All-female madrasas boom in Pakistan: The next generation of sectarian and jihadi terrorists?

All-female madrasas boom in Pakistan

Almost 2,000 registered Islamic religious schools for girls provide more than half of all candidates in graduate-level exams

Riazat Butt, Religious affairs correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 May 2009 18.47 BST



Female madrasas in Pakistan are expanding at a dramatic rate, educating almost a quarter of a million young women and providing more than half of the candidates sitting graduate-level exams every year.

There are more than 1,900 registered all-female madrasas in the country, around 15% of the total, that are experiencing a boom thanks to the failures of the Pakistani education system and an increasing appetite for traditional Islamic values among the lower middle classes.

Female madrasas were virtually unheard of in Pakistan before the late 1970s; the religious institutions have always been aimed at males.

The boom in female madrasas has led to the funding of a project to examine their impact. An Oxford academic, Dr Masooda Bano, has received more than £400,000 from the Economic and Social Research Council to study their appeal and their students.

According to the latest statistics from the Pakistani government, nearly 236,000 girls are studying in almost 2,000 madrasas. Female students exceed males in their academic achievements, with a greater number registering for graduate exams and enjoying a higher pass rate.

Female madrasas charge fees, unlike their male equivalents, and existing figures on madrasas account for registered schools only. The number of unofficial madrasas for both sexes could be much higher.

Bano said: "Parents who send their daughters to madrasas are lower middle class, and the girls who enter are aged between 16 and 20. Most say it was their choice. There is an emergence of a very conservative value system. Madrasas promote traditional roles for women and students feel confident about their position in society. You cannot associate this phenomena with poverty."

She claimed that madrasas gave women economic and social opportunities. Students could offer private tuition in religious education, increasing their respectability and upward mobility.

As part of her research, she will also explore the links between the growth in all-female madrasas in Pakistan and religious militancy in the country. Part of her work will focus on Jamia Hafza, the female madrasa attached to the Red Mosque in Islamabad, where 100 students died defending sharia law during an armed struggle with the state.

Students who played an active role in the resistance, and the parents of those who died, will be traced and interviewed about their perceptions of the resistance and the impact on their own religious conviction. A central theme is looking at whether the use of military force as a strategy acts as a militancy check or whether it further radicalises believers.

She said: "The female madrasas provide a lens to study the uncertain interface between traditional values and beliefs and global influences that often results in further radicalisation of the traditional beliefs. Being focused on Pakistan, a nuclear armed country at the centre of global concerns about Islamic militancy, should mean that these findings have major policy significance."

She added that while there were no "explicit links" between the madrasas and militancy, it was something she would be exploring. "You don't get involved with militancy but they [students] are capable of spreading support and sympathy for Islamic groups."

A third part of her study will focus on those involved in military operations aimed at combating religious militancy. Officials of the military brigade that carried out the Red Mosque operation will be interviewed about their experience. They were later targeted in suicide attacks that caused more than 30 deaths after the operation. Interviews will also take place with officials from the Pakistani armed forces who resigned or faced being court-martialed for refusing to take part in anti-Taliban operations.
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Shafqat Mahmood: Imran Khan's strange politics

It is in tough times that a nation's mettle is tested and we have not faced such challenges since 1971. Besides the rigours of war that our brave soldiers are fighting with grit and determination, we face a huge humanitarian crisis.

The government may be lagging behind in its relief effort but the ordinary people are coming through. From impromptu relief camps to truckloads of supplies from citizen groups, and an overwhelming urge to give cash, there is a visible anguish for the displaced people of Malakand.

Unfortunately, the state machinery is not moving as quickly. An announcement on behalf of the prime minister that all banks would receive donations has not been followed through. Until Thursday morning, even some of the more prominent Pakistani banks had not received instructions to open PM's relief account.

Incidentally, is it too much to ask that there be some coordination of the appeals for donations made by various government entities? If advertisements in the papers are any guide, at least four separate calls have been made and there may be as many as six.

There is the Prime Minister's fund and of the NWFP government. In Punjab, the governor and the chief minister have made separate appeals. (Why?). I am not aware of it but Sindh and Baluchistan governments may have also done something similar.

Is it impossible to have just one fund? If there were, it would be easier for people to give and for the banks to manage. But, then this would be asking our leadership to display some hidden executive talent. Let us face it; these people are good politicians but management is not one of their virtues.

On the battle field, our armed forces seem to be doing well. I am no military expert but they appear to be going about their task unhurriedly and with great care. Fighting insurgencies is not easy as it is not the conventional warfare armies are trained for. But, whatever evidence we have, of this and the earlier Bajaur operation, our armed forces are adapting and beginning to win.

On the political front, it is sad that even when we are in a virtual state of war, there are discordant voices. Some PML-N members continue to make speeches against the operation and against the army in the National Assembly. This is unhelpful considering that the both Nawaz and Shahbaz Sharif have taken an unequivocal stand against the terrorists. Maybe these members should check with their leadership before holding forth.

However, no one has been more disappointing in this regard than Imran Khan. I have great respect for what he has achieved on the cricket field. He was an inspirational captain, a great player and his integrity was beyond doubt. His disdain for money in particular was something to admire in an era of match fixing and other shenanigans.

In social work, what he has accomplished in the shape of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital is truly stupendous. Not only is it the best-run hospital in Pakistan, it provides free medical treatment to thousands of poor patients. What is more, the lack of any VIP culture in hospital management is a personal tribute to the vision and leadership of Imran Khan.

When it comes to politics and policy though, the same Imran is unfortunately a signal failure. It can be truly said of him that he never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. He could have teamed up with Nawaz Sharif in 1997 and got his party a presence in parliament. He did not.

He flip-flopped with Musharraf -- supporting him in the rigged referendum, opposing him in the ensuing general election -- and got the worst of both worlds. And, he boycotted the 2007 election when being in parliament (provided he won) would have made a great deal more sense.

These examples are of power politics and it may be argued that parliamentary success or power are no measure of a person's success as a politician. Fine, let us look at his policy prescriptions.

From the start of his political career, he railed against something called western culture, which was a straight forward rejection of modernisation. In a country that was being pulled back by obscurantist mullahs, this was a strange choosing of sides. I will not even go into the personal choices he made while doing this.

His second fixation was the idealisation of a Pakhtun tribal culture. Again, I will avoid psychoanalysing a Punjabi's identity crisis, but how a semi-literate and simple rural people could become a role model for a rapidly urbanising and complex Pakistani society was not easy to understand.

Granted that their inter-tribal dealings were egalitarian and perhaps the tribal councils or jirgas worked well, but how this model could be transplanted in other parts of the country, was neither explained by Imran nor obvious.

In between, he took some correct positions on the judiciary question and against Musharraf but badly fumbled while trying to prosecute Altaf Hussain in England. A politician should know which battles can be won and which are a lost cause. Imran vowed to go after Altaf Hussain in England and declared victory even before he had presented his case before the British government. As was expected, nothing has happened despite his various entreaties to the high and mighty in that country.

But, all these mistakes pale in comparison when measured up against his obsessive, single track refusal to understand that these barbarian hordes targeting FATA and Malakand division are a threat to our country. He has just one mantra that this is America's fault, America's fault, America… etc. America has contributed to it but is that the only problem we confront?

He cannot or does not want to understand that these people are linked up with Al Qaeda and actually do have an agenda of taking over our country. If he does not want to believe a 'westernised liberal' like me, he should read Saleem Saafi in Jang or others that know these people well.

In any case, how can he condone what these people are doing? Cutting people's throats, lashing women, destroying all schools not just girls', indulging in kidnapping and extortion and unleashing a reign of terror to subdue the people, are just some of their crimes. Above all, these people have taken up arms against the state. Why can't he see all this?

He should listen to the stories of the displaced people now that they are out of the Taliban fear zone. They describe the Taliban as bloody thirsty criminals. It is sad that Imran visualises them as some kind of higher beings or fighters of Islam responding to American presence in Afghanistan. Please!

In this difficult time for the country, he is on the wrong side of history. No one doubts that American presence in Afghanistan has seriously contributed to our troubles. There is also a possibility that the Americans may have an evil eye on our nuclear programme.

But, we must also remember that barbarian hordes linked to Al Qaeda also have designs on our country and threaten our way of life. We have no choice but to fight them.

Imran must stand by his people and the armed forces. He should rise above his prejudices and help in the fight for Pakistan. (The News,k 15 May).


Email: shafqatmd@gmail.com

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Mythbusters: Some myths about Taliban, Islam and America - by Dr. Tariq Rahman

Anger has focused on sources which have much less to do with our problems than we think - File photo

A cobweb of myths

Dr Tariq Rahman

NOW that a military operation is going on in the Malakand Division it is imperative that it should be supported by the people and that the IDPs should be looked after with all resources at hand and be treated with compassion and respect.

Unfortunately, we have many myths and conspiracy theories which prevent clear thinking and that need to be debunked.

Myth 1: America wants our nuclear weapons and is destabilising Pakistan through the Taliban.

This myth is dangerous because those who subscribe to it also believe that America pays the Taliban to destabilise Pakistan to create an excuse to take away our nuclear weapons. This makes it difficult for the government to fight the Taliban while accepting American aid as the whole thing seems to be a cruel hoax to ordinary Pakistanis.

