The aftermath of Bashir Bilour
THE heart-wrenching, nerve-shattering attack in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani Bazaar on Dec 22, must be a defining moment for the state of Pakistan, Pakistani and Pakhtun society and the democratic political process in Pakistan.
This attack killed Bashir Bilour, one of the daring voices of the Awami National Party and a proud son of Peshawar, along with others. More than three dozen people were injured.
Besides once again bringing to light the fact that the militant network, both ideological and strategic, is intact and that the ideological, strategic and tactical alliance of various militant groups has matured, the attack has also raised crucial questions in the minds of common Pakistanis, those belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular.
The first set of questions is related to the state of Pakistan. Will the security state now shed the mantle of elitism, its centrist mindset and its colonial approach towards the common people of Pakistan? Will it now decide to build on the pluralist, indigenous legacy of the land or continue to maintain a colonial legacy by keeping people hostage to an imposed identity based on a parochial interpretation of religion?
Will the establishment decide to put a full stop to the geo-strategic paradigm that has cost thousands of lives? Will it ever allow elected parliaments to form foreign policy in consonance with the desires, aspirations and needs of the common people? Will it let civil society and the government machinery overhaul an education system that is spreading hate?
Answers to the above questions might lead towards ideological clarity with respect to religious militancy and terrorism that have endangered the state of Pakistan.
The majority of the people of Pakistan look at militant attacks with disgust and abhorrence. Not so the security state along with the rightist religio-political parties, that are in a minority. It is their mindset that has to be deconstructed as a first step towards defeating the menace of terrorism.
The menace is now well-entrenched both ideologically and strategically and is strong enough to strike at the vitals of the state.
Political parties, elected governments, civil society organisations, the military and intelligentsia have to take responsibility for deconstructing the militant ideology, decoding their strategies and defeating their tactics. Collective responsibility is to be taken for collective survival.
The second set of questions relates to Pakistani society in general and Pakhtun society in particular. Will the common masses allow their worldview and way of thinking and lifestyle to be hijacked by a handful of zealots?
Will Pakistani culture which is a repository of multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic values become hostage to the culture of violence inspired by Salafi jihadist ideology?
Will an identity based on indigenous historical continuity and diversity of worldviews, lifestyles and thoughts of 180 million people be stifled by groups of zealots who believe in a uni-dimensional reality?
Will these 180 million be pushed into a black hole cutting them off from modern human civilisation and cultural continuity by a minority?
In terms of Pakhtun society, will the Pakhtuns allow their music, aesthetics, folklore, poetry, history and culture to be demolished through a particular religious interpretation? Will they let themselves be deprived of the teachings of the humanist Rahman Baba and legends like Bayazid Ansari, Khushal Khan Khattak and Baacha Khan who preached human dignity, a pluralist democracy and an indigenous cultural identity linked with the values of modern civilisation?
The future of a harmonious Pakistani society in general and the Pakhtun society in particular will largely depend on the answers to the above questions. Civil society organisations, academia and professional organisations (consisting of lawyers, doctors and teachers etc) as well as youth networks have to reflect on this sliding of a pluralist society into the abyss of obscurantism and barbarity.
Their deliberations might lead them to leave their comfort zone and initiate an across-the-board dialogue among various segments of society. This in turn may lead to civil society asserting itself to help determine state policy and direct state machinery on the basis of a social contract between the state and its citizens.
The third set of questions is related to the future of a democratic and pro-people political process in Pakistan. The struggle of the ANP is a continuation of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement from the 1920s to the 1950s giving shape to the National Awami Party in the 1950s until the late 1970s.
At the core of its struggle professedly lie decolonisation, de-tribalisation and de-weaponisation. Its manifesto shows adherence to liberal democracy and the pro-people nature of the political process in Pakistan.
Besides some other liberal democratic nationalist political parties, the ANP has taken an unambiguous stand against militant ideology and state policies that promote it. In the process, the ANP has sacrificed more than 1,500 party cadres and four elected members besides sustaining losses to their land and property.
Militant ideology and tactics will not only target ANP workers and leaders. The space for a pro-democratic political process has been continuously shrinking for all political parties who adhere to constitutional democracy in Pakistan.
The PPP, ANP, PML-N and Q, the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, National Party, JUI-F and others have to put their heads together to develop a comprehensive, coordinated, objective and clear strategy for defeating militant ideology and militant tactics.
