
The ideological infrastructure put in place during the Cold War years, has ultimately pushed us into very odd position. We have sixth largest army in the word and very thriving media, but fear grips us to the extent that we have been almost locked inside our homes. Following every suicide attack, like that in Sehwan, the authorities are quick to send police into shrines and close down public parks. Mosques have already become the places to fear! If the enemy wants us to be panicked despite having sixth largest army in the world, equipped with ballistic missiles, it seems to be availing a good chance in our corrupt and deceitful ruling class.
If so many cleavages have been left open, who will not take advantage of our weaknesses? Why we are sticking to the legacies of the past? Why the socio-economic system put in place by our colonial masters is in place? Why we fail to screen and scan our institutions after the phase of Afghan jihad is over? Don’t we understand that the enemy, we are cursing and chasing, has taken refuge in our own hearts?
Corruption, mismanagement and suicide attacks are the same as far as consequences and repercussions are concerned. Take them all along if you want to fight back on behalf of people. And, thinking in terms of state, take care of system and throw away its rotten parts. These are not tanks, jets and long-range missiles that will make us secure and safe but good governance, accountability and devolution of power to the grassroots level. Don’t think more and fight back: it is war, stupid!
The writer is an Islamabad-based veteran journalist and an independent researcher. He can be reached on Twitter @riazmissen