People in Lahore, Pakistan, rally against the
United States, May 27.
While many Pakistanis blame the U.S. for their
troubles, the real
culprit likely lies elsewhere.
Pak Tribune, Pakistan
'Revolution' in
Pakistan Demands End to 'Denial'
"No one bothers to tell the Pakistani nation that
hating America is fruitless. Because if it isn't the Americans, it will be the
Chinese, the Russians or the Indians, or some combination thereof, who lead the
world. … No one admits that it's neither the Americans, nor the Indians, nor
the Zionists, who have brought us to this sorry state - it is we
ourselves."
Supporters of Pakistan's Urban Public Front hold a rally demanding Taliban leader Mullah Omar and 'others' be handed over to the United States, in Lahore, May 27.
This one will be as painful
to read as it was to write.
There is an old method of
hunting practiced in certain parts of the world. It's called a "fire-hunt"
- and it requires two people. One walks in front carrying a blazing torch (or a
high-powered flashlight these days), while the other follows behind with a
rifle. In this way, the two hunters move through the forest in tandem. When an
animal is startled he stands mesmerized and disoriented, gazing at the light, with
eyes like bright diamonds in the darkness. This is called “shining the eyes.” Then,
the rifle-bearing hunter steadies his gun and takes a shot, trying to put the
bullet right between the eyes.
Now that bin Laden has been
killed, a fire-hunt has begun on Pakistan's bewildered leadership. Caught like a
deer in the headlights, the bin Laden incident has had the effect of shining
their dopey eyes. Right now they are in an extremely heightened state of
arousal triggered by an odd mix of anxiety, fear, panic, surprise and
confusion. Their eyes are now wide open and aglow, with their motor functions
significantly dulled. Unfortunately, the kill shots aren't only being taken by
the Americans, but by the Taliban, too. Witness our so-called leaders' endless
concessions to the Americans and their blabbering of sweet nothings, occurring
alongside the bin Laden revenge killings by the Taliban, to say nothing of their
recent attack on one of Pakistan’s major naval bases.
Of course, the beleaguered nation
of Pakistan is the forest in this fire-hunt. Rife with poverty, stung by
endless power cuts and taken to the cleaners by state-sponsored radicalism, Pakistanis
sway in the darkness in a now-they-fall, now-they-don’t manner. Pakistanis
never ask and are never told. In any case, in this unfortunate country, their
opinion has never mattered. Mullahs continue to thunder from the pulpit,
reminding them that they are God’s chosen people and it is their duty to
maintain the status quo - and that untold pleasures await them in the hereafter if
they but continue to heed the call. They switch on their TV sets and watch foaming-at-the-mouth patriots who have zero worldview and infinite ego, who
tell them why Pakistan is the mightiest country in the world, more than capable
of going it alone if necessary.
In mute silence, they watch as
strange logic is hurled at the world in their name. They hear that Pakistan is
an important and sincere ally in the war on terror because beauties like Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, Ramzi
bin al-Shibh, Abu
Zubaydah, Abu
Laith al Libi and Sheikh Said Masri,
not to mention a thousand other little serpents, have all been found, captured
or killed on the sacred soil of Pakistan. They don't question it when toxic germs are found in a single home on a single street, or how the occupant of that
home amounts to any significance. Other inhabitants of the street might cringe
in fear and revulsion while passing by that home. They might think the
inhabitants of that home deserve an instant lesson on hygiene, healthy living
and a visit from the municipality. Now let us suppose that the dwellers of that
home are in the habit of not only killing one another on occasion, but that
they are also in possession of weapons capable of putting the population of
not only that street but the surrounding area to eternal sleep, and you might
begin to form a picture of what the world thinks of us.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
In the heat of the fire-hunt,
no one bothers to tell the Pakistani nation that hating America is fruitless.
