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Thursday March 28, 2024

Hate is in the air

By Ghazi Salahuddin
February 14, 2016

One commercial slogan for Valentine’s Day rather timidly proclaims: “Love is in the air”. But it is hardly so, even when a number of young men and women, plugged into the virtual world of modern rituals, seek to live it up for a while. On the contrary, what is in the air – and something you may be able to breathe – is vicious and sad.

Since this column is being published on Valentine’s Day, I am tempted to use it as a parable. Otherwise, it is entirely a peripheral matter when you look at the national landscape. At best, the hostility that the conservative elements show towards its celebration is to be seen as an extension of how it is so difficult in our society to have fun and celebrate life at the communal level. In some ways, you are not allowed to be happy.

If the Valentine’s Day is a sinful, western practice, Basant was rooted in our pastoral culture and its celebration in Lahore was the most glorious festival in our social calendar. There has nothing been quite like it. But they killed it, with whatever excuse. It is the same with the tragic spectacle of how celebrating the New Year in Karachi is deemed to be a criminal activity.

Anyhow, we have had some reminders this week of the phantoms that are lurking in the shadows, pushing us into the realm of fear and uncertainty. This impression, though, is moderated by confident assurances that victories have been won against the forces of terror and extremism and hate. Operations conducted in Karachi have produced results. We are assured that the war will continue until its logical end.

Hence, it was in Karachi on Friday that ISPR Director General Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa told the media that 97 militants, including three very important leaders of the banned militant outfits, had been arrested. An impressive catch this surely is and we were told that in the process, a militant plan to storm a jail in Hyderabad to free high-profile prisoners had been foiled.

Leave aside the report that on the same day three minor blasts in the city, including two near educational institutions, unduly spread panic and fear, the revelations by the ISPR chief may also cause some concern that these dangerous terrorists had escaped the dragnet of law during more than a year of intense campaign and were active during this time. So, there are likely to be others who have not yet been arrested.

It is this apprehension that has, in a sense, been certified by what I consider the most significant news of the week. Yes, I am referring to observations made by the Director General of the Intelligence Bureau in his deposition before the Senate Standing Committee on Wednesday. What made headlines was Aftab Sultan’s statement that the Islamic State was emerging as a threat in the country because several militant groups were responding to its message. He named Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba as examples.

According to published reports, Aftab Sultan said that terrorists were reorganising and he stressed the need for a border control mechanism, particularly with Afghanistan. He did say that the terrorists were on the run but maintained that terror incidents cannot be averted for the next 10 years. This assessment, that acts of terror are likely to continue, should be taken seriously because it is made by the head of the top civilian intelligence agency.

Also on Wednesday, COAS Gen Raheel Sharif told the corps commanders at their monthly meeting that “terrorists are being funded externally by hostile intelligence agencies and have their sympathisers at home who provide them shelter and refuge”. This reference to sympathisers of terrorists is very meaningful and confirms the impression that there are some shortcomings in combating militancy on its various fronts.

It should be pointed out that it was the second time during this month that Gen Sharif had spoken about the existence of sympathy for terrorists within the country. Earlier, he had pointed this out when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had visited the ISI Headquarters. We should look at it in the context of the internal threat that, apparently, has not yet been fully understood or analysed by the present government.

We can see how policies practised at the official level may have encouraged intolerance and obscurantism in society. One example is the reluctance to closely monitor madressahs and, simultaneously, promote progressive social and cultural initiatives. We may recollect the sympathy that the rulers themselves had once demonstrated for the Taliban. After all, all these terrorist outfits could not have existed without an enabling environment.

One big question here is whether the same people who had assisted in the creation of a problem can be trusted to solve it. This ambiguity, I believe, is personified by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. His affection – of sorts – for Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid can be seen as a measure of where his sympathies lie.

Yet, it was Chaudhry Nisar himself who made that decisive statement that while we are winning the war against terror militarily, we are losing it on the psychological front. Sadly, this important and wise formulation has not been given the attention that it deserves, including by the interior ministry itself. At the least, there should be some planned reflection on how a nation can wage and win a psychological war in the available circumstances.

I have said at the outset that the Valentine’s Day is of marginal importance against the national backdrop of our struggle against terrorism, extremism and social intolerance. But even at the level of the Valentine’s Day, there are intimations of how a narrow vision of how a modern society should evolve is being imposed by our rulers.

One is amused by some administrative measures that have been announced to ensure that there is no public display of emotion or festivity on this day. Reportedly, even swimming on the beaches of Karachi has been prohibited and the president of the Islamic Republic has deemed it proper to issue a statement to say that it should not be celebrated.

If Valentine’s Day is about love and friendship – red roses being its emblem – then its organised rejection will naturally not convey a good message. Would it be a security threat if some individuals, lured by its global appeal, want to celebrate it in whatever fashion? Well, be that as it may, love is certainly not in the air. It is hate. And violence.

The writer is a staff member.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com