One year on (Karachi Violence)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Editorial
The News International, Pakistan
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sadly, the holiday announced in Sindh on May 12 has become a matter of political controversy, shaking the harmonious front of national politics at a time when we urgently need unity. Without making any attempt to attribute blame or discuss the various stances adopted, we should look only at the facts. These are that in Karachi, on May 12 2007, dozens of people died in violence that broke out as the chief justice was scheduled to arrive in the city. Without even considering the politics involved, either at that time or now, the fact is that unnatural human death is almost always a tragedy. This is true whether it comes in ones or twos or by the dozen. One of the reasons for the brutalization of our society is that we have forgotten how reverent human life is and have lost our ability to value it. Indeed even mass death in terrorist attacks now no longer moves us much of the time.
We need to rediscover our capacity to mourn death and to realize that in some cases the politics that so often surround it are relatively insignificant. The events of May 12 remain controversial. But even so the tragedy of death on that day, and indeed on many other occasions across the country, should in some way be remembered, so that we can build a greater unwillingness to accept violence of all kinds and consequently more will to fight the factors that lead up to it in our cities, towns and villages.
The News International, Pakistan
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sadly, the holiday announced in Sindh on May 12 has become a matter of political controversy, shaking the harmonious front of national politics at a time when we urgently need unity. Without making any attempt to attribute blame or discuss the various stances adopted, we should look only at the facts. These are that in Karachi, on May 12 2007, dozens of people died in violence that broke out as the chief justice was scheduled to arrive in the city. Without even considering the politics involved, either at that time or now, the fact is that unnatural human death is almost always a tragedy. This is true whether it comes in ones or twos or by the dozen. One of the reasons for the brutalization of our society is that we have forgotten how reverent human life is and have lost our ability to value it. Indeed even mass death in terrorist attacks now no longer moves us much of the time.
We need to rediscover our capacity to mourn death and to realize that in some cases the politics that so often surround it are relatively insignificant. The events of May 12 remain controversial. But even so the tragedy of death on that day, and indeed on many other occasions across the country, should in some way be remembered, so that we can build a greater unwillingness to accept violence of all kinds and consequently more will to fight the factors that lead up to it in our cities, towns and villages.
Labels: Judiciary, Karachi, Pakistan
posted @ 11:27 AM,
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