Pakistan: Why death is not a tragedy anymore?

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

01 Mar 2009, NewAgeIslam.Com

Pakistan: Why death is not a tragedy anymore?

As Swatis join the miserable lot, the world watches the peace deal with trepidation. Die hard clerics and the murderous cannibals disguised as Taliban, after decimating Waziristan, Hangu, Bajaur, Momand, Swat and Dir are in the precincts of Peshawar. Whose war is this and at what price of human suffering? -- Adil Zareef, Islamabad.                 Pakistani women rally against the Taliban in Karachi  URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1216    ---------------------    Pakistan: Why death is not a tragedy anymore? Adil Zareef   "Death has now become irrelevant and not considered a tragedy!" Just before her demise, the greatest contemporary Urdu writer, Qurrut ul Ain Hyder had so remarked in her BBC interview. "Life had become meaningless", she recalled, "as death has become so common place to ordinary mortals and does not shock or evoke a serious response."   How relevant is this painful observation in the post modern world of perpetual conflicts. The horror wreaked by the Taliban upon fellow Muslims, in the name of Islam, is both horrifying and scandalous. That the perpetuators will remain unaccountable for an undefined Sharia, is akin to abusing a great religion of universal peace and brotherhood.   Words become meaningless when confronted by the enormity of tragedy that has befallen us. It was in1992, when the Bosnian conflict raged, pitting helpless Muslims against the ruthless Serbs, Croats, as Yugoslavia was breaking apart. It was Serbs targeting innocent Muslims and Croats, that enraged the entire world and ended up with NATO's intervention and carving up Yugoslavia into separate Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro and Serb States. "Ethnic cleansing" became a sanitized expression for genocide of Muslims and other minorities during this period.   We wrongly presumed then, the gruesome past was behind us. In 1992, Najibullah's government too fell to the Mujahideen, unleashing a reign of terror on the innocent civilians of Kabul. Not many Pakistanis cared as it was another country. Cynicism was replaced by callousness when the Taliban were foisted upon the helpless victims of carnage once again in 1996.   The vicious brutality was unheard of until recently, kept under wraps by the civilized world as it served their global interests, concerning oil or gas reserves. Dynamiting the symbols of a peaceful past - the Bamiyan Buddhas, jolted the uncaring world. But not until 2001, in the aftermath of Twin Towers attack, did it really swing into action. The ensuing US intervention was even more ruthless than the Soviets during their 10 years of occupation.   Khaled Husseini's depiction of traumatic times under the Mujahideen and Taliban, in his celebrated novels; the suffering ignored by the civilized world is unnerving. Most Pakistanis dismissed this as an exaggeration, even a holy retribution for sins of the Afghans! This callousness was also in play during the horrendous Balochistan military operation under Musharraf, for "development" and establishment of cantonments, of course!   Had the human rights activists not alarmed us, nobody would have learnt about Zarina Marri's fate or thousands of other missing men and women. As Baloch leaders got targeted, exiled or made to disappear, we chose to look the other way. Only recently the extent of horror wreaked by the Bush-Mush nexus is dawning upon disillusioned Pakistanis.   Sadly though, Pukhtun elites remain aloof when in the corridors of power and in return for a few crumbs of power. A sense of deliberate amnesia prevails! Waziristan and Bajaur did not register any emotion or remorse, as the perception of "uncilivised" Pukhtuns, receiving a "well deserved" mopping up by the military operations, bombs and jet fighters - target innocent civilians,  yet always sparing the blood thirsty Taliban.   How come we did not notice the uprooting of millions of Bajauris, renamed "Internally Displaced Persons", and resurrection of the demolished "Afghan refugees" camps, kicking Afghans out, conveniently, for "fresh arrivals"?  Once again, Katcha Garhi, Jalozai camps are hot topics in news bulletins, while aid workers and international donors scramble to make a bid for contracts and bulging portfolios.   The underlying irony of displacement and politics behind this tragedy is conveniently ignored. The human suffering index rises in contrast to our ability to become dehumanized, desensitized souls, walking about as if nothing really happened. It is another people, another world, another business. Not ours!   Pakistanis are a careless lot, woken up to occasional bouts of self pity or remorse, but never empathy or concern for the suffering of fellow brethren. Such is the level of indifference; we have consigned a whole lot of Pukhtuns and Balochis to eternal injustice; appeasing the most virulent masters of our misfortune.   As Swatis join the miserable lot, the world watches the peace deal with trepidation. Die hard clerics and the murderous cannibals disguised as Taliban, after decimating Waziristan, Hangu, Bajaur, Momand, Swat and Dir are in the precincts of Peshawar. Whose war is this and at what price of human suffering?   Standing out are members of Concerned Citizens of Pakistan led by Justice Nasira Iqbal who registered their protest, with truckloads of relief items on behalf of civil society members of Lahore." To sensitise the desensitised (and ignorant) Pakistanis!" she observed.   A fellow CCP member, Mansoor Ali Shah sent this chilling SMS on his way back to Lahore. "Dear friends! I return to Lahore with a heavy heart. An entire Pakhtun civilization from Bajaur, Momand and Swat has been brutally boxed into icy white tents and   asked to relive as though nothing has happened. A brave meat eating race from the mountains has been subjected to meagre rations of pulses everyday with no space to walk. Imagine a tiger in a den with no food! Worse - all this happens behind a big dirty cage euphemized as camps right opposite our affluent neighbourhood of Hayatabad in Peshawar. Let me add, they are Pakistanis, in case you forgot...  As I drive back on the motorway through this lovely green yet rugged terrain with rivers flowing through, I can hear the land, the trees, the river and the beautiful mountains crying out to me and asking me what I have done to protect them... I with shame roll up my window and look inwards. ..  So I return …. "   The author Adil Zareef is a Member, Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy, Islamabad, Pakistan. He can be reached at adilzareef@yahoo.com   URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1216