It is an odd thing to feel relief when 76 people have died. But then, being Pakistani has become an odd thing to be. When the news coverage of the grotesque terrorism in Oslo began, the world watched it unfold with a sense of sadness. In Pakistan, we watched it with gritted teeth and clenched expectations. We had but one prayer, selfish but understandable: Please don’t let it be a Muslim. Specifically, please don’t let it be a Muslim who had received training on our soil. The eventual revelation that a blonde man with a distinctly ethnic Norwegian genetic skin tone had been arrested gave us a moment’s respite before we then started worrying about his being a convert. We are always told that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Unfortunately, no one details which Islam. The one practiced by the people around me who have a deep and unshakeable belief in the Almighty and his Messenger and find it a source of peace and comfort? Or the Islam that is subscribed to by the people running amok through the lives of those just described who have somehow found the message of submission to be one that requires mass murder and destruction. Fortunately, for the first time in recent memory, the attack was perpetuated by neither of these adherents. Instead, it was a lone lunatic who felt that the best way to protect his nation from dark forces he perceived was to slaughter the young. And so we all let out a sigh of collective relief, a sound that was effectively drowned out by the frantic back-scrabbling of ‘expert’ commentators on every single foreign news channel.
From the moment the first gunshot echoed through Utoya Island, and that last pane of glass shattered in central Oslo, every single person who had ever attended a class on foreign affairs or had passed within pinching distance of a Muslim was loudly proclaiming the clear guilt of al Qaeda. They did it with such solemn sagacity that one feels they are actually disappointed now that it has been proven to not be a Muslim at fault. The discovery that extremists can belong to any belief system and maybe it is something inherent in the person himself and not in the religion he subscribes to, that paradigm shift is causing them all sorts of motion sickness. All the nations who put a comforting arm around Norway in the initial moments of the attack, promising unity against this Muslim terror, are now backing away as if Norway vomited over it’s own furniture, telling it that it’s on its own in the clean-up.
The irony in all this, if you can manage to consider such a tragic event with cold scrutiny, is that the killer feared the “Pakistanisation of Europe”. His understanding of that phrase was that Europe would be full of small Muslim countries with extremist views. But his actions, instead, created another form of “Pakistanisation”, in the way that we Pakistanis understand it. Norway is truly like us now in that it, too, understands that the actions of a random extremist with a head full of bad wiring is not representative of the majority. That it takes a single day planned with fanatical focus to completely redefine a nation’s sense of security and identity. And that it will require the patience and understanding of a multitude to cope with the changed world that they now exist in. It is a reality we Pakistanis struggle against every day.
The primary description of the attacker in the media is that he is a ‘lunatic’. Let us hope that the next time an act of terror on such a scale occurs anywhere in the world, the same description is applied to the culprits, regardless of religion.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2011.
I heard some crying sound and I thought it was my son who was crying.
Then I noticed that the sounds were coming from my neighbor’s flat and I felt comforted that it was not my son. Still I went to find out what is happening. My neighbor was beating his son so badly that the kid was wailing loud non-stop.
When I told him to show some mercy and to stop beating him, he said, “I don’t want my son to end like your son! So I’m beating so he should not follow your son’s footsteps!”
Now, if my son was crying I would not have worried so much, but now this is far more worrying for me.
the attack in norway may not be related to islamic fundamentalism,but that does not take away the blame that islamic terrorism is a grave danger to the world and will remain so.but there is clear difference between pakistan and norway.in pakistan a killer like qadri is showered with rose petals by literate advocates,not by illetrate koran ranting mullahs and the murderer is awarded title like ghazi.will u think of such a scenario in norway or any western country?
Nicely argued. Norway has a population of 5 million and one lunatic. We are about 180 million and how many lunatics ?? What does that make us ?? Thought provoking indeed.
Brilliant !
@ Sami
Apart from the irony, occasional humor and touch of sarcasm in ur piece, wat an average Pakistani ought to do is to look inwards.
It has now come to this stage, that our Land of Pure is somehow the equivalent of terror , chaos and mayhem, across the globe, in all forms, shapes and magnitude.
