In a peaceful Defence Housing Authority (DHA) neighbourhood a massive blast shattered houses and killed eight persons including a mother and son going to the boy's school for a sports day. Their life story and tragic end brought tears to the eyes of DHA residents who otherwise do not weep for the other innocent victims of terrorist and gangster attack in the rest of the city.
Last Monday a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden car into the house of SP Aslam Khan, better known as Chaudhry Aslam, of the Crime Investigation Department (CID). Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack was well timed for early morning when Chaudhry Aslam was likely to be at home. He escaped unhurt but innocent lives were lost. They included three policemen guarding Aslam's house and his cook, the driver and his son in the bungalow next to the police officer's house and the mother and son.
This is a scenario that repeats throughout the country and has been going on since ten years, ever since 9/11. It is of little importance whether it is an attack by American-led Nato forces allegedly fighting terrorists or whether it is attacks by the terrorists themselves. The attacking party always says they aim to kill a single leader of a pro or anti terrorism party but innocent people, mostly women and children have paid with their lives. While the prime target escapes.
How many thousands were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in trying to destroy Mulla Omar and Osama bin Laden? How many thousands of innocent people have died in police and ranger operations to catch a handful of criminals? I tried to keep a tally of the number of innocent people who have been killed but it was impossible to maintain an accurate count because either the death toll was never given or slurred by ambiguous statements such as "many died, hundreds lost their live, civilians died."
It reflected the lack of concern for innocent victims in the war on terror. This becames apparent in the follow-up reports of attacks in which the political implications take precedence over human interest. Blame games are launched and countered. The death of innocent people serves as a strong argument only: "We have suffered. So many of our citizens have suffered. So many innocent lives were lost." All that remains is to shed crocodile tears.
Terrorists alone are not responsible for innocent lives lost. Persons involved in crime control and terror eradication have killed nearly as many innocent people as the terrorists, if not more. This is especially the case of the Nato forces whose drone attacks have destroyed whole villages.
Nobody is at all concerned although they are aware that the number of innocent people killed will exceed the number of the criminals and terrorists killed. This lack of concern is apparent in Chaudhry Aslam living in a residential area for ordinary civilians. Worse still, the SP's house is located opposite a school where the mother and son were killed.
Chaudhry Aslam heads the anti-extremist cell of CID. It is reasonable to assume he would be seen as arch enemy by the TTP types. He was thus a security risk for the people living near his house. Was it right to expose them so mindlessly to the risk?
Instead of showing concern for the ordinary folk Additional Inspector General of Sindh Police Saud Mirza said Chaudhdry Aslam was living in a wrong place because of the risk to his life. The SP was well guarded, said the IG. Is this a valid excuse for high risk personnel to take up residence among ordinary folk? This ploy seems no different from the terrorists who have their safe houses in residential areas. Once again, I do not see any difference in approach of legitimate forces or terrorists.
Terrorist attack in Karachi, and elsewhere have targeted police stations, naval police station and similar other places. Following the attack on Chaudhry Aslam's house the residents of the area now want the Darakhshan Police Station on 31-Street, not far from Chaudhry Aslam's house, to be relocated elsewhere. The whole area in the neighbourhood of the police station is dotted by schools. These schools are located on Saba Avenue, and 31 and 32-Street which run parallel to each other.
In Karachi these days there are simply too many police stations in the heart of residential areas and all of them are high risk places, exposing the ordinary public to risk as well. There are also heavy police personnel guarding homes of provincial ministers who have become a nuisance to the people in bungalows nearby and also to the road users. The roads are arbitrarily blocked to traffic and people have to reach places near ministers homes by roundabout ways which is frustrating.
There is really no interest in the security of the public. When they become innocent victims of an attack the government announces compensation, which half the time is never delivered. But to whom will they offer compensation when the whole family is killed? The mother and child killed in the attack on Chaudhry Aslam's house were a family of two. Mumtaz Niazi 33, was a divorcee. Her eight-year-old son Mohid Khan lovingly called Sonu was his mother's whole world. They lived together and, one is thankful they died together. Had one of them survived, do you think their sorrow would lessen with any government offered compensation?