I realised the love I had for my country when I left it last year to pursue an undergraduate degree. Since then I have always tried to portray Pakistan, my home, as a progressive country which has a very bright future but considering recent developments, I am forced to re evaluate my stance.
I had a mixed opinion about the government negotiating with the Taliban like most Pakistanis at the time. I wanted there to be peace at all costs and if negotiations were the way forward, they should have been pursued. However, when one looks at the situation through a truly rational perspective, it seems impossible for them (The Taliban) and us to co-exist. It is not because we are an intolerant of other (extremist) ideologies but because The Taliban are intolerant of us. In their minds, the civilians of Pakistan are justified targets for attacks because we recognise the legitimacy of the elected government. Even their sympathisers aren't spared, PTI has lost over 3 MPAs in less than 6 months yet their leaders tell us how the Taliban have been wronged and are somewhat justified. Is this the road Pakistan will follow? Who would want to live in a country where the leader of the largest religious political party says that people like Usama Bin Ladin never die but live in the hearts of people? Even Saudi Arabia has made it a criminal offence to sympathise with Al-Qaeda publicly, are we more extreme than the country which doesn't let half of their population drive?
The problem is that the Taliban are not a group of militants hiding somewhere in North Waziristan, they are the representatives of a mindset, of an ideology and they are not limited to one place. Their representatives can easily be found everyday on various political talk shows. Giving legitimacy to this mindset and accepting the Taliban as stakeholders will destroy the very foundations of our sovereignty. How much more innocent blood needs to be shed before we finish what we started.
Today we stand at the cornerstone of our destiny. We are our own masters and have to decide for ourselves. If negotiations are the way forward, can we at least agree on what is negotiable and what isn't? Maulana Sami ul Haq has stated that the talks with the Taliban cannot move forward unless Sharia'h law is implemented in Pakistan. My question is, whose Sharia'h law? Certainly no two groups agree as to what the Sharia'h law is and how it is to be implemented. So should we just pack our bags and accept the Talibans' version of the Sharia'h law? To all the Taliban apologists, do you even know what their version is? They believe in absolute control of the Amir, no elections, no education for women, no secular or western concept (apart from the AK-47 which is a Taliban favourite), no banking system, no supreme court among other pre-historic and anti-civilisation concepts. Do the conservative parties actually want this system or are they just too afraid to say anything against the Taliban.
To the committee which is negotiating with the Taliban, I want to make it clear as a Pakistani that I will not negotiate on my right to elect my leaders, on my right to educate my sisters, on my right of difference of opinion and most importantly, my right to interpret my religion on my own grounds. Benjamin Franklin once said that those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Truer words could not be said since today we are giving our freedoms on a silver platter to militants just so they stop attacking us. The Taliban are powerful because they are adamant on their ideology and they are brave enough to defend it. We on the other hand are willing to sacrifice everything we hold dear out of fear.
I will not join this bandwagon of fear and I urge my representatives to fight this extremism and not cave into the demands of ruthless barbarians. If we accept any of their demands, national policy will not be subject to the parliament but in the hands of men who don't think twice before taking an innocent life. The Taliban is the hunter and we are its prey, and from what common sense tells us, there can never be any negotiations between a hunter and its prey. If this country is to survive, it has to be strong on its foundations otherwise, it will not be long before we become the Islamic Emirate of Pakistan and if we study the history of our neighbour, we all know how that ends.
