Expanding the Operation?

The very idea of firing on a funeral procession is shocking, but the US drones have now started attacking funerals. However, neither the Islamic zeal of our rulers nor their concern for establishing the writ of the government is aroused. The drones attacked more than three times and targeted the people after chasing them. No body from the government uttered a word. In fact, no body has the courage for that. But why should it be surprising? Isn’t it a hard fact that those who came with the mandate to protect the life, property and honour of the masses, are themselves a party to the drone attacks? That is why even a formal protest is not made. The Americans have exposed Islamabad’s “false protest” saying that the Pakistani rulers have given permission for drone attacks and were even sharing intelligence for this purpose.

The situation is grim and things are not what they appear to be. Correct information is not reaching the public and the people remain the dark. At present, the entire information is being provided by the Army spokesman and the ISPR on the basis of which people from different quarters make their analysis. They give the impression that the army is doing fine and those opposing the operation are mistaken. It is almost three months that we have been fed by the ISPR and official briefings. So why not to allow the national media-print and electronic both- to visit the area, see the things for themselves and inform the nation. Let the national media visit the affected area, see with their own eyes the terrorists killed, have their photographs and to trace their identity and their motives, etc. As there are large scale killings in this operation and millions have been rendered homeless, the government and the armed forces should also inform the nation who is the beneficiary!

We had been warning the rulers for long that the matter won’t end at Swat or FATA. No wonder then that now there is a talk of Punjab as well. The US officials are saying that the US is worried on the situation in southern Punjab. Even Interior Minister Rehman Malik has talked about the presence of five to seven thousand militants in Punjab. Some former US ambassadors to Islamabad have been writing on this issue. According to them, the “Punjabi jihadists” are the real threat and that the army would be leaving its task incomplete if it does not deal with them, and that eventuality would result in the hold of the Taliban, Al-Qaida, the militants and the extremists, all over this area.

It would be wrong to take this as a mere evaluation of the situation, advice or a suggestion. It is a directive from Washington. Similarly, some other “US special representative” tomorrow might order a military operation against “Punjabi jihadists” which may bring the people and the armed forces face to face all over the country—a situation that won’t be desirable either for the nation or the army. Pakistan would be the ultimate loser. Hatreds would emerge, new problems would crop up and the things would go from bad to worse. But who will be the gainer? The US alone desires the Pakistani army pitted against its own nation, and the Pakistani masses engaged in sectarian, ethnic and racial conflicts, so that a take over of our nuclear arsenal could be justified.

It was in this background that the Jamaat-e-Islami decided to launch its “Go America Go” campaign, otherwise we don’t feel pleasure in raising slogans against the US. President Obama is on record having said that as long as extremists are there in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the US will have to stay there. Our perception, on the other hand, is that so long as the Americans stay in this region, peace will elude us. If the US occupation in Afghanistan and its interference and the drone attacks in Pakistan continue, the people of these countries won’t sit idle due to the US fear. The US will have to face the music and Pakistan too won’t be safe from the consequences. But, unfortunately, the rulers are afraid of the US while political bigwigs also feel honour in calling on the US envoys. So are the intellectuals. The civil and military establishments are scared of the US and would go to any extent to please Washington and win its support.

Therefore, it is time to charge-sheet the rulers, to show them the mirror and also to present their true colour and character to the masses. The common man should know the limitations of the rulers and their actual performance. In this process, a reference to Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s miserable plight and the drone attacks would be inevitable. It just appears that Dr Aafia is not the daughter of the nation. Only recently, the Kashmiris have been agitating over the molestation of two sisters and their cold-blooded murder. The nation’s conscience seems to be dead. Perhaps we take the daughters within the four walls of our houses as our only daughters? But we must realise that if Dr Aafia Siddiqui and the Kashmiris’ daughters are not safe, no daughter will be safe and secure.

What about the happenings in Swat, Buner and Dir? The respectable people of these areas won’t relate their tale of misery and woe to anybody. Their purdah-observing womenfolk have been made homeless and are compelled to move from one place to another. And if the military operation is extended to the Punjab and its womenfolk are forced to leaves their homes, how would those supporting the Operation in Swat react to that?

One shudders over the very thought of being questioned on the Judgment Day where we had been when the nations’ daughters, sisters, mothers, elderly and the sick were made homeless, the daughters were molested and disgraced? What had we been doing all this time? Were we simply trying to protect your own home and hearth and raising your living standard?

A mere passing idea of this nature would cause shivers to a believer. But shivers won’t do. We will have to rise and face the challenges. As the first step, you should shout “Go America Go” and join the big or small rallies and processions. You don’t need permission from anybody for this because this is the call of faith for every believer. These slogans should resound all over the country and in the wall chalking all around. Once we have done this and the atrocities of the US besides the cowardice and hypocrisy of the rulers becomes the talk of the town, things are bound to change. And with that, all of us would be deemed to have done our duty to some extent.

* The writer is ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan