In What Other Ways God Can Punish Us?

Which hidden enemy of Pakistan is funding and arming ‘the terrorists’ who happen to be on a kind of rampage in the country? Let us not deny that these well-armed and well-organized terrorists are fired by an ‘obscene’ vision to bring about an ‘Islamic Revolution’ of their definition and their comprehension. But does that mean that we should start regarding “Islam” as our enemy? And we should not care to unmask the ‘grinning guerillas’ who are enthusiastically funding and arming these overzealous ‘militants’ in their campaign to bracket Islam with ‘bearded piety’ and ‘retrogressive fanaticism’! Who are these grinning guerillas that have a score to settle with both Islam and Pakistan? Which country other than India, has a legacy of acrimony with this country that flies the Crescent in the skies that both the formal and the clandestine flag-bearers of Hindutva regard historically their own? Of course there is America too. But America’s only interest in fanning the flames of violence, and in allowing the fires of destruction to conflagrate in this region is strategic. Americans want to remain here. Well-entrenched. And in control. For that they need a reason. And the reason has been ‘generated’ in the form of this war against terrorism, against Al-Qaida, against Taliban, against Islamic militancy and against all those elements that defy America’s right to play the policeman’ of the world. So the only two countries that have reasons to keep Pakistan engaged in a bloody conflict happen to be (logically) India and America. Who else has (or have) reasons to find and arm these self-styled Islamic militants’? Ironically America is on our side too. Equally ironically Indian Prime Minister has said: “President Zardari has requested me for some time to be given to him to root out terrorism”! If the Indian PM’s claim is right, our president has virtually pleaded guilty. In what other ways can God punish a nation that has gone astray? Of course the known way: God puts its most pitiable men in its command!
(This Column was first
published on 19-06-2009)