Wresting Pakistan from the extremists

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/17/wresting-pakistan-from-extremists

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As the world comes together to condemn an unspeakable act of depravity in Pakistan (Report, 17 December), we must unite around one message above all. Whatever political dispute or ideological upheaval may be occurring outside its doors, a school should always remain a safe space for children to learn, to play, to make friends and to laugh. This is non-negotiable.

This atrocity is part of a global pattern in which learning is under attack. The shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012, the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria earlier this year, the events in Peshawar – these shocking acts are just the visible extreme of daily incidents of violence and intimidation that keep millions of children – disproportionately girls – from school each day.  

The global response to those events has been loud and unequivocal. We will not tolerate schools becoming battlegrounds. We must – and we will – ensure that every child can safely enjoy their right to learn. And as the people of Pakistan try to come to terms with the most senseless and brutal of crimes, our duty to them is to ensure that the voices of those of us who believe in that right are louder than those who think otherwise.Tanya Barron Chief executive, Plan UK

• The attack in Pakistan shows that it is ordinary Muslims who bear the brunt of the violence perpetrated by extremists. From the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan to Islamic State (Isis), al-Qaida and pro-government sectarian paramilitaries in Iraq and Syria to Buddhist extremists in Burma and extremist Hindus in Gujarat, India, it is Muslims who are the victims. The bombing of Isis by America and its allies has also resulted in civilian fatalities including women and children. Yet Muslims get mentioned as the extremists, not the victims of extremism.Mohammed SamaanaBelfast

• Growing up as a child in the early 90s in Pakistan, I have fond memories to cherish. Life had much to offer and we made the most of its offerings. I was sent to a mosque with my brother for Qur’an lessons and I cannot remember anything that I would now judge to be unpleasant said by our teacher. To speak badly about a different Islamic sect was unthinkable. Holy days were observed with religious fervour and without antagonism against those who did not celebrate that day. There was peace. There was tolerance. Both of these words now sound naive and have acquired new connotations.

Twenty years ago I could not imagine that one day children would go to school in their uniforms and return in coffins. Pakistanis all over the world are mourning yet another tragedy: the bleakest one. This was not random killing; this was targeted killing of children and their teachers. Add to those killed the greater number of children and adults traumatised by what they saw.

We leave our homes without certainty of ever returning. We turn on our TV, unfold our newspaper, with trembling heart, beseeching: “No, not another, not any more.” We bury our dead again, those who never wished the horror. For how long? The question echoes, echoes, echoes.Name and address supplied

• On 16 December on Facebook a friend wrote “Pakistan has awoken”. I read that line over and over. We definitely were not awake before this attack. No matter how dire the incidents – malnourishment gripping children’s lives in Tharparkar, a couple being thrown in a brick kiln – we were shaken but still in deep slumber. An awake Pakistan would not look like it did on 16 December. And while we slept, our children were being slaughtered.

As a mother watching those scenes on the television, I was speechless. And broken. Like everyone else I was shocked and absolutely grief-stricken. As time goes on when one feels pain or sorrow, one usually wants to forget, move on. My worry now is that I will forget. we, as a nation, will forget. We will move on. Back to politics, back to watching Pakistan slipping away, being stolen bit by bit by corrupt politicians who claim to represent us, by an unjust judiciary where justice is a word buried among dusty files, back to a place where the poor get nothing and the rich get richer. One horrendous event after another has desensitised us. It is too constant and we are starting to feel we are too little for such big problems. We have become a hopeless lot, for when we are informed of a tragedy, we sigh and then we move on. We move away and we forget. But these images of blood on small bodies, small coffins and grieving mothers are something I do not want to forget. I do not want to forget Pakistan’s black day. I want it imprinted in my mind today, tomorrow, a year from now, five years and 10 years and 40 years from now. I want to feel as angry, as sad, as united as we do at this moment – when the wound is fresh and painful. I want to feel as determined about change as I do today. Because the families of those massacred will always remember it just like they did on 16 December. This sense of mourning should break the walls of opposing political parties, of different political sects, of differing religious clergy, of different places of worship. We are mourning our children together as Pakistanis. The only feeling we should ensure vanishes is hopelessness. We can have no room for such a feeling. It must be buried and never passed on to the future generations of this country.

This anger should now become our resolve. Our resolve from now on should be that we Pakistanis want our country back from extremism. We ordinary citizens ask for the criminals to be brought to justice; we want to know who financed them and who their beneficiaries are. We want to know who fed them, which home or mosque housed them the nights before this massacre. And we want them before us. We want to strangle the channels that nourish these extremists.

Let 16 December be a very dark, sad part of our history, never to be repeated. We want to make our voices heard when we say we do not believe there is any room for extremist religious venom in our land, in our classrooms, in our mosques, in our homes. Let our voices be heard loud and clear when we say extremist barbarianism is not taught in our religion, not taught in our Qur’an, not spoken of in our Hadith. We should be united when we say we will not tolerant extremism any longer.

And if you start to wither in your resolve, in your commitment to these children, in your determination to this country, read this article. Go back to your newsfeeds of 16 December- facebook, newspapers, twitter feeds and relive what we were subjected to on 16 December.

Let us not sway back into slumber again. Our future depends on us staying awake. We want to remember 16 December as that painful day that Pakistan woke up, and we resolved to reclaim our country. Benazir JatoiIslamabad, Pakistan