The writer is a political analyst.
Kahdimhussain@hotmail.com
They will come for one by one and eventually they will silent each and every voice of reason and courage. And we as a nation will be in deep sleep or more frankly in a coma, and whe we will wake up, there will be no voice of reason left. I hope one day this nation will wake up and tackle this monster of cruelty with iron hand.
Now, the issue is to focus on solution/ strategy rather than raising questions. Enough time has been wasted in raising questions. What strategy needs to be adopted both by provincial and federal governemnt when they are knowking at your
doors. Needs exhaustive discussion and strategy both by those in the power corridors and intellectuals.
To curb these elements from our society , in addition to the suggestions given above , we need to focus on root causes, poverty and illiteracy, being the prominent amongst them. If we will not tackle these issues , we wont be able to form a true pluralistic society which is open and accepting towards others.
We need reforms, radical reforms , to pull out our country from this deep abyss.If we didn’t address these issues immidiately, we must expect more misery and affliction to come.
The people of Pakistan have to decide once and for all if they want to be a pluralistic democracy or a Saudi style religio-monarchy i.e.mullah supported, thoecratic state run by a dynasty. Religious based countries are destined for failure. We need to move towards secular soceity where religious prefernces are left to individuals not the government. Otherwise, you will have endless strife. Pakistan is currently a feudal soceity where the mullah and military machine is used to benefit the fuedals. These fuedals occupy the parliament with theri agents in the military and mosques keep the population in a straglehold.
become thinking human Beings instead of blind followers………..use ur reason
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside
And it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’.
(BOB DYLAN)
“Bashir Bilour and present ANP are followers and torch bearers of the KK tehrik and Khan Abdul Wali Khan’s philosophy” is like saying PML-Q is the torch bearer of Jinnah’s vision.
Let us not misrepresent facts! Please! And lets not turn corrupt people into martyrs overnight!
Kudos to the writer for his in-depth and thought- provoking analysis, suggesting a pressing need to combat the barbarian forces posing a grave threat to the Pakhtun egalitarian society as well as regional stability.
You got me confused. Are you suggesting that the “security state” is not fighting the enemy that just executed 21 soldiers. It will take the Pakistan military just 2 weeks to clear the militants and kill them the problem is people like you will then start wailing about what happened just like the Lal Masjid.
It is disgusting when I hear some saying an agreement was reached and that Musharraf broke the agreement before ordering his troops to storm the Lal Masjid.
Is a masjid a place for armed thugs who go around molesting people and kidnapping Chinese nationals. Similarly in case of Bugti for years and decades the Military tolerated these feudal chiefs who even had their own prisons. These feudal chiefs are like leeches. They have done no public service. They only enrich themselves and the federal government was always dealing with them and bribing one or the other. When they do not get what they want they take to the hills and fire a few shots and we go over the whole thing again and again. Troops and officers died in the fight too.
No one shoots at the military and gets away with it. That’s the universal law in all countries.
Kayani has shown courage and patience. I applaud him for this. The Army and its solders and officers have made great sacrifices.
Ultimately it is up to the people of Pakistan to show up on election day and give their verdict.
Soon we shall find out.
You are right but let us not forget that role of Pakistani government in Lal Masjid and Akbar Bugti episodes was not clean. If government people do not react the first time Constitution and law are broken, they too become a part of the problem. Government does not mean seeing to it on a day to day basis if law and Constitution are being upheld and deciding where to act. Government is elected to enforce laws and Constitution without any delay or bias. If the government does not do that, it has failed the people.
Mr Sami
Rest be assured, if no action is taken against the extremists these people will be knocking at yours, mine and Mr. Kayani ‘s door soon. It is naive to think that an ostrich like attitude can serve the army and security establishment. Army is paid to preserve national security and if it does not act, common people will continue to get suffer.
Tarq, what sacrifices your soldiers have given? This was your military which groomed these talibans and promoted religous fundamentalism in the country for the last 35 years, in order to disturb the peace of the neighboring countries and marginalize the nationalists as well in the name natrional interest. An excellent peace of writing!
You cannot ignore geo-political forces.
Its a vicious world out there.
Do not be so naive.
Bravo and well said!
there are some fractions of our society and institutions which really dream of converting this country into a state like saudia or iran, where religion has to decide everything and that also be subject to the local interpretation. unfortunately that fraction is a bit powerful than the liberal one in our society !!