The US has over 5,400 nuclear warheads and it is thousands of kilometres away from this country. Moreover, it allowed Pakistan to develop these weapons. America would not gain if Pakistan is destabilised because then Al Qaeda would be strengthened and that would threaten America.

During the 1971 war America warned India not to overrun (West) Pakistan because it was not in America’s interest to destabilise South Asia any further. In 1999 during the Kargil episode America helped Pakistan to cut its losses without further bloodshed.

During the Afghan war the US wanted to defeat the Soviet Union and paid Pakistan to do so. Pakistan helped because it needed the military aid and money (and Ziaul Haq wanted American support). And now, once again, America wants to defeat the Islamic militants because they threaten America and Pakistan needs the money. That is what the Kerry-Lugar bill is for and that is precisely why the IMF and the Friends of Pakistan consortium have lent Pakistan billions of dollars. It is not in America’s interest to destabilise Pakistanbecause if it breaks up or is Talibanised it will be a threat to America.

So, while America’s policies might not be the most productive, it makes no sense to claim that the Taliban are US agents in a conspiracy against our nuclear weapons.

Myth 2: Nothing gets done in Pakistan unless America wants it to happen.

This is a different version of the previous myth and it is not true. No country is so powerful that it can get everything done. Pakistan made friends with communist China againstAmerica’s wishes. Later, it was the US which sought American help to develop its own relations with China. Pakistan also developed nuclear weapons against American wishes. During the lawyers’ movement America was a supporter of Musharraf until he turned weak and it was no longer in America’s interest to support him.

Myth 3: The Taliban want Islam in the country but their approach is wrong.

This depends on personal interpretations of the Sharia. The Taliban want to impose their version of it. However, it is not only a matter of approach, it is also a matter of the interpretation of the Sharia. In fact the Taliban version of the Sharia would make life joyless for all and a torture for women. Secondly, the country would lose a pool of talent to other countries. Thirdly, productivity would decrease as Pakistan would be isolated.

Fourthly, science and technology, indeed all knowledge, would suffer as creative minds would be stifled in an atmosphere of fear. Fifthly, either the US or India or Iran would be so alarmed as to attack us or stop all foreign aid to us because such a regime would be a threat to their way of life and religious practices. Lastly, the Taliban is a name for disparate groups and gangs. They would fight for power, making us another Afghanistan.

Myth 4: If Nato forces withdraw from Afghanistan there will be peace.

Nato forces should withdraw from Afghanistan as a matter of principle but this will not end Talibanisation. Indeed, if Nato forces withdraw, parts of Afghanistan will be ruled by the Taliban once again. If Pakistan sides with them it will be isolated by the rest of the world. If it does not, it will have a hostile neighbour. In either case the Taliban worldview will be strengthened in Pakistan.

The groups seeking power in order to enforce Taliban-style Sharia in Pakistan will continue their attempt to succeed. This will mean that the danger to girls’ schools, women’s freedom of choice in moving around, dress code, art and music will remain under threat.

However, in addition to the principle that one does not want any country to occupy another, one would want America to withdraw since the occupation creates a backlash. So, even at the risk of strengthening the Talibanisation of the Pashto-speaking areas our government and thinkers should raise their voice for a Nato withdrawal. When this happensPakistan will find it easier to fight the Taliban because Pakistanis will stop calling it an anti-colonial war.

Myth 5: Islamic militancy is created by poverty and ignorance.

This is only partly true. The family background of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musaib al-Zarqawi (killed in 2006) — all leading lights of Islamic militancy — cannot be called a poverty-stricken one. Osama’s family is among the richest globally. Zawahiri comes from a distinguished Egyptian family. Zarqawi’s father was an army officer and mayor of a town in Jordan called Zarqa.

Nor is the leadership illiterate. All were educated though not in the liberal arts or the social sciences. The fact is that their ideas about using militancy to defeat what is perceived as western domination (called ‘Crusaders’ by them) and the corrupt ruling elites of the Muslim world emanate from Sayyid Qutb of the Muslim Brotherhood and Abd al-Salam Faraj of Egypt. Indeed, they go back to Taqi Uddin Ibu Taymiyya (1263-1328) who lived during the tumultuous time of the Mongol invasions.

The leadership disseminates ideas about the permanent grievances of Muslims, such asIsrael’s domination of Palestinian land, to young people who burn with a sense of outrage. Here the poverty nexus does come in since the ordinary rank and file of militant movements come from poor, unhappy, violence-prone households. They want money, respect and justice and these are promised to these deprived angry young men. They then become cannon fodder for the militants.

If we understand these and other myths and realise that we have created our own Frankensteins and not foreign countries; that most of the militants are our people and not foreigners (though some are); that foreign countries may help militants but are not powerful enough to keep them alive for ever; that we made mistakes in the past of which we are reaping the harvest — then we can still make Pakistan safe for our children. (Dawn, 14 May 2009)
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Saleem Safi: General Kayani's Dilemma: Taliban are Pakistan's assets or liability?

Daily Jang

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Do the Swatis exist?

Only till two weeks before, Pakistan’s overwhelmingly right wing media, the traditionally left leaning Awami National Party (ANP), the born again Islamists like Imran Khan, right of the centre Nawaz League, and the centrist Zardari People’s Party were applauding the agreement between the ANP government and the Taliban. With the honorable exception of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), the entire political leadership of Pakistan ganged up and pushed the ANP-Taliban agreement through the national assembly without a word by way of debate. This was a complete disgrace to whatever democracy stands for. There were people like Dr Hoodbhai who called the agreement an appeasement, but all the dissenting voices, very few of them indeed, were killed off by the government and the media. It was claimed that soon the agreement would result in total peace in Swat. TV channels cried hoarse claiming that the people of Swat had been dying for the agreement. “The people of Swat want peace and this agreement will restore peace”. TV reporters gave countless “verbatim” accounts of the sudden explosions of joy in every part of the Swat valley. I remember watching a foul-mouthed anchor, who is dead sure there are Jews and Hindus behind every trouble in Pakistan, claiming that “a wave of euphoria has swept the entire peace-loving people of Swat who are willing to sacrifice everything for peace and Islam”.

Interestingly, no Swatis were ever interviewed to voice the above claims.

And now that the Pakistan Army has declared a war on the Taliban, the media and the political leadership including the ANP have started claiming that the Taliban are not only terrorists of the worst kind, they want to take over the entire country. Now anchor after anchor and reporter after reporter is giving “verbatim” accounts of what the Swatis are saying: “We are willing to pay any price to get rid of the Taliban and restore peace in the Swat valley.” Suddenly the tables have turned. And yet, few Swatis have said what they want. If the media shows interviews of non-Swatis posing as Swatis, that would be another matter.

Do the Swatis exist? If they do, what do they want? Has any journalist or politician gone to the people of Swat to find out? On whose command was the nation of Pakistan told that the Swatis were happy with the Taliban? By what process have the Swatis undergone a complete change of heart?

The question is: who is behind all this show. On whose command do the journalists, opinion makers, and politicians paint utopia and then dystopia? On whose discretion do people become freedom fighters, and then the same freedom fighters terrorists? If it was important to bring the ANP-Taliban agreement in the parliament, why was the parliament not asked to endorse the decision to wage the war?

Abbas Zaidi
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Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC): Peaceful Barelvis rise against the Taliban criminals

This site has moved to http://criticalppp.com/archives/26956, click this link if you are not redirected
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Talibanisation is a contagious disease. Look around. Do you have a Talib friend, family member, neighbour or colleague? They need your help urgently.

Babar Sattar: Talibanisation of the mind

Last week a conservative schoolteacher in Rawalpindi hailed a cab to get to work in the morning. She wore a gown and had covered her head with a 'dupatta’. A few minutes into the journey the bearded taxi driver asked her if she was Muslim. She said she was. Then why she had not covered her head properly, he asked. She responded by explaining that she ordinarily wears a headscarf, but as she was running late that day she was unable to put it on. Such hurry could invite punishment and result in her being dispatched to the hereafter soon, he retorted. At this point she began to shake with fear and tried to reach for her cell phone to seek help. He turned back and grabbed the cell phone. As the taxi had almost reached the school campus, she insisted that she be let out. The driver obliged, but left her with a chilling message: if the female staff of the school failed to observe proper 'pardah’ they would all be sent to God sooner rather than later. Once out of the taxi, this horror-struck woman turned back to see if she could note the registration number of the taxi. The driver was still standing there watching her menacingly. She rushed into the school.

This is no isolated event. Be it warnings delivered to the medical community in NWFP to wear shalwar qameez, or edicts issued to music shops and barbers, or threats communicated to schools, or reports regarding women being harassed in bazaars and public spaces more generally, there has been a surge in vigilante action being carried out by our self-styled moral police. The worst justification for the Nizam-e-Adl regulation comes from liberals within the ANP and the PPP claiming that this legislation doesn’t set up a parallel system of justice, as it is merely procedural law adorned with Islamic nomenclature. Accepting the demand to 'enforce’ religion legitimizes the discourse of bigots and their obscurantist project of personally stepping into God’s shoes to judge fellow Muslims, taking a measure of their sins and delivering divine justice in this world on God’s behalf. The growing intolerance that our society is witnessing with mute horror is fuelled by our odious brand of hypocrisy that encourages double-speak in the name of protecting and preserving tradition, culture and religion.

