EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

JUI-F chief targeted

THE assassination attempts on Maulana Fazlur Rahman, on two successive days, should not come as a surprise: he is not the first `moderate` religious leader whom extremists have tried to eliminate. He is lucky to have survived; others were not. On June 12, 2009, Mufti Dr Sarfaraz Ahmad Naeemi, imam of Jamia Naeemia and a respected scholar, fell victim to a suicide attack. He was a vocal opponent of religious extremism and of the theory and practice of Taliban philosophy. His assassination in a Lahore mosque and the recent attempts on the life of the JUI-F chief conform to doctrinaire strategies which all ideologically motivated movements follow. A `soft-liner` in the fraternity — whatever the term might mean at a given time — is a greater enemy and threat than the `real` enemy. Whether it was the FLN in Algeria or the liberation movement in Kashmir, those who assumed the role of mainstream fighters have always considered `deviants` from the `right path` as heretics meant to be done away with.

The Taliban have no shame in declaring that they are at war with the state of Pakistan. For that reason they target all state institutions and those who run them. They have denounced the electoral process and allege that democracy is western in nature. Maulana Fazl and his party do not appear to share this philosophy and, believing in parliamentary democracy, take part in elections, thus incurring the TTP`s and Al Qaeda`s wrath. The JUI-F has been a fierce opponent of Islamabad`s perceived pro-America policies, but that did not stop it from contesting the 2002 and 2008 elections. The JUI-F has also been part of coalition governments in Islamabad and two provinces and has exhibited common sense by believing that democracy is the best way of solving political differences and resolving ideological schisms. This, in the eyes of the extremists, is a crime punishable by death.

After the first deadly attack, which killed several party workers, the JUI chief managed to reach the venue of his Swabi meeting, where in an angry speech he denounced America and the war on terror. Speaking to the media after Thursday`s attack, the maulana spoke in the same vein, saying that he had been targeted because of his opposition to the drone attacks and his support for Dr Aafia Siddiqui — there was obvious reluctance to openly condemn religious extremism although he is aware that such violent tactics are linked mostly to the TTP. We urge the government to hold an inquiry to determine who planned to assassinate Maulana Fazl, a veteran politician of national stature.

After the setback

IT should have been a great show but it wasn’t, primarily because we faltered when it mattered most. No team should expect to win a vital game if it drops a player like Tendulkar no less than four times and then, chasing a reasonable target, goes about its batting with remarkable ordinariness. Seasoned players who should know better on any given day, let alone a milestone occasion, played with a run-chase strategy that defied logic. The batting left a lot to be desired but in the final analysis it was our woeful fielding that cost us the game. Pakistan lost by 29 runs. How many of those runs could have been saved if the fielders had done the job expected of extravagantly paid professionals? They failed, miserably, and the batsmen weren’t far behind in an all-round show of incompetence. South Africa have for long been branded as chokers, a team that stutters when the pressure is on. Well, on Wednesday in Mohali, it was Pakistan that choked in a fashion that devastated the nation.

That said, it ought to be kept in mind that this was always going to be a contest. One team was going to win and in this instance it was Pakistan that lost. What the nation, and by extrapolation the country’s cricketing structure, has gone through in recent years would have stymied many a team right at the outset. Yet Pakistan fought it out and deserves to be commended for making it to the semi-finals of one-day cricket’s showcase event. As early as Thursday morning there were murmurings about corruption and an effort to deliberately throw the game. People who subscribe to conspiracy theories right off the bat — and there has been plenty of reason for that going back to the mid-1990s — should watch more cricket with a level head. The team isn’t always looking to do Pakistanis down, especially this one under Shahid Khan Afridi. The side couldn’t perform and that should be pretty much it if one isn’t a magnet for rumour-mongering. Let’s give the Pakistan team a rousing reception when it comes home.

Doctors on strike

THE loss of several precious lives in Lahore in a single day allegedly because of a protest strike by doctors brings the latter into disrepute. The young doctors working at public hospitals had been agitating for better job packages for some time. They reportedly took their extremely painful campaign to another level on Wednesday by refusing to see even ‘critical patients’ — if this distinction can be made in the case of the desperate souls who turn up at any health facility, let alone a government-run one. It is appalling to listen to accounts in which the trained hands are blamed for not performing their duty of saving a fellow human being’s life. This paper listed seven deaths resulting from the callous attitude of the doctors on Wednesday. Later investigations revealed many more such cases, completing a truly tragic picture.

The strikers should have done everything to avoid this, both as healers beholden to their oath and as professionals who must shun negative publicity as they fight for their rights. In fact, the disrepute the protesting doctors have so earned weakens their case. However, the government cannot be totally absolved of its responsibility in creating this ugly situation in public hospitals. Ultimately, the doctors’ struggle
highlights the system’s skewed priorities. Both the health sector and those who work for it are desperately short of resources and in need of quick remedies. After a long standoff, on Wednesday an adviser to the chief minister assured the protesting doctors that their service packages would be reviewed when experts prepare the next budget. For this promise to come true, he asked the doctors to return to work which is what they did on Thursday evening. If only the two sides had realised this a few days and a few deaths earlier.