Last year Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) was barred from organising an event on Balochistan and missing persons. The LUMS initially invited Mama Qadeer and Ustad Mir Muhammad Talpur to speak at a session and to interact with students there and with the youth of Lahore. LEAs pressurized the LUMS administration to cancel the event, 'Unsilencing Balochistan'.
And yet today it's not really surprising to see LeT/JuD Chief Hafiz Saeed, a globally declared terrorist, addressing students of the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore.
It seems that we have learned nothing from our bloodied past and are inclined towards making the same mistakes again and again.
Or may be Mama Qadeer is a bigger threat for the petty ideological state of Pakistan than this globally recognized terrorist Hafiz Saeed.
Pakistan is still a venomous breeding ground for terrorists and jihadists. It may sound sad, but let's not forget this is a bitter truth as well.
Hafiz Saeed is just a puppet on the front, the real masterminds of this venomous ideology of jihadism are those elements who had backed the so-called Afghan jihad and also declared the mass murderers as their "strategic assets".
The problem of radicalization is not as shallow as it seems. When we thought that madrassas were the real problem we were shocked by Saad Aziz of IBA following the number of similar radical militants and their supporters and financiers from SZABIST to CAMS.
It was shocking for many fellow Pakistanis to see the elitist brainwashed terrorists from the prestigious private educational institutes, but it wasn't shocking nor surprising for me being a student of a public sector university.
Those who are studying in Karachi University (KU) and Punjab University (PU) are well aware of the presence of radical preachers not only teaching in these universities but also brainwashing and recruiting the youth for their jihadist missions.
Putting aside the debate of breeding terrorists in madrassas and universities, we need to ponder upon the hypocrisy of our state.
This venomous ideology of jihad is deeply rooted in to the state institutions. Hatred for India is based on the anti-Hindu narrative which is against the very principle of coexistence. At its peak the very same ideology of conquering New Delhi is much more lethal than the dreams of defeating the Soviets in the past.
How can we fight the terrorist ideology with this selective approach?
If we do not consider Afghan Taliban to be the mass murderers of Afghan people we have no right to mourn the APS children.
If we only consider the attackers of Mehran Base, Quaid-e-Azam International Airport and Lahore blasts terrorists but keep a soft corner and praise the attackers of Mumbai attacks as heroes of the nation, we can't play victim.
Zarb-e-Azab and NAP won't fool the masses with these inhumane policies.
One day Pakistani universities might replace the likes of Professor Shakil Auj and Dr Pervaiz Hoodbhoy with many Hafiz Saeeds producing many Saad Azizs in future.
It's high time for state to realise that we cannot prosper with the terrorists like Hafiz Saeed lecturing the students of UET. We'll only prosper with the intellectuals and physicists like Dr Pervaiz Hoodbhoy educating our children about the science and technology.
We need to stop here and think whether the academic discussions with the culture of dissent is good for us or if fascist tactics are the only option left for us.
Is Mama Qadeer more dangerous and lethal for the mighty Pakistan or if it's a globally recognised terrorist Hafiz Saeed who is the real threat for our national security and future generations?
In 1980s only madrassas were radicalized in the name of Afghan Jihad under the banner of defeating communism, and we are still paying a heavy price for that. But today our state is deliberately radicalizing the entire society and pushing our youth towards the militant jihadism under the umbrella of Pakistani nationalism ignoring the horrible future consequences of its war mongering policies.