The ides of March again
AS if ethnic and sectarian strife were not enough to go with terrorism, we are now facing religious strife. One is under no illusion that this is not being deliberately fomented to aggravate the deteriorating law and order situation in the country, slipping beyond the control of the civilian law enforcement authorities (LEAs) into creeping anarchy.
The venerable 92-year-old Col SG Mehdi reminded me of the quotes of the Quaid, “The religious minorities will have protection with regards to their religion, faith, life and culture...They will be citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste and creed.” And further, “You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan”.
After the Ahmadis, the Shias faced the wrath of those anointing themselves as the ‘defenders of the faith’ (as they deem the faith is), and now the poor Christians are on the chopping block, not to forget the Hazaras being targeted as a community for both ethnic and sectarian reasons. Religious strife, sectarian violence, ethnic mayhem, mindless terrorism – where and when will it all end?
A captain and second lieutenant stood out ‘cheerfully’ brave in the Chor Desert in December 1971, fighting for their country and willing to die for it. Being ‘Ahmadis’ they left the army a few years later as majors. I am proud that these courageous sons of the soil are still my friends, 42 years later. Notwithstanding their shortened careers, they still swear by the uniform they wore and the country they boldly defended then and later again in Balochistan in 1973.
Major (r) Naseer Ahmad Tariq and Major (r) Hanif Butt (aka Singawala) were outstanding soldiers. Where were the defenders of the faith (and their warped version) when these two were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice? And Capt (later Lt Col) Javed Jalal, given up for dead with 27 bullets in his body, or Major (later Maj-Gen) Julian Peter, wounded commanding the rifle company next to Maj Akram Shaheed Nishan-e-Haider, refusing evacuation and fighting on till the Eastern Command surrendered on Dec 16, 1971? My friend Col Nelson Wilson’s brother Michael was crushed to death by a tank in a leaguer. One of the few Nishan-e-Haiders awarded in 1971 went to Lance Naik Mahfuz of 15 Punjab, the unit Col Cyril Leonan was commanding in battle. Late Group Capt Cecil Chaudhry more than deserved his Sitara-e-Jurat (SJ) in 1971 for pressing home his low-level attacks on Indian airbases despite heavy ground fire. Or my instructor in Infantry School, Col Peters, standing his ground on principle to ensure my top placing despite being almost the junior most in a course of 350 officers in 1967? Other than religion, nothing is more sacred to Pakistan than our nuclear assets. Explain Brig (r) Simon Sharaf – Rector of St Mary’s College, Rawalpindi and an esteemed colleague in the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association (PESA) – being trusted by the GHQ to help craft our nuclear policy? One can go on and on.
Sisters Mary Leo and Joan of Arc supervised my early schooling in Our Lady of Fatima Convent in Comilla, Bangladesh. To quote the ‘dedication’ remembering Sister Leo in my book ‘The Gathering Gloom’, “One vivid memory is of Sundays when the nuns went to church, and left the three of us who were then boarders, Sajjad, Lutfunesa Chaudhry (Rhea) and myself fidgeting at the back as six and seven year olds are bound to. Three Sundays later we had an imam outside the church to teach Quranic injunctions to the three of us.
“Sister Leo never made it to a senior position in the Catholic hierarchy because she probably did not show the “requisite drive” to make good Christians out of the natives. This Texan always did what she felt was right, and instilled in us the same spirit, to aspire for the truth no matter what, and if that meant inculcating us to be good Muslims and learn Islamic teachings, so be it. Of the six in her class, five completed their college education in the US on ‘merit scholarships’ courtesy of Sister Leo, none became a Christian”.
I left to join Lawrence College, Ghora Gali, and probably because I did not have the merit the others had, joined the Pakistan Army. Except during 1971 and barring some very despicable exceptions of the most obnoxious kind, I never regretted my time among the finest soldiers in the world.
Consider the idiom, “If you have the courage of your convictions, then you are brave enough to do what you feel is right despite any pressure for you to do something different”. Leaders must take necessary action to protect the minorities. This is only possible if they fully realise their responsibilities and live up to them – that is if they have courage to go with conviction. David Seabury says “Courage and conviction are powerful weapons against an enemy who depends only on fists or guns. Animals know when you are afraid; a coward knows when you are not”. Those who raise their hands on the weak and helpless are nothing but animals and cowards.
That Badami Bagh happened under the watch of those probably best placed to lead the coalition in the next federal government is very shameful. If the Sharifs cannot even select on merit competent police officers capable of minding their own front yard in Lahore, what can one expect from them if they replace Zardari’s lot and rule the country? Leaders must show commitment not only to adhere to but enforce the rule of law; merely indulging in rhetoric meant for public consumption is nonsense. The sum of my article ‘Why fear the Ides of March’ (March 15, 2012) is more true one year later. “Blatant nepotism and rampant corruption is weakening the country’s integrity and sovereignty, all signs are pointing to a dangerous slide into anarchy. Where is the constitutional mechanism in the type of democratic dispensation availing to rescue the country from the mercy of those looting it at will?