Friday, December 21, 2012, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/
Last Friday, Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old man, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut, New England in the US and opened fired: he was heavily armed. Teachers hid children in closets and anywhere else they could but within minutes 26 people had been shot dead, 20 of them were children. Carrying weapons registered to his mother, Nancy Lanza, Adam managed to create havoc in the small town, which only had one homicide in the last 10 years. Reportedly, before embarking on this carnage, Adam Lanza had shot his own mother in the face, killing her and afterwards wiped out another 26 innocent lives before he shot himself.
According to the data available with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), based at the City University in London, it is reported that from June 2004 to mid-September 2012, approximately 2,562-3,325 people were killed by drone strikes in Pakistan, 176 of them were children; thousands are left injured and maimed by these drone strikes. The International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic of Stanford Law School (Stanford Clinic) and the Global Justice Clinic at New York University School of Law (NYU Clinic) have recently published a study titled ‘Living Under Drones’. This study was the result of nine months of intensive research in Pakistan, as a result of a request by Reprieve, a charity based in the UK, for “conducting independent investigations into whether, and to what extent, drone strikes in Pakistan conformed to international law and caused harm and/or injury to civilians.” Among other findings the study states: Drones hover 24 hours a day over communities in northwest Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning. Their presence terrorises men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves. These fears have affected behaviour. The US practice of striking one area multiple times, and evidence that it has killed rescuers, makes both community members and humanitarian workers afraid or unwilling to assist injured victims. Some community members shy away from gathering in groups, including important tribal dispute-resolution bodies, out of fear that they may attract the attention of drone operators. Some parents choose to keep their children home, and children injured or traumatised by strikes have dropped out of school. Waziris told our researchers that the strikes have undermined cultural and religious practices related to burial, and made family members afraid to attend funerals. In addition, families who lost loved ones or their homes in drone strikes now struggle to support themselves.” The study also states that out of the total casualties, only two percent of ‘high-level’ targets are killed as a result of these drones.
A few years ago, I watched an interview of a suspected suicide bomber, who had been taken into custody by the Pakistani authorities. While deposing that everyone apart from the people who were fighting in Miranshah and North Waziristan, all were infidels, the suspect, on a question as to why they killed children in their attacks, responded by saying “because they are the children of infidels”.
It is believed that the terrorists who were involved in the ‘Beslan Massacre’ were Ingush and Chechen rebels, part of an Islamic separatist group, fighting for the independence of Chechnya. Adam Lanza is being portrayed as a person with a psycho-social disorder, who had exhibited symptoms during his school years.
US President Barack Obama, a father of two girls, delivered a public statement after the tragic incident at the Connecticut School. Shedding tears, the President said, “Our hearts are broken today...The majority of those who died today were children. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old...Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no...We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change...Surely we can do better than this.”
Terrorists have no religion, no creed and no caste; they are simply that...‘just terrorists’. No parent expects that when he/she sends his/her children to school in the morning, or out to play, it might be the last time that they may see them. The parents of the children in Beslan did not and neither did the parents of the children in Connecticut. But imagine the parents of children in North Waziristan: they are terrified to send their children to school, they are terrified to send their children out to play and they are terrified to keep them at home. While shedding tears for the children killed by an apparently deranged man, the US president never even probably thought of shedding a single tear for all the children killed and injured by his drones in Pakistan. How can a parent not weep for the loss of a child, just because the child was not his? How can a parent talk about keeping his children safe yet kill those of others? Yes, in all these years, not even a single tear for the children of Pakistan, not even a crocodile one.
But who is responsible? We all are -- the government, the ineffective parliamentarians, the tacitly consensual army, the un-enraged people of Pakistan, yes, we all are. While we struggle to keep our own children safe, we do nothing for the children of North Waziristan. Mr Obama is right in saying that these tragedies must end and for them to end we must change ourselves. Is it possible then that the US is actually a terrorist country? Or is it possible that it is suffering from severe paranoia and psycho-social disorder? The American people are gullible and uninformed: I am sure if the footage of our children killed was aired to them there would be many outraged American parents calling for tragedies to end, for our children are also made of flesh and blood like theirs; our children too deserve to live, to be protected from all harm.
The tree of grief is a 25 feet tall monument to the Beslan tragedy, which shows four women as the trunk, holding up branches covered with little angels. Sadly, we do not even have a leaf for our little angels, deprived of the tree of life. Surely, we can do better than this.
The writer is an advocate of the High Court
How can a parent not weep for the loss of a child, just because the child was not his? How can a parent talk about keeping his children safe yet kill those of others?