But its not by chance.
Its definitely not reflective of the entire world’s unfounded bias against us, as our Mullah Brigade , opportunist n inept politicians and ofcourse our saviors in Khaki, wd like us to believe.
So even if the Norway tragedy had some Muslim/Paksitani connection to it…..the world wdnt have died of shock. We hv been there n done that….a bit tooo many times for the world’s comfort. Helllllllllllooooooooooooo?
Its our hard earned reward. The harvest of our 30 years of cultivation of bigotry, double speak, intolerance & hypocricy on all the frontiers of our existence: religious, social , political and intellectual.
Such is our infamy, that whenever there is a luny blowing himself up to take a short cut to heaven ( & alongwith him takes a few dozen unwilling passengers, who r not all that keen to c the 70 virgins yet ) , an act of mass terror , an announcement of a warped n twisted religosity with violent undertones ( like a father killing 6 of his daughters for “honor” & boasting in his confession, that he wd do it all over again) ……………….the world unconsciously throws a glance at us.
Not without reason though.
The world has come to identify us with these symbols.
Our country accounts for more suicide bombings than Iraq or Afghanistan.
We are the only nation on the map, where u r killed for ur name, sect, views and sometimes how u r dressed.
Isnt that a monumental accomplishment?
While we keep on blowing schools so that our girls couldnt get education, keep on silencing our moderates who preach tolerance, keep on living in the self inflicted paranoia, that the whole world is out there to get us………….the truth is that we dont figure anywhere on the priority list of the civilized world….. a world that has left us behind and moved ahead to attain more progress n prosperity.
While the rest of the nations r bz finding ways to invest in improved technology n futuristic endeavors, all we hv to show on our credit r LISTS.
Yes lists.
3rd most dangerous country for women
11th most corrupt nation on earth
th most illiterate society on the map………….and the list goes on
For most of the world, v r not more than a recurring headache, that refuses to go away.
Wat mess have we made of our once beautiful country?
Shame on all 180 million of us.
@ Hassan Abidi
Guess what, if had Kashmir, everything would have been OK. Its all because we don’t have Kashmir.
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In contrast, the Norwegian “lunatic” has had no reason for his Pakistan-like ambitions, compared to our plight.
It’s a popular attitude to view this guy as nothing else as a lonely nutcase. But be real. My estimate of the number of people in the world below 35 years of age who could write a similarly extensive (1500 pages), relatively coherent, and formally nearly flawless (compare it with your generic crackpot) book about politics is less than 0.1%. This guy is clearly no random chap who only differs by psychological instabilities or problems from others. He’s more intelligent than a vast majority of humans. In this sense, much like his strongly held right-wing and nationalist opinions, intelligence itself is partly a culprit in this mass murder – which is perhaps another inconvenient truth for many intelligent people on all sides of the political and apolitical spectrum.
Do I see a glee in certain corner that it was done by a firang who happens to be a christian and thus absolved us of all other jihad inspired acts of terror that preceded Oslo.
As someone has already pointed out there was neither showering of rose petals by the Norwegian public nor an approrval from the church leaders.
Indians missed the point again (in the process of asserting their own). The point the author is making here is that no matter what religious tag a terrorist wears, he is a terrorist! Terror knows no religion, no humanity. Terrorist=lunatic/psycho/evil but not muslim or christian etc. Stop hating!
Why is it then when such an incident happens in Pakistan, we call the person a “terrorist” and when it happened in Norway – well we simply just called him a “lunatic”????
@Salman Arshad:
i’m really really hoping that was meant to be sarcastic.
Good point.
“Norway is truly like us now in that it, too, understands that the actions of a random extremist with a head full of bad wiring is not representative of the majority.”
Pardon me! Which planet does the author live? Does he really think that the lone act of terrorism in Norway is equivalent to the decades of terrorism, that we witness in Pakistan? A vast majority of Pakistanis, while themselves may not be all terrorists, do support many radical Islamic edicts and have sympathy for the terrorists as many of the polls conducted in the past two plus years show.
