Soft on militancy? Dawn Editorial Thursday, 22 Apr, 2010
Source: DAWN
Supporters of Jamaat-i-Islami offer prayers for their fellow supporters, killed in a bomb blast, during a funeral ceremony in Peshawar on April 20, 2010. - File Photo.
Monday's suicide bombing in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani bazaar was an outrageous suicide attack that left some two dozen people dead and many more injured. The victims were mostly Jamaat-i-Islami supporters attending a rally.
It is still not certain whether the target was the JI rally or a police contingent guarding it. Nevertheless, what is clear is the party’s flawed logic, for it failed to utter a single word of condemnation against the bomber, his handlers or even those orchestrating the violence. While the Jamaat leaders reiterated their stance that they considered the US a ‘terrorist state’, they also said that the bombing was the result of government failure, and called upon the provincial government to quit. That was all.
The JI and other rightwing parties, such as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and the Tehrik-i-Insaf, have every right to oppose the military’s anti-terror operations. In fact, they may be doing so in good faith. But what is bad form and poor politics is their failure to unequivocally condemn the continuing targeting of innocent women, men and children. We are not sure of the JI’s views but its public reaction to every act of carnage makes it sound more and more like an apologist for those perpetrating this senseless violence. Matters have come to this pass in the erstwhile NWFP and the adjoining tribal areas as a consequence of the cowardly Musharraf regime’s duplicitous stance on the militants. The blame must equally fall on the then provincial government of which JI was a part. It acquiesced in, if not encouraged, the activities of the marauding militants as the latter expanded their influence.
However, we still believe that despite a perceived ideological affinity with the militants, that perhaps forces the JI to keep quiet over terrorist activities of the sort witnessed in Peshawar, the party needs to consider one fact. Notwithstanding its many contradictions and lack of electoral support, the JI still seems to strive for its aims within the ambit of the law and the democratic process i.e. through the ballot box. Therefore, it should not allow itself to be viewed as allied with those who push their agenda by indiscriminately killing innocent Pakistanis.
The JI and other rightwing parties, such as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and the Tehrik-i-Insaf, have every right to oppose the military’s anti-terror operations. In fact, they may be doing so in good faith. But what is bad form and poor politics is their failure to unequivocally condemn the continuing targeting of innocent women, men and children. We are not sure of the JI’s views but its public reaction to every act of carnage makes it sound more and more like an apologist for those perpetrating this senseless violence. Matters have come to this pass in the erstwhile NWFP and the adjoining tribal areas as a consequence of the cowardly Musharraf regime’s duplicitous stance on the militants. The blame must equally fall on the then provincial government of which JI was a part. It acquiesced in, if not encouraged, the activities of the marauding militants as the latter expanded their influence.
However, we still believe that despite a perceived ideological affinity with the militants, that perhaps forces the JI to keep quiet over terrorist activities of the sort witnessed in Peshawar, the party needs to consider one fact. Notwithstanding its many contradictions and lack of electoral support, the JI still seems to strive for its aims within the ambit of the law and the democratic process i.e. through the ballot box. Therefore, it should not allow itself to be viewed as allied with those who push their agenda by indiscriminately killing innocent Pakistanis.
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