Of Revenge

By: Shariq Khan.

All of us, as we move in life, at each step we create our own demons. Pakistan has created a demon far worse than any the world has seen so far; the Taliban. Made in Afghanistan, Pakistan is guilty of providing the Taliban a market to sell destruction in. Of-course Pakistan did not know that the grenades it planned to throw south would explode in its own front-yard. Pakistan was blissfully unaware. Or was it?

One preposition is, Pakistan has been the worst sufferer of terrorism than any other country. Enough warnings had been issued to Pakistan of the probable future it was headed towards. Blinded by a power it did not have the capability to control, Pakistan ignored all of the warnings. Terror bred in its own backyard, innocent lives were being lost to it each day, but Pakistan remained non-compliant in taking actions to rid itself of the Taliban and chose defiance of the threat as its Course of Action.

The other preposition is that the scale of damage that the Taliban had been causing inside Pakistan was perceived by the government as 'collateral' damage. India and Pakistan are like brothers at war. In a war between brothers, a mad desire to prove oneself better than the other becomes so important that the brothers would do anything to achieve supremacy. A long history always runs between brothers. The things that the brothers would have fought on during their boyhood days rage many new wars. The things that they loved each other for make their war even bitterer as each looks upon the other's love through a veil of suspicion. In a war between brothers, the winner is the biggest loser.

India and Pakistan have met in four full-fledged wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999 to claim supremacy over Kashmir, Bangladesh, Sir Creek and other issues that are still outstanding. As a preparation for wars that 'might' be waged in the future, Pakistan sheltered Taliban.

The dark probable future that the world feared for Pakistan turned into a reality on Tuesday, 16th of December. Seven gunmen entered an army school in Peshawar with a single aim, that of revenge. They were seeking revenge for their 'brothers' slain by the army and they took it by killing the children of their perpetrators. With their twisted sense of justice, the sadists killed 145 inside the school. 132 of the victims of their revenge were children between eight and eighteen years of age. The demons Pakistan created killed its future at point-blank and laughed as innocent children fell lifeless to the ground. A five year old girl was killed on her first day of school. Hands that had just learnt to hold the pen in the right style were rendered motionless. Foreheads that just a few hours ago were kissed by mothers were holed with bullets to seek revenge for an act of their parents they were yet to even know about. Tehrik-i-Taliban proudly claimed responsibility of the attacks.

The worse thing about revenge is it can be highly contagious. Revenge induces revenge.

15-year-old Dawood Ibrahim is the only boy of the IXth grade who is still alive after the Talibanis murdered all of his classmates in the Peshawar Army Public School.

Dawood was lucky his alarm failed to wake him on the fateful morning and he couldn't attend school. A few hours later he discovered, there was nothing left in his school to attend. A strong willed judoka champion, Dawood's reaction to the massacre is worrying. He showed no emotion as he attended one funeral after the other of classmates he played with a day before.

15-Year-Old Dawood Inrahim was lucky to have overslept on the fateful morning Taliban murdered all of his class-mates in the Peshawar Army Public School.

The lack of emotions on Dawood's face reflects a very strong emotion building up deep within the folds of his immature mind. Revenge.

Revenge is an emotion so powerful it can force maturity in innocent minds like Dawood's and kill all other emotions from growing. Revenge nurtures the strongest emotion of Man-kind: hate. It was this emotion of revenge that misguided the gunmen into killing innocent children. God forbid, it has the power of leading Dawood into the same. It is a probable future Pakistan cannot afford to ignore.

The Pakistani society now has the responsibility of bringing back emotions on Dawood's face. Till the time Dawood's innocent face will learn to smile again, revenge and hatred will grow beneath swollen eyes and the numbed lips.

The #IndiaWithPak campaign and the various facebook, twitter and blog messages flowing in about the situation are crucial.

A boy mocked these social messages against the Taliban by writing

I hope Taliban is on Facebook or everyone's posts (posts which are pointed towards Taliban, like "you stupid Taliban" etc) will be for nothing..

Peace.

What he has failed to understand is that these messages are not meant to make the Taliban listen or to make the Taliban feel guilty. The Taliban will never feel guilty about what it has done. It will take pride in what it has done. These messages are not for the Taliban. They are for the society.

Pakistan, with the support of India and the rest of the world, needs to make sure Dawood does not grow with revenge acting as the growth factor. It will create another Taliban. The society needs to teach Dawood better.

It is time India forgave its brother for the mistakes it has made. That's what brothers do. They may fight over petty issues but when the time comes and one brother is in suffering, the other feels the pain. India has felt the pain. That is what gave birth to #IndiaWithPak. Now, we need to make it work. It is our responsibility to help Pakistan exorcise the demons it created and help it evolve a society that has risen above the feelings of hatred and revenge. It is our responsibility to make Dawood smile again.

#WorldWithPak