By Kamila Hyat
The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor

This weekend, a group of students gathered at the Liberty Market roundabout in Lahore, demanding justice for people. They comprised both young women and men – and to all appearances symbolised the progressive, politically aware and liberally-inclined youth some of us hope may represent the future of our country.

But there were suggestions even in this single protest that this may not, after all, quite be the case. The student protest focused on Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the scientist currently facing trial in the US, and only in passing mentioned other people who have gone missing; the same has happened at other protests staged by youth in other cities as well. The unfortunate Dr Aafia’s story is indeed a tragic one. Absolutely, no one deserves to be picked up, presumably by agencies, whisked overseas, tortured and driven to mental meltdown. Yet this is what happened to Dr Aafia after she vanished from Karachi in 2003. The point, however, is that very few protests have been staged for those who have gone missing from Balochistan, Sindh and other places. Even now, mothers and wives in Swat are waiting for their sons or husbands who disappeared during the military operation in Malakand. It seems there is no one to hear their voices or paste up the names of their kin on coloured placards.

The agony of families in Balochistan, whose relatives have been missing just as long as Dr Aafia if not longer, is just as real as that of her mother and sister. The fact that it was their own countrymen who took away hundreds of young men, and quite possibly some women, does not make their plight any better. Rather it makes it worse in some ways. From the flimsy facts that are known, it is believed that almost all the missing Baloch are those associated with nationalist groups. Most of them, certainly, have no militant sympathies. Is this, one wonders, a reason for the silence? Why have the youth not taken up this cause?

The stories that seep through are after all no less horrendous than that of Dr Aafia. One young man who served several years in secret detention has spoken of being ordered to rape another young female detainee and was beaten up when he refused. Others freed from months of brutal captivity have suffered grave mental and physical injuries. We do not know the plight of those who remain missing. The websites that took up the cause of such victims have been taken off the Internet by misusing the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, with the ‘democratic’ government persisting in this policy of censorship that went into place under General Pervez Musharraf. The pointless quibbling about the number of Baloch who are still missing or whether any women are included among them are largely irrelevant and only detract from the main issue: secret detentions should not be tolerated. The fact that so few have spoken out against them adds to the sense of isolation of the Baloch and possibly adds to the perceptions that are already present in the province about secession from Pakistan.

There are other aspects to the youth equation. Pakistan today is home to more than 36 million people aged between 15-24 years, more than any other time in its history. The number of people under 40 is growing steadily. The question is what values these people will bring to Pakistan. There is quite evidently a vast dichotomy between them. The participation of a large number of impressively articulate students in the anti-emergency movement of 2007 showed just how much had changed since the years of General Ziaul Haq. But the fact remains that almost invariably these students came from a few campuses; from the elite learning institutes that have revived the lost art of thinking in the country. At too many other places change has been too slow, and even at the campuses where there is indeed political activity – attempts have come from both the administration and student groups to clamp down on activities deemed as propounding ‘liberal’ values. One result is so much confusion that even the notion of ‘secularism’ is regarded as a dirty word almost, spoken of with sneers or snickering. There has been some improvement, but the battle between progressive and retrogressive traits continues.

It is difficult to say which will win out. But certainly some of the omens are disturbing. Groups such as the Hizbul Tehrir are said to be busy recruiting at some elite institutions; the veil, in various forms, has appeared at almost every school or college for girls, sometimes as a form of rebellion against parents and recently at a private medical college, the teachers complained about two young male students who refused to examine a woman – on the grounds that this was ‘un-Islamic’. Though those students were quietly expelled, we all know the same attitude exists in many other places. Despite the horrors we saw in Afghanistan, apologists for the Taliban exist in many places. At the same time, there are students who proudly say they hold no religious belief and are dismayed with the overt displays of holiness we see everywhere.

The battle for the future seems likely to be a hard fought one. There are many factors which could have a say in how it will pan out. One is the fact that the vast majority of youth remains deprived and neglected by the State. Most lack opportunities; social mobility is almost non-existent; those born into poverty have little hope of escape. The Taliban capitalise on such feelings, using them to recruit people and brainwash them. Their unrelenting war on education – and the hope that it offers of some improvement in life – is a part of the same effort to keep people locked in the same darkness that they themselves inhabit.

The odds in favour of a victory for more progressive elements will need to be created by quickly taking steps that can alter the lives of people. We also need to bring people from various parts of the country closer together. Only when voices are raised for people from smaller provinces and not only for the victims of US atrocities will we move towards any kind of real change, and open up the possibility of a future that is not quite as dark as our past. The kind of future that lies ahead will be determined by the degree to which we succeed in this.

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com

SOURCE : Thenews.com.pk

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