The growing Talibanization of the mind that Kamila Hyat spoke about in her column this week is a real threat to our fundamental rights and liberties. Simply put it is bigotry, intolerance, obscurantism and coercion practiced in the name of religion that feeds on (a) the fear of change being ushered in by modernity, (b) confusion about the role of religion in the society, and (c) the failure of the state to provide for the basic needs of citizens, including means of subsistence the absence of which renders people desperate and a balanced education without which they lack the tools to question and resist extreme intolerant ideas. The message of the Taliban or other religious bigots can be simple and appealing to a majority of the population that is deprived of basic needs, disempowered and consequently disgruntled. The contract between the citizens and the state is not being honoured by the state and thus the system neither provides for the basic needs of a majority of the citizens nor offers them any real prospect for upward social mobility. This problem of governance is then presented by the maulvi as a consequence of lack of religion.

America, the big Satan, has mesmerized the elites of this country, explains the maulvi. These elites, as agents of the devil, have signed on to modern/western ideas that are taking our society and our country away from our religion. Our miseries are a consequence of our sins and God’s vengeance and the solution is a return to a backward lifestyle that shuns modernity. The appeal of this thesis lies in its simplicity. We are unhappy with the performance of the state and the manner in which it is leading to the creation of a predatory society and crave change. And such change is promised by the maulvi in the name of religion.

We have never candidly spoken about the desired role of religion in our country and no sensible distinction has been between the discourses on what religion is and how it should be practiced. Thus, whether or not Sharia prescribes 'pardah’ is one question, and whether the state has a right to enforce 'pardah’ or citizens have a private right to ensure that others observe 'pardah’ is a separate question. Because we don’t separate the individual right to freely practice religion from the debate on what constitutes the legitimate prescriptions of Islam, an interpretation of Sharia that favours 'pardah’ automatically ends up justifying illegal actions of private citizens coercing and harassing others to abide by an interpretation they prefer.

The Constitution of Pakistan holds out the promise of 'enabling’ citizens to order their lives in accordance with the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. What the Constitution does is create a right and not an obligation. Except laws that regulate our collective lives as a society, that are informed by Islamic injunctions, the Constitution does not empower the state to 'enforce’ religion in the private lives of citizens. Should a Muslim choose to order his private life in accordance with his understanding of the edicts of the Quran and Sunnah, the state is under an obligation to 'facilitate’ him. And this individual right to freely practice one’s religion includes the right not to be goaded into practicing Islam in a manner that one finds disagreeable. This requires the state and the society to differentiate between propagation and intimidation. Where propagation of religion enters the realm of coercion, the right to freely practice religion becomes a casualty. Thus, the individual right to practice religion freely can only be meaningful if it protects against the type of bigotry being practiced by Sufi Mohammad in Swat or Abdul Aziz in Islamabad.

It is imperative that the distinction between virtue/vice and legality/illegality in the country be kept alive. The growth and spread of bigotry in our society is not only blurring the line between sin and crime, but is also arrogating to private citizens the ability to enforce an obscurantist moral code – a right that citizens don’t have even when it comes to enforcing the law. As aforesaid, the right to practice religion freely in one’s personal life naturally includes the right not to practice religion, just as the right to free speech includes the entitlement not to speak at all. Let people privately judge others for being good or bad Muslims if they so wish. But such judgment must not be allowed to abridge or fetter the constitutionally guaranteed rights and liberties of those being judged. Irrespective of our disagreements over the content and interpretation of Sharia, all those who value the right to profess and practice religion freely can rationally agree that 'enforcing’ a certain brand of Sharia neither falls within the province of the state, nor is a private right of any citizen or a group of citizens.

Further, within the discourse on the content of Sharia, it is imperative to resist the propensity of authoritatively determining whether or not someone is Muslim. Here too, the issue of what Islam allows and disallows as understood by human agency must be distinguished from the authority to declare someone a non-Muslim or oust a Muslim from the circle of Islam. Who are we after all to appropriate to ourselves the divine right of judgment that God has reserved for the day of deliverance? The tendency to readily issue decrees denouncing the faith of fellow Muslims not only makes us more intolerant, exclusive and fractured as a community, but also confuses the rationale and the need to act against militant groups. For example, Sufi Mohammad declares that anyone who doesn’t abide by his view of Sharia will automatically be ousted from the circle of Islam. In turn, maulvis opposed to Sufi emphasize that anyone who supports the Taliban who plan suicide bombings and slaughter Muslims is an infidel. This discourse is unhelpful. The state and the society need to strengthen their resolve to act against the Taliban terrorizing citizens, not because they are infidels or bad Muslims, but because they are criminals and have usurped the lives and liberties of compatriots.

Talibanization of the mind is finding room in our society either because a majority of our population that is religiously inclined continues to confuse its responsibilities toward God with those toward fellow citizens or because we are too timid to defend a lifestyle that might be judged by the religiously inclined. Unless we shun hypocrisy and stand up to defend a legal and social structure that allows us to order our private lives freely, in a secular fashion or in accordance with our own understanding of religion, freedom of religion will continue to be chipped away and more and more vigilantes will develop the urge to play God within Pakistan. (The News, 9 May 2009)

The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad.

Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu

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Farhat Taj: The army finally gets it right

It was retaliation par excellence. A convoy of the Pakistan army was ambushed by Taliban terrorists in the Kanjo area in Swat. The convoy had intended to go to Mangora to reinforce the army units there. Several soldiers died on the spot. The army responded with robust force and attacked the Taliban holding strategic positions on the heights containing Mangora emerald mines. From those heights the Taliban used to attack the Mangora circuit house, where the army was stationed. All the militants on the heights were killed and the state property, the emerald mines, was regained. Moreover, the army conducted successful attacks on other strongholds of the Taliban in Rahimabad and Takhtaband, and killed them there. "I am so pleased to see the forceful attacks. It is like avenging a slap in the face with a kick in the face," said a resident of Swat from Mangora. He also informed me that all the people in Swat were very happy with this retaliatory response of the army. "This is what we expect from the state army and this is how the army must deal with the Taliban beasts," he said further

Moreover, hundreds of Taliban terrorists have besieged the police station in Matta, a stronghold of the Taliban, for three days now. All roads leading to the police station have been mined by the militants so that the security forces could not reach the police station. Policemen and FC soldiers are within the police station. Entire Pakistan should be proud of them. They are resisting the militants, despite the fact that they are short of food, water and fuel. "The resistance of the besieged policemen and soldiers is very reassuring. Our prayers are with them. We love them. May God be with them," people of Swat who I contacted told me.

A wonderful achievement of the besieged policemen and FC soldiers is that they have killed Ibn-e-Aqel, the Taliban leader who was leading the siege of the police station. He was one of the cruelest Taliban leaders. He had mercilessly beheaded civilians, soldiers and policemen in Swat. He was the man who excavated the body of Pir Samiulla, the man who had led an armed resistance against the Taliban. Ibn-e-Aqel was the brother of Ibn-e-Amin, the top Taliban commander in Ber Swat area. Both the brothers have been strong opponents of Afzal Kahn Lala, a leader who stood up to the Taliban in his native village in Swat.

People of Swat say enough is enough. They have suffered enough atrocities. All those in Swat that I am in contact with told me they want the Pakistan army to eliminate the Taliban once and for all. For that purpose, they told me, they were ready to suffer as IDPs for some time. But the army operation must be swift, targeted and must kill the Taliban.

Indeed most Pakhtuns want the Pakistan army to annihilate the Taliban. The army would do itself a good if it crushed the Taliban. The Pakistan army has always had a high reputation in the eyes of the people of NWFP and FATA. This reputation is battered now. The army is seen as unable to eliminate the Taliban, or as ready to kill Pakhtun civilians but tacitly supporting the Taliban. Once Afzal Khan Lala, a veteran ANP politician, told me that he had clearly told Chief of Army Staff General Kayani that people in Swat believed that the army and the Taliban were one and the same. The same is the perception of people all over NWFP and FATA. Retaliations against the Taliban, like those in Swat in the last couple or so days, would improve the reputation of the army among the Pakhtuns.

But retaliations and reactions against the Taliban here and there in bits and pieces are just not enough. The army needs to deal with them all over Pakistan. The Taliban must be eliminated. They must be crushed for good. There are no moderate or good Taliban. There are no Taliban that can be engaged in dialogue. They all are mad beasts.

Look at the track record of the Taliban. They occupy a place. Unleash a reign of terror on the civilians there. Then they give it up and run away for life when faced with huge might. They did that in Kabul when the US bombed them and they will do so in Swat, Buner and Dir, where the army is conducting an operation against them. They will abandon the area and run away to FATA. They will wait in FATA for an appropriate time to reoccupy parts in NWFP.

The army need to be in a proactive mode. It must chase the Taliban in the tribal area and kill them in operations that are offensive not defensive. It must destroy the Taliban and Al Qaeda installations and training camps in FATA. The army must restore the sovereignty of Pakistan and retake the areas in FATA and NWFP that have long been occupied by the Taliban. The Pakistan army must free the Pakhtun citizens of Pakistan, who are forced to live under one of the most brutal occupations of our time.

