By Amir Zia
Monday, January 13, 2014
The News
The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends.
Top civil and military leaders are showering tributes on the slain super cop of Karachi Mohammad Aslam Khan, aka Chaudhry Aslam, who was martyred in a suicide bomb attack by the local Taliban militants in Karachi on January 9 along with his two other colleagues. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif praised his bravery and condemned the terror attack. Army Chief General Raheel Sharif lauded his services and said that the whole nation remains united against terrorism.
This horrendous attack has saddened the nation in general and citizens of Karachi in particular. Regardless of the controversies that swirled around Chaudhry Aslam all through his career, he was a brave-heart. He became a larger than life character in his lifetime for the single-mindedness and zeal with which he fought criminals and terrorists alike. At least five assassination attempts, including a bomb attack at his house in September 2011, failed to dampen his spirits. He courted danger and risked his life on a daily basis and never seemed to cower under pressure.
For criminals and terrorists, he was a living nightmare – a merciless officer who used to turn up the heat on them. Human rights groups may object to his style and method, but ask a common citizen of this crime and violence-plagued city and you will find great support for officers like Chaudhry Aslam.
While many politicians, including those in power and the cheerleaders of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Taliban, confused the issue of terrorism by calling it a foreign war and begged for talks with the enemy of the state and the people, Chaudhry Aslam was amazingly clear-headed about his mission.
“If the state shows its scared then it loses the right to call itself the state”, he was quoted as saying in a story carried in this paper. “As long as I am alive in Karachi, I will never let that happen.”
In this day and age of uncertainty and muddled thinking, Chaudhry Aslam’s certainty and clarity of mind needed more than simple courage. He acted on what he believed.
Prime Minister Sharif has rightly called him courageous. But isn’t the prime minister’s statement highly paradoxical and ironic? Why? Because the PML-N government believes in talks with an enemy that is committing brutalities against this nation almost every single day. Yet, there are politicians, including PML-N stalwarts, who are ready to forget and forgive all the heinous crimes and acts of terror committed by the Taliban. They believe in appeasing the Taliban by offering them talks and remain reluctant to fight the war against terrorism and extremism which are consuming our society from within. Should we call this policy a tribute or betrayal to the blood of our martyrs?
It is the extremists who are calling the shots and proactively pursuing their agenda – from attacking sensitive defence installations and killing security officials to blowing up schools, bombing places of worship and murdering polio vaccinators. But the civilian government remains directionless in confronting this life and death internal challenge faced by Pakistan.
Chaudhry Aslam is not the first officer who has been martyred in the line of duty. Sadly, he won’t be the last one either. He has been lucky that the entire nation rose to pay tribute to this brave officer. However, the sacrifices of others, who went down unsung, are no less important.
Among the recent victims, we have a 14-year-old boy from Hangu, Aitizaz Hasan. He was martyred while challenging a suicide bomber targeting his school. The list of such courageous men, women and children is long and getting longer.
Still many politicians and religious leaders in this Islamic republic – from Imran Khan to Munawwar Hasan – have the audacity of calling this conflict a ‘foreign’ war. They mourn the deaths of terrorist kingpins like Hakeemullah Mehsud with greater emotion than the martyrdom of those killed for Pakistan.
How one would like to see Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan now take up the floor of parliament to condemn the martyrdom of Chaudhry Aslam and Aitizaz Hasan as he did in his emotional outburst of grief over the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone attack.
When the battle lines and the distinction between heroes and villains are so blurred in the minds of decision makers, Chaudhry Aslam and the like – despite all their bravery and conviction – can only win tactical victories. The war can be lost if timid and weak leaders are in-charge. Yes, the army of lions can collapse like a bubble if the leadership is in the hands of jackals.
Our men-in-uniform are performing their duty with courage despite all the grey shades that have been included by our politicians in the theatre of war that is now Pakistan. The conduct of the civilian leaders offsets and undermines the courage and sacrifices of our security officials.
