Irresponsible society

I just read an article about the London bombings in a local news paper. The subtitle goes like this: "Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular refuse to confront the truth as it is." I agree with this and I believe we Pakistanis have a very self deluding mindset. We find reasons to absolve ourselves of responsibility and we do not face the facts.

The average Pakistani of the urban population, who holds any opinion, would have reacted to the investigation reports pertaining to the London bombings by saying that Pakistan is certainly not to blame and this is a natural reaction to the atrocities of the west. Yes, it is a natural reaction to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan but this reaction could be prevented had our Muslim society been more farsighted and broad-minded. When bomb raids in Afghanistan and Iraq killed innocent people we were outraged. And how do we respond? By doing the same - killing innocent civilians! Yes, it was just few distracted men, that you and I never met, who committed this crime but unless we take responsibility as a socity we won’t solve the problem.

We could have utilized this will to retaliate in better, non-violent, effective and productive ways. It’s plain to see that this is counter-productive. We ought to take responsibility before we Muslims loose the remaining trustworthiness we have.