A Despicable Act
Calling the recent London blasts “a despicable act” is understating a calumny of the worst kind. On two counts, “suicide bombing” is anti-Islamic, viz (1) Islam shuns suicide for any reason and (2) the shedding of innocent blood is forbidden, again for any reason. I may add a third (and even more important) count, “suicide bombing” is destroying the image of Islam in the world. That the perpetrators were muslims is a slur on the name of Islam, that they had Pakistani connections should make our heads hang in shame. In a discussion compered by Nasir Beg Chughtai (NBC) with Jamaat-i-Islami’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed on GEO TV’s “Foreign Affairs” program on the subject of “suicide bombing”, the example of a possible bomb in the London Underground killing innocents of any race or religion was used to illustrate why Islam was vehemently opposed to any such act and that such horrible crimes could not be countenanced by any civilized society. To his credit, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed agreed that the killing of innocents by any means was not acceptable to Islam, that any such atrocious acts should be immediately condemned, and are certainly outside the pale of Islam.
In commending the British Police for swift analysis and action thereof in identifying the bombers, one must credit city-wide CCTVs for playing a large part. The profile of at least one of them, Haseeb Hussain, the 21 year old who died at least one hour later in the diverted No. 30 Double Decker bus does not fit the profile of a “suicide bomber”. Each one of the other three bombs on the Tube exploded when the train had left the station. The bombers could simply have been “mules”, carriers who had not been told that the bombs would go off once the switch was put on, they were probably told that the “timers” once armed would give sufficient time to leave the carriages at the next tube station.
Suicide bombers do not carry their identification, credit cards, etc on them! While the bombers were certainly of muslim origin, they were not “Islamic militants” as western leader and media keep calling them, they were “terrorists” plain and simple. How many times have IRA bombers been called “Catholic terrorists”? It was wonderful to see the heads of all major religions come together immediately and issuing a joint statement to ensure that the muslims in Britain would not suffer a backlash, revulsion combined with fear is a sure recipe for blind retaliation.
Pakistan’s image suffered severe damage with the news that three of the four bombers were British-born of Pakistani-origin. Pakistan-haters are having a field day shifting all the blame to Pakistan, prima-facie who can refute this? All of the bombers visited Pakistan in the recent past, at least one is believed to have visited a Madrassah in or near Lahore (possibly Muridke, the HQs of Lashkar-i-Taiba, or whatever name they operate under nowadays). While nearly all the Madrassahs need reform, a handful of them, maybe 80-100 out of the 7538 known entities i.e. 1%, need to be closed down for teaching blind, illogical hatred, of not only the other major religions of the world, but even against those muslims who have blended into modern, progressive society. While reforms of the Madrassahs was announced some time ago, only lip-service has been given to the directives. Fully 1.75 million to 2.0 million children Pakistani (and one daresays, Afghans) are in the Madrassahs, less than 10% are sent for religious education only. A vast majority (nearly 65-70%) populate the Madrassahs because their parents cannot afford to pay school fees. Between 20-25% were boarding and lodging arrangements because their parents cannot afford to pay for their food. This is perhaps the most dangerous group, captive audiences to the daily litany of hatred focused on them because of the perceived woes of the muslims at the hands of the west. Both the fear of authority and the sense of victimization evokes in them bitterness and anger from the time they awake in the morning to the moment of their sleep at night. There can be no more brutal demolition of the basic message of Islam, peace and harmony has been destroyed by “fire and brimstone” sermons, mosques being converted into cauldrons of hatred. Can this be acceptable to the vast mass of muslims who have suffer the revulsion and backlash created by wrong interpretations of the basic tenets of Islam? This is in turn is exploited and force-multiplied by those in the west who hate Islam. We need extensive “damage control”, prioritizing the establishment of alternative schools having all subjects, including religious ones, on the curriculum.
Our law enforcement agencies (LEAs) must adopt the sheer professionalism of the British police, their dedication and commitment. While giving pep-talks to the police is very much in order, the Government must study how and why the British police were able to track down the bombers swiftly, the use of nearly of 1600 CCTV cameras in London coverage alone. Our major cities, starting with Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, must have these installed immediately, and by professionals, not by contracts given to “Chacha-Mama-Tayas” Unlimited having no experience or track record. And let’s not be penny-wise pound foolish! Models of major foreign cities where citywide CCTVs already exist must be studied, focusing the latest and recent examples of installation and operation (and effectiveness) thereof. Such cameras have to be backed up by constant and efficient monitoring. It is no use being wise after despicable acts such as 7/7, these must be prevented before they happen.
The President personally read the “riot act” to the police officers down from the IGs level to Town Police Officers (TPOs) of all the Provinces, including Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) recently. He exhorted them to go not only after those who use loudspeakers to spread hatred but to target hate literature, forgiving neither the authors or the Publishers, the Printers or the Distributors. Pervez Musharraf is a man with both his heart and his mind in the right place. The question is, while we will certainly see some media-related action in the big cities as a sequel to the Presidential “farman”, how will the police officers in the rural areas, particularly at the Thana level behave? The President must have follow-up meetings in all the Provinces to ensure his message is heard down to the Thana level, it is really upto the TPOs to ensure that the President’s directives are carried out in letter and spirit. We are at the “ground zero” of terrorism, it is time we stop burying our head in the ground like an ostrich and hoping our exposed body is also safe.
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