At sunset on 3rd March, 2013 a vehicle laden with
about 150 kilograms of high explosive was detonated on a road between two
apartment blocks in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 6. The ghastly blast reduced most of
the facing apartments to rubble killing at least 45 people and wounding about
150 including women and children. The road leads to a Shia enclave called Abbas
town. At that moment in time the entire police force of the city had been
deployed to provide security at a betrothal ceremony of two Peoples’ Party VIPs
attended by the prime minister, chief minister and a host of other dignitaries.
Rescue operations were carried out entirely by voluntary organizations.
The targeted
apartment blocks had a mixed community and the casualties were both Shias and
Sunnis. However, biased by the recent Shia massacres in Quetta the press
projected the event as a sectarian attack and only the funerals of the Shias
were shown on television, ignoring the Sunnis.
The TTP (Tehrik Taliban Pakistan) has not issued any
statement claiming responsibility, but their involvement is obvious. TTP is
using old and nearly forgotten past Shia-Sunni conflicts to motivate its mostly
Deobandi Sunni followers to strike localities near Shia enclaves, but those
attacks are far outnumbered by their attacks on Sunni places of worship
belonging to other sects and national military installations. They are fighting
an urban guerilla war to destroy Pakistan as we know it. Why?
The TTP leadership has taken oath of allegiance to Mulla Omar of
Afghanistan fame and has vowed to the mission of destroying all institutions in
Pakistan to install him as the head of state of Pakistan and the Caliph of all
Muslims of the world, eventually creating a world Islamic order that would
exactly follow the norms and customs of the 7th century Islamic
state based in Madinah. This explains their continuous ravaging of
non-religious schools, both boys’ and girls’. It also seems likely that they have assurance from Pakistan's arch enemy India that it will not take advantage of the civil war.
Mulla Omar has no qualification at all for his intended assignment
or ambition, but he is a symbol of audacity in the face of allegedly Jewish
instigated Christian military atrocities in Afghanistan. The apparition of TTP
has arisen out of the dust of those blown up or roasted in US and NATO bombings
in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately there are many sympathizers of the cause of
TTP in Pakistan. They openly call Mulla Omar the Caliph of all Muslims,
denounce democracy as Dajjal and preach boycott of the next general
elections. They include intellectuals, wealthy businessmen and retired military
officers who are totally disappointed by the massive corruption and
misgovernment of the much trumpeted democratic government in Pakistan. The time
has come for these gentlemen to review their priorities and show some concern
for the humanitarian cause.
The reason why the incumbent government has not retaliated
to the TTP invasions and acted to restore peace and order in the country is
equally disappointing. New political forces of change particularly the
Tehrik-e-Insaf of Imran Khan is threatening to wipe out the old political parties
in the upcoming general elections. But if the elections are held in tense
conditions, they may not be able to mobilize the voters who have never voted
before and the much hated old guard can return to power and avoid accountability
for another five years. What they do not know is that they may be creating a
situation where a bloody revolution may be the only recourse and they may not
even get a chance to defend themselves before being sent to the gallows or
shot.
The above narrative may seem disgusting to those enlightened
men and women who do not have any religious or sectarian prejudices. I don’t
like it either. But you have to call a spade a spade and identify the problem
before proceeding to solve it.