Pakhtuns are loyal citizens of Pakistan. But they feel abandoned by the state to the Taliban. The Taliban, whether Pakhtun or non-Pakhtun, are the enemies of Pakhtun. The army must show that it stands with the Pakhtuns by eliminating the Taliban. The Taliban understand the language of violence only. The army must aggressively communicate with them in that language.

Moreover, there are Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts and installations in other parts of Pakistan, especially in Balochistan and southern Punjab. They too have to be taken care of. The state must take control of all jehadi madrassas and must use force, if necessary. (The News, 9 May 2009)


The writer is a research fellow at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Research, University of Oslo, and a member of Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy. Email: bergen34@yahoo.com

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Pakistan goes to war in Swat

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has declared war in Swat and he has all the important stakeholders on board. The peace deal — directly with Sufi Muhammad and indirectly with the Taliban — was sincerely followed by the government in the teeth of many dire predictions of conceding advantage to the Taliban under the guise of sharia embodied in the Nizam-e Adl. But even as Sufi Muhammad parleyed, his son-in-law and warlord Fazlullah violated the pledge of the “stand still” agreement, killed people, destroyed girls’ schools, maltreated women and generally intimidated a population that had returned from their earlier exodus by reposing trust in him.

The army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, says the army will fight till “decisive ascendancy” has been achieved in Swat. The army knows that it is backed by the entire nation. Earlier, when the parliament was briefed by the army on the expanding phenomenon of the Taliban, the reaction from the opposition was that it was “not Pakistan’s war” — and the general tenor of the joint resolution that emerged from it was for withdrawing troops and negotiating with the Taliban. When the NWFP government offered the Nizam-e Adl to Sufi Muhammad, the parliament endorsed its signature into law.

President Asif Zardari’s policy of getting the Nizam-e Adl clearly endorsed by parliament has turned out to be the right policy. The Taliban have offended all the parties that took part in this unanimous vote. The PMLN, which spent most part of 2008 garnering additional political support by positing military operations against the Taliban as “Pakistan fighting America’s war against its own people”, now has grounds for declaring that it “supports the government unconditionally in the greater national interest”. This support is crucial to the conduct of war in Swat. Together, the PPP and the PMLN have almost the entire voting population of Pakistan behind the war.

There is no doubt that there will be a period of attrition in this war. The Taliban of Swat are linked to the Taliban in adjoining territories and they have been preparing for this face-off because they never had any intention of abiding by the peace pledges of Nizam-e Adl. Foreign warriors and fighters external to Swat have always taken part in terrorism there, killing innocent people and spreading fear and intimidation among the common folk. According to ex-secretary FATA Brigadier Mehmood Shah, Uzbek warlord Tahir Yuldashev was only recently injured while engaging with the Pakistani security forces in the Swat region and was removed to South Waziristan for recovery.

Parliament remains the forum where the conduct of the war against the Taliban should continue to be discussed. An APC comprising elected and non-elected entities is not desirable because it will simply increase the complexities of the national consensus on the war. Many groupings may actually not like to be forced into expressing an opinion for or against the military operation. Some like the Jama’at-e Islami and Tehreek-e Insaf have articulated their opposition to it because they still think, wrongly, that it is not Pakistan’s war and that our army has gone out “to kill its own people”. The ANP, which increasingly speaks for the Pashtun majority in Pakistan located partly in Karachi, has decided to back the operation. This backing is in some ways more crucial than the support of all the nay-sayers in the unelected opposition.

A religious reaction against the Taliban has emerged in the rest of Pakistan. It is a good development provided it is not allowed to assume the shape of an anti-Taliban jihadi militia with unpredictable consequences for civil society in the future. The mosques in Punjab are sounding objections to the conduct of the Taliban and their local supporters, but this trend will die down unless the government also takes action against the old jihadis who have now joined the Al Qaeda-Taliban combine. Despite cases going on against them in connection with the Mumbai attacks, they are free to hold local agitprop public meetings and some have been reported as grabbing Barelvi mosques in South Punjab.

The army can do the job provided the civilian governments in the provinces take steps to prevent “revenge attacks” by the Taliban in their territories. Punjab is under a competent leadership which has already pledged to beef up the police to suppress the provincial reflex of dismissing terrorism as a “federal” problem. (Daily Times)

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Is it really declaration of war against Taliban ?

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday announced a full-scale military operation to wipe out the Taliban from the insurgency-hit areas.

In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that after deliberations and discussions with all stakeholders, the government had decided to call in the military for decisive action against the Taliban.

He said his government had tried all options to resolve the issue peacefully and implemented the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation despite pressure, but its efforts were taken as a sign of weakness.After the peace deal, the Taliban refused to disarm, attacked security forces personnel and checkposts, targeted those who had helped the government restore peace, stopped girls from going to schools and colleges, were disgraceful towards women and made the lives of minorities miserable, the prime minister said.

He said the Taliban challenged the writ of the state and refused to accept the constitution, the parliament and the judiciary. Gilani said his government would not compromise on national sovereignty or bow before the Taliban.

He appealed to the people of Pakistan, the civil society and the media to support the government and the army. Gilani also asked clerics and religious leaders to highlight what he called the true spirit of Islam. The prime minister announced Rs 1 billion for the rehabilitation of the people displaced by the unrest and promised a job to one member from every family that lost an earning member to terrorism.He appealed to the international community to help Pakistan in the rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons and enhancing the capacity of its security forces. (Daily Times)

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Army told to crush Swat militants

•Militants mistook govt’s sincerity for weakness •Women subjected to discrimination •PML-N, ANP, JUP back operation •Rs1bn allocated for displaced people.

ISLAMABAD, May 7: The government announced on Thursday it had called out the army for a decisive action against militants in Swat and adjoining areas.

In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said nefarious activities of militants had reached a stage where a decisive step against them had become inevitable. “We will not bow down before terrorists and extremists and force them to lay down arms,” he declared.

The prime minister stopped short of scrapping the Swat peace deal, but said sincerity of the government in pursuing reconciliation was misconstrued as weakness. He said there was an understanding that militants would lay down arms after enforcement of the Nizam-i-Adl but it did not happen.

Mr Gilani said the time had come when the nation should unite against the elements which wanted to take Pakistan hostage at gunpoint and were hell-bent on putting the country’s future at stake. “Nobody can be allowed to challenge the writ of the government,” he remarked.

He said the country was facing two big challenges today: national security and economic progress. He said the two were interlinked because economic and industrial progress was not possible without peace and security.

He said the people who cooperated with security forces were victimised and hundreds of thousands were forced to migrate to other areas. He said girls were being stopped from going to schools, public and private properties were occupied and damaged, women subjected to shameless treatment and to add insult to injury, all these steps were taken in the name of Islam. He said the army had been called out to eliminate terrorists and protect the life and property of people in Swat.

He said an amount of Rs1 billion had been allocated for rehabilitation of displaced persons. One member of every family which had lost a breadwinner would be given a job. He appealed to all politicians to support efforts of the government. He urged ulema to highlight the true face of Islam which has no room for suicide attacks and oppression.

The prime minister also urged the international community to help Pakistan in rehabilitating displaced persons and for enhancing the capacity of its security forces to fight terror.

REACTION: The Pakistan Muslim League-N announced support for the military action. A PML-N spokesman, Siddiqul Farooq, said as militants had challenged the writ of the state, it was important to take action against them. He said the PML-N would like the government to immediately call an all-party conference to evolve consensus.

The ANP also supported the announcement. “It seems the man (Sufi Mohammad) we had entrusted with the task of getting the peace deal implemented had become hostage to the will of extremists,” ANP’s senior vice-president Haji Adeel said. He said the NWFP government was taken into confidence before the prime minister announced the action.

Former amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, opposed the move, but several religious scholars, including Mufti Muneebur Rehman and Sahibzada Fazal Karim of JUP, welcomed it. (Daily Dawn)

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Abbas Zaidi: Clerks of Punjab, sell your children!

The Punjab government had decided to sack thousands of clerks who have been working on contract basis for the past nineteen years. Other than the office boys, the clerks are at the lowest ladder of government jobs, and it is very difficult for them to live respectably. This is one reason—one reason—that being clerk is synonymous with being petty bribe taking. Clerks are also known to be mean, petty-minded, and live in infamy and economic deprivation. The reason: they usually deal with the very poor and it is these poor that they have to squeeze to make extra bucks.

Now that the Punjabi government has decided to deprive them of the low salaries and petty pilfering, they have put up their children on sale because they cannot feed them. The wailing clerks beat their chests and pull their hair as their lovely little kids crying and begging the government to have pity on them and their fathers.

The government is merciless and will not be moved by the wailing or Children of Sale. One clerk, however, said something significant. He said that the economic ruin of the clerks and their families would lead to the Talibanization of the clerks, which means that pushed against the wall some clerks or their children will become suicide bombers. The clerk is right: the only language that the government understands is the language is violent as the victories of the Taliban in northern Pakistan show.

Suicide bombing as we Pakistanis know is an extremely wicked act, which results in nothing but destruction and fitna on a very large scale. Having said that, I believe that the clerks or their children will not become suicide bombers unless religion is brought in. This is why, the government will disdain the clerks, protests, and they, the clerks, will continue to protest and put up their children on sale.
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Talibans look like Vampires !

