December 16th,1971 & 2014 – No Lesson Learnt

It seems, understandably, fair for any sensitive person to experience an excruciating pain, agony, melancholy and an intense emotional charge as one of the darkest and scariest dates approaches on the calendar. As a nation, we reaped what we sowed.

Continuous deprivation, exploitation, discrimination and unfair distribution of resources were the factors those led to the Fall of Dhaka. While the heart wrenching tragedy of 2014, APS Children Massacre, is an absolute failure of state institutions, responsible for our security, just like 9/11 was in the US. If we dig deep to apprehend the causes of APS Children Massacre, it again leads us to the most absurd, directionless and aimless policies of the state.

Imagine our extreme of misfortune and ruthlessness that instead of learning some lessons from these tragedies to determine our destination correctly, we have started politics on these two. The full details of the investigations into these worst tragedies have not come out till date and, perhaps, never will because certain various elements continue to use these two horrific incidents, as needed, to fulfill their own narrative and sinister agenda.

No matter how much we sugarcoat it, present logics, arguments and justifications, the reality will not change. This is how the world perceives us – it was our collective failure as a nation and it was the failure of the state when it couldn’t protect its own citizens.

Failure is an orphan, they say, so the politicians blame the army and the army blame the politicians. The world laughs at us, sarcastically, as in the eyes of the world, army or the politicians, both were Pakistani. In 1971 we were not only defeated, we were torn apart, geographically but we tried successfully to remain composed. In 2014 we were torn apart, psychologically – so bad that we felt our hearts bleeding and nerves cracking. In 1971, apparently, insurgency was limited to two parts of the country (Balochistan and East Pakistan). Today, this menace has spread to Sindh, Balochistan, KP, South Punjab and Azad Kashmir. In 2014, insurgents were there in KP with all their terror and brutality, their presence there is proven even today. They are now everywhere. History doesn’t just repeat itself. It repeats itself very quickly for those who do not learn from it.

The price of wrong policies of state and failure of state institutions, is the spilling of blood and the merciless slaughter of common citizens, anywhere and at any time, which is glorified by those in power and authority so that we consider this glorification as something sacred and think of it as an honor for ourselves. And we exactly act like that, instead of exploring the causes and reasons of such horrific incidents and possible preventive measures.

Holding a few events in which deliver same old repeated speeches in a monotonous tone with obviously made-up serious face, do we think that we have done justice to the aggrieved and history? Let's just assume for a few moments that it was our own children at the APS, not anyone else's and these were not Bengalis but people of our own family. Would our reaction, then, have been the same as we do today? The grievances of the Bengalis against the state were more or less similar to those of the Pashtuns, Balochs, Muhajirs, Sindhis, Kashmiris and even the Punjabis of Southern Punjabies.

Now, decide for yourself whether we should continue to commemorate and glorify such tragedies which are increasing in number and to whom we are becoming increasingly immune to as well, or take some serious steps to prevent such tragedies from happening. Whatever has to be done, it has to be done very quickly because we are running short of time, already.

Hassan Saleem Awan

December 16, 2022