Killing killing killing. We have developed a tradition of resolving petty issues after a ‘refreshing’ killing of people. People are as usual mere statistics, and their lives worth being expensed to justify bigotry.
I only thought that May 12 would be the only show of such ignorance and people will have learnt from it. As the present situation of Red Mosque unfolds I think we as a nation never learn and perhaps never will. Perhaps this is why we are at the bottom of the food chain, actively being victimized by the powerful.
Extremist is rather a soft word, bloodhounds is perhaps more appropriate. Government, political parties, delusioned Mullahs and we the population ourselves redefine the label. The present situation comes shortly after the bloody May 12 saga that claimed over 50 lives, mostly innocent. This situation is no different, stretching over 3 days and claiming 39 victims all in the name of cause that was not realistically possible in the present situation.
The situation is well covered at Metblogs Islamabad , however the gist of the situation is, a couple of fanatics leading 2000 people all-ready to bring a revolution into this already miserable country. Now is a classic end-game scenario, with the Army ready to launch an offensive, the few who have not surrendered have made children their shields to protect them from the government.
Let’s not forget that “Perception is Fatal”, there may be some hidden motives of people concerned here. Take the government, for instance, this was a perfect opportunity to divert attention from the proceedings of the chief justice at Supreme Court. This is true as there was no no media coverage of the proceedings due to this event. This is the perfect opportunity for the government to play its cards, either influence the lead defense lawyer due to his political affiliations or something else. Everything else will go unnoticed, later uproar can be subdued by by distorting the chain of events through conflicting press releases.
Second motive may be to show the west that a Khomeini style government will rule Pakistan and use the nuclear arsenal to further its cause. They may decide to arm their “brother” nations as well. The west already is suffering from insomnia due to the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon combined, something tells me they really do not want this.
Third motive is simple, to lead the population into a state of confusion that they willingly accept to prolong Musharaf’s demand for another term to satisfy his ego. People using the “lesser of the evil” strategy will chose their next leader, as none of the political parties are even worth voting for let alone leading the country. This is because Musharraf has successfully led the country out away from a financial crisis to a prosperous path.
There maybe hidden motive or perhaps there may not be any. Regardless of this, it is the people who pay with their lives. Sons, fathers, brothers, mothers, daughters and spouses die. Just today a camera man got killed, a rescue worker got killed and a child was hit by a stray bullet. Who is to pay for this carnage? Who is responsible? Will we ever learn?
Posted by Ahmed Hassan 
Perpetual Emptiness 