The Pakistani Spectator

So here I am, wake up early morning and grab a newspaper before I head out for a long day ahead of me. The streak of news that strikes my eye and mind is very alarming. A few terrorist in Afghanistan sprayed poisonous gas on some girls along with the teacher injuring all of them. In the West a Pakistani youngster named Faisal Shahzad prepared a massive fireball to cut across the heart of the theater district leaving locals and tourists dead. Luckily, the incident was not well planned nor well executed.

Skimming the paper forward I realized that a street down from where I reside, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) demolished a 120 ft school wall without any prior notification to the college administration. The students came on street protesting immediately due to the un safety without a boundary wall. They claim the college to be an open shot and soft target for the terrorist now.

Till now my mind was numb reading about the violence and height of cruelty surrounding Pakistan. Once I read that the people who were accused of Mariott blasts were released, I could not go on any further. I wondered to myself why were these people just released out in the cities without any kind of rehabilitation. There was much evidence to prove that they were crazy enough to be hazardous to the society. Some images of Mariott blast still flash even in my sleep. I wake up at night and its hours before I can go to back to sleep. It scares me when I think what future holds for Pakistan. What are we passing on to the next generation? Terrorism, energy crisis, hatred and intolerance are some elements that we are gifting their lives with. There has to be a strategy with which we can rehabilitate these men and get them back on the right path.

All parts of Pakistan have been ripped by terrorist attacks in recent years. These attacks are unique in kind which has not been experienced before. The country witnessed an era of disaster.

Though natural, the cry for revenge and the call for the unleashing of the war of this decade seem more connected to release deep emotional distress and our collective loss.

The reality of a global system that has hovered even the most basic trust. It is unpleasant to see that my duracell batteries and finger nail clippers are taken from me every time I board an international flight. If I fly abroad people see me differently if I have grown facial hair. They look at me as if I am an alien. This gives me pause for a thought. Sadly, I have had a lot of pauses in the last few days. I wonder to myself what is the reason behind this? Why do people look at me differently if I pull out a green passport, grow some facial hair or tell that I am from Pakistan.

Then I realize, that time has changed and life is not the same anymore. Some Muslims have performed actions due to which the entire world is suffering. A terrorist within a cave in South Wazirstan plans an attack against the infidels but Muslims all over the world have to pay the price. Just like the Pakistanis within the country and abroad are suffering due to the actions of Taliban.

To me it seems like that the situation for Pakistan cannot get any worst from here. The good part is that whatever happens from here onwards is going to be positive. The true picture of Taliban and other terrorist organization has been exposed. In my opinion we will have to make a firm strategy from here onwards to control the plague of terrorism. So who will make the strategy and what is it going to be? How will it be implemented when the problem has increased so much and seems to be uncontrollable? One thing I am sure of is that whichever strategy is used, it must include the nation’s co operation in it. There is only one way that we can reduce terrorism in our country and that is by the full participation of citizens in it. Rehabilitation of Taliban is one answer to the many questions being raised over the years. Use the same strategy which Taliban use with our country men. The only difference we brainwash them with tolerant elements and to lead a moderate life according to Islam.

It is important for us to always understand the root of the problem before planning the rehabilitation. This way we can solve the issue in the best of our abilities. The very first and most important question to pose ourselves is relatively simple though it is the toughest to answer. What is it that gives birth to terrorist? What is the motivation that made a guy like Faisal Shazad who was living the American Dream but quit everything after a small visit to the Pakistani Taliban? How do people reach this level of hatred and frustration that they end up blowing themselves without realizing how much damage is being done.

By my experience explanations, these men are brainwashed by perverted religious leaders who are just a handful in Pakistan. We cannot ignore the fact that they hold great magical powers to turn normal human beings into terrorists. Faisal Shazad would again back up this statement of mine.

The sorry of anger induced in him, I would like to term as generational, identity-based anger and is constructed over time through a combination of past events. This is very important to understand, because, as I will say again and again, our response to the terrorist attacks has everything to do with us reinforcing the seeds, and nutrients for future cycles of revenge. So it is better to rehabilitate them so that it decreases the future probability of more terrorist being born. We should be vigilant to follow one and only one strategic guidepost of our reaction. Avoid doing what they expect. What we need to tear down is their myth not their people. And this will be done through rehabilitation of the terrorists.

Recently we have seen that the terrorists are killed and the ones that are captured are tormented so badly that they either become disabled or injured. I believe that is no way to cure the plague of terrorism. We must rehabilitate these individuals in the interest of the society.

The Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education has access to the children, brainwashed by terrorist who were rescued by the security forces during the recent military operations. This rehabilitation center for the children is in the Malakand region. A dedicated team of expert is busy in looking after these young ones. These children were in some point of time abducted by the terrorist and forcefully they were turned into terrorist. The security forces rescued them in time but decided not to just leave them on their own. This is because they can be hazardous to the society as their minds have been disturbed. This is where rehabilitation centers come in whose duty is to clean the minds of these brainwashed people for good and make them assets for the country.

Once these men are rehabilitated they can be used as leads for further arrests. These men can act as role models for the others and prove to them that a moderate way of lifestyle is much better than an extremist one. The rehabilitated men will be our intellectual weapons with which we will defeat the Taliban mindset.

To sum up, if a body part is infected we must try to cure it rather than just cutting it off and getting rid of it. This is what we have been doing in the past and why we have not been able to cure the cancer of terrorism. We catch terrorist and kill them. If they are lucky enough not to be killed then they are put in jails or released without helping them cure. They go out in the open and the pervert leaders pitch them again in carrying out terrorist attacks on the country. It is time to stop this and rehabilitate these individuals and change will be soon felt.