Mr. Shah! You have truly spoken what is on the minds of so many of us in Pakistan.
I think biggest disappointment is for Al Qaeda supporters. They had happily claimed the responsibility but it turned out to be some one else. While I can understand the relief Pakistanis are feeling after this guy turned out to be a non muslim/pakistani, the sane person should understand that if this kind of extreem behaviour is spread the world will be in chaos, and it is responsibility of all sane persons to stop this insanity.
Very nicely written Sami.
My God, this article is not based on intellectual arguments and only that others are also like Pakistan. It says: “Norway is truly like us now in that it, too, understands that the actions of a random extremist with a head full of bad wiring is not representative of the majority.”
Probably the author does not realize that whole of Europe has not only condemned the killings, they are all making laws to make hate sermons, even in internet as a punishable crime. In fact methods are being sought to ensure to ban such messages in internet.
Compare it with pakistan. Liberals, which are too few to make any difference, do talk against killings, but majority carry on repeating that ‘they’ are at fault, for the evil policies of the west. Political wars have been fought since mankind can remember, most of them were morally wrong. But you cannot compare army battles with killing innocent people on the street or in mosques. There is nobody in Norway which defend people like the killer. Compare it with OBL, who lived in a house with four young and uneducated wives, had 13 children and the only books he read were about violence. ” We will take revenge from US for killing him and hit local police for supporting US”
In Norway the country is mourning and whole of Europe is worried. Muslims and other immigrants are living in Norway and elsewhere and they can walk around without fear and angst. Some wearing their chadors and visit mosques. Nobody cares to harass them. Imagine an american walking around cities in Pakistan without fear of being attacked.
Self defense is only good if based on facts and not “I am good and you are evil.”
You said – Norway is truly like us now in that it, too, understands that the actions of a random extremist with a head full of bad wiring is not representative of the majority.
Not representative of the majority…I hope Norway does not come to this conclusion. The idle chatter in living rooms, the prejudices carelessly thrown around and passed to children, the tolerance of hatred of anyone that is not indigenous…the majority does indulge in all this. Pakistan has much more to worry because text books underline and promote the prejudices. So when Narendra Modi went about his pogrom, I hope every Hindu took some responsibility for any idle prejudice we nurture.
@hassan:
Brilliantly put.
@ Hassan Abidi: A good use of your time.
No one in their right mind would condone such actions yet the basis on which it was carried out holds true to countless in Europe, at least on a subconscious level. The xenophobic right wing in Europe has been voicing such slurs over the years. In some countries, they’re able to influence government policies against asylum seekers & refugees overlooking the fact that its their own country at war (in one way or the other) with said nations (insert the most recent war stricken country i.e Libya). To find solace in this troubled time in who and from what religion the perpetrator hailed from is sickening and at the same time naive. An average piece to say the least!
The terms used by the ‘free’ mainstream media goes to how any situation can be turned against or in favor of a country or religion for that matter. He’s not a terrorist because the media doesn’t say so…there are no human rights violations in Kashmir because the AP or Reuters isn’t quite fond of reporting it. Eat it all up!
gr8
@ Tony Singh & Sajid Barcha
Thanx Tony & Sajid.
I m a fequent contribtor to many newspapers.
Curently authoring 2 books.
It wd b nice to xchange views n keep in touch, as its hard to find intellectually stimulated souls in today’s mad rush of aimless pursuits.
U guys hv my email.
Best Rgds
HA
Norway is truly like us now in that it, too, understands that the actions of a random extremist with a head full of bad wiring is not representative of the majority– Sorry Mr. Shah. Norway is not like Pakistan nor is any non-Muslim country like Pakistan. In Pakistan, the terrorists are inspired by Islam and blow themselves to secure their quota of “Hoors”. In Pakistan there are “good” terrorists (those who kill others) and “bad terrorists” (those who kill Pakistanis). The “good” terrorists is welcome by the majority in Pakistan as they further the cause of Islam or Muslims. Besides a Pakistani terrorist is a Mujahid and not a lunatic as the Norweigins term the killer.
