Threat of Taliban Takeover
I wanted to talk about the demise of long march. Ghalib said about it decades back
Thi khabar garm ke Ghalib ke uraeen ge purzae - dekhne hum bhi gae pae yeh tamasha na huwa
But then I thought I should write about three threats facing PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, namely a character assassination campaign by right-wing establishment and "his-brother"-linked journalists (planned and soon to be launched), the threat coming from Larkana in the form of PPP-haqiqi (or should i say PPP-Sarkar Raj), and above all the threat to his life with the forces of oppression and establishment and extremism in Pakistan having him on target (I think only thing stopping them, apart from security arrangements is, international reaction to such event, and reaction on street in Pakistan and particularly Sindh).
But, among those news and concerns, has stemmed something that, to me, is more pressing than anything else. For last two weeks, there are stories all around of ever increasing Taliban activity not only in Tribal Area and Swat but even in NWFP. Reports are that in many parts of Peshawar the extremists' gangs are running wild and government effectively has no control in the . There are reports that if situation continues to deteriorate at this rate, soon, God forbid, we will hear the news of fall of Peshawar to Taliban.
People have been talking for many years now of Pakistan falling to extremists, only to be laughed at by the majority of urban educated and the holy crusaders on Pakistani media. These warnings were either laughed at as long shots or were labeled as American conspiracy to justify killing of "innocent" Muslim brothers. When anyone tried to justify WOT being our war and the need for fighting the menace of terrorism, he had been labeled as a traitor and an American stooge.
Worst still, the policies of our establishment (led by the ex-servicemen and the commando General) are responsible for enhancing the firepower of these extremist forces. Our army in its holy strategic-depth doctrine and in its ambitions to create the great Caliphate of its from Central Asia to Arabian Sea, did not realize that it is creating a monster that will one day be in a position to demand the whole pie. If barrel of gun is to be set as the rule of the game, the one who holds the gun will call the shots. If law of natural justice exists, threat of fall of Peshawar had to be the logical outcome of the euphoria of planning successive falls of Kabul since late 80s.
1 million plus jihadis with their penetration in security apparatus (and not now, the Maj. Gen Zaheer-ul-Islam coup was attempted in 1995, read it to see the level of penetration), feel themselves stronger than the Pakistani security apparatus and thus are demanding the whole pie.
Worst still, at this critical juncture of national history, Army rather than reporting to the duty, is withdrawing itself, leaving the burden on the shoulders of civilian government. Some say that Army's retreat is aimed at making sure that civilian apparatus falls before Taliban threat and then Army will use this as an excuse to execute Bangladesh formula. Some go as far as saying that Army itself is planning this to justify another military takeover to international community.
Another justification given is that Army wants to clean its image tarnished by misadventures of Musharraf. Another shallow reasoning on two grounds. First, if Army has to clean its image it has to be done by not meddling in politics and getting the Army house vacated from relics of past and withdrawing from DHAs and Fauji Foundations and not by opting out of wars that need to be fought. Second, it smells as if Army wants to dump all its ill-doings of 60 years (for which it as an institution was responsible including 8 years of Musharraf) on one man and thus cleansing itself for another takeover at an appropriate time in future.
Another criminal negligence has been on part of Pakistan media. Forget about its obsession with judges. Media rather than objectively analyzing the War on Terror and the situation in tribal areas towed the populist anti-Imperialism line and flared public emotions (thank God of educated urban middle classes only, for poor and uneducated are mostly still not in its reach as yet) against war against extremism and in favor of extremist elements. Needless to say, this media role was further worsened by Jihadi Anchors (who some how manage to interview most-wanted as Bait Ullahs, OBLs etc and do public relation program for Tehrik-e-Taliban Malakand agency).
If we fail to realize the gravity of the situation and fail to tackle it effectively, the consequences will be dreadful. Do not see in isolation the recent air and missile strikes of US and NATO from this developing situation. NATO and US fully realize where the situation is heading and what its consequences will be and are preparing themselves for the developing situation. And the radicals, if they taste Peshwar takeover, they will want more. If they some how manage to control Peshawar, only the morale boast of this will give them enough momentum to march on.
I leave you with the last thoughts of Benazir Bhutto (whose life we celebrate today). International community says that since Pakistan cannot control its areas, we will come and control it. Why can't we control our country? We can do it. We should not give excuse to International Community to move in and control our mess.... Pakistani flag is falling in town after town, we can't let this flag fall, we have to hoist it.
Are we up for these challenges? Do we even realize them in the first place? I am clueless to answer of these questions. Conveniently dumping everything bad happening on US is one thing, living with it in times to come, trust me, will be quite another.
