CITY NOTES
This week was dominated by the passing away of my mother. I can think of no greater loss, except probably the loss of a child, but then, that is against the order of nature. As I lost my father 17 years ago, now I have no one left to offer prayers for me. I feel naked, and realise that I am the next in line. But I have learnt an acceptance that I will end that way. It is written in the Quran that ‘every being shall taste death’, and I now realise how true it is.
It is probably not much consolation to the heirs of those who have been killed in the outburst of militant violence that has seen so much bloodletting all over the country, seemingly a blowback of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, with no less than six attacks, and well over 100 dead. Even though not finished grieving for my own (which might not happen), I feel for those many who lost a parent.
Let us be frank. My mother died after an illness, not from a terrorist attack. Even though there was none of the abruptness of dying in a terrorist attack, it was still a great shock. She was 77, so while she caused no boasting by longevity, she caused no regrets by an early departure. However, those killed in terrorist attacks left behind families in shock, and filled with regrets.
The Lahore blast was particularly painful because of the policemen killed in it. I can’t think of another instance of a DIG being killed in the line of duty. Nor of an SP. A Viceroy may have been killed, and a Governor, but never senior policemen. The killing of such senior policemen may well make it natural for people to expect that the military be brought in to protect them. I mean, if the police can’t protect themselves, how are they supposed to protect us ordinary citizens? This might show the other occupants of the CPO Lahore’s office that the guarantee of eternal life apparently given by the security barriers and the inconvenience faced by the public, is not valid. And as if to show that the military too is not protection enough, in Awaran, militants placed an IED, which killed a captain and several soldiers. Afghanistan has been handed over proofs, with an embassy official being called into GHQ. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time a captain was killed.
And then there was the carnage at Sehwan Sharif, a grisly reminder that not only do militants dislike shrines, but that shrines are also open to all comers. Militants have got it in for non-Muslims right enough, in which they include anyone who doesn’t believe as they do. The attack on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine might well be the latest, but it won’t be the last. Policemen, soldiers, shrines. Not to forget judges and government offices. Yes, I’m referring to what might be called the KPK leg, where a judges’ van was attacked in Peshawar and the Government office in Mohmand Agency.
Militants are said to be in Afghanistan. And who is Afghanistan’s best friend? The USA. Its next best friend? India. Wait, isn’t the USA supposed to be our friend? Well, it’s India’s friend. And it’s a new friendship. In fact, it seems that the reward Pakistan has got for helping the USA in the War on Terror has been the USA drawing closer to India.
That’s not the only reason why India is worrying us. One of its states, Tamil Nadu, is in danger of being held up to us as an example by Imran Khan. The incoming Tamil Nadu Chief Minister was whisked away to jail in another state in a disproportionate assets case. The case was 20 years old, and one of the co-accused was Jayalalithaa, the late Tamil Nadu chief minister. Instead of Sasikala, Palinaswami has taken over. And that too without a dharna.
The US National Security Adviser, Lt Gen (retd) Mike Flynn, has had to resign, not for corruption, but for not telling the truth to the Vice-President about what he said to the Russian Ambassador. Do retired officers that senior lie? Not here. Right? The reason they lie in the USA is probably because they don’t give them land when they retire. Over here, we do. The Senate should avoid any unpatriotic enquiries into such allotments.
Another death that militants haven’t been blamed for was that of Kim Jong-Nam, the elder brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, at Kuala Lumpur Airport. It seems female agents sprayed him in the face with toxins. He had been in exile in Macau. His younger brother is suspected of doing him in. The elder Kim didn’t go into exile to protest his father’s or brother’s haircut, and the younger Kim didn’t kill his barber but his brother. At least it was done abroad, and not in the theatrical fashion he did in his uncle by marriage, who had helped him take over after his father died. Him he had shot with an anti-aircraft gun. Maybe the intercontinental ballistic missile he is developing is not meant for use against the USA, as it fears, but against his remaining brother, Kim Jong-chul, who is also older than him, but is not in exile.
Has anyone noticed, but the weather is slowly turning warmer. As usual, we’re going to move from winter to spring almost without noticing it. And then, before we know it, we’ll be sweltering in summer.