Your conclusions are wide off the mark.
@Forbidden Fruit
Terror indeed doesn’t have a religion. But, note that it has identity. White supremacist Terror, Islamist terror, Hindu terror, Irish terror, Tamil Terror etc. etc.
Terror happens in all countries. Some as a freak occurrence by deranged minds, or even by a cult gone awry (like Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo). Norway is one such – It isn’t the norm. These are part of regular law-and-order problem to the world, and those are easily broken by breaking up those small groups.
However, Terror becomes far more frequent and a scrooge only when there is a systematic cultivation. It needs a fertile ground (terror camps/host nation with conflict), seeds (Brainwashing – inception of viral ideology), fertilizer (funding/training/nurturing) and harvesting infrastructure (planning, arming & logistics of an attack).
Islamic terror we are seeing is cultivated/manufactured. It is deliberate and not freak occurrence. The factory line of Suicide bombers, training & logistic support etc. makes is a scrooge of the world.
To break such terror needs eliminating the cultivation ecosystem & infrastructure. That’s the fundamental difference.
@hassan:
For us simple folks, can you please elaborate on what you were trying to say?
@ xill- e-Ilahi
Dear Mr. Illahi dont keep ur hopes high.
Its basically ppl like Mr Salman who truly represent the current mindset n national psyche of the majority of ill informed n pigeon visioned populace of this unfortunate country.
Mr Salman, it seems hv grown up on the twisted n mutilated versions of history, being fed to our impressoinable youth day in n day out…………so he z not totally to b blamed.
He hasnt had the opportunity or the blessing, to hv seen beyond the proverbial wall………..& the writing on it …..thats been steering at him all of his existence, without him knowing.
Its one of the many national tragedies Mr Illahi.
Hasan Abidi
hasanwazir1@gmail.com
Ridiculous escapest attitude! So, you reside and reconcile to the consolation that as long as a person is described as a lunatic all is well? I honestly think you sir are a lunatic!
Need I say that anyone who blows up innocent people is a lunatic, you don’t need an expert’s certification. For that matter anyone taking a life is a lunatic even for a fleeting moment during the act.
If you indeed reside in Pakistan you would know that the people causing this mayhem are but a tiny percentage who are more politically motivated than religious.
Instead of writing about it adnauseam do something or better yet write for an URDU daily and enlighten the average mind, hold a town meeting, village meeting, chowk meeting for crying out loud anything to talk to the common folk who could give a rat’s tukhas to bombings and mayhem. These poor slobs are too busy making a living and learning to duck from an incoming! Capeesh!
We the Pakistanis are the most ardent and brutal terrorists. We are the most vulnerable nation as far as our exploitation to fanaticism is concerned. The world is against us for our clandestine help to terrorist. We have been dragged into this so-called war on terrorism, hesitantly though we consented to help out the so-called terrorist hunter and in return MR SAM promised to help us out financially. No doubt they give us money, but the large chunk of its portion went to military. Before 9/11, what was the ratio of terrorist attacks in Pakistan as well as in the world, astonishingly may be only one percent if compared with the ratio of it after 9/11. I am not denying our responsibility, but on the other hand US and western world is equally responsible for this quandary. Who wants to impose its ideology on the world, its only the stubborn US. I am not defending the terrorist, but I have the right to vent my anger. Its the perception management which cannot change over night. Islam don’t teaches us to kill anyone and to terrorise someone. But the wrongdoings of the few don’t justify that whole lot of Muslims are terrorist. The purpose of my penning is not to back Muslim terrorism, but to portray the unseen story of a movie. Everybody has to be liberal in this westernize world otherwise you would be called a fanatic, an extremist or a terrorist.
Sir: the first time your column has disappointed (and I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve read every single one). I have often disagreed with your point but have never considered the argument sloppy as it is here. Your conclusions need to be inverted. By writing off Breivek as a “lunatic” we give a free ride to the right-wing and fascist ideology that inspired him. This ideology has been creeping across the West and we can expect more incidents like this one cropping up. By contrast, fascistic Islamist ideology permeates Pakistan far more completely and finds many more adherents. The idea is not to sever the actors from their context but to implicate the context so that we can identify what influences the actors.
