#Backlash~#In_Blood There does one begin to find words to adequately articulate the universal horror at the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar? Where does one end when seeking explanations and contexts for that singular act which convulsed the innards of civilised society? Global outpourings of sympathy will not suffice to assuage the revulsion over the killings of 141 persons ~ all but two not students ~ that confirms the language of gunfire and bloodshed has now become the mother-tongue of so many in a swathe of violence that extends across much of the planet. In a philosophical tone it may be noted that the grief over the killings has transcended borders, in more practical terms the message is that the so-called War on Terror has not been won: rather it has been extended beyond the perception of the western powers that prosecuted it only for limited self-interests. While in the Indo-Pak context there must be no gloating east of the Radcliffe Line, across that British-drawn border it has to be accepted that there is a price to be paid for the sustained use of terror/militancy to implement state policy. All those maxims about the folly of trying to ride a tiger, or keeping a poisonous snake in the backyard have kicked in. Pakistan is in the throes of self-induced turmoil ~ but none should forget that the death toll in Peshawar is not the highest in a single strike in that country. But it is confirmation of a cancer that was permitted to spread ~ in all directions. The claim of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan that its men slaughtered the students in the Army Public School to avenge those killed in the military offensive in the tribal areas has only limited relevance. So too the argument that this is the Taliban’s “certification” of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Malala Yusufzai. A bigger picture is that Pakistan has lost control of the jihadi elements it nurtured, sponsored and let loose against its neighbours. The murderous foray in Mumbai on 26/11 and craven butchery at the Peshawar school have a common root. One that could be traced back to the ‘Afridi’ bid to wrest the Kashmir Valley in 1947. This is the legacy that Pakistan has crafted for itself, its army and the ISI regaled in it. Now there has been a backlash, in blood. Exposed has been the nonsense about “good” and “bad” Taliban, dubbing militants in Kashmir freedom fighters, encouraging the likes of Hafiz Sayeed and Dawood Ibrahim, and allowing ‘jihad’ to justify wanton blood-letting. The query asked at Peshawar is does Pakistan have the composite strength to contain the forces it unleashed now that they have also turned “within”? The larger question that moderate Muslims across the world must ask themselves is if it isn’t time to confront and slay the monster that now wants to feed on them as much as it does on others...
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 08:55:51 +0000
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