[Views in this article are entirely mine, and are not cut-paste, hence no link]
Today, there is another bomb blast in Rawalpinidi. Many more lives are lost. Since 2001, battle lines are now properly drawn and Pakistan, in my mind, is no longer just in the cross fire, but is unfortunately a full-fledged battlezone.
I like(d) Musharaf, but I have come to the painful conclusion that it is his continued military rule that is contributing to the increased violence in our motherland. There are several factors that help me get to this opinion. His desire to make Pakistan a progressive country is just one. Its not that he is wrong, its just that one needs support of the people when steering a whole nation in a new direction. Turning against the Taliban government in Afghanistan, just overnight, was a major policy decision. I am not saying it was a wrong decision, just that since our nation wasn’t behind the decision, it contributed enormously to where we are now. And most importantly, our military’s relentless efforts to fight our own people at our Eastern borders is perhaps the most telling issue facing our country. Our government is operating in a political vacuum.
I’d hate to put such comparisons here. But what have we learnt from the experience of Israel in Palestine and US in Iraq? Why are we bent upon making the same mistakes? Brutal state force can not fight home-grown insurgencies. Don’t we know that already? Haven’t we spent long hours to convince others of that? We support Palestinians’ cause, and waste no opportunity to remind others that unless Israel gives Palestinians their due rights, just using brutal force of the state is not going to win that conflict. We also tirelessly campaign that unless US leaves Iraq, there is no way to purge that country of insurgency. Unfortunately Pakistan is also at the wrong end of a similar battle.
I believe the issues facing our country, require a serious political solution. Quite frankly, there is no military solution here. No army can succeed unless there is political victory. They can bomb Waziristan all they want. They can kill as many people as they can bomb. But army can not purge the rampant violent extremists who are now in all our major cities and are willing to blow themselves up for their misguided cause.
We need sustained democracy. We need a smooth and quick transfer of power to people elected by people - no matter how shabby the elections are or how corrupt (or perceived corrupt) the elected officials are. In the future, if any military dictator tries to take over the country, no matter how naik his iraaday (good intentions) are and no matter how smart and intelligent he is, he should be instantly shot and killed. There should be zero tolerance, from now on towards military rule and dictatorships. Let the political system flush itself out. Whether it takes 10 years or 20 or how ever long. Let the system run. Lets have trust in our people. Because if we don’t, we’ll end up where we are now. A few people do NOT know best. Our nation should speak and decide the direction they want to take. Lets have an independent judiciary in our country to keep a check on the executive branch. Our country can not afford more experiments. Enough is enough!