@ xill-e-ilahi:
Thanks for understanding 🙂
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@ Hassan Abidi:
I could be wrong. If we had Kashmir, we would probably have been fighting with Israel today for the past 60+ years, instead of with India. To get the Palestinians their right to freedom!.
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And you have articulated well our accomplishments in the world 🙂
The response to this column by some folks have been outstanding and in some instances very thought provoing and in the case ofMr Hasan Abidi simply brilliant.Mr Harkol was very simple,but it was writen with why,how,who and ,what was very clear.I also liked the feed back of,Mazan,Mawali and Sharif lane.Yes,the norway,terrorist was intelligent and articulate if you read is 1500 page menifesto,so was Nathuram godsey,and John Willies Booth. It does not change,the act he commited was an act of horrible proportion.Some people have tendency to find parallel and say You did it,so I did it’,so we are alike,to say norway and Pakistan are both similar and equal in terrorism is travesty.It does not wash with world opinion,it is well pointed by outrage of the Pakistani folks themself.What I think is required is mass education of common folks in urdu,which they can understand,preching to quaire in English,does not do any good in society like Pakistan.
@ Hasan Abedi
Wow!
Wat a brilliant write up Mr. Abedi
Our country needs thinking practical brains like you who have the courage to call spade a spade, not those who live in constant denial with the mantra ALL IS WELL.
Wel done sir
@ Salman Arshad
Dear Salman, I appreciate ur kind reply.
Nothing personal, just voicing my take on ur observation wrt the article in question and my comments on it, and how u somehow dragged Kashmir into it.
Had a tough time understanding wat Kashmir had to do with all the mess we hv on hand?
Moreover, I got a question for you?
God Forbid, if ur neighborhood was on fire, wd u attend to ur home first or worry abt next door and the door further n the door further?
Get my drift?
Your house is on fire Mr. Salman. First attend to the flames that threaten to burn down everything u call HOME, then u hv the liberty n the luxury to don the hat of world’s messiah & worry for the Kashmirs, Palestines , Iraqs n the Afghanistans of the world.
Food for thought Mr. Saman?
Hasan Abidi
Few words of sarcasm here and there will not legitimize the actions lunatic groups nurtured by establishment.In Pakistan there are many people seek empathy that they are facing everyday the likes of Mumbai 2008, and the world should forget. The author is trying to the same in Norway case, whereas he forgets that in Norway it is a lunatic whereas in Pakistan it is the playing game of strategic depth as good jihadist versus bad terrorists.
Dear @hassan I really appreciate your reply to all these people. They held Pakistan responsible for all the wrong doings happening in the world. Don't they know that Pakistan itself is a target of terrorism which is the creation of the super powers who've their own axe to grind.
They blame Pakistan, Lemme give you an example, I live in Sweden. Two days ago I's assaulted by two white guys, who were racist. They had steel rods, knives pistols. They found me on the way and then looked for me for 40 minutes to kill me. The police and the local newspapers termed it as an assassination attempt and told me to be careful.
Now what would you call this? Let's stop blaming Pakistan, because terrorists have no land and no religion, they can be anywhere and they've no religion.
@ Hasan Abidi:
There is no “home” country for a Muslim, as far as the ideology goes.
So there is really nothing else that we as Pakistanis can do other than worry about all the Muslims of the world.
When Aashiq-e-Rasool Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto claimed that “we” will eat grass and fight for a 1000 years, he wasn’t joking, nor was he on drugs, and the nation did not complain. So all the “fires” in the house will not do anything to the fire of “imaan” in our nation.
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The extremists are simply following the Ideology of Pakistan in its purest sense. No amount of complaining about them will undermine them; you will have to target the ideology itself.
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Do you think it is even possible to re-define Pakistan without going through all the bloodshed that we are thirsty of by virtue of our Ideology?