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Abbas Zaidi: Pakistani media continues to glorify Islamo-fascism

On 17 April the entire electronic media brought Abdul Aziz to every household of Pakistan. He was shown coming from an inner room of the notorious Lal Mosque into the prayer hall where he led the Friday prayer as he used to do till he was arrested on terrorism charges in 2007. He was set free on the evening of 16 April which the media beamed across the country as "Breaking News". After he came out of the jail and settled down into a jeep, he gave a brief interview in which he ominously said, "Pakistan was created in the name of Islam but due to non-implementation of the Islamic sections and law and justice a tension is spreading in religious circles". Before leaving, Abdul Aziz eulogized the Taliban takeover of Swat and the imposition of Nizam-e-Adal (System of Justice) there. He concluded his interview by saying that the Nizam-e-Adal should be imposed in every part of Pakistan.

In the midst of thunderous applause Abdul Aziz peppered his Friday sermon with the following statements:

1. "We will continue our struggle to enforce Islamic order in the country."

2. "God willing, our sacrifices will not go in vain and Islam will be implemented not only in Pakistan but all over the world."

3. "What we have seen in Swat and the Tribal Areas is the result of the sacrifices at the Lal Mosque, of the students, the people who were martyred." (He was referring to the deal struck between the government and the Taliban according to which Swat and the Tribal Areas will be governed in accordance with the brutal Wahhabi version of Islam.

Then Abdul Aziz asked his votary that in order to impose [the mutilative] Shariah in Pakistan: "Will you render sacrifices?" "Will you go to jails?" "Will you render sacrifices for religion?"

Yes, his votary shouted.

Pakistan´s electronic media broadcast the entire gory drama of Islamo-fascism live. Abdul Aziz was presented as the present day David who had emerged victorious and was telling his people that the Islamic utopia was not very far.

There are only two channels in Pakistan which show balance. But both of them are English language channels which means very few watch them given Pakistan´s literacy in English. The rest of them, dozens of them, are Urdu language channels and compete with one another in proving their Islamist credentials. There are countless talk shows on these Urdu channels where India, Israel, and the United States are regularly denounced for having ganged up to destroy Pakistan, the "citadel of Islam". If an invited guest tries to speak the truth, he is cut short and is not invited next time. This has happened on different channels with a scholar like Dr Pervaiz Hoodbhai. As far as I know there is only one journalist who speaks the truth. His name is Nusrat Javed and he is the co-host of Bolta Pakistan on Aaj TV. At times his interlocutors have questioned his Islamic credentials. He has received a number of serious threats. So far he has stood his ground. The rest, as they say, is history: history of shame, complicity, and capitulation to the forces of darkness.

Source: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/100224

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Will the silent Sunni Barelvi majority rise against the brutal Wahhabi-Neo Deobandi allinace known as the Taliban?

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Ahmed Rashid: Civil war if Taliban make further inroads

Taliban supporters march in Swat Valley, Pakistan Photo: AP

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Karachi

If the Taliban encroach any further into Punjab and Karachi, there will be bloody civil war on account of existing ethnic and sectarian fault-lines, journalist and scholar Ahmed Rashid said on Monday.

He was delivering a lecture titled “Pakistan and Afghanistan: quest for peace or recipe for war?” at the Mohatta Palace. Rashid said that the Swat deal was made by the Awami National Party (ANP) government out of “desperation”, and had proved disastrous in terms of “expansion” of the Taliban, abrogating the Constitution, the reluctance of army to go there. It has also compounded the refugee crisis because the number of displaced persons has increased to one million.

There was no “Sharia” in Swat; it was, in fact, “Taliban law”, which was anti-women and anti-education, Rashid maintained. He said the Taliban now had a large pool of suicide bombers whose age was 15 years and they could turn potential extremists into suicide bombers within “four days”. Earlier, he said, it took them at least three months to groom a suicide bomber.

Talking from his personal research in Kohat, Rashid said that now the Taliban provided a package deal, containing Rs20,000 per month, a motorcycle and mobile phone to potential terrorists. He said that despite much talk of Madressah reforms during the Musharraf era, the number of seminaries had increased from 12,000 in 2001 to 18,000 now and many of these new religious schools were being run by Jihadi organisations.

He said in contrast to Afghanistan where the Taliban comprised mainly Pakhtoons, the Pakistan Taliban were emerging as a “multi-ethnic group”, having links in Punjab, Sindh, and other areas.

He said with the aligning of Kashmiri and Punjabi groups, which were anti-India and turned against Gen. (retd) Musharraf in 2006 when he made peace moves towards New Delhi, Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) now comprised 40 militant groups. He said this movement had now developed its own agenda of imposing Shariah. Massive donations from charitable organisations inside the country and from the Gulf countries and drugs were the three major sources of funding for the Taliban.

Rashid termed the failure of the Pakistani state to protect lives of 300 Maliks (tribal heads) in FATA who were slaughtered by Taliban the biggest mistake. As a result, the government not only lost goodwill there but also support of the “tribal structure.” Rashid believed all problems emanated from lack of comprehensive policy of the Bush administration about Afghanistan, which diverted its focus on Iraq. Its main focus was to capture Osama bin Laden and similarly, Pakistan also ignored Taliban for its own reasons. Gen. Musharraf also did not touch Taliban and kept them in reserve in case US left Afghanistan alone and focus its attention on capturing Al-Qaeda leaders only. Elements in the army and the Intelligence agencies also remained in touch with them to preserve “Jihadi nexus” against India. He opined the Obama administration’s “regional strategy” was likely to put pressure on Pakistan, Iran and India and Central Asian States to resolve their disputes and rivalries and focus on the “terrorism” issue. He said as 80pc of US aid during the Musharraf regime went to the army, which was used against India, the Obama administration had now focused on civil programmes with conditionalties that may be difficult for Pakistan to meet. It is because of this reason that President Asif Zardari’s visit to USA would be critical.

He claimed the US government would not back a military coup in Pakistan because of perceived resistance by the “left wing” among the Democrats. Besides it would provide an excuse to the Republicans to say that there was no different between Obama and Bush.

About the Balochistan insurgency, he said it was for the first time that the Baloch elite were expressing their frustration, which, he added, could still have a solution. He said Pakistan needed to redefine its national security as India was focusing on its economy. —IA (The News)

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Taliban take over Mingora

* Army officer, soldier killed in Taliban attacks
* Troops ‘exercising restraint to honour peace agreement’
* Taliban blow up school

MINGORA/RAWALPINDI: The Swat peace agreement crumbled on Monday as Taliban took over Mingora, the district headquarters, taking positions atop government and private buildings and patrolling the deserted streets.

“The city is in complete control of the Taliban, who say they are taking positions to guard the local population,” Mingora residents said. But the Taliban did not elaborate who they were protecting the city against.

Business centres and shops remained closed.

Local residents said both the security forces and the Taliban set up checkposts on roads leading to Mingora and soldiers were seen on high alert in Kabal.

Military authorities had announced curfew in the city from 7pm to 6am and had warned the violators of stern action.

Officer, soldier killed: In Rawalpindi, the Inter-Services Public Relations said the Taliban had killed another soldier and an officer in various incidents of violence.

“The security forces are still exercising restraint to honour the peace agreement,” it said. The army officer was killed when the Taliban attacked a security convoy in Barrikot early on Monday. Two soldiers were injured in the ensuing gunfight.

A soldier was killed when the Taliban raided a checkpost in Shangla. They also demolished a vacant police checkpost in Yakhtangi in Shangla, and burnt three private trucks in Biladram and Chamtalai. Three Taliban were reported killed in a clash with troops in Maidan.

DSP’s house: The Taliban burnt the house of a police deputy superintendent in Kumber, and robbed the house of the Maidan Union Council nazim in Lower Dir. They abducted a number of civilians from Kot Haya Sarai in Maidan. The Taliban also blew up a government high school building in Tandoodhag area. Sources in Shangla said the Taliban had told a jirga they had entered Shangla to stop the security forces from entering Swat and Buner.

Meanwhile, intermediate exams at nine centres in Buner were cancelled, and the Swat DCO told a private TV channel that curfew had been imposed in Swat for an indefinite period. staff report/ daily times monitor

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US options in Pakistan limited

LAHORE/ WASHINGTON: In briefings last week, senior US officials told US President Barack Obama and his National Security Council that neither a Taliban takeover nor a military coup was imminent and that the Pakistani nuclear arsenal was safe, the Washington Post has reported. For the longer term, however, the intelligence was far from reassuring. Security was deteriorating and there were signs that groups sympathetic to the Taliban were working in Punjab. The political leadership was mired in bickering; the army remained ill-equipped and unwilling to fight the insurgency. But Obama has only limited options for dealing with the threat(s). The anti-American feeling is high, and a US combat presence prohibited. The US has to fight Pakistan’s Taliban through an army over which it has little control. The tools at hand are money, weapons, and a mentoring relationship that alternates between advice and criticism. Meanwhile, according to AFP, in his talks with President Asif Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week, President Obama will raise concerns about nuclear proliferation and resurgent extremism. daily times monitor/afp (Daily Times)

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At least 11 per cent of Pakistan's landmass has been ceded to the Taliban. Where is the Pakistan army? Questions Dr. Farrukh Saleem

Where is the Pakistan army?

