Cocktails and Dreams

The Price of Peace

Last night there was a suicide attack in a mosque not so far away from my home. a couple of people were killed and the angry mob took to the streets, burning down several petrol pumps, shops, cars, buses and the nearby KFC (which consumed 6 innocent lives who were hidden inside the restaurant). I wont comment on who I think was responsible for the suicide attacks, nor will I comment on the extent to which the retaliation should (or could) have been limited to. But what I do wonder sometimes is a really challenging question that often bothers me: is it better to stay here in Pakistan or go and live abroad? Fine let’s say we prefer to earn rupees over dollars; that we would rather prefer to sacrifice our passions and hobbies for the duty to our homeland; that we prefer to live in a non luxurious and inconvenient system of life rather than the systematic and free flowing easy way of life abroad. Fine. Agreed. We prefer to do all this. But the important question is: with the fluctuating security conditions around us, can we sacrifice our lives living here? And that too knowing fully well that most often than not our blood will not be for the sake of our homeland. Unfortunately, in fact very unfortunately, nowadays in Pakistan and more so in Karachi (very very unfortunately) the system is:
-your cell phone or your life
-your new car or your life
-your jewelry or your life
-the money u just withdrew from the bank or your life
-change your political views/attachments or your life

Isn’t it a pity that we're now weighing such a sacred, priceless entity as OUR LIFE with worldly goods? There have been youngsters who have DIED just because they hesitated to hand over their cell phones to the dacoits. There have been newly weds who have been widowed only days into their marriage because they took too long to take off their jewelry in a robbery. This is seen and reported more in Karachi than in other cities (and I’ll give my views on that some other time), but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening in other locations around the country. The sad thing , and which brings me to the root of my question, is that the people we are running from; the people we are scared off; the people for which we’re using security guards and alarm systems and car trackers; the people against who we’re filing reports and running cases; the people who are killing the innocent; robbing, stealing, raping; the people who we’re scared will burn our cars (or the NUST transport van for sure ) the next time an incident like this happens; the people who are blowing themselves up in the most sacred and secure place on this planet; and the people who we cant put a finger on…….these people are all part of us! They’re all part of the same culture, the same heritage, the same ideology, the same international status, THE SAME BLOODY NATIONALITY!
If we have to sacrifice our luxury and dreams and passions for the homeland in which we are terrorized by our own race of people, tell me why then, is it not better to go and live abroad, where if we still are terrorized and threatened and disrespected, at least the thought might make us feel better that the oppressors are foreign tyrants and that this sort of behavior could be expected. We still would be living our dream life, and (for the ones that are of that kind) going for what makes us passionate about work and education
What is the price of peace do we have to pay? Because the highest price anyone can offer is their life, and at the moment even this seems to be falling short of a solution.

posted by h@mMy! @ 10:32 PM