Death by bombing
Monday, March 30, 2009
Once again the image of us, our faith and our country that goes around the world is one of violence and intolerance. Between 48 and over 70 people were killed on Friday as they prayed at a mosque – and more than 170 injured according to most reports. The explosion was probably caused by a suicide bomber and he struck just as the Imam began to recite the opening prayer. The mosque was a popular stopping point for people travelling between Afghanistan and Pakistan and was always crowded on a Friday – the softest of soft targets. Tariq Hayat Khan the administrator of Khyber Agency opined that the blast was the work of the supposedly-defunct Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Who knows? There are very rarely arrests subsequent to the bombing of a mosque or imambargah and it is almost as if the agencies of law enforcement have given up even trying to prevent them, never mind catching those responsible for the planning and logistics of such an attack. This is unlikely to be something which can have the label ‘hidden hand’ attached to it. This butchery is entirely home-grown and springs from either the internal denominational conflicts or a local dispute, a struggle for power, by one group or another in the area where the blast happened.
Almost inevitably, given the culture of eye-for-an-eye that prevails here somebody will already be plotting a reprisal. It may not come tomorrow or next week or next year, but come it will. The cycle will continue and breaking the circle becomes ever more difficult as the numbers of dead rise and with them the numbers of fathers and brothers and cousins seeking revenge for the death of their relative. The world watches this. We live in a time of globalized instant communication to the most remote places on the surface of the earth. The world watches and judges, it sees things in black-and-white and is mostly unaware of the inflections and nuances that lie behind even this most barbarous of acts. We should not be surprised when our northwest borderlands are talked of by President Obama as ‘the most dangerous place on earth’ – because on the evidence of this blast and many other incidents, it is. We have only ourselves to blame if others see us a nation of barbarians and should not be surprised if, as a consequence, they sometimes treat us accordingly.
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Shall we dance?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Spring the world over is a time of budding and sowing, with the chill of winter past. Nauroz is a festival celebrated across much of the Muslim world but in few places more enthusiastically than in Iran. To coincide with the beginning of Nauroz President Obama recently continued his policy of change – on which he was elected – by trying to do things a little bit differently with Iran. The country has in the past suffered because of US interference; and its move to being a theocracy after the fall of the US backed Shah has led to decades of sabre-rattling and sparring. Iran is currently working on what it stoutly maintains is a civilian nuclear resource - a move eyed with deep suspicion by America and Israel as well as much of the Arab world which is doctrinally and theologically at odds with it as well. The change that Obama has initiated is the sending of a message to the Iranian people and its ever-suspicious government, a message delivered in Farsi by the thoroughly modern medium of satellite television and the internet.
The message spoke of reaching out, of the need to redefine the relationship between the two countries and on Saturday we saw the first Iranian response to it, and at first glance it appears to be negative. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the overtures from Obama saying Tehran does not see any change in US policy. Khamenei said there would be no change between the two countries unless the American president put an end to US hostility toward Iran and brings “real changes” in foreign policy. “They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven’t seen any change,” Khamenei said in his speech, which was broadcast live on state television. Obama had said in his message that the United States wanted to engage Iran and improve decades of strained relations, but he also warned that a ‘right place’ for Iran in the international community “cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.” Seemingly, a re-iteration of familiar mantras on both sides, with the only difference being that Obama gives the impression of being more conciliatory than his predecessor whilst actually holding the same policy position - the ‘message’ being nothing beyond a repackaging of old goods.
We have to look behind the message and the response of Khamenei. The real change is that America is for the first time almost thirty years making a direct approach at both the highest and the lowest levels to the Iranian peoples and their government. Obama has demonstrated in his relations with our own government that he really is doing it differently. It is too early to say just how much ‘difference’ this is going to bring between us, and far too early to take at face value the dismissal of the Obama message by Khamenei. Invitations to dance are not always accepted first time around, but patient repetition sometimes see the shy couple take to the floor.
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Dangerous times
Monday, March 30, 2009
The shooting of a senior reporter, killed outside his home in Rawalpindi, is shocking and tragic. The police have no idea what the motive for the crime may be. The family of the slain journalist claims he had no enmity and had faced no threats. There are no clues yet as to whether the killing was linked to his professional duties. Raja Asad Hameed is not the first journalist in the country to meet a violent death. Over the past five years, others have been murdered in tribal areas and elsewhere. Musa Khan, shot dead earlier this year in Swat, was among them. There are no indications if the truth behind his killing will ever be discovered.
What is certain is that for many the profession of journalism is becoming an increasingly hazardous one. In some cases at least people have been targeted simply because of the information they brought to the public or at least attempted to bring. This is a situation in which professional bodies, media organizations and human rights groups need to think. The right to information belongs to every citizen. It is the duty of reporters and other media professionals to bring it to them. But these professionals themselves deserve protection. If it is not offered, others will shy away from the often difficult task of bringing out uncomfortable truths. In the past many who have done so have faced harassment and threat. Mechanisms to more effectively protect journalists need to be developed. We live in violent times. The degree of threat faced by everyone has increased. But when this danger involves journalists it also infringes on the people’s right to know. For these reasons we must do more to safeguard those bringing in news. This will be possible only if the murders we have seen in recent times are properly investigated and the real facts behind them uncovered.