It's now or never

On 16th December, 7 members of the inhuman Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) ferociously killed 145 people including 132 children and the number is still rising. This horrible Genocide in Army Public School Peshawar has left the silent Pakistanis shocked and disgusted. It is like when you lose a family member, not anyone outside can completely empathize with your pain. Pakistan as a family has lost its children. Had it been the first time it had happened in Pakistan, we would have been hopeful to get all kinds of terrorists eliminated but that is not the case. Pakistan has a habit of forgetting its wounds. Guns have silenced many of us and a doubtless fact is that many of us are still not able to believe the statements of TTP as we have been forced into confusion by our very own.

It took Pakistan some 30 to 35 years to be changed into a mindset that spreads hatred, radicalization, conspiracy theories and doubts because of how we have been truly brainwashed. The fact of the matter is there are still humans living in this country. We are all in pain, we are tired of burying innocent bodies everyday and we have finally united against terrorism. The silent majority has started to conclusively speak demanding only action. It may take us the same number of years to change back the mindset but the outcome of that mindset is the first thing that has to be completely eradicated.

In Bertrand Russels’s words though written a long time ago but still very current given the scenario in Pakistan, “The world is suffering from intolerance and bigotry, and from the belief that vigorous action is admirable even when misguided; whereas what is needed in our very complex modern society is calm consideration, with Readiness to call dogmas in question and freedom of mind to do justice to the most diverse point of view.”

Recently we saw the manifestation of such a mindset again. A cleric who had been openly responsible for kidnappings and attacking Pakistanis with weapons they had collected in the Laal Masjid, ran away in a burqa after being attacked back by the army, arrested and then released by our very own and given a lot of airtime by our very own. He refused to call the children brutally killed by TTP as Martyrs, he even called the TTP his brothers and immensely hurt our sentiments. When the brave civil society of Pakistan protested against his statements, he threatened to attack them on which the civil society filed an FIR against him.

Pakistan is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that grants all children the right to survival, development, protection and participation. Pakistan is also signatory to The United Nations International Convention on Civil and political Rights (ICCPR) to ensure that no one is denied his or her right to due process of law, freedom of life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Pakistan’s state can be held accountable in case of failure to safeguard these rights.

The civil society urges the Government to take an action against Mulzim Abdul Aziz. Today Monday 22nd December,2014 we are all gathering outside Aabpara

Police Station at 5:00 PM to demand justice. It is an appeal to all Pakistanis to break the silence, never forget more than 50,000 lives taken by the terrorists and join the movement of getting the people who terrorize us behind bars. It really is now or never. We have been silent on killings in the name of religion just thinking that tomorrow our house can be on fire too. Our house is on fire already, put it off and stand united against terrorism and their apologists.

published on 22nd December, 2014 in dailytimes