The deadly terrorist attack on the Bacha Khan University campus in Pakistan’s Peshawar closely follows three others in the same fortnight, in Istanbul, Jakarta and Ouagadougou.
On the cold, foggy morning of January 20, four gunmen entered the lightly guarded campus of Bacha Khan University in Charsadda near Peshawar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan and killed 30 people, most of them students. The siege, which lasted more than six hours, ended after the killing of the four terrorists involved in the attack. Two lecturers of the university, who used firearms in defence, were instrumental in saving the lives of many students. One of them, a chemistry lecturer, lost his life defending the students.
The terror strike came just weeks after the Pathankot attack in India’s Punjab. The same fortnight witnessed major terror attacks in Istanbul (Turkey), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). The terrorists who attacked the Bacha Khan University campus belonged to a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or the Pakistani Taliban.
The university is named after Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, popularly known as “Frontier Gandhi” in India and “Bacha Khan” among his Pashtun compatriots. In fact, the terror attack on the university coincided with his 28th death anniversary. Bacha Khan was a strong votary of non-violence and spent a considerable part of his life in British and Pakistani jails for his active role in the freedom struggle and later on for his espousal of autonomy for the Pashtun areas in Pakistan. Bacha Khan University was established in 2012 when the left-of-centre Awami National Party was in power in the province. The party is led today by one of Ghaffar Khan’s grandsons. Extremist groups have targeted thousands of Awami Party members in the past two decades for espousing secularism.
Bu hikaye FRONTLINE dergisinin February 19, 2016 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye FRONTLINE dergisinin February 19, 2016 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
