The attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi by members of the ‘Majeed Brigade’ of the ‘Balochistan Liberation Army’ that, according to last reports received, led to the killing of ten persons, including the four perpetrators, is a reminder that there are causes that care little for the challenge being faced by humanity at the present. Their ‘pain’ is more immediate, their objectives cannot be denied. Like the Chinese attack on Indian Army personnel, times of crisis are actually looked upon as opportunities to be exploited.
It is particularly tragic when, over time, the basic environment transforms to a point where it becomes difficult to identify who is the victim and who the oppressor. In a culture of blood-letting, the competition is to become more barbaric, more capable of inflicting death. In this particular age which the world is passing through, it has become evident that even the global organisations set up and tasked with finding civilisational and humane solutions to complex problems have deteriorated to partisan, self-serving agencies, at the beck and call of the powerful and the rich nations; be it the World Health Organisation that has been accused of becoming a Chinese proxy, or the United Nations, which shamefully applies separate standards to countries worldwide, depending upon their ability to hit back.
Indian media was quick to describe the Karachi attackers as ‘terrorists’, despite the fact that there is considerable sympathy for the Balochs, here. This is because they are capable of making the distinction between a legitimate cause and an unacceptable act. On the other hand, a similar incident reported about India in Pakistan would have been how ‘mujahideen’ or some such ‘heroic’ group had struck a blow for a noble cause. This is what distinguishes ideologically totalitarian societies like Pakistan and China from a functional and diverse democracy like India. India, too, has claims on territory occupied by other nations, such as POK and Aksai Chin, but it has always looked to resolve these issues through lawful means. It has never deliberately targeted innocent civilians, or used terrorists as proxies to achieve its aims. Unfortunately, once again, on international forums, there has not been the appropriate level of appreciation. Out of ignorance, as in the case of US Democratic Presidential aspirant Joe Biden, or deliberate pressure tactics, an artificial parity is created with countries that have an entirely different view of ‘human rights’. Unless this world view is corrected, justice will be denied to all the world’s oppressed, simply because the ‘good’ cannot find a common platform to act in united fashion.
