Pakistan: Eid celebrations in a rain of blood

By Babar Ayaz

So let the people be killed and al Qaedism lead the narrative while we celebrate Eid, happy over the trivial issue that this time from Peshawar to Karachi it was held on one day Tragically this Eid followed the killings of 40 people who had gathered to offer Namaz-e-Jinazah of their colleague who was shot dead a day earlier. The Islamist TTP claimed responsibility. And I wondered why Namaz-e-Jinazah, which is an Islamic farz, was attacked by the Islamic militants who claim they know Shariah better than other Muslims of the world. But this was not the first time. Such suicide attacks had earlier killed many in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Even in the worst of the communal riots at the time of the partition, Hindus and Muslims did not attack each other’s funeral rites. Why in the land of the pure even funerals are not safe, that is the question an average Muslim is asking today. The TTP, with each attack in which innocent people are killed, loses support among the Muslims of the country. This Eid sadly followed the killing of many young men who were returning from a football match, the only traditional joy for the poor wretched people of Lyari. The Karachiites know that it was part of the political gang war. It has destroyed the old city, which was once the place of politically conscious people. Lyari used to have dens of underworld gangsters but the local progressive political leadership dominated. Various communities lived with each other in peace in Lyari and its adjoining localities. Trouble started when political parties started patronising different criminal gangs in the scramble to secure their constituencies, a la Bollywood movies. The people of Lyari have no sympathy left for the political parties who have a nexus with criminal gangs. Their children fear to go to school and colleges and their businesses have been badly affected. Many Baloch and Katchi residents, who could afford to, have migrated from their centuries old abodes to other parts of the city. This Eid followed the ethnic killing of 13 Punjabi workers who were going from Balochistan in a Punjab-bound bus. The responsibility was claimed by the Baloch militants, and it doesn’t matter which front or liberation army. This did not serve their cause. Even though we have always supported Balochistan’s right of self-determination and condemned kidnapping and dumping of Baloch activists’ bodies, we have to equally condemn such ethnic killings. The net loser of such actions is the Baloch nationalist movement. Please don’t give me a rationale that the Baloch militants were avenging the killings of their comrades, as two wrongs don’t make a right. Such actions defeat the cause of securing the rights of the people of Balochistan. A point to be noted here that often some progressive writers are afraid to raise is that if the prime objective of the nationalists is the welfare of their people, then in the post-18th Amendment scenario they should focus more on the mismanagement and corruption of their respective provincial governments. I am not suggesting that all the issues of autonomy are solved, but there is a bigger issue of devolution of power to local governments. The nationalist parties and militants are usually quiet on this issue. Narrow or ultra-nationalism breeds fascism leading to ethnic hatred, and it is not a progressive movement. This Eid followed Dera Ismail Khan’s jailbreak, which was organised better than any military operation by the TTP. About 250 inmates escaped and the Taliban took all their comrades to the safe havens in the tribal areas. Although the intelligence agencies had informed much in advance that this jail would be attacked, there was no combined drill of law-enforcing agencies to test the ability to combat the attackers. Both central and provincial governments were found blaming each other and scoring political points, not accepting their utter failure. This was the second jailbreak highlighting the eroding writ of the government. A bitter truth, isn’t it? This Eid followed the PML-N approaching the Supreme Court that while the country is bleeding, their most immediate issue is to perform Umra and sit in Aitekaf, hence presidential elections cannot be held on August 6, which was also the 27th of Ramazan. In the same spirit, the independence of Pakistan, which too fell on the 27th of Ramazan, should have also been postponed after 1947’s Eid. Worst is that the court obliged the PML-N in a most controversial and one-sided decision, impairing its impartiality. Looking at this scenario, what troubles me is that the whole establishment looks confused and has not realised the ‘urgency’ of the existential threat to the country by the Islamic and ethnic militants. The much-talked about meeting to get all the parties’ support against the national security threat has not yet been held. On the other hand, the prime minister takes time out for paying homage to the ‘Emperor’ of the Muslim world: the Saudi King. Meanwhile, unfortunately, the al Qaeda franchisees are having a free hand to establish their superiority over the government in Pakistan. So far they are winning and gaining support from the religious extremists and confused ‘revolutionaries’ who find it hard to condemn them without ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ The army is in limbo, its jawans are being killed, as the army chief who is clear-headed about fighting the terrorists is about to retire. The ruling parties stand confused or are afraid of jihadis. So let the people be killed and al Qaedism lead the narrative while we celebrate Eid, happy over the trivial issue that this time from Peshawar to Karachi it was held on one day. Great! This Eid I was reminded of the poem I wrote on December 31, 2007, after Benazir Bhutto who courageously challenged the Taliban in her last speech was assassinated. Almost six years have gone by but we have gone nowhere. Standing in the rain of blood, I recall: Soaked in the rain of blood/Burning tears in my eyes/I stand in the killing fields of Pakistan/Impatient for the 2007 sun to sink into the Arabian Sea/No remorse, no farewell/Good riddance, good riddance/As I look at the horizon to welcome 2008 with hope/Hope the miracle balm that soothes our bleeding wounds/The overcast of bloody 2007 is still looming/Clouds of terror are still thick/Wanton killing winds are still blowing/I’m struggling to keep the flame of hope alight/Hope for peace, hope for end of misery/Hope for love, hope for death of hate/Hope for forbearance, hope for end of intolerance/Am I hoping far too much?/This query is death to quash/Reality checks are ruthless/Vision is pain, knowing is curse/Hope is the only balm for bleeding wounds.