A fiction written by Marry Shelley back in 1818 portrayed a character named Frankenstein who was a scientist. He created a monster that was similar to a human being in his attributes. However this monster eventually turned on his master and killed him. The author would definitely have not known that his unreal character would become real after almost 200 plus years.
Pakistan has dealt with various monsters in recent years. It saddens me to great extent when I realize that these monsters were a result of our own recklessness and indiscretion. One also has the right to argue about the foreign role or external elements that have been damaging to my motherland. But it is due to the fragility of our own internal infrastructure, the deficiencies in our system and our poor decision making that allowed the external forces to intervene.
I firmly believe that the lack of good governance and the failure of our state allowed a small group of fanatics to become monsters. I cannot forget the emergence of Tehreek-e-Taliban in the valley of Swat. The last Crown Prince claims that this tiny group of hostile individuals could easy have been wiped out had the police acted in a professional manner at initial stages, the government too neglected the issue while Taliban made Swat their stronghold. Pakistan’s armed forces however did manage to clean the mess but the nation absorbed massive losses.
Another vibrant example of state’s terrible failure is the Lal Masjid operation. The concerned authorities fell short in countering the radicalization of young Madarssa students by a firebrand cleric Mulana Abdul Aziz in the heart of capital. The controversial operation could have been avoided if the state had preempted the issue and its horrendous consequences.
On December 2014, the nation witnessed a catastrophic and shattering incident in Army Public School of Peshawar where the young students were massacred and butchered in the most barbaric manner. Nevertheless this audacious event united the civil-military leadership, there was consent on the issue of global war on terrorism and a National Action Plan came in to existence. This plan laid the options and strategies to counter the menace of extremism.
The nation had witnessed an obvious peace because of the rigorous operations carried out by the military against the militants in Waziristan belt and Karachi etc, but the war against fanaticism and radicalism has not even started. Moreover the little that this nation gained from the success from the NAP is also being reversed.
A fresh strategy to deal with the hate mongers and religious fanatics was designed but had the state implemented on the NAP at the initial stages the series of sit-ins in Islamabad would not have been avoided. The current situation of the capital and the entire country states that NAP has proved to be a failure.
The most awful scenario is that the state had again not learnt from their past and resultantly has made a no body into another monster. Khadim Hussain Rizvi was just another cleric who entered political setup by contesting bi-elections in Lahore where his political party performed decently.
The movement he had started on the issue of publishing of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) By the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has made him to believe that he could be a massive force in the political setup but the method he has chosen for his political venture is threatening and menacing. Rizvi is bluntly ridiculing the national security institutions, mocking the foreign policy and encouraging violence. The government is yet to take a meaningful action while the issue has become a national crisis. This leaves us with a simple question: Have we made another monster?