It was the year 2004 and the first day of September; the site was School Number One, located in the town of Beslan, North Ossetia, in the Russian Federation. It was the start of the new school year and hundreds of children accompanied by their parents were present on the grounds when a group of terrorists arrived allegedly in a police van and a military truck shortly after 9:00 am, shooting in the air. The children and their relatives were forced into the school gymnasium while around eight people were killed as a brief gunfight ensued between the terrorists and police. More than 1,100 persons were taken hostage, nearly 800 of them were children. The terrorists prevented the hostages, including children, from eating or drinking, shot and blasted strong adults with remote controlled bombs. The Russian troops stormed the building on the third day of the siege: 326 people died, 186 of them were children.
Last Friday, Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old man, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut, New England in the US and opened fired: he was heavily armed. Teachers hid children in closets and anywhere else they could but within minutes 26 people had been shot dead, 20 of them were children. Carrying weapons registered to his mother, Nancy Lanza, Adam managed to create havoc in the small town, which only had one homicide in the last 10 years. Reportedly, before embarking on this carnage, Adam Lanza had shot his own mother in the face, killing her and afterwards wiped out another 26 innocent lives before he shot himself.
According to the data available with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), based at the City University in London, it is reported that from June 2004 to mid-September 2012, approximately 2,562-3,325 people were killed by drone strikes in Pakistan, 176 of them were children; thousands are left injured and maimed by these drone strikes. The International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic of Stanford Law School (Stanford Clinic) and the Global Justice Clinic at New York University School of Law (NYU Clinic) have recently published a study titled ‘Living Under Drones’. This study was the result of nine months of intensive research in Pakistan, as a result of a request by Reprieve, a charity based in the UK, for “conducting independent investigations into whether, and to what extent, drone strikes in Pakistan conformed to international law and caused harm and/or injury to civilians.” Among other findings the study states: Drones hover 24 hours a day over communities in northwest Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning. Their presence terrorises men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves. These fears have affected behaviour. The US practice of striking one area multiple times, and evidence that it has killed rescuers, makes both community members and humanitarian workers afraid or unwilling to assist injured victims. Some community members shy away from gathering in groups, including important tribal dispute-resolution bodies, out of fear that they may attract the attention of drone operators. Some parents choose to keep their children home, and children injured or traumatised by strikes have dropped out of school. Waziris told our researchers that the strikes have undermined cultural and religious practices related to burial, and made family members afraid to attend funerals. In addition, families who lost loved ones or their homes in drone strikes now struggle to support themselves.” The study also states that out of the total casualties, only two percent of ‘high-level’ targets are killed as a result of these drones.
A few years ago, I watched an interview of a suspected suicide bomber, who had been taken into custody by the Pakistani authorities. While deposing that everyone apart from the people who were fighting in Miranshah and North Waziristan, all were infidels, the suspect, on a question as to why they killed children in their attacks, responded by saying “because they are the children of infidels”.
It is believed that the terrorists who were involved in the ‘Beslan Massacre’ were Ingush and Chechen rebels, part of an Islamic separatist group, fighting for the independence of Chechnya. Adam Lanza is being portrayed as a person with a psycho-social disorder, who had exhibited symptoms during his school years.
US President Barack Obama, a father of two girls, delivered a public statement after the tragic incident at the Connecticut School. Shedding tears, the President said, “Our hearts are broken today...The majority of those who died today were children. Beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old...Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no...We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change...Surely we can do better than this.”
Terrorists have no religion, no creed and no caste; they are simply that...‘just terrorists’. No parent expects that when he/she sends his/her children to school in the morning, or out to play, it might be the last time that they may see them. The parents of the children in Beslan did not and neither did the parents of the children in Connecticut. But imagine the parents of children in North Waziristan: they are terrified to send their children to school, they are terrified to send their children out to play and they are terrified to keep them at home. While shedding tears for the children killed by an apparently deranged man, the US president never even probably thought of shedding a single tear for all the children killed and injured by his drones in Pakistan. How can a parent not weep for the loss of a child, just because the child was not his? How can a parent talk about keeping his children safe yet kill those of others? Yes, in all these years, not even a single tear for the children of Pakistan, not even a crocodile one.
But who is responsible? We all are -- the government, the ineffective parliamentarians, the tacitly consensual army, the un-enraged people of Pakistan, yes, we all are. While we struggle to keep our own children safe, we do nothing for the children of North Waziristan. Mr Obama is right in saying that these tragedies must end and for them to end we must change ourselves. Is it possible then that the US is actually a terrorist country? Or is it possible that it is suffering from severe paranoia and psycho-social disorder? The American people are gullible and uninformed: I am sure if the footage of our children killed was aired to them there would be many outraged American parents calling for tragedies to end, for our children are also made of flesh and blood like theirs; our children too deserve to live, to be protected from all harm.
The tree of grief is a 25 feet tall monument to the Beslan tragedy, which shows four women as the trunk, holding up branches covered with little angels. Sadly, we do not even have a leaf for our little angels, deprived of the tree of life. Surely, we can do better than this.
The writer is an advocate of the High Court
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