Because if it isn't the Americans, it will be the Chinese, the Russians or the
Indians, or some combination thereof, who lead the world. Americans still read
us our Miranda rights,
which start with the words, “You have the right to remain silent.” All the
others will shoot first. No one admits that it's neither the Americans, nor the
Indians, nor the Zionists, who have brought us to this sorry state - it is we
ourselves. No one admits that we've become such a threat to ourselves and the
world that, rather than seeking to destabilize us, the world at large would prefer
erecting a thick wall around Pakistan to quarantine us forever. After a certain
period of blood-letting, we would either obliterate one another or come out as
responsible members of the global community.
Everyone blames America’s
presence in the region and Pakistan’s alliance with her in the "war on
terror" for 35,000 deaths of Pakistanis by
Pakistanis in the past ten years. They assert that before 2001, there were no killings in Pakistan.
No one asks how it could be that America’s proximity to us has hurled us into a
self-destructive killing frenzy. America is the world’s sole superpower and may
go anywhere her interests dictate. Why must we kill one another every time she nears
the region? Why does her presence or our alliance bring out the worst in us?
Why would one argue that Pakistani Sunnis and Shiites kill one another when
America is our friend, but won't when Russia or China become our friends? What
is it about our association with America that brings us to kill our minorities,
bomb schools for girls, destroy video stores and barber shops and become a
haven for scoundrels of every hue and color? Why do we pretend that hate invades
our every limb, nerve and sinew only when America is around?
The world has nearly put
lepers’ bells around our necks. No one asks why, when it comes to the Taliban, we
still follow policies that have brought our nation to where it is today. No one
tells Pakistanis that these zombies. They are in fact nothing more than religiously-inspired
murderers who kill or are killed by following a "divine path"
constructed in their skewed imaginations. No one tells Pakistanis that a
litmus test for any ideology is if it asks for one to kill in its name, it
should be shunned like the plague. Because no God would ask one set of his
people to kill another. If there one any doubts that such snakes will bite the
very hands that feed them - witness the attack on Army
General Headquarters and the killing of their "father-mentor," Colonel Imam.
No one asks that in the
charade called the "in-camera briefing" to Parliament, why the holy
cows didn't take to the podium themselves, but instead pushed their underlings to
do the explaining. Why was the Army let off with, “we failed but didn't really
fail,” and the Air Force with, “we could but did not” and “we can if told to”?
Why are certain officials still enjoying the perks of extended service with
their heads still on their unworthy necks? Why didn’t someone from Parliament
point out to the chief of the ISI the simple fact that his resignation wasn't
accepted because if it were, his boss would have had to resign if he had a
shred of remaining self respect?
No one tells Pakistanis the
solution to their malady; that as a first step they need to get out of their
state of denial. No one tells them that only when they take off the blinds and
remove the rags from their noses will they see the rot and smell the stench -
and that once they've seen the problem for themselves - how large it looms and
how tightly it's choking the life out of them with every breath - they would
instantly know its architects, sustainers, sponsors and propagators. At that
point it's no longer rocket science. Failure above and justifiable discontent
below will then seethe until a natural outburst takes place. That, sirs, is
called a revolution - and nothing short of it can now alter Pakistan's course.
But for the spell to be
broken, the blinds and the rags have to go first. That's the condition. Pakistanis
will immediately see that the floodgates of hate were purposely being held open
for them. Then they will realize the reason for the strange comfort denial
provided. They will know with horrible clarity that the helplessness of
surrendering to this absurd hate is quite heavenly to those enrapt by its
spell.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
So yes! The fire-hunt has
begun. The guns are leveled. The eyes are a-shining and the shots a-coming. We
are left only with the ultimate question - how many more shots will it take
before that rare species called "Pakistan" is extinct forever? There
will be no tombstone for Pakistan, because there's no graveyard where countries
are buried when they die. But after it's defanged, the world will abandon it a
la Somalia, as it scrapes at the bottom of humanity, crawling like a crab,
eating the dust of a path that other nations long ago left.
*Anwaar Hussain is a
former Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter pilot. With a Masters in Defense and
Strategic Studies from Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, he now resides in
United Arab Emirates. He has published a series of articles in Defense Journal,
South Asia Tribune and a host of other web portals. Other than international
affairs, Anwaar Hussain has written extensively on the religious and political
issues that plague Pakistan.
