AP Photo: Students Chant Slogans at a Rally in Islamabad
On Saturday, the Pakistani Army announced it had captured Kotkai, a town “important for both its symbolic and strategic value.” Kotkai, the home of the new Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud and militant commander Qari Hussain, was reportedly taken after “intense fighting” between the military and Taliban in South Waziristan. According to the NY Times, “It was the first notable sign of progress in what military analysts say will be an arduous slog for the army against a resilient enemy.”
While these tactical victories are necessary for the military to gain ground in South Waziristan, they are overshadowed by the continuing onslaught of terror attacks in the rest of Pakistan. On Saturday, the same day as the Kotkai capture, at least 32 people were killed in three separate attacks throughout the country. Pakistan’s information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters that recent attacks have killed about 200 people total. And, while much of the violence has targeted Pakistan’s security apparatus – from the Army’s General Headquarters to Pakistan’s Aeronautical Complex – devastating bombings also struck Islamabad’s International Islamic University last week, killing 6 students and causing the government to shut down all schools, colleges and universities for five days.
Amid all this chaos and confusion, Pakistan’s crisis of leadership has been made all the more apparent. In his column, aptly titled, “Where Are You, Our Leaders,” Cyril Almeida wrote,
We’ve heard a thousand times how a successful counter-insurgency needs the support of the people. But right now it feels like it’s us, the people, against the ubiquitous suicide bombers and fidayeen attackers, with our leaders hiding inside their bombproof houses and cars and behind walls of impenetrable security.
Within this vacuum, local citizens are taking the reins. This weekend, students in Islamabad and Karachi took to the streets, denouncing all acts of terrorism and protesting the closure of educational institutions. In Karachi, Pakistanis from various universities formed a group, Jaag Meray Talib-e-Ilm, and demonstrated outside the Karachi Press Club on Saturday. On the Laidback Show, bloggers Faisal Kapadia and Awab Alvi interviewed some of the students at the rally [see the video here]. One passionate girl told them, “We are requesting the government to provide us [universities] with security. We are appealing to the students of Pakistan to stand with us…this cannot go on..education is essential for our future.”
Tazeen, who teaches at a private university in Karachi, wrote at A Reluctant Mind,
In two days time, they [students] managed to not only mobilize other students and made their presence felt with out any prior activism experience; they did so in face of opposition from their parents and families who tried to discourage them from stepping out of the secure confines of their homes. They did it when a local TV channel aired the news that a suspected bomber wearing a suicide jacket was seen in the vicinity of the area of protest.
In Islamabad, Pakistan Young Journalists Forum (PYJF), in collaboration with the Pyaam Foundation and Future Leaders of Pakistan (FLP) organized a peace rally at the International Islamic University on Sunday. The rally, led by Pyaam Foundation founder Basit Subhani, PYJF President Rahat Kazmi, and FLP’s Faiz Paracha, stopped at the sites where the attackers struck the university, showering rose petals and praying for the victims of the bombings, as well as the army and police officials killed in terrorist attacks. According to the Daily Times, the protesters “said the people would not succumb to terrorists, who wanted to destabilize the country. They expressed resolve to get together against terrorists.”
This inspirational, awe-spiring show of citizen resolve by no means absolves our government of blame. Pakistan’s leaders should be the figures encouraging these movements. While our Army is fighting the war against the Taliban, they should be ensuring that universities and schools are provided with security, that suicide attackers are not falling through the cracks in Pakistan’s cities. They should be providing food and shelter to the hundreds of thousands displaced by the conflict. So far, they have failed in every regard. Meanwhile, the country’s youth has stepped forward, showing that, despite efforts to instill fear in the nation, they at least will not be terrorized.
CHUP! - Changing Up Pakistan 
Fear and apprehension of what may happen is the highest form of terrorism. I think that closing educational institutes is the worst step taken in the recent days. You are giving the terrorists exactly what they want and that is to paralyze everyone with so much fear that life becomes absolutely impossible. Kudos to the students who raised their voices against such policies and terrorism.
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I hope that these students are rewarded with the political leadership that they deserve.
Great post Kalsoom. You neatly summed up not only what’s going on with the recent events and the youth asserting its voice but have also summarized what’s being said in the local media/blogs etc. Thanks!
INshallah Inshallah this can be the start of something great. Just like the lawyers movement was a success because there were different bar associations, some very tiny but omnipresent all over Pakistan and this helped to make the lawyers movement a success, maybe this student movement can have change.
Would a revolution be in the offing? Let’s hope so. One is long due.
Yawar,
In my opinion, a revolution would require a leader among this movement to form a cohesive ideology and galvanize people around it. So far, we have pockets of demonstrations and protests which are inspirational and significant, but in order to really push that momentum in a tangible direction, we need a leader. The question in Pakistan has always been who will step up? We’ve long had a crisis of leadership and it’s unfortunate that no new leaders have entered the fold.
uh oh! Not a leader again! We already have too many no-good leaders and in our history with leaders I can see nothing good has ever happened! Let this thing roll and evolve on its own and gain momentum. Students will identify their own leader from amongst themselves, no one needs to step up! This movement will succeed when the sporadic elements unite cohesively on one platform with one agenda and act as a force and identify their leader themselves.
I would hate to see a party like tehreek-e-what-not-talba claiming leadership and sending out calls for protests when they have their own agenda.
Faiza,
That’s what I meant. A leader needs to come from this movement, from among the students.
yes, do we need to wait for the leader because all the leaders that we have today are cultivated into leadership position…how many of they have an ideology of there own? so if we have to wait for a hero to rise it might take a long long time and sporadic rise happens only in movies…I think student body across the country will have to appoint a leader which reflect their vision and ideology and than take the movement to the next level…but again this movement will have to be take to the interior parts of the country where youth may still have a totally different and MAY BE radial ideas
Muslims pride in the belief of the afterlife and respect for our current existence. But now it seems we just don’t give a damn about it all. If I were to tell you that a governor was appointed for paying massive amounts of dollars or a minister is making money by selling LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) files, I can guarantee you no less than a thousand emails and text messages would be circulating Pakistan. We are not a nation of drama queens. Enough is enough!
http://ahraza.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/enough-is-enough/
love the words. ERA OF CITIZEN RESOLVE. 🙂
the only problem is that even that needs a leader and somehow in a nation absolutely filled to the brim with egos- we have no true leaders- ones who put the country ahead of everything else.
The unswerving resolve of the youth against the recent saga of terrorism is indeed remarkable.
However, as pointed out in the comments, would it bring long-term consequences? Hardly, unless it’s properly oriented to become a force which’s both contained after the tide and persistent in other issues of national interest. Leaderships emerge when social orders change – or are on the way. Unfortunately, we still are to see a maturity in our social thinking patterns.