Rejection of extremists in society the key in Pakistan

Saturday’s killing of Pakistan’s Senior Provincial Minister and Awami National Party (ANP) senior politician, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, in a suicide bombing in Peshawar has once again sparked fears of a resurgence of terrorist attacks.

With elections around the corner, any political gathering, even meetings at the homes of party members, are likely to be the targets of terrorists. In this case, the ANP politician, who was a vocal critic of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), fell victim to a planned hit when a Taliban suicide bomber walked into the house where the minister was attending a meeting in the heart of Peshawar and detonated himself. As a result, at least nine people died, including the minister.

The biggest problem is that even the most stringent security arrangements are rendered futile when faced with determined suicide bombers. How successful these terrorist operations, whether suicide bombings or targeted killings, are in the long run is eventually determined by the fear they induce.

And considering the fact that the World Health Organisation decided to suspend its nation-wide three-day polio vaccination campaign in the wake of the killings of at least seven female health workers in Pakistan, the Taliban seem to have hit the bull’s eye. The government has announced police protection for the poor women who have taken up a job that keeps them underpaid, over-worked and now ready bait for the trigger-happy, overzealous extremists. But where is the guarantee it won’t happen again?

The police force is already stretched to capacity in most of the country. In cities like Karachi and other metropolises, there is enough going on in terms of law and order that the police are now expected to chaperone individual social workers.

And is it just the female health workers that are at risk? Only recently when a young schoolgirl was shot, did it not alert the authorities that it was not one girl who was being targeted? It was the entire nation comprising men, women and children that was faced with the biggest challenge — of defeating the enemy within. The fight against militancy has clearly spilled over from far-flung tribal areas into the heartland and procrastination on evolving a strategy to counter this is no longer an option. Worse off are the women who face graver repercussions even after being subjected to cultural brutalities and societal suppression over the decades.

Calling the attack on Malala Yousufzai a single, horrendous incident because she spoke out against the Taliban’s ideology and targeting of girls’ education is akin to burying one’s head in the sand. Malala was not the first schoolgirl to have faced the bullets. Neither were these unfortunate health workers the first to have paid with their lives for working for western organisations whose nefarious designs, in the eyes of these groups, involved disease prevention as a cover to spy, subvert and corrupt.

Shooting women, or any one who is defenceless, is neither bravery nor justification for even the most honourable cause. And looking at the cases of Malala and her school companions and the polio administrators, honour is far removed from the motivation behind the kind of horrific violence that was inflicted. Even worse is the killing of a 70-year-old Swedish missionary and charitable worker, Sister Brigitta, who was shot in Lahore earlier this month and later succumbed to her injuries in Stockholm.

The biggest tragedy is that the state has been unable to provide protection that these women have a right to. It is unfortunate that the breakdown of law and order seems to have become so widespread that banking on government security seems to be a thing of the past. No wonder that private security firms for the elite are doing booming business. Despite the heavily paid, armed security guards, many keep their Mercedes and Cayennes at home, venturing out rarely in these expensive vehicles, for fear of being kidnapped or robbed. However, it is the middle and the poor classes who continue to suffer in the worst possible manner — whose only hope is to be lucky enough to stay out of trouble with the police, criminal and terrorist groups. No wonder the image of Malala sombrely reading a get-well-soon card serves as a poignant reminder of how fragile is the thread on which the few brave stand steadfast.

Malala has become an icon, and rightly so, for her bravery in standing up to the tyranny of misplaced ideological zeal. But she is right in asking the authorities to not name a college after her, after students protested against the renaming in fear of being targeted. It is easy to empathise with Malala for feeling responsible for the lives of those who are inadvertently put to risk for studying in an institution named after her. Even if the fear that has set in about reprisals from the extremists is worrisome.

Unfortunately, the last quarter of 2012 seems to have been ablaze with bigotry and vitriolic hatred in Pakistan. There are a few rays of hope, something to look forward to as we stand on the brink of a new year. The nationwide wave of empathy with Malala and outrage over the killings of health workers is more than a momentary swell of emotion. It is an outright rejection of extremism and all its negative interpretations. It may take time for the fear to dissipate, but to defeat this brand of hate, the people need not look far.

Rejection of extremists in society is a start. The second step is to select responsible leadership that is mindful of national interests. A leadership that commits to choosing a course that makes education and economic progress the priorities. Above all, a leadership that aims to eradicate all internal threats to the state and the Pakistani people, whether its civilians or security forces. Hopefully, the election next year may usher in a change that the people desperately yearn for.