After sitting on the internet for way too long and idling away doing nothing productive, I gathered my will power to put my laptop aside and get out of bed and do something else! Now obviously the second most entertaining activity I could find within a few seconds of me getting out of my room was our beloved Television! So I thought, hey, why not for a few mins..?! No harm, dontcha think? Anyway, so expecting to get my blood boiling again with the news of the war in Lebanon, there was something else on! In bold letters it said on the top right corner on CNN, "Breaking News!" Thinking nothing of it, I start channel surfing, as you know, everything CNN has to say, is "Breaking News." so casually sitting in my lounge chair, I was flipping through channels when something just passed my eye. Now you know how there are some words out there, if said aloud by someone or even on the TV or if you just catch a glimpse while looking around, you're ears pop up and your eyes dilate suddenly...well, the words "Pakistani" always stick out for me. So, I switch the channel and basically on every news channel on our simple cable tv plan, which are like 15, the same news item was being narrated. Lo and behold, a plot to bomb US bound planes from the UK had just been thwarted, and 2 of the 24 suspects were of "Pakistani" origins. MY first reaction?..!@#$%^&*!
Here we go again. Deja vu! Now see my first reaction was pretty much cussing out the terrorists because its as if we dont have enough hysteria in the US already. This hysteria has led to the ever increasing Islamophobia in the minds of millions of Americans and Europeans after 9/11 and now we'll see it once again! Great!
In today's world, its not that we're going to be happy and cheerful and be like "YAY for capturing the terrorists! Good job guys!" Its more like, "darn it man, there are probably a million more out there! !@$%^&^&" In reality, this means stricter travelling rules, heightened security and nothing but more chaos in the realm of politics. Its more or less another frightening reminder (or should be) for Bush and Blair that hey, you aint doin somethin right! What is so damn difficult about not getting this simple message these terrorists are trying to convey!? Today we catch them, tomorrow what if we dont?! You're still not going to the root of the damn problem! That problem can be solved with a few simple moves by the US government. All you need to do is get your troops out of Afghanistan, get em out of Iraq, tell Israel to stop it and thats it! It'll work magic around the world. All the Islamic extremists and fundamentalists and "terrorists" will be happy! No more suicide bombings! No more bloodshed! We'll be able to enter a new era of peace and harmony. Ahhh..pisses me off because its my wishful thinking. I know its not going to materialize any time soon or even in the near future...and that is the tragedy of this tale.
Anyway back to this recent development, I have a few brief comments and this'll serve the purpose of getting this out of my system tonight. So on the news, all you can hear about is how 2 men have been arrested who are of "Pakistani origins" and had visited in the recent past. What happened to the other 22 suspects who were also arrested? And whatever happened to the 2 British Muslim converts who were also involved and the rest of the suspects also being born, bred and raised in the UK for the most part of their lives? Why dont we get to hear about their life stories and their influences? Why did they get involved? Why dont we get to blame them and see the inherent flaws that exist in the British society? When 7/7 took place last year, we were once again confronted with the same question of the men of Pakistani origins who were involved. Its so convenient to keep pointing at Pakistan and blaming Musharaff that not enough is being done as far as capturing of terrorists are concerned and rooting out fundamentalism, whereas, the over 1000 Al-Qaeda members that have been captured and handed over to US authorities, have been forgotten. Pakistan is by far the US' top ally in the War on Terror, hands down. Pakistan's ISI even this time, did amazingly in stopping the terrorists in their tracks and found very significant leads which helped thwart this plot, which couldve been catastrophic. At the end of it, all im trying to say is that why dont we also pay attention to the society in Britain and see what is it thats going on overthere and analyze and study the dynamic of its socio-cultural environment and its political policies, domestic and foreign. Evidently, we are missing out on something and not admitting that something is wrong, with more than 90% of the suspects held being British-born.
In the end I'd like to point out what current Ambassador of Pakistan to the UN had to say last year regarding 7/7. He stated, "
"You have to look at British society - what you are doing to the Muslim community and why the Muslim community is not integrating into British society,... and not try to externalise the problems Britain faces with regard to race and religious relations. We have suffered from terrorism more than anybody else. Pakistan is doing all it can... It is important not to pin blame on somebody else when the problem lies internally. It would be a grave mistake to point fingers at Pakistan or anybody else outside your country." The link for this article can be found on BBC.com. The link is: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4690259.stm
I think I couldnt have said it better. Presently, Pakistan is also facing a lot on a daily basis as far as sectarian violence and terrorism is concerned. But we dont blame it on the US' foreign policy or any other provocations or influences that might have led to the creation of these terrorist groups. In fact, we are fighting them on our own soil and the government is doing its very best to counter attack the extremism and the Madrassas.
At the end of the day, if we continue blaming and finger pointing, nothing will be achieved. Britain must take blame and solve this issue on a local and international level to prevent future terrorist activity from taking place.
