This Eid commemorates the supreme sacrifice Prophet Ibrahim rendered by offering his beloved son Ismail for sacrifice to prove his submission to the will of Allah. This copied image of Dawn with its caption released to media by the Associate Press of Pakistan is yet another example of Pakistan offering supreme sacrifice of its countless sons in the ongoing war of terror.
The image on the face of it is a telltale sign of sorrow and grief visible on the face of our worthy Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, who quotes Winston Churchill sometimes in his speeches and dons an English hat on different occasions. I am sure, being a capable and astute statesman, who is entrusted the reigns of power for the second time can well understand the serious ramifications of this ongoing war on terror on our western borders. I think it is high time the Prime Minister came out clean with a polite “no” to the Americans, if his temperament does not suit the blunt “absolutely not.”
What could be more shocking under the present democratic government, when a journalist going for Haj is off loaded and arrested and what could be more shameful for women political activists being booked on terrorism charges and kept behind the bars indefinitely . With such inhuman treatment ; any law abiding citizens can become a dissident and choose his path to retaliate against the state something that we today confront on our western borders.
The other day a family friend forwarded a Facebook loaded video of an innocent Mehsud teenager from South Waziristan, who was subjected by the police to worst third degree to extract confession from him to be a TTP collaborater. I forwarded the post to the concerned Regional Police Officer, as I believe he is wise enough to understand its blowback effect because such inhuman treatment of the local tribesmen whom the British couldn’t subdue despite the Empire’s formidable military might except the name of Islam which served as the basis for the founding of Pakistan won these tribals to our side with their hearts and souls. These tribals served as Pakistan’s first line defence of our western borders till we declared them terrorists to appease the Americans, who till date do not trust us, being left in the lurch neither being trusted by our American allies nor our Pakistani citizens for whose defence we took an oath that we sadly failed to honour..
We need to break away from the American shackles and announce amnesty for all overseas dissidents, particularly TTP elements on Afghan soil. After all, they are all sons of the soil, and their fight was more ideological than terrorism—a word most abused in our part of the world. Even political workers and opponents are being booked on terrorism charges, making a joke of the very word, its connotations, nuances, and applications. This confusion has turned a political matter into a military challenge, the endgame of which is ultimately peace. If peace can be achieved through talks rather than threats and counter-threats, it would be a more desirable course.
The following excerpt from the journal of an American army’s serving lieutenant deployed against Pukhtuns in Kandahar at Afghanistan in 2010, is enough for the Honourable Prime Minister to learn his lesson and draw the line that this war of attrition is not going to be won without winning the hearts and minds of the local population, who are increasingly becoming disillusioned after vacating their homeland to let the last terrorist be flushed out. Yet, the cat-and-mouse game continues until there is a solution to the problem, which is never military but rather political in nature.
*Journal of Lieutenant*Tim Hopper* _( Excepts from Directorate S by Steve Coll)_
“September 9, 2010: The last month has been a blur of shittiness. Today LT Weaver the new platoon leader for 1st Platoon was killed by a pressure -plate I.E.D. They were out setting [an] ambush and while he was emplacing a security position he hit the I.E.D. He was a triple amputee and had a large laceration on his neck. He was done by the time Shannon (Doc) got there. . .
These are people’s lives that we are playing with here. The entirety of that did not hit me until I got letters from SGT Stout’s family and saw his memorial DVD. This shit is fucking with me. When I go home I am going to break down bad. . . . I am going to need Jenny in a bad way. When someone is killed out here it is not just an NCO, soldier, leader, etc. . . . It is someone’s uncle brother, cousin, friend boyfriend, husband, son father etc. . . . LT Weaver was 26 years old and his daughter just turned one a couple of weeks ago.”
*Happy Eid to all my beloved family and friends and hearty greetings to all Muslim pilgrims for performing Haj during the sweltering heat in Saudi Arabia*. _Long Live Pakistan_.