Have thousands of our brave soldiers, army officers and policemen given their lives in vain if the rulers want to strike a deal with militants who want to use Pakistani territory to foment terrorism and violence within the country and across the globe? What about all those civilians killed in terrorist attacks and suicide bombings? Will their families get no justice? Will they be content that Maulana Samiul Haq and a few others like him have been assigned by the government to try to bring the Taliban on the negotiation table despite knowing that they reject Pakistan’s constitution and democracy?
Compare the bravery of Chaudhry Aslam and others, who fought and died for Pakistan, with that of the PML-N leaders in the way they shrunk back from lifting the moratorium on death penalty after receiving threats from militants wanting to save death row terror convicts from being executed.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and aides must rethink the choices they have made so far and the road not taken. It is heartening that they are acknowledging the courage of our fallen heroes, but it is high time that they must also take some heart and provide the ideological leadership that is needed to fight and win this internal war. The civilian leaders need to confront the extremist narrative that has seeped into popular discourse, and provide a counter-narrative by taking ownership of the conflict.
The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends. These heroes need to be paid tribute to by the actions of our rulers and not by the compromises they make with their killers. Let’s fight this war to end war.
Tailpiece: The assassination of Chaudhry Aslam raises questions about the direction of the much-celebrated operation against criminals and terrorists in Karachi. There have been hundreds of arrests and many criminals shot to death since the start of the operation on September 5, but aren’t our law-enforcement agencies – by design or default – ignoring the vast ungoverned territories of the city where the writ of the state remains non-existent.
There are many low-income neighbourhoods that have been virtually taken over by the Taliban. The Pakhtun secular Awami National Party has long been forced to pack up its operations from these areas. More than 50 ANP workers have been killed. Here, Taliban courts now decide matters, settle disputes and collect funds. The law-enforcement agencies are unable to make their presence permanent in these localities and at best can conduct hit-and-run operations. These are the very places where killers of people like Chaudhry Aslam rest, regroup, reorganise and plan their future ventures.
Any operation against such terrorist safe havens is directly linked to the federal government’s decision on how it plans to fight or not fight this war on the broader level. The few Taliban fighters arrested here or killed there will remain fire-fighting measures in which Chaudhry Aslam’s absence will be felt a lot.
Monday, January 13, 2014
The News
The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends.
Top civil and military leaders are showering tributes on the slain super cop of Karachi Mohammad Aslam Khan, aka Chaudhry Aslam, who was martyred in a suicide bomb attack by the local Taliban militants in Karachi on January 9 along with his two other colleagues. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif praised his bravery and condemned the terror attack. Army Chief General Raheel Sharif lauded his services and said that the whole nation remains united against terrorism.
This horrendous attack has saddened the nation in general and citizens of Karachi in particular. Regardless of the controversies that swirled around Chaudhry Aslam all through his career, he was a brave-heart. He became a larger than life character in his lifetime for the single-mindedness and zeal with which he fought criminals and terrorists alike. At least five assassination attempts, including a bomb attack at his house in September 2011, failed to dampen his spirits. He courted danger and risked his life on a daily basis and never seemed to cower under pressure.
For criminals and terrorists, he was a living nightmare – a merciless officer who used to turn up the heat on them. Human rights groups may object to his style and method, but ask a common citizen of this crime and violence-plagued city and you will find great support for officers like Chaudhry Aslam.
While many politicians, including those in power and the cheerleaders of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Taliban, confused the issue of terrorism by calling it a foreign war and begged for talks with the enemy of the state and the people, Chaudhry Aslam was amazingly clear-headed about his mission.
“If the state shows its scared then it loses the right to call itself the state”, he was quoted as saying in a story carried in this paper. “As long as I am alive in Karachi, I will never let that happen.”
In this day and age of uncertainty and muddled thinking, Chaudhry Aslam’s certainty and clarity of mind needed more than simple courage. He acted on what he believed.
Prime Minister Sharif has rightly called him courageous. But isn’t the prime minister’s statement highly paradoxical and ironic? Why? Because the PML-N government believes in talks with an enemy that is committing brutalities against this nation almost every single day. Yet, there are politicians, including PML-N stalwarts, who are ready to forget and forgive all the heinous crimes and acts of terror committed by the Taliban. They believe in appeasing the Taliban by offering them talks and remain reluctant to fight the war against terrorism and extremism which are consuming our society from within. Should we call this policy a tribute or betrayal to the blood of our martyrs?
