Life goes on after Eid

The Eid past was Eid Qurban, and no one could claim to have truly celebrated it unless they had upset their stomachs. The holidays might have been plentiful, and the visit to the village a great success, but unless the stomach finally collapsed under the weight of goat meat, the Eid was not truly celebrated. The Eid was otherwise probably all right, for Mufti Muneeb gave his gracious permission for it to be celebrated. Maybe I’m not remembering aright, but this happens every year. For Eidul Fitr, there is a great dispute over the moon, and everyone disagrees with Mufti Muneeb over the sighting of the Shawwal moon. But only two months down the line, there is never any dispute over the sighting of the Zul Hijja moon, which determines the celebration of Eidul Azha. Even Mufti Muneeb has not been able to stir up any emotion over it.
But while he is not stirring emotion, the local Taliban are trying hard. First they attacked Naval Headquarters, then they attacked a Friday congregation in Rawalpindi, which was largely attended by Army personnel, some of them retired, like General Yousaf, the retired Vice-Chief, who was among the injured. No wonder his chief, General Musharraf, is staying abroad in exile, even though he has been provided an ex-President’s security. But he has not been allowed to top the security of a police chief, which involves stopping the traffic on the road in front. Ex-Presidents, who by the nature of their jobs, must be under as much threat as Lahore police chiefs, so should get the same security, like digging up the road in front of their offices. I mean, who would know that they had been president if they didn’t make a nuisance of themselves to their neighbourhood?
The official explanation for these attacks has been the success of the Army in the tribal areas. Well, if this is the price of success, why attack the Navy, which does not even have a boat committed in the tribal areas? It has been mainly Army, with backing from the PAF, involved in the operation.
However, in Rawalpindi, there were children killed, which shows that even if the schools are closed, the terrorists will strike at children successfully if it is indeed fated. It will also show that life can be taken away in the safety of Rawalpindi, of a Friday congregation, and of being retired. But what the killing of children has not led to, has been the closing of schools. Actually, in the hits on educational institutions so far, those students killed have been young adults rather than children, so Rawalpindi probably represented the militants having murdered children for the first time. They also kept up what seems to have become a tradition, that of attacking Friday congregations.