Bigoted lads............Declassified

[HERO]

Bigoted Lads....declassified.

Two suicide bombings near the gate of WAH ordnance factory killed more than 60 people. Though i am not very adept in analysing events or interpret the omens but today i want to share some past memories with friends. Our beloved land is besieged by extremism and militarism. You can append the word religious with it if you like but this indeed is not religious. I will in the following lines try to prove why religious extremism, militarism or bigotry are alien to Islam. In fact misinterpretation, misguidance and lack of knowledge has fomented mistrust and divide. In 2003 i entered engineering . Being an enthusiastic individual i used to participate in different activities. I also used to pray regularly. I didn't know that there were different groups keeping a keen eye on all my activities.i once met some maulvis in mosque and they offered me a cup of tea and from there i had the first acquaintance with the religious parties.There were notably three groups, beralvis,deo-bandis and ahle-hadis.To my surprise ahle-hadis were deadly against both of the others.They never hesitated in calling them (mu-qalad or followers of the imams) followers of the imams not of the Prophet(P.B.U.H).Can anybody believe this that they never exchanged salam or even talk with each other. Their(ahle-hadis) sermons were based on (QITAAL) military-warfare.They gave their comrades books to read and prepared them for a declamation (not dialogue) with the Muqalads. The whole environment was very depressing.Each group ventured to gather maximum strength. Imagine what must be going on through the immature mind of a young boy when he is told this life is worthless and he is on a holy mission.i have been a witness to the poor results of the affected boys. They often took boys to Markaz-e-Qadsia in Lahore where they were told to prepare for the holy-war i.e jihad. They used to visit my room regularly.(i was a hostelite).They also gave me their material to read. It often contained letters written by candidates hopeful of achieving martyrdom (Suicide bombers).The two other factions remained peaceful .Normally their preaching aimed to enliven Islam and religious values among young followers.One thing that astonished me was the easy access the religious outfits had in the university.I personally met many mullas who invited me to go to a training camp in waziristan and AJK. They demanded a meagre amount for travel charges. However, no sum was demanded for the training. I think Pakistani charity was enough to cater to their needs. I really had become fed up of this leg pulling. At last I decided whether I will be with them or be alone. My family rescued me and I broke up with all those holy warriors. Since then I have drawn some harsh and eye-opening inferences from those experiences.


Today a wave of terrorism has engulfed our tribal belt. Most of us think that it is a zia era’s legacy .To some degree I agree with it. But if we view the broader picture things turn out to be different. Pakistani society is a multi-cultural and sectarian society. If we look at the class divide we have three strata. The objectives , aims ,responsibilities and weightage of each strata varies in the class segment structure. Within each segment along with other attributes are the attributes of common identity and ideology.This common identity and ideology are different for the rich,middle and low social classes.The crux of the society is the stark divisions and socio-economic problems.The values observable in middle calss are not readily found in upper class and in poor class.The self-proclaimed jihadis mostly belonged to an underprivileged segment of the society.They used to attach themselves to the Islamic ideology.Most of them were sincere and honest people.They wanted to see Islam triumph over other devilish forces.They wanted a resilience of islam in their own unique way.This unique comprised following Islamic teachings very strictly with hardly any space for tolerance. But they miserably played in the hands of mullas and some firebrand religious-leader.The most auspicious temptation given to them was paradise,which they thought couldn’t be achieved without sacrifice and martyrdom.I call them misguided because islam doesn’t demand its followers to declare an all-out war when they are numerically few.Even when they(muslims) are in majority there are certain pre-conditions to fulfill before going on war or fight. Well I will discuss this matter in a separate topic. The devout muslims I feel, were dejected about the course the country was steering.They behaved like patriots but most of the time what they utterly lacked was assimilation in the society. The never integrated themselves in the ambience of the university. Since they didn’t participate in local gatherings,students normally kept aloof of them or berated them. They were also crtical of the role of the elite and low social class in the society. We all know that anywhere in the world the values of the elite class are always different from the ordinary people. Whether they be in usa,britian,dubai or Pakistan.The staunch followers complain that why should the values of a few privileged one be the identity of the bigger lot? They(jihadis) didn’t believe in following a central command or leadership.They thought that it was their responsibility to decide who they shall follow.Naturally this made them vulnerable to bigotry.They denounced education,art,literature and other amenities of life.My personal intuition tells me that this was creation of their own mind.The passion factor along with the age factor spell doom for their natural investigation.Had they receieved some faithful guidance they shouldn’t have wasted their precious time and energies.None of them went to jihad.They all are doing jobs.But they have ruined their future careers.

It is really not hard to imagine that if such religious transgressions can take place on a university campus then worst is expected of our tribal belt. The militants have erected the umbrella of Islam to suit their nefarious designs. They are aware that it is easy for them to play with the gullible minds.They could have adopted any other catchy-slogan to attract masses. But, they have rightly played their cards well by going for the religious call.Nevertheless its crystal clear now that it is a full-blown retaliation against the operation of Pakistan army.

The socio-economic conditions of FATA and its adjoining areas is abysmally pathetic. There are few amenities and incentives for life.Tribal customs also play a vital role in keeping people ignorant of the bliss of education and enlightenment. But, we should also share heavy blame for their formidable woes.I once read that a single ray of knowledge is enough to break the scourge of thousand dark ages.It is our collective responsibility to perform our duties with utmost integrity.We have to pull therm out of their drunken stupor.It is high time that things should proceed beyond a national-consensus.The whole nation should speak with one voice to address this gory menace.We should still keep the option of negotiations close to our heart. History bears a testimony to the fact that it is impossible to conquer people through sword. The battle should never be made to lose on table-talks.Long live Pakistan.Ameen.

Regards,

HERO