It is the extremists who are calling the shots and proactively pursuing their agenda – from attacking sensitive defence installations and killing security officials to blowing up schools, bombing places of worship and murdering polio vaccinators. But the civilian government remains directionless in confronting this life and death internal challenge faced by Pakistan.
Chaudhry Aslam is not the first officer who has been martyred in the line of duty. Sadly, he won’t be the last one either. He has been lucky that the entire nation rose to pay tribute to this brave officer. However, the sacrifices of others, who went down unsung, are no less important.
Among the recent victims, we have a 14-year-old boy from Hangu, Aitizaz Hasan. He was martyred while challenging a suicide bomber targeting his school. The list of such courageous men, women and children is long and getting longer.
Still many politicians and religious leaders in this Islamic republic – from Imran Khan to Munawwar Hasan – have the audacity of calling this conflict a ‘foreign’ war. They mourn the deaths of terrorist kingpins like Hakeemullah Mehsud with greater emotion than the martyrdom of those killed for Pakistan.
How one would like to see Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan now take up the floor of parliament to condemn the martyrdom of Chaudhry Aslam and Aitizaz Hasan as he did in his emotional outburst of grief over the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone attack.
When the battle lines and the distinction between heroes and villains are so blurred in the minds of decision makers, Chaudhry Aslam and the like – despite all their bravery and conviction – can only win tactical victories. The war can be lost if timid and weak leaders are in-charge. Yes, the army of lions can collapse like a bubble if the leadership is in the hands of jackals.
Our men-in-uniform are performing their duty with courage despite all the grey shades that have been included by our politicians in the theatre of war that is now Pakistan. The conduct of the civilian leaders offsets and undermines the courage and sacrifices of our security officials.
Have thousands of our brave soldiers, army officers and policemen given their lives in vain if the rulers want to strike a deal with militants who want to use Pakistani territory to foment terrorism and violence within the country and across the globe? What about all those civilians killed in terrorist attacks and suicide bombings? Will their families get no justice? Will they be content that Maulana Samiul Haq and a few others like him have been assigned by the government to try to bring the Taliban on the negotiation table despite knowing that they reject Pakistan’s constitution and democracy?
Compare the bravery of Chaudhry Aslam and others, who fought and died for Pakistan, with that of the PML-N leaders in the way they shrunk back from lifting the moratorium on death penalty after receiving threats from militants wanting to save death row terror convicts from being executed.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and aides must rethink the choices they have made so far and the road not taken. It is heartening that they are acknowledging the courage of our fallen heroes, but it is high time that they must also take some heart and provide the ideological leadership that is needed to fight and win this internal war. The civilian leaders need to confront the extremist narrative that has seeped into popular discourse, and provide a counter-narrative by taking ownership of the conflict.
The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends. These heroes need to be paid tribute to by the actions of our rulers and not by the compromises they make with their killers. Let’s fight this war to end war.
Tailpiece: The assassination of Chaudhry Aslam raises questions about the direction of the much-celebrated operation against criminals and terrorists in Karachi. There have been hundreds of arrests and many criminals shot to death since the start of the operation on September 5, but aren’t our law-enforcement agencies – by design or default – ignoring the vast ungoverned territories of the city where the writ of the state remains non-existent.
There are many low-income neighbourhoods that have been virtually taken over by the Taliban. The Pakhtun secular Awami National Party has long been forced to pack up its operations from these areas. More than 50 ANP workers have been killed. Here, Taliban courts now decide matters, settle disputes and collect funds. The law-enforcement agencies are unable to make their presence permanent in these localities and at best can conduct hit-and-run operations. These are the very places where killers of people like Chaudhry Aslam rest, regroup, reorganise and plan their future ventures.
Any operation against such terrorist safe havens is directly linked to the federal government’s decision on how it plans to fight or not fight this war on the broader level. The few Taliban fighters arrested here or killed there will remain fire-fighting measures in which Chaudhry Aslam’s absence will be felt a lot.
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