Skin Deep

AUGUST 2001 - Notwithstanding the passionate announcement by a grim President Pervez Musharraf this week in Islamabad about ‘combating’ terrorism and eliminating every single terrorist from the land, the truth is that words alone are not going to solve this critical problem. Had this been so, we would have been a gun-free society. As we all know, we are anything but that.

The gunning down of Mr. Mirza in Karachi has evoked a spontaneous response of grief and regret. As tributes have poured in, the family has found the courage to ask this country how many more must die before there is an end to the violence. They fully well know that having asked that painful question, there are no answers. Guns and the urge to use them at will are now part of our culture and our way of dealing with situations. Muslims now pray under the shadow of guns. For the Pakistanis, weapons that kill have replaced logic, reason and the calm argument. All disagreements can be settled without too much fuss. Because human lives are cheap and there are any number of mercenaries and those fired by bigotry who are prepared to carry out the most heinous attacks, the innocents are targeted every day somewhere in this large land. Mr. Mirza and his driver’s brutal assassination in one of Karachi’s slick, up market areas, at an hour when there is heavy traffic on the roads speaks volumes about how unsafe lives are when faced with the savagery of those who feel little compulsion in killing mercilessly. That he was traveling to work in his BMW should send a sad signal to all those who have risen to positions of prestige in this country. The car, the ultimate symbol of having arrived in the corporate world, was still unable to prevent a cold-blooded murder of a fine and upright man and his unfortunate and loyal driver. As usual, the police are clueless, which is no longer a surprise. A few days later, Mr. Kanju and party were gunned down while campaigning for the local elections. Another score was settled perhaps or a signal was sent to the rival group – whatever, that too was a wanton act of murder most foul and there again, the fragility of our lives stood exposed again.

It is quite understandable that the culture of violence now lies, at its deepest point, merely a few micro-millimeters below the surface. Increasingly, Pakistanis are on the edge all the time and the simplest of provocations triggers off extreme reaction. Actions as simple as overtaking a car have resulted in dire consequences for those who committed the cardinal sin in the first place. Invariably, the one overtaken takes it in the worst possible fashion, and resorts to abuse, threats and violence. Very often, guns are pulled out and used as well. These are people ostensibly like you and me, but then again, very different to us. While many of us would perhaps curse under our breath or utter a silent profanity, many more simply take umbrage and let loose a torrent of abuse or simply shoot.

A few years ago, a friend driving on Lahore’s Mian Mir Bridge, overtook a limo only to be rudely and dangerously shoved to one side moments later. Out emerged a young and very drunk man with a guard who was armed to the teeth and quite willing to prove it as well. As my friend and his family received a verbal thrashing surfeit with four letter adornments, the young lout had worked himself into such a rage that short of foaming at the mouth, he was displaying all the signs of advanced madness. He took out an automatic and fired at the terrified family, who by sheer luck escaped unhurt. The lout was the son of the Punjab governor at the time and such behaviour was common whenever he stepped out. Last week, a Suzuki driven by another lout with a gunman seated at the back, stopped a car carrying three youngsters who had the audacity to overtake the lout. He screamed and kicked their car and called them the vilest names in the book. His guard had already stepped out on the road, one of Lahore’s busiest thoroughfares and was ready to mow everyone down before the situation eased off. The lout was the son of a DIG and on being hauled up eventually on a complaint, expressed astonishment that the youngsters who were in a smaller Suzuki could have possibly had such clout. Full marks to his parents for producing such a fine specimen and no marks for guessing where he will end up a few years from now.

At the official level, things are moving at a pace that would shame the laziest snail in the country. Just about a hundred thousand firearms have been ‘recovered’ and that is not even a drop in the ocean. The great drive to cleanse the society of this horror is yet to get going. On one pretext or another, the government keeps putting it off. The most recent excuse is the local elections and that will be followed by Independence Day celebrations and that by Defence Day and so on, till it will be Ramadan and then Eid and then Mr. Jinnah’s birthday and then New Year and then Muharram and then Eid and so on and so on. The amendments to the 1997 Anti-terrorism Act remain dormant for unknown reasons and the rumours that this will lead to banning of militant outfits and prohibition of training at religious seminaries, remain at best, just rumours. It is futile to talk of taking the bull by the horns since we have yet to locate the bull leave alone the horns. The arms bazaar in the tribal belt is another national joke. Apparently, the drive to deweaponize the country will not be able to touch the arsenals that are readily available here since the locals have assured everyone that they few arms they make are only for use by the locals or at the worst, to hunt rabbits. Not a single firearm finds its way into the rest of the country. One understands that an entry from the Darra is shortly on its way to set a new record in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It should not be too difficult to locate the well known caches of arms that are sprinkled generously across the country. In fact, most people believe that the government agencies are pretty well informed but no one is quite prepared to take it on headlong. It’s pretty much akin to surgeons opening up a patient and finding cancer so rampant that they are relieved simply to close up the body and take a break.

There are no easy solutions but then we are talking about a subject, which has all but eroded civilized existence from Pakistan. Therefore, it has to feature very high on the list of the government’s priorities but the general opinion is, no one seriously wants to take this monster on. Lip service, a few noises, the occasional raid and the even more occasional arrest are far safer. If more Mr.Mirzas die, the highest in the land can be ‘deeply shocked and grieved’ and life then carries on as before. We will never be gun free – no country can be, but some accountability, swift and ruthless has to surface.The steady stream of babble is not going to shut off the sound of guns taking lives.