By Dr. Farrukh Saleem

Five thousand square kilometres of Swat are now under Taliban control -- de jure. Chitral (14,850 sq km), Dir (5,280 sq km), Shangla (1,586 sq km), Hangu (1,097 sq km), Lakki Marwat (3,164 sq km), Bannu (1,227 sq km), Tank (1,679 sq km), Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orkzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan are all under Taliban control -- de facto.

That's a total of 56,103 square kilometres of Pakistan under Taliban control -- de facto.Six thousand square kilometres of Dera Ismail Khan are being contested. Also under 'contested control' are Karak (3,372 sq km), Kohat (2,545 sq km), Peshawar (2,257 sq km), Charsada (996 sq km) and Mardan (1,632 sq km). That's a total of 16,802 square kilometres of Pakistan under 'contested control' -- de facto. Seven thousand five hundred square kilometres of Kohistan are under 'Taliban influence'. Additionally, Mansehra (4,579 sq km), Battagram (1,301 sq km), Swabi (1,543 sq km) and Nowshera (1,748 sq km) are all under 'Taliban influence'. That's a total of 16,663 square kilometres of Pakistan under 'Taliban influence' -- de facto. All put together, 89,568 square kilometres of Pakistani territory is either under complete 'Taliban control', 'contested control' or 'Taliban influenced'; that's 11 per cent of Pakistan's landmass.

Where is Pakistan army? To be fair, under our constitution law enforcement -- and establishing the writ of the state -- is the responsibility of our civil administration. Yes, under Article 245, the federal government can call in the army "in aid of civil power" but the overall strategy has to be devised by our politicians. Counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency are very specialised operations. Textbook counter-insurgency has three elements: Clear-Hold-Build (C-H-B). The army may be required to 'clear' insurgents from a particular area but every army operation creates a vacuum that has to be filled by a civil-political administration. After the 'clearing' of insurgents it has to be the politicians to 'hold' that area and then fulfil the social contract -- dispensation of justice, municipal services etc -- between the ruled and the rulers (classic counter-insurgency is DDD, disrupt, dismantle and defeat).

At least 11 per cent of Pakistan's landmass has been ceded to the Taliban. Where is the Pakistan army? I Corps is in Mangla, II Corps is in Multan, IV Corps in Lahore, V Corps in Karachi, X Corps in Rawalpindi, XI Corps in Peshawar, XII Corps in Quetta, XXX Corps in Gujranwala and XXXI is in Bahawalpur, In effect, some 80 to 90 per cent of our military assets are deployed to counter the threat from India. The Pakistan army looks at the Indian army and sees its inventory of 6,384 tanks as a threat. The Pakistan army looks at the Indian air force and sees its inventory of 672 combat aircraft as a threat. The Pakistan army looks at the Indian army and notices that six out of 13 Indian corps are strike corps. The Pakistan army looks at the Indian army and finds that 15, 9, 16, 14, 11, 10 and 2 Corps are all pointing their guns at Pakistan. The Pakistan army looks at the Indian army and discovers that the 3rd Armoured Division, 4 RAPID Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade have been deployed to cut Pakistan into two halves. The Pakistan army looks at the Taliban and sees no Arjun Main Battle Tanks (MBT), no armoured fighting vehicles, no 155 mm Bofors howitzers, no Akash surface-to-air missiles, no BrahMos land attack cruise missiles, no Agni Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, no Sukhoi Su-30 MKI air superiority strike fighters, no Jaguar attack aircraft, no MiG-27 ground-attack aircraft, no Shakti thermonuclear devices, no Shakti-II 12 kiloton fission devices and no heavy artillery.

Pakistan is on fire and our fire-fighters are on the Pakistan-India border. To be certain, none of those Indian tanks can cross the Himalayas into China so Arjun MBTs must all be for Pakistan. Thus, the Pakistan-India border has to be defended. Then, what about this hyperactive insurgency that is snatching away Pakistani physical terrain -- bit by bit? There certainly is no easy way out. America wants the Pakistan army to neutralise threats to the mainland US. The Pakistan army, on the other hand, has to defend the Pakistan-India border. The need of the hour, therefore, is for all organs of the Pakistani state -- the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the military -- to put their heads together and devise a National Counter-Insurgency Policy.

Source: The News International

Source: Daily Express

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Malakand Commissioner AKA "Commissioner Taliban" has been transfered !

فضل کریم خٹک نئے مالاکنڈ کمشنر مقرر
عبدالحئی کاکڑ

صوبہ سرحد کی حکومت نے طالبان کے مبینہ حامی ہونے کے الزامات کی زد میں رہنے والے مالاکنڈ ڈویژن کے کمشنر سید محمد

جاوید کے تبادلے کا باقاعدہ نوٹیفیکیشن جاری کردیا ہے اور ان کی جگہ فضل کریم خٹک کو نیا کمشنر مقرر کیا گیا ہے۔
صوبائی حکومت کی جانب سے جاری ہونے والے نوٹیفیکیشن میں ان کے تبادلے کی وجہ نہیں بتائی گئی ہے۔ انہیں سرکار بکار خاص بنادیا گیا ہے۔
اس سال سولہ فروی کو ہونے والے امن معاہدے کے بعد صوبائی حکومت نے فضل کریم خٹک کو ہٹا کر سید محمد جاوید کو مالاکنڈ ڈویژن کا نیا کمشنر مقرر کیا تھا۔
کمشنر مقرر ہونے کے بعد طالبان ترجمان مسلم خان نے بی بی سی سے بات کرتے ہوئے ان کی تعیناتی کا خیر مقدم کیا تھا۔ سید محمد جاوید پر سول سوسائٹی الزامات لگاتی رہی کہ وہ طالبان حامی ہیں اور مبینہ طور پر ان کی مدد کررہے ہیں۔ تاہم صوبائی حکومت اور انہوں نے خود ان الزامات کی تردید کی تھی۔
ذرائع کے مطابق سید محمد جاوید کا طالبان اور کالعدم نفاذ شریعت محمدی میں زیادہ اثر و رسوخ تھا اور انہیں بڑی قدر کی نگاہ سے دیکھا جاتا تھا۔ ان کے تبادلے کے بارے میں مسلم خان کا کہنا ہے کہ انہوں نے طالبان اور حکومت کے درمیان بڑے اچھے روابط قائم کیے تھے۔ ان کے بقول وہ بیک وقت بحیثیتِ سرکاری ملازم اپنی ذمہ داری احسن طریقے سے نبھاتے رہے اور دوسری طرف ’دین کی خدمت‘ بھی کرتے رہے۔
یاد رہے کہ سوات میں اکتوبر دو ہزار سات میں جب باقاعدہ آپریشن شروع کیا گیا تھا اس وقت سید محمد جاوید سوات کے ضلعی رابط آفسر تھے جنہیں فوجی کارروائی کے آغاز کے ساتھ ہی تبدیل کردیا تھا۔

’طالبان کا پیارا، حکومت کو گوارا‘
عبدالحئی کاکڑ

وضع قطع سے مذہبی معلوم ہونے والے سید محمد جاوید اس وقت ملاکنڈ ڈویژن کی سب سے جانی پہچانی شخصیت ہیں۔ طالبان انہیں ’راسیخ العقیدہ مسلمان‘ اور طالبان کے مخالفین انہیں ’کمشنر طالبان‘ یا ’کمشنر فضل اللہ‘ کے نام سے یاد کرتے ہیں۔
سوات امن معاہدے کے بعد صوبائی حکومت نے سید محمد جاوید کو ملاکنڈ ڈویژن کا کمشنر مقرر کر کے انہیں طالبان کی صفوں تک رسائی حاصل کرنے کے لیے بطور ’پُل‘ استعمال کیا لیکن اب ان کے تبادلےکے بعد خیال کیا جا رہا ہے کہ حکومت نے اس ’پل‘ کو توڑ دیا ہے۔
ضلع مردان کے شیرگڑہ کےگاؤں شمعون میں ایک دینی عالم کے گھر میں پیدا ہونے والے سید محمد جاوید زمانہ طالبعلمی میں اسلامی جمیعت طلبہ کے فعال رکن تھے۔ شمعون گاؤں ان کے والد کے نام سے منسوب ہے۔ انہوں نے اسی کی دہائی میں ’سی ایس ایس‘ ایسے وقت کیا جب جنرل ضیاءالحق اسلامائزیشن کے ایجنڈے کے تحت قومی اداروں میں مذہبی سوچ رکھنے والوں کو بھرتی کرنے کو ترجیح دے رہے تھے۔

