As the nation slowly starts to recover from the events of the past month, we are once again faced with strife and unrest within the country…a fatal attack in Swat a sure reminder.
Its hard to comprehend what has happened…it is no doubt a great tragedy. Though the implementation of the Lal Masjid operators was absolutely wrong, it has opened the eyes of a number of people. They realize that there is no reason for brothels, liqour stores, and other such instituions to exist in an Islamic society. And if they do, they should only be open to non-muslims and not to the liberal extremists of this country.
Corruption, greed, bribery, and treachery should not be the norm…though it may seem absolutely idealistic-something has to be done to root out these social evils.
I also feel that the Government could have avoided the unneeded loss of life in the Lal Masjid situation. Considering that they were watching the crisis develop over a period of six months, I would assume they were aiming to protect innocent children from certain death.
When an Israeli, be it a soldier or civilian, is captured by Palestinians in Gaza, they either kill hundreds of innocent Palestinians in return, or agree to releasing upto 50 Palestinian prisoners on one occasion. For they value the lives of their countrymen…
The conditions Ghazi had set out for surrender were quite simply a pardoning for all the crimes they had committed in the past six months, and a safe passage for himself. Musharraf in his public address after the incident stressed that “We were not going to be dictated by this individual!” Had he agreed to Ghazi’s conditions, hundreds of innocent children would have been saved from slaughter. Though the Government is keeping its lips sealed, Edhi has claimed to have sent over 1100 coffins.
And that is what saddens me the most. The Army ruthlessly tore down the mosque and slaughtered innocent children in the process. Even if they had agreed with Ghazi’s conditions how far could he have gotten before they captured him? Why did they wait for six months if they were to kill blindly in any case? Its sad but I believe that if there was a maintained record of the figure, the Army has probably assisted in killing more Pakistanis than foreign invaders!
There is no doubt that under Musharraf we have achieved a great deal of progress…and I had no issues with him as long as his vision of a strong Pakistan was reflected in his policies. He has turned the nation around and guided us through some particularly turbulous times. I also have no issues with him being a one-man show…
But when progress starts coming at the expense of religion I have a problem. It is coming to the point where we are acquiring all the great wealth of this earth, but unfortunately the kingdom of heaven is being forgotten and foregone in the process.
We must remember who we are, and not forget the prime basics of our religion in the fear that we will be labelled as “terrorists”, “extremists”, or “fanatics”. For whatever hardships we might face for being steadfast to our faith, it cannot be compared to the punishment awaiting those who abuse our religion in the Hereafter…
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