The attack on Malala Yousufzai on October 09, 2012 one of the most
tragic incidents in the recent history of Pakistan, has rudely shocked
all strata of society and, therefore, strong condemnation is still
pouring in from everywhere.
In view of her deep commitment to book,
education
and school and the cause of much-needed peace, the shocking incident
has also drawn the attention from abroad. The brave innocent girl, still
in coma in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, made many people
across Pakistan weep and pray for her early recovery as she had become a
role model and icon for girls aspiring to attain high ground in
different fields.
The level of the reaction that the brutal
attack on Malala evoked from the international community can be gauged
by the fact that not only the US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
but also President Barack Hussain Obama himself expressed concern over
the tragedy. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who normally keeps a
sacred mum and ignores even some of the major happenings and
conveniently ignores bypassing of the UN by the mighty, too thought it
appropriate to come out with a condemnatory
statement, saying he was outraged at the shooting.
Thank you
Mr. Secretary General. The EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton
described it as a 'vile aggression' and said she was appalled. France
and Canada too were not behind in slamming the incident while President
Hamid Karzai
of neighbouring Afghanistan, whose own country is
bleeding profusely, telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari and condemned
the attack in the strongest terms. The air ambulance provided by the UAE
took Malala to the UK for advanced reconstructive treatment after
initial complex surgery and treatment at CMH Peshawar and then at AFIC
Rawalpindi. The government magnanimously has committed to meeting all
the expenses for Malala and her friends injured in the dastardly attack.
So far so good.
However, it is quite intriguing that
soon after the incident, some stray statements started appearing in the
media urging Army operation in North Waziristan Agency! The Chief
custodian of law and order Interior Minister Rehman Malik - added his
loud voice to the mystery when on October 12 he hinted at the
possibility of launching a military operation terming NWA as hub of
terrorists. All this led one to think of the 9/11 mysterious attack on
the Twin Towers of New York which triggered an apparently justified
attack on Afghanistan. The Interior Minister while raising his heels in
an emotional address in the Senate on October 10 also described all the
Taliban as Zaliman (brutal outfit). Before going ahead, I would ask the
respected Interior Minister whether hundreds of
students in Deeni Madaris (seminaries) in Islamabad itself, most of whom are from poor families, too are Zaliman?
Unfortunately, the statement
after a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on 11th October
reiterating the resolve to fight the menace of terrorism added substance
to speculations that an operation on NWA was on the anvil.
I feel highly upset over these orchestrated perturbing developments because I am convinced that if
the
Government foolishly succumbs to the pressure of our dear friends and
prevails upon the Army to go after NWA it will be a suicidal act for the
State of Pakistan. I say so because nobody can forget the colossal
losses suffered by the country after operation in several Agencies
despite deployment of one hundred thousand troops along the border with
Afghanistan. In addition to the loss of precious lives of over 5,000
valiant defenders of the motherland and 40,000 innocent civilian
casualties, the country suffered a hefty loss of $ 100 billion, or may
be more, in the shape of damages to infrastructure and already dwindling
economy of Pakistan. And there is no authentic
record
of loss of lives in provocative drone strikes impinging on the
sovereignty of Pakistan, the frequency of which has increased despite
repeated unanimous resolutions of Pakistani Parliament. Despite these
losses, our dear friend and its officials and elected representatives
are never shy of demanding “do more” from Pakistan, ignoring the
psychological dent our war on terror has caused the society and a deep
scar on the face of Pakistan.
Therefore, it does not
need to be a strategist to come to the conclusion that the day NWA
operation is launched by the Army, there would be an endless chain
reaction of suicide bombings and blasts in the length and breadth of
Pakistan including the barrier-ridden-barriers Islamabad. One shivers to
imagine that there may be a re-run of events of Mehran and Kamra bases
if a diabolic decision is taken for going into NWA.
I also have
information
and reasons to believe that after initiation of NWA operation, the
situation in Balochistan will be ignited by manipulation to such an
extent by fire-emitting trouble-makers and their foreign masterminds on
the pretext of extreme human rights violations to pave the way for UN
Security Council action and justification for deployment of peace
keeping force there. Please don't forget that the UN Human Rights
Mission that visited Pakistan last month seconded claims about
involvement of State Agencies in enforced disappearances and added that
“analysis of the information received during and prior to the visit will be considered in the preparation of the
report
which will be presented to the Human Rights Council at a session in
2013.” This must be taken as an FIR which could make basis for a
strategic trial in future.
Though Chief Justice of
Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez
Kayani rightly refused to receive the said UN delegation but I raised a
question at that very time as to who were the functionaries of the
government that issued visas to the members of the UN Right Mission
whose visit was, in essence, a gross interference in the internal
affairs of Pakistan?
I am glad that now some saner
voices are being heard and a segment of the media has also started
giving a second thought to the consequences of NWA operation. Our
political leadership should also remember that according to an exclusive
story carried by this
newspaper,
quoting knowledgeable sources, the NWA operation would be made a
justification for enforcement of emergency inventing excuse for
postponement of general elections. This story has added more to the
Malala episode which can be termed as Pakistan's 9/11 giving a
food for thought to the political parties to ponder over some of the dimensions of the bigger game.
I have taken a principled position on the issue which poses a potential
threat to engulf the country in blood and flames. I would, therefore,
once again appeal to all segments of the society, particularly those
whose voice is heard in the society, to please stand up and rein in the
ill-intentioned elements within the country and their masters and
handlers, to stall the NWA operation and in no
case law and order be made an excuse for postponement of elections.