ذرائع کا کہنا ہے کہ سید محمد جاوید کو ان بیورو کریٹس میں سے شمار کیا جاتا ہے جنہوں نے نوے کی دہائی میں مولانا صوفی محمد کی کالعدم نفاذ شریعت محمدی کی تشکیل میں اہم کردار ادا کیا تھا۔ لیکن انہیں اس وقت شہرت ملی جب سنہ دوہزار چھ میں تحریکِ طالبان سوات کے سربراہ مولانا فضل اللہ اپنے سخت گیر خیالات کے ساتھ ایک عسکری قوت کے طور پر ابھر رہے تھے۔
سید محمد جاوید سوات کے ضلعی رابطہ افسر کے طور پر مولانا فضل اللہ کے ساتھ ملاقاتوں کے لیے ان کے مرکز امام ڈھیرئی جایا کرتے تھے۔انہوں نے بالآخر ایک ’معاہدے کے تحت مولانا فضل اللہ کو غیر قانونی ایف ایم چینل چلانے کی بھی اجازت دیدی‘۔
جنرل ریٹائرڈ پرویز مشرف کی حکومت نے مولانا فضل اللہ کو شرپسند اور ملک دشمن قرار دیا تھا مگر اس دوران سوات کے ضلعی رابطہ افسر کے طور پر ریاست کی نمائندگی کرنے والے سید جاوید اور مولانا فضل اللہ کے درمیان امام اور مقتدی کا رشتہ قائم ہوگیا تھا۔ وہ خود کہتے ہیں کہ ’کبھی وہ اور کبھی مولانا فضل اللہ نماز کی امامت کیا کرتے تھے‘۔
دونوں کے تعلقات اتنے گہرے ہوگئے تھے کہ صوبہ سرحد کے بیوروکریٹ نجی محفل میں کہا کرتے تھے کہ ’سید محمد جاوید رات کو طالب اور دن کو ضلعی رابطہ افسر ہوتے ہیں‘۔ایک دفعہ جب میں نے یہ بات ان کے گوش گزار کی تو انہوں نے ہنس کے جواب دیا کہ ’لوگ کہتے رہیں میں کیا کرسکتا ہوں‘۔
لیکن ان کے درمیان قائم ہونے والے تعلقات کی یہ کہانی اس وقت کے صدر جنرل پرویز مشرف کے کانوں تک بھی پہنچ گئی تھی اور ایک دفعہ وہ ایک وفد کے ہمراہ جب پرویز مشرف سے ملنے گئے تو بقول ایک افسر کے مصافحہ کے وقت انہوں نے اپنا تعارف کراتے وقت کہا، سید محمد جاوید تو پرویز مشروف نے ہنس کرکہا ’اوہ یہ تو طالبان کے ساتھی ہیں‘۔
جب اکتوبر دوہزار سات میں حکومت نے سوات میں باقاعدہ فوجی کارروائی کا آغاز کیا تو ذرائع کے مطابق انہیں آپریشن کے دوران مبینہ رکاوٹ سمجھتے ہوئے حکومت نے بطور ڈی سی سوات سے ان کا تبادلہ کر دیا۔

سید محمد جاوید سوات میں خدمات سرانجام دینے والے وہ واحد افسر ہیں جن کی بطورِ کمشنر مالاکنڈ ڈویژن دوبارہ تقرری کا طالبان ترجمان مسلم خان نے بھی خیر مقدم کیا۔ عینی شاہدین کے بقول گزشتہ دوماہ کے دوران ان کا دفتر طالبان اور نفاذ شریعت محمدی کے رہنماؤں کا مرکز بن گیا تھا اور وہ جہاں کہیں بھی جاتے پولیس کی بجائے طالبان کمانڈر محمود خان ان کی حفاظت کے لیے ہمرا ہوتے تھے۔
طالبان اور سید محمد جاوید کے درمیان بڑھتے ہوئے تعلقات نے وہاں پر موجود افسران کو بھی پریشانی میں مبتلا کردیا تھا۔ سوات کےسابق پولیس سربراہ نے سید محمد جاوید کے خلاف صوبائی حکومت کو باقاعدہ ایک مکتوب بھی لکھا۔
ذرائع کے مطابق مکتوب میں پولیس سربراہ نے الزام لگایا ’ کہ سید محمد جاوید کی رہائش گاہ ریاست مخالف سرگرمیوں کا گڑھ بن چکی ہے‘۔ مکتوب میں مزید کہا گیا کہ ’ کمشنر سید محمد جاوید پولیس اور عدلیہ کو طالبان کے سامنے سرینڈر کرنے کی کوشش کررہے ہیں اور بے شک ان کی ان کوششوں سے امن قائم تو ہوجائے گا لیکن یہ حکومت کی نہیں بلکہ طالبان کی عملداری قائم ہونے کی قیمت پر‘۔
ذرائع کے مطابق صوبائی حکومت نے پولیس سربراہ کو جواباً کہا کہ ’آپ کمشنر کے ماتحت ہیں لہٰذا یہ کیسے ممکن ہے کہ آپ ان کے خلاف اعلٰی حکام کو سرکاری طور پر خطوط لکھتے رہیں‘۔ بعد میں پولیس سربراہ کا سوات سے تبادلہ کردیاگیا۔

سرکاری ذرائع کے مطابق بونیر میں کمشنر کے کردار اور طالبان کی طاقت میں کمی کے بجائے دن بدن اضافے کے نتیجے میں حکومت کو ان کے تبادلے کا فیصلہ کرنا پڑا۔ ان پر الزام تھا کہ بونیر میں طالبان کے داخلے کے وقت انہوں نے مقامی پولیس اہلکاروں کو کارروائی نہ کرنے کی ہدایت کی جبکہ عمائدین کو مذاکرات میں الجھا کر طالبان کو مزید کمک پہنچنے کا موقع فراہم کیا۔ تاہم سید محمد جاوید نے ہمیشہ اس الزام کو رد کیا ہے۔
سید محمد جاوید کے قریبی حلقوں کا کہنا ہے کہ ان کی اب بھی جماعت اسلامی کے ساتھ گہری وابستگی ہے اور ہر اتوار کو شیرگڑھ میں ان کے حجرے پر درسِ قرآن کا انعقاد ہوتا ہے اور اس موقع پر لنگر بھی تقسیم کیا جاتا ہے۔
ان کے بقول وہ اسلامی نظام کے نفاذ کے لیے سیاسی اور ارتقائی عمل پر نہیں بلکہ انقلابی تبدیلی پر یقین رکھتے ہیں۔ وہ حتی المقدور کوشش کرتے ہیں کہ ان کی تصویر نہ لی جائے اور ٹیلی ویژن دیکھنے سے بھی احتراز کرتے ہیں۔ تاہم پاکستان میں میڈیا کی یلغار نے انہیں تصویر اور فوٹیج بنوانے پر مجبور کردیا۔
ذرائع کے مطابق کمشنر تعینات ہونے کے بعد انہوں نے کمشنر ہاؤس سے ٹیلی ویژن کو ہٹادیا تاہم مذاکرات کے لیے جانے والے صوبائی وزراء کے حکم پر ٹیلی ویژن کمشنر ہاؤس میں واپس رکھ دیا گیا۔
جب وہ سوات کے ضلعی رابط افسر تھے تو ان دنوں جب طالبان نے سی ڈی فلمیں فروخت کرنے والے دکانوں کو نشانہ بنانے کا سلسلہ شروع کیا تو ایک ملاقات کے دوران سید محمد جاوید نے دکانداروں سے کہا کہ ’آپ لوگ بھی دوکانوں کو بند کردو اور اس غیر شرعی کاروبار کو چھوڑ دو‘۔

Source: BBC Urdu

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At last Tableeghi Jamaat denounce Talibani Shariat !

Tableeghi Jamaat leaders denounce gunpoint Sharia

ISLAMABAD: In an unprecedented move, top leaders of the Tableeghi Jamaat have denounced enforcement of Sharia at gunpoint, religious extremism, militancy and terrorism.
Leaders of the Jamaat, who scrupulously avoid speaking on controversial issues, also called for promoting inter-faith harmony, tolerance, human rights, social justice and peace.
They were speaking at the conclusion of a three-day congregation near here on Monday. ‘Shariah cannot be enforced at gunpoint,’ declared Haji Abdul Wahab, Amir of the Tableeghi Jamaat, Pakistan.
Had that been the case, Allah Almighty would have sent fierce angels to protect prophets and enforce their faiths, he said.
The 90-year-old scholar, who left his job as sessions judge in pre-partition India and joined the Jamaat, cited the example of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), said the Holy Prophet never used force. Instead he spread the word of God only by peaceful means.
Haji Abdul Wahab also condemned extremism and militancy in the name of Islam, apparently a reference to the growing trend of Talibanisation and enforcement of Shria in Swat and other areas in the NWFP.
The congregation of tens of thousands of people was also addressed by Maulana Jamshaid, Maulana Mohammad Ahmed and Mualana Fahim.
‘Muslims should preach peace, brotherhood and tolerance across the world, including Israel. They must avoid imposing their creed or faith by force because Islam is a religion of peace and promotes tranquillity,’ another scholar told the mammoth gathering.
Maulana Mohammad Ahmed, a former educationist, said that Muslims should inspire adherents of other religions by their good moral and social behaviour. People who thought that Shariah could be imposed by force were simpletons, he said. ‘We should reach out to all human beings and guide them out of darkness. Before the advent of Islam, people were so inflexible that they used to bury their daughters without remorse. (But they changed.) Remember …human beings are above other creations of God,’ said Maulana Ahmed, the custodian of the largest seminary of the Tableeghi school of thought in Raiwind near Lahore.
The main message of the gathering was that Islam could not be confined to Pakistan or any other geographical area and there was a need to spread the religion of peace in every corner of the world.
People from across the country who had converged there pledged that they would continue the mission of spreading Islam across the world.

