 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
|
 |
| Swat carnage |
|
|
|
Monday, March 03, 2008
It seems that in the times we live in today, there can be no escape from the violence inflicted by terrorists that has taken over so many aspects of our lives, and indeed, quite literally, torn them to shreds. The latest such outrage comes in Swat, in its principal city of Mingora, during the funeral of a senior police officer who had been slain just a few hours in the town of Lakki Marwat when a bomb exploded along the route as he was going from his house to his office. Three constables died alongside the DSP. Tragically, as police presented a guard of honour at his funeral in Mingora, a suicide bomber struck claiming at least 40 victims. Among them are other police and administrative officials, as well as at least two close relatives of the targeted DSP.
The chain of events says something of what we have descended to as a society. Once more, it seems, the two separate attacks, in Lakki Marwat and in Mingora, targeted police officers — apparently regarded by the killers as representatives of a state they are at war with. The simple logic, that states policemen carrying out orders have no links with the policy-makers these ruthless killers oppose is quite obviously beyond the limited understanding of people inspired only by hatred. The question of course is how this orgy of violence is to end. How the rapid brutalization of society — in so many places including Swat, a valley that nurtured Buddhist civilization and was for centuries known as an abode of beauty and peace — is to be brought to a halt. There are no easy answers. The ugliness that exists in the hearts of militants who claim to speak in the name of religion is quite obviously deeply entrenched. It cannot immediately be made to disappear.
In this sense, one can only pity the men and women who form the new government. The challenges they will face are many; none are easy to solve. But it is also important they do not flinch from the task of doing so. Holistic, long-term strategies to deal with terrorism must be put in place, tough decisions taken where necessary, tact used when apt — so that the ugly scenes of senseless bloodshed that stare out at us from television screens and from newspaper pages can be replaced by images that offer more hope for the country and for its people.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
