According to media reports, suicide bombers killed more than 53 people (including the Czech ambassador) and injured more than 260 in an attack on the 290-bedroom Marriott hotel in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad at 8pm on Saturday night. Overwhelming majority of the victims were Pakistanis and Muslims celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. Witnesses believe a truck carrying 600kg of explosives could have totally destroyed the hotel if it had been able to ram past the security barrier. It was followed by at least another explosion. The bombs blew a 30-foot crater in the road in front of the hotel, which is popular with foreigners, diplomats and businessmen, and ignited gas cylinders in the kitchens. According to witnesses, security staff at the front of the hotel, where the blast was strongest had "simply been vaporised".
Mr. Sadruddin Hashwani, the hotel owner, says at least 700 people were in the hotel at the time of the attack, many enjoying iftar, the traditional meal at the end of the day-long Ramadan fast. The blasts caused the ceiling collapse in a banquet room where up to 300 people were eating, but another 300 eating under a marquee to the rear survived. The hotel has been attacked twice in the past and an attempted suicide bombing was foiled by a security guard in 2007. It was one of the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan in over a decade.
As usual, most Pakistanis find it hard to accept that the perpetrators of such a heinous act in Ramadan could be Muslim or Pakistani. It seems the whole nation is in a state of denial. The following music video titled "Yeh Hum Nahin" (It's not us) captures the common refrain heard in Pakistan: 
The fact that the bombers were able to penetrate such a secure fortress inside Islamabad, and carry out the most deadly Marriott bombing just before an undisclosed Pakistani leadership dinner, shows that there are insiders involved. It’s an unfortunate fact that many Pakistanis (a significant minority) see this as jihad rather than the cold blooded mass murder of innocent people, while others sympathize with the perpetrators' cause or at least rationalize such dastardly acts by blaming America or the Pakistani military or someone other than the jihadis who carry out these murderous rampages. Just watch the apologists and the conspiracy theorists engaged in blame-America or blame-military or blame-anyone-but-us talk on Pakistani TV channels and you’ll see what I am talking about. To stop this senseless Muslim-on-Muslim and Pakistani-on-Pakistani violence, the people of Pakistan have to first acknowledge the reality of what is going on in their midst and purge violent jihadi elements. According to anecdotal evidence and some published polls, the support for war on terror is at a low point in Pakistan, in spite of the continuing killing of innocent Pakistanis. This is the sad reality of the denial and insensitivity within Pakistan. It has to change for sanity to prevail for saving innocent lives being lost on a daily basis. The tide of Pakistani public opinion must turn against the homegrown, violent, jihadi terrorists soon to stop the recurrence of more deadly bombings like the Islamabad Marriott's.
Pakistan Police: Good Cop? Bad Cop?
11 hours ago
5 comments:
Pakistanis are very adept in spinning conspiracy theories. The fact that a truck laden with huge explosive material can penetrate such a high security zone speaks volumes about the efficiency of the law enforcing agencies.
Nuzrah,
I think it goes beyond the incompetence of law enforcement. It is an issue of many Pakistanis either actively supporting or at least sympathizing with the perpetrators' cause and methods. Law enforcement alone can not handle such a difficult situation without the strong, popular support of the people to crush the terrorists responsible for such heinous acts.
It’s an unfortunate fact that many Pakistanis (a significant minority) see this as jihad rather than the cold blooded mass murder of innocent people, while others sympathize with the perpetrators' cause or at least rationalize such dastardly acts by blaming America or the Pakistani military or someone other than the jihadis who carry out these murderous rampages.
The "significant minority" you talk about is alarming. This is the whirlwind of Pakistan's lurch to the far religious right between '77 and '88. The generation after Zia seems to view everything through the prism of Islam. Piety - most of it contrived - and conformity to suffocating Salafist norms is admired and often enforced by a small minority. What could the possible checks and balances be on this Wahhabi virus? The Army? Maybe an ideological broadside from the folks in Deoband themselves against these murderers? The state funds, regulates and broadens the curriculum at at-risk madrassahs? Absent some defense, this appears to be a lost cause.
Here's a comment I received via email today:
Sanity sounded in your analysis(last para) at minimum calls for a reality acceptance and acknowledgment by the educated/learned/aware people.
What Jihadists are doing is "Chasing a Mirage", the term evolved by Tarek Fateh, author of book by same title, and a must read for all Muslims.
In the name of religion, with divine approval(as sanctioned by perpetrators) Muslim blood has most cheaply been shed by, for and from the Muslims. The significant minority(as noted by you) gets the direct or indirect support of the majority as the later wish to keep themselves out of committing an act against the religious teachings(unfortunately the significant minority are so aggressive in their actions that ample misunderstanding of religion persists).
I am in complete agreement with you and others who are trying to keep reason, logic and humanity as the guidelines that this life has to be lived under, the principles supported and held supreme by our religion.
The recent Mumbai terror attacks have not only attracted world wide condemnation and left the city and the country numb and alarmed, but have also usurped a big question on the political system and security format of the nation. Unbelievable carnage of such landmarks as the Oberoi and the Taj and rampant and indiscriminate firings have left the people shocked and suspicious of our security system. Following the attacks, the security has been beefed up in the places like cinema halls, malls, hotels, and other public places. For quite some time Bangalore has been touted as one of the prime targets of terror attacks. Following the attacks in neighbouring Mumbai, the big hotels in Bangalore have tightened security measures considerably. Many Bangalore hotels are either installing their own security gadgets and risk management plans or are hiring the services of the risk management companies. Not only the five stars but even the budget hotels in Bangalore are gearing up to have an elaborate security check for security reasons.
Post a Comment