Source: Dawn, Jang

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Talibans start making their presence felt in Karachi !

Co-edu institutions in city receiving threats from Taliban?

KARACHI: Panic has spread in the city’s co-education institutions after receiving threats, believed to be from the Taliban, in which they have been warned to close down or face the consequences, Daily Times learnt on Monday.
Various educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities have received threatening letters and phone calls by the Taliban. A source privy to the matter revealed that mostly schools having affiliation with the Cambridge Board where male and female students are studying together without any discrimination have received threatening phone calls and also letters posted by the militants.
The source further pointed out that the sender of the threat posed themselves, either on the phone or in the letter, as the Taliban while demanding the end of the co-education system or prepare for an attack.
It was also learnt that the vice chancellor of the largest university of the city had also received phone calls by intelligence agencies inquiring about the possible threat of the Taliban. The source revealed that the agencies suggested to the VC of the universityto make the veil (burqa) compulsory for all girl students as a precautionary measure.
It is pertinent to mention here that a number of schools have also received fake phone calls of there being a bomb on the school premises.
The source further pointed out that the British Council Pakistan delayed the schedule of the O and A level exams because of the possible threat of terrorism. There are 22 centres that will be announced to host the examinations by the British Council Pakistan, however, the announcement of the centres was delayed and it has been decided by the authorities concerned that the schedule of the examination centres will be disclosed late because of minimum risk.

Source: Daily Times ---- 28th April, 09
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USA TODAY: Momentum builds against Taliban in Pakistan

By Paul Wiseman and Zafar M. Sheikh

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A public backlash is building against the Pakistani Taliban, who looked triumphant after gaining control of the northern Swat region last week.
Since Pakistan's parliament approved a peace deal turning Swat over to militants on April 13, their leader Sufi Muhammad has moved forces into a neighboring district, rejected the legitimacy of the country's elected leaders, vowed to spread Islamic law across the country, and offered sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and other foreign terrorists.
These moves have turned hopes for peace in a strife-torn area into fears that the entire country will fall into the hands of militants, said Shoaib Bhutta, a journalist and confidant of Pakistan's president."If there is no peace, the government will use force," Rehman Malik, head of the Interior Ministry, told parliament Wednesday.
Even conservative politicians appear to be distancing themselves from the Swat militants. Sayed Munawar Hasan, new head of the religious Jamaat Islamic party, ridiculed Muhammad for labeling as "infidel" anyone who participates in democratic elections, noting that the militant leader had run — and won — in local elections a few years ago.
"Does this mean he is some sort of infidel?" Hasan said. "Whatever Sufi Muhammad said is not serious. He should not make these statements. He should consult mainstream clerics in the country."
In Washington on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists."
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose followers include religious conservatives, told USA TODAY this week that he had misgivings about the peace agreement and was worried the militants would try to expand control beyond Swat.
Over the past year, Pakistan's army proved unable to prevent Swat militants — led in combat by Muhammad's son-in-law Mullah Fazalullah — from terrorizing the district by executing local politicians, burning schools and publicly flogging anyone who violated their harsh version of Islam by trimming their beards or wearing their pants too long.
The secular Awami National Party, which governs the province that includes Swat, negotiated a peace deal with Muhammad's militants after seeing its ranks decimated by assassinations. The national parliament approved the deal last week.
But the deal — and Sufi Muhammad's audacious comments rejecting democracy and calling for imposing Islamic law nationwide — have drawn heavy criticism.
"He is denying the legitimacy of higher courts and the political system," said Murtaza Mughal, head of the Pakistan Economy Watch think tank. "It's not the proper attitude."
"They have a misunderstanding that the government has surrendered," Bhutta said. "But the government wanted to show the people and supporters of the militants what kind of people they are. Now all those who were in favor of the militants and of the agreement are turning against them and are unified on one issue: supporting this evil, which is eating our own people, would be a sin. If there is war, the public will support the government to crush the militants by force."

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Wall Street Journal: Taliban Move Closer to Islamabad !

By ZAHID HUSSAIN

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Taliban seized control of another district in the country's northwest just 70 miles from the capital after consolidating their hold on the Swat Valley, according to local government officials and residents.
The latest Taliban advance into the Buner district has spurred fears that a controversial peace accord, which allows the militants to enforce sharia law in Swat, has emboldened them to expand their influence.
Militants have been moving into Buner since the Swat peace deal was signed with the government in February. But starting Tuesday night they seized control of the entire district, which has a population of more than one million people, local government officials and residents said. Heavily armed militants, streaming in from neighboring Swat, occupied government offices and set up their own checkposts. Terrified residents fled their homes.
Dozens of hooded fighters carrying rocket launchers and machine guns ransacked the offices of international aid and development agencies working in the district and took away their vehicles. Some employees of the agencies were also briefly taken hostage. The militants set up their headquarters in the town of Buner after driving out government officials.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday the Taliban advance poses "an existential threat" to Pakistan and urged Pakistanis world-wide to oppose a government policy yielding to them. Pakistanis "need to speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents," Mrs. Clinton said in testimony before a House committee.The Taliban have banned music and television and stopped women from entering a popular shrine of a Muslim saint. They are also using mosques to invite local youth to join them.
A Taliban commander said Islamic sharia courts would soon be established in the Buner district as they have already been in Swat. Mohammad Khalil said the main objective was to end the "sense of deprivation" among locals and provide speedy justice to the people.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for North West Frontier Province, warned that the militants' activities in Buner were in violation of the Swat peace accord. "After the agreement, there is no justification to take up arms," Mr. Hussain said in a statement Wednesday. He denied, however, that the Taliban have total control over the area.
Rehman Malik, the federal home minister, said the government has the option of using force if the Taliban don't withdraw from Buner. A senior military official said a military operation couldn't be ruled out to stop the Taliban advance. Analysts said the fall of Buner to the Taliban comes as a blow to the government's efforts to contain Islamic militancy, which threatens Pakistan's overall security. The people of the area had previously rebuffed Taliban raids, but lack of support from the security forces broke their resistance.
The development came after Sufi Mohammed, a radical cleric who played a central role in signing the peace accord, called on his followers to continue their struggle for the enforcement of Islamic rule in the entire North West Frontier Province. "The Western democracy is infidels and should be rejected by Muslims," he said.
U.S. officials have warned the Swat peace deal could turn Swat into a launching pad for militant expansion into Pakistan's more densely populated plains. The militants have made it clear they wouldn't lay down their weapons, which is a crucial plank of the peace accord.—Jay Solomon in Washington contributed to this article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124041153700943789.html

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Sufi Mohammad doesn't speak for himself ----- He speaks for thousands of barbarians who don't respect the law !

Some Examples of Talibani Justice !

Teenaged girl being flogged in Swat.

Talibans flogging a man in Swat.

Some Examples of Talibani Justice in Afghanistan !

Sufi’s world ----- Editorial Dawn ---- 22nd April, 09

THE uproar is understandable but should it really come as a surprise that Sufi Mohammad and his band of barbarians are opposed to all that we hold dear? Of course not. The position held by people who kill those who don’t subscribe to their point of view is diametrically opposed to that of all right-thinking persons.

From day one, the stance of these militants who murder in the name of religion has been all too clear. These people are savages, yet we don’t put them behind bars. Why? If we don’t have the wherewithal to take them on, we should admit as much and stop making ludicrous claims that the enemy will be defeated in due course.

Striking ‘deals’ with an enemy that is simply buying time won’t help either. Talibanisation is not just a threat, it is the reality today. Face it.Sufi Mohammad’s organisation, which is sympathetic to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, is interested less in matters of faith and more so in power in Pakistan. It is now clear that the Taliban will not stop until they have their way. And this is their prescription for Pakistan: a nation, armed with nuclear weapons, jerked back to a mediaeval age. A country where men without beards are flogged, and women killed if they choose to express themselves. That is where we are headed.

And one is wrong if one thinks this can’t happen in Pakistan. It can and it will unless we strike a decisive blow for the silent majority.We must resist this onslaught. Should we be surprised when Sufi Mohammad says that that the high courts and the Supreme Court are un-Islamic? Certainly not. Are we to register shock when he says that democracy is un-Islamic? Of course not. He is merely articulating what he and his followers have thought from day one.

Sufi Mohammad’s Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi, the Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda are all committed to overthrowing the State of Pakistan. How many times do we have to say this? Their interest is not limited to enforcing — at gunpoint — Sharia law in Swat and the rest of Malakand. They want to take over all of Pakistan and subject each and every citizen to their brand of ‘justice’.

This government is ceding them territory and emboldening them to an extent where they will be able to dictate terms without fear. Fazlur Rehman of the JUI may say that Sufi Mohammad, a terrorist Mr Rehman supports despite being a member of parliament, speaks for himself. No, you are wrong Mr Rehman. He speaks for thousands of extremists who have no respect for the law. He is renouncing the constitution, which is perhaps tantamount to treason.We didn’t vote for this on Feb 18, 2008. We didn’t vote for barbarity in the garb of religiosity.

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