Khayyam Mushir is like a brother to me.

Being a chartered accountant, perhaps there is no other person in Islamabad of his age and in his profession, who is such a great aficionado of literature, a serious student of philosophy, a wise commentator on politics and a crazy buff of vintage international cinema. Islamabad is a small city by South sian standards but a much smaller place when it comes to educated professionals seriously indulging in literary or artistic pursuits or having a passion for cerebral and creative sub!ects. "aving people like Khayyam around gives us some succour. #therwise the harsh winds of philistinism, irrationality, bigotry and violence raging over the intellectual wasteland of $akistan would break us. %he other day, when Khayyam was flaunting his not&so&new android cell phone, he downloaded an application and made me listen to the lines from a novel by 'harles Bukowski in the writer(s own voice. Bukowski said, )It was my first poetry reading...I bust my cherry on that one...I felt terrified...superior...but terrified*+ ,hat an e-pression . superior but terrified. It got me thinking. ,hen does one feel that/ ,hen an artist is e-hibiting his work, a poet reciting his poem or a writer reading from her work in front of an audience who may not be as skilled as the performer but still possesses the authority to approve or disapprove, applaud or dismiss on that occasion. ,hile being intellectually and physically superior to her, you may also feel the same in front of a beloved whose charm and wit disarm you. 0ou long for her presence but when she is in front of you, you feel scared . you are terrified. %hese are all conditions of an individual, a normal human being. 'an this happen to a collective, an institution, a class, a nation, a country/ 0es, it can. %his is e-actly what is happening with the powers that be that are running the affairs of the state of $akistan today. %he state and government of $akistan is superior to the %%$ and all other militant outfits but at the same time completely terrified by them. ,hy do I say they are superior/ 1irst, we have an elected parliament which has the legal and moral authority to legislate for the people of $akistan. It can make any laws that help it further the national agenda. Second, we have a strong government at the federal level, which by no means has to wriggle out to keep itself in power while continuously worrying about keeping deceptive coalition partners on board . as was the case with the previous $$$&led government. $olicymaking and wielding their e-ecutive authority is much easier for them than was the case previously. %hird, we have a standing army of half a million with sufficient e-perience, strength, e2uipment and ability to take on anyone who challenges the writ of the $akistani state. %hen why are they terrified of the %%$ and other militant outfits that work in the name of religion/ %hey are not scared a wee bit when someone wages a struggle against the state or the government of $akistan in the name of provincial, economic, linguistic or labour rights/ %he arms of the state stretch out and crush them. In case of militant outfits which

work in the garb of religion, they are terrified and confused. %hey become apologetic for not acting at all in time, rightly or wrongly is a different business. ,hen the interior minister says that mericans have betrayed $akistan by killing the %%$ chief, he conveniently forgets that the state of $akistan had not removed the head money from "akeemullah even after agreeing to the process of dialogue with them. 3or had the %%$ declared ceasefire on us. %here were at least half&a&dozen acts of terrorism against $akistan in the meanwhile including the killing of senior army men. "e avoids telling us that the delegation of three religious clerics being sent to initiate the dialogue was supposed to meet other people and not the slain %aliban leader. "e forgets to mention in his speech in the 3ational ssembly that "akeemullah(s younger brother was apprehended in fghanistan a few days ago when he was trying to plot more attacks in $akistan with the help of fghan intelligence. %he $%I chief, in his subse2uent speech in the 3ational ssembly, praises the interior minister for his unrelenting pursuit for initiating a peace process with groups within the umbrella of the %%$ and also its splinters. In his advocacy for the dialogue process, he says that we should also think what happens if a military operation from our side fails. ,hat he decides not to speak about is what happens if the dialogue process fails. So why are we terrified by militant outfits that operate in the name of Islam/ It is not that difficult to understand if we take a view of the past. ll our ills are rooted in our history. %he $%I is a little handicapped to do that since for their leader, the political history of $akistan begins with the formation of his party. 1or them, e-tremism and terrorism in $akistan and the wider region begin with 4566 . as recently as in 7886. Interestingly, at the prete-t of respecting Muharram, he has announced not to block 3ato&Isaf supplies until the fourth week of 3ovember. I had no idea that the 3ato&Isaf forces observed shura. 'oming to the $M9&3, it has contributed to a part of that past of $akistan and still draws support from the conservative middle classes of $un!ab and the "indko&speaking areas of Khyber $akhtunkhwa. "istorically, the $akistani state establishment, its military and right&wing political actors like the :amaat&e&Islami created a narrative of the state of $akistan based on e-clusion, intolerance for those who are different and a certain kind of religiosity in the name of Islam. %hey encouraged using religion to counter every internal and e-ternal challenge to their authority and influence, to shift focus from the real issues of poverty and dispossession of the common people, to control the minds of the people. %he powerful institutions of the state and the institutions of society supported by the state infused a certain mi- of paranoia of both India and the west and a pride in their religion and nationhood in the name of religion through biased and lopsided curricula, conservative media messages and harbouring religious movements, both violent and non& violent, that were bigoted in nature. %his narrative has become popular today with a large number of people in the power centres of northern $akistan . 9ahore, Islamabad and $eshawar besides other cities and towns in these areas.

%he slain leader of the %%$ is termed a martyr by the :I chief. "e had the gall to say that even after knowing that Mehsud was waging war against $akistan and had killed thousands of innocent women, men and children. ny sane person would suggest holding a dialogue with those who want to lay down arms and become part of the mainstream political process; and then go on and rehabilitate them. But what is your position/ lso, what do you do with those who will not lay down arms and instead come up with conditions that are detrimental to the very foundations of the state/ ,hat will the $M9&3 and the $%I say then/ %hey are not pursuing the process from a position of strength. $erhaps they can(t because even if they know the truth, they cannot speak the truth to their constituents, those who have voted them in. %he $akistani establishment has made a certain narrative popular, which the two parties are based into. If we want a theocracy in $akistan, militants !ust want more of it and of course of their own brand. <ven if we are superior but terrified, we are not superior. %hey are. %he writer is a poet and author based in Islamabad. <mail= harris.khali2ue>gmail.com