Some people think that if Al Qaida and Taliban succeed in Pakistan, America and other enemies of Islam will be defeated. It seems strange that to humiliate America and its allies, we are willing to dismantle our own state and call the current fiasco a conspiracy of our own western allies
The unceasing effort of the militants has brought us to the juncture, where the difference between the state of Pakistan and Afghanistan is merely nominal. Al Qaida has been outstandingly successful and the ‘people of honour’ are causing an upheaval. There is talk every where of taking a stand and fighting to the last man. Anyone giving counsel of restraint in this environment of bravado and jingoism would be called a coward, a lowlife, an enemy agent and in hock to the infidels. There will be calls for these cowardly people to be killed, so that the final battle can be pursued without any distraction.
This is good news for the war mongers that in Pakistan, every one has come around to their point of view. The religious scholars are issuing decrees while the lawyers and traders imbued with a sense of burning nationalism are joining the chorus. Even the Pakistan People’s Party does not want to appear to be lagging behind. The PPP supporters have taken out a ‘missile carrying’ rally in Karachi. This is a manifestation of the trends besetting the nation.
A very faithful government official has written in a national newspaper that there are between three to four thousand Haqqani Network fighters in Pakistan. He argues, that to fight to defend national honour is an attribute of living nations and by the grace of God, we will undertake this struggle. One fails to understand how the national honour is advanced if states violate international agreements that they have entered into on a sovereign basis. Not long ago, the very same people on whom we are basing our efforts to redeem our national honour were killing our men, women and children and committing atrocities in cities across the country. How can those armed men who till yesterday were spilling the blood of Pakistanis, represent the honour and interests of 18 million people? This poverty of logic and reason is a tragedy. It is a further tragedy that this is being promoted as part of our faith.
There is no doubt that Pakistan is facing difficult circumstances and tremendous diplomatic pressure. Al Qaida has been successful in cleverly transferring their visceral hatred of the West to the Pakistani public opinion. When an anti-west opinion is expressed from the state institutions, it is possible to recognize officials on key posts who are associated with Al Qaida affiliates. Everyone seems to be in a tumult and people see the solution of various problems facing the country in unbridled militarism. It is the success of the long endeavour of which, one manifestation was the opinion building to seek strategic depth in Afghanistan.
Most of the Pakistanis realize that Al Qaida and Taliban want to rid Pakistan of democracy or any such notions of governance. What they don’t understand is that what will replace the present system will be a model so harsh that it will push Pakistan into complete international isolation. Some people think that if Al Qaida and Taliban succeed in Pakistan, America and other enemies of Islam will be defeated. It seems strange that to humiliate America and its allies, we are willing to dismantle our own state and call the current fiasco a conspiracy of our own western allies.
The long standing desire of some influential opinion makers and media personalities who want to see a certain kind of state outlook is coming to fruition. One example is the recently expressed wish of a media baron to be tied to a nuclear bomb and be dropped on a neighbouring country to please the Almighty and to achieve glory and progress for the nation.
Nobody knows where these people who are bent upon military adventurism will take us. Nobody is mourning for the 35,000 thousand dead who have been killed by these terrorists. The ambition of these killers is to occupy the state power itself. The killings that will take place if this comes to pass are hard to imagine.
These exuberant patriots are not even willing to accept the existence of the Haqqani Network and they think it’s a hoax created by the Americans. They think that the Americans and their allies are facing defeat in Afghanistan and want to scapegoat Pakistan for this debacle. This may be true but the presence of Haqqani operatives in the tribal areas of Pakistan and various cities of Afghanistan and their attack on the western troops cannot be denied.
The majority of the membership of the exiled Afghan leadership, called Quetta Shura consists of Haqqani sympathizers. The Shura is fully facilitated by the host country. One example is the arrest and subsequent release of Mulla Brader. He was arrested in Karachi and later released at the behest of the Quetta Shura. There were news items planted in the press that he was negotiating with the Americans and was released after pressure from the Americans, but actually his release was a testimony to the power of the Quetta Shura.
The assassination of Burhan ud Din Rabbani in Kabul took place at order of the Quetta Shura. There were rumours circulating in the media that the Pakistani intelligence agencies were directly involved in this assassination. It is obvious that the Haqqani Network has no issues with the Pakistani security agencies, as long as Pakistanis have good relations with the Quetta Shura.
Siraj ud Din Haqqani (son of Jalal ud Din), along with many members of the Quetta Shura has been participating in key meetings of Al Qaida and Taliban in the tribal areas.
Balochistan can be called the second headquarters of the Haqqani Network. The group has as its key members, Arab militants who have links with Al Qaida. In addition, they have a large number of leading Taliban groups who implement the writ of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Pakistan. It is difficult to have solid proof of the links of the Pakistani security agencies with Jalal ud Din Haqqani because the constituent groups of the network have complex relations among themselves. There can be internal antagonisms, but they are successful in giving an impression of unity to the outsiders.
However, there is no doubt that Haqqani controls a very strong network of militants within Afghanistan and Pakistan and the militants from the Pakistani tribal areas who fight in Afghanistan are controlled by him.
To the outside world it seems obvious that Haqqani has support within Pakistan, as it would be impossible for such a large group to operate from its territory without the consent of its authorities. However, this would not be unprecedented. There have been and there still are groups operating within Pakistan who do not recognize the sovereignty of the Pakistani state and yet the authorities make no effort to eliminate them.
The militants operating within Pakistan and Afghanistan are being given leeway because the Pakistanis have pinned their hopes on these groups to dominate after the withdrawal of the NATO forces and to counter the Indian influence. Nurturing this hope is bringing a whole host of problems that Pakistan has to face. But there does not seem to be any prospect of Pakistan cracking down on Taliban or the Quetta Shura and the international misgivings about Pakistan continue to increase.
If Pakistan does not change its stance regarding Haqqani and his allies, it will have to face further difficulties and it is possible that the Americans will target urban areas, where the Quetta Shura and its affiliates are located.
In addition, the Americans are asking Pakistan to take action against the Lashkar e Taiba. This will be even more difficult as no state institution is in favour of conflict with the Lashkar people who are deeply involved in large scale welfare projects to prove their usefulness to the state. They are so powerful and politically so well entrenched that taking on them would be much more destructive than any of the previous military actions that we have undertaken.
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The writer is an investigative journalist, his recent book Punjabi Taliban has been published in urdu and soon being published in English language. he can be contacted at |
