"Anyone’s Terrorist should be everyone’s Terrorist!"
Distinguished guests,
I am highly
obliged to the organizers of this event for conducting this seminar on this
important subject. It is an honor to be present here and share my views
regarding terrorism and instability from a Kashmiri perspective.
Today’s
topic is terrorism and its impact on the region. This is undoubtedly a vast
topic which has been discussed numerous times over the recent years and has
also been the subject of various books. I consider ourselves very unfortunate
that we not only are reading about terrorism in books, but are actually facing
it, fighting it and perhaps even part of it. Terrorism in this era has taken
various shapes and we have been suffering from this phenomenon continuously in
the form of wars, subjugation and oppression.
I, myself
have seen terrorism from very close. At seventeen years old, my aim and
objective was national freedom for Kashmir and its oppressed people based on
armed struggle. While some may disagree, I do not consider that my intentions
nor my actions would classify as terrorism. However, I am thankful to time
which taught me through literature and experience what terrorism actually is.
Terrorism ruins dreams, futures, cultures, civilizations and eventually
corrupts humanity and human values.
I fail to
find a bigger sin than a suicide attack. A suicide attack which murders
humanity while it tears apart the bodies of children, women and the elderly.
What happened recently in Peshawar when more than 145 people including 135
innocent children became the victims of terrorists is beyond all comprehension.
Words fell short to condemn such a heinous crime and condemnation made way for
anger and hate against the perpetrators. For a second people lost faith in the
Almighty and his creations. Religion, morality, principles and human relations
and human values based on the tenets of humanity lost all meaning. History has
taught us that even the most barbaric people have been merciful regarding
children. The terrorists responsible for the massacre in Peshawar proved
history wrong and it is a shame for all of us that we have allowed such a thing
to happen. We must all stand up, condemn and fight these evil demons.
We must not
forget that ex-President of Pakistan, dictator General Zia-ul-Haq initiated
this and unfortunately the Pakistani military establishment and in particular
its secret intelligence services have enhanced terrorism and converted it into
a multi-billion dollar industry. Religious fundamentalism was purposely
nourished and terrorism became a corner-stone of Pakistan’s defense strategy in
order to provoke settlements to disputes in the region.
We Kashmiris
have been the ultimate sufferers of this strategy, as terrorism was imposed on
us. Terrorism in Kashmir, was masqueraded by cloaks of national freedom
struggle and independence in order to deceive the innocent masses. It proved to
be the base for our sufferings and cultural corruption. Whenever India and
Pakistan exchange fire across their borders, irrespective of who is culpable of
firing the first bullet, it is always the unfortunate Kashmiri who gets killed.
It is always the unfortunate Kashmiris whose home, livelihood and property is
bombed.
There are
some who have linked terrorism with Islam. Needless to say that terrorism and
terrorists do not belong to any religion. No religion teaches hate and murder.
All religions dictate brotherhood, peace and humanity. The ones who want to
make the world believe that Islam inspires terrorists, should remember that
Islam considers all life forms as sacred. The sanctity of human life is
accorded a special place. The first and the foremost basic right of a human
being is the right to live peacefully. The Glorious Quran says: “If any one
kills an innocent person, it would be as if he killed the whole of mankind. And
if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole
mankind.”
The world
has moved to the 21st century and turned into a global village. In
today’s world issues and conflicts are solved through peaceful ways. There is
no place for terrorism in today’s world and the whole human civilization has
recognized and acknowledged that the spread of this cancer needs to be stopped
forthwith. It is pleasing to note that the people of Pakistan have come out to
battle this terrorism as well, as they have realized that otherwise their
country will be annihilated. This terrorism has already proven to annihilate
brotherhood and friendship in the region.
It is said
that men fight war to live in peace. Unfortunately, almost 70 years of ongoing
proxy war in has not yet succeeded in achieving peace in South Asia. Hostility
and distrust have compelled India and Pakistan to spend huge amounts of their
annual budget on defense. Amounts which could be used to fight poverty, illiteracy
and disease in their own respective countries. This conduct has only
contributed to radicalization and fundamentalism which eventually enhances
terrorism.
Unfortunately
the US and the West have at times used terrorism for their national interests
in the past. It has been proven beyond doubt that Osama bin Laden was a
creation of the US and its intelligence agency. We must acknowledge that there
are no ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists. Anyone’s terrorist should be everyone’s
terrorist as it is a threat to human civilizations. We cannot afford to
differentiate.
I appeal to
the world and its leaders to resolve regional territorial and other issues among each other through dialogue and peaceful means. The world must also
unite to solve the Palestine issue according to the wishes of the Palestinians.
Excesses against innocent people, committed by Isreeli’s forces in Palestine,
could prove to become inspiration for radicals and misguided and brainwashed
youth. Although terrorism has no
justification, at the same time state-sponsored terrorism does not have
any justification as well. We must also
consider this aspect of terrorism which gives birth to only more hate,
alienation and distrust.
35-40% of
the people in South Asia live below the poverty line. It is high time that we
contemplate where we are standing. In order to instill terror in the heart of
terrorism, it is of the utmost importance that we murder poverty, illiteracy
and religious extremism from our lives and start seeding seeds of peace,
harmony and brotherhood.
(Speech of Hashim Qureshi, Chairman JKDLP at an International Conference organized by JKIPA in Vienna, Austria).