Thi khabar garm ke Ghalib ke uraeen ge purzae - dekhne hum bhi gae pae yeh tamasha na huwa
But then I thought I should write about three threats facing PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, namely a character assassination campaign by right-wing establishment and "his-brother"-linked journalists (planned and soon to be launched), the threat coming from Larkana in the form of PPP-haqiqi (or should i say PPP-Sarkar Raj), and above all the threat to his life with the forces of oppression and establishment and extremism in Pakistan having him on target (I think only thing stopping them, apart from security arrangements is, international reaction to such event, and reaction on street in Pakistan and particularly Sindh).
But, among those news and concerns, has stemmed something that, to me, is more pressing than anything else. For last two weeks, there are stories all around of ever increasing Taliban activity not only in Tribal Area and Swat but even in NWFP. Reports are that in many parts of Peshawar the extremists' gangs are running wild and government effectively has no control in the . There are reports that if situation continues to deteriorate at this rate, soon, God forbid, we will hear the news of fall of Peshawar to Taliban.
People have been talking for many years now of Pakistan falling to extremists, only to be laughed at by the majority of urban educated and the holy crusaders on Pakistani media. These warnings were either laughed at as long shots or were labeled as American conspiracy to justify killing of "innocent" Muslim brothers. When anyone tried to justify WOT being our war and the need for fighting the menace of terrorism, he had been labeled as a traitor and an American stooge.
Worst still, the policies of our establishment (led by the ex-servicemen and the commando General) are responsible for enhancing the firepower of these extremist forces. Our army in its holy strategic-depth doctrine and in its ambitions to create the great Caliphate of its from Central Asia to Arabian Sea, did not realize that it is creating a monster that will one day be in a position to demand the whole pie. If barrel of gun is to be set as the rule of the game, the one who holds the gun will call the shots. If law of natural justice exists, threat of fall of Peshawar had to be the logical outcome of the euphoria of planning successive falls of Kabul since late 80s.
1 million plus jihadis with their penetration in security apparatus (and not now, the Maj. Gen Zaheer-ul-Islam coup was attempted in 1995, read it to see the level of penetration), feel themselves stronger than the Pakistani security apparatus and thus are demanding the whole pie.
Worst still, at this critical juncture of national history, Army rather than reporting to the duty, is withdrawing itself, leaving the burden on the shoulders of civilian government. Some say that Army's retreat is aimed at making sure that civilian apparatus falls before Taliban threat and then Army will use this as an excuse to execute Bangladesh formula. Some go as far as saying that Army itself is planning this to justify another military takeover to international community.
Another justification given is that Army wants to clean its image tarnished by misadventures of Musharraf. Another shallow reasoning on two grounds. First, if Army has to clean its image it has to be done by not meddling in politics and getting the Army house vacated from relics of past and withdrawing from DHAs and Fauji Foundations and not by opting out of wars that need to be fought. Second, it smells as if Army wants to dump all its ill-doings of 60 years (for which it as an institution was responsible including 8 years of Musharraf) on one man and thus cleansing itself for another takeover at an appropriate time in future.
Another criminal negligence has been on part of Pakistan media. Forget about its obsession with judges. Media rather than objectively analyzing the War on Terror and the situation in tribal areas towed the populist anti-Imperialism line and flared public emotions (thank God of educated urban middle classes only, for poor and uneducated are mostly still not in its reach as yet) against war against extremism and in favor of extremist elements. Needless to say, this media role was further worsened by Jihadi Anchors (who some how manage to interview most-wanted as Bait Ullahs, OBLs etc and do public relation program for Tehrik-e-Taliban Malakand agency).
If we fail to realize the gravity of the situation and fail to tackle it effectively, the consequences will be dreadful. Do not see in isolation the recent air and missile strikes of US and NATO from this developing situation. NATO and US fully realize where the situation is heading and what its consequences will be and are preparing themselves for the developing situation. And the radicals, if they taste Peshwar takeover, they will want more. If they some how manage to control Peshawar, only the morale boast of this will give them enough momentum to march on.
I leave you with the last thoughts of Benazir Bhutto (whose life we celebrate today). International community says that since Pakistan cannot control its areas, we will come and control it. Why can't we control our country? We can do it. We should not give excuse to International Community to move in and control our mess.... Pakistani flag is falling in town after town, we can't let this flag fall, we have to hoist it.
Are we up for these challenges? Do we even realize them in the first place? I am clueless to answer of these questions. Conveniently dumping everything bad happening on US is one thing, living with it in times to come, trust me, will be quite another.
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