Adil Najam
As the politics of intrigue and rumor heats up, even more, in Pakistan and after the recent dramatic political events, the news of Pakistan’s most important existential battle – against the extremism of the Taliban and their ilk – seems to have slid off the front pages.
Yet, a news item in The News reminds us that the murderous militants are now setting their eyes towards District Dir, after gaining control of Swat. One got a better glimpse into the mind of one of the key players in the Swat saga, Sufi Mohammed, in an interview given to Daily Times’ Peshawar Bureau Chief Iqbal Khattak. Speaking in Mingora, the 74 year-old father-in-law of militant leader Fazlulah gives many important glimpses into his own thinking and priorities.
Here is the interview published in Daily Times:
You said in a 2005 interview with us that what Al Qaeda and the Taliban are doing in Pakistan is haram. Are Fazlullah’s activities over the last sixteen months also haram?
Sufi Muhammad: Yes, I said that about Al Qaeda, but not about the Taliban. Let me say…that debate on past happenings is disallowed in Islam. A hadith sharif says, what has happened in the past should not be discussed.
But how can we proceed without debating the past?
The hadith sharif says a Muslim should not discuss past happenings because he may not remember all the [details] and, therefore, he may…sin by not speaking the truth.A majority of Swat residents do not think the peace deal recently signed between the TNSM and the NWFP government will last long.
God Almighty does everything; he builds and destroys countries.Residents also doubt whether peace is possible in the presence of armed Taliban.
Everyone keeps weapons. People in Peshawar have weapons with them.You support keeping weapons?
Yes, you can keep weapons with you.Did you ask Fazlullah to surrender weapons after the sharia law deal?
Keeping weapons is halal in Islam.President Zardari said recently that force would be used if the Taliban do not surrender weapons in Swat.
His statement is childish…immature.With sharia law in Swat, there will be a complete ban on music and girls’ education, and people will be forced to grow beards?
There are five subjects — judiciary, politics, economics, education and the executive. The judicial subject will be with us, the rest is beyond our control.The Taliban are kidnapping government officials and killing soldiers, yet you still hold the army responsible for ceasefire violations.
Kidnapping cases are taking place all over the world. The military violated the ceasefire.The military says some of its soldiers were shot dead while bringing water.
No. This is not the case. The soldiers were not killed near any stream.Are soldiers moving freely in Swat after the peace deal?
No. The military cannot move freely unless peace is restored.After peace is restored, will the army leave Swat?
This is Pakistan’s army and Swat is within Pakistan’s borders. I will have no objection if a military cantonment is established here.Locals say innocent people have been killed. Will the aggrieved families be able to get justice?
I have told you already: we will not discuss what has happened in the past. Sharia law does not allow this.If a court summons a key Taliban commander, will he appear before the court?
If Caliph Umar (RA) can appear before a court, then why can’t others?So Fazlullah will also appear in court if summoned?
If he does not… he will be acting against the sharia law.What you did in Malakand in the 1990s and then in Afghanistan in 2001 you called ‘jihad’. Are Fazlullah’s activities over the last 16 months in Swat also jihad?
I do not want to speak on this.What are Fazlullah’s plans after the peace deal?
He will support imposition of sharia law.You have termed democracy ‘infidelity’. But Maulana Sami-ul Haq, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmad are taking part in the democratic process.
Democracy is not permissible in sharia law. I will not name [these leaders] but they are taking part in infidelity. I will not offer prayers if one of [these leaders] is leading those prayers.Do you intend to export sharia law to other parts of Pakistan?
If people help me, I will. Otherwise, no.
Here are the things I don’t understand:
1) When these murderers are captured, why doesn’t the ISI knock them out, and embed a gps tracker in their bloodstream, or radioactive materials that can be picked up by sensors. They will go back to the “source” upon release, and then we hellfire the crap out of them.
2) When we are having peace talks with these mullahs, such as Sufi, why don’t we lace their rooh afza with a slow acting poison that causes them to expire in a few months. Invite them all to peace talks with rooh afza, I say.
3) When we hold peacetalks in the presence of a hostile “Shura”, why do we not release slow-acting poisonous gas against which our government representatives are already innoculated. Anything that does away with these butchers over a period of a few months is fine.
4) Why do we not make use of significant bribes to buy their cousins, uncles and brothers and pay them to kill their militant relatives.
5) Why don’t we set them up and make them into laughing stocks in their own constituency. For instance, we did not adequately get the right kind of mileage from the burkha pictures of the Red Mosque maulvi. We should label him a cross dresser, which is haram. Similarly, we need to photograph these maulvis and Taliban in compromising situations, distribute pamphlets with these pictures far and wide and kill their credibility. There are lots of creative ways…
6) The nonsense about “we don’t have FM jammers” is exactly that. Nonsense. Not only do we have FM jammers, we also have the capability to overpower Fazlullah’s FM transmissions, on the same frequency, with a more powerful broadcast. One of the things we can and should do is to sample his voice and use his own radio frequency to spread false messages/declarations against allied tribals he relies on. Follow that up with a sniper attack on said tribal. See all hell break lose. This is not hard for the ISI to do. Cause his allies to believe Fazlullah has turned on them. Watch them turn on him.
7) All these guys transport weapons on Hilux 4x4s. They need tracks and roads and in the areas where they operate, there aren’t too many Hilux capable tracks. We need to have permanent aerial surveillance, such as stationary airships. This, too, is not beyond our capabilities. Monitor everything. Picking up a number plate or determining whether the convoy is hostile or not is not impossible. See a Hilux with Taliban on it, take it out. Artillery can be pre-positioned to aim for transit and choke points. When a drone is in the area, use it.
I am not even getting into a debate of whether these guys are good or bad. Whether Sufi is different to Fazlullah or whatever. The fact is that these people have murdered innocent Pakistanis, including our heroic servicemen. They need to reap what they sow. It just needs to be done in a way that is not so direct that it causes them to unite. We have to turn them at each other and poisoning, doctored broadcasts, assasinations, bribery etc. are all viable means of achieving this.
@Mohsin
Swat was a peaceful and progressive valley and a top tourism area.
FATA on the other hand, with its irregular status inside Pakistan, has been a haven for criminals, fugitives and terrorists. Both FATA and Swat are not the victims of the “Manufactured Jihad” policy of Zia ul Haq that has been in effect since 1980.
So discussing the Past is not allowed. Hmm. Going by that logic, surely this Hadith didn’t descend upon him there and then did it?
“There are five subjects
Mohsin,
1. You are confusing Swat with FATA. “At the momet he is enjoying full support.” This must be why thousands of Swatis have been killed by the Taliban, including public beheadings! Visit Swat, talk to the 300,000 refugees from Swat, and read about Swat’s history…. before making totally uniformed statements.
2. You don’t know anything about FATA either. Fugitives from the law were able to find refuge there because the state of Pakistan utterly failed in absorbing these very poor people in to the rest of lawful Pakistan through economic and infrastructure development, as contemplated by Jinnah (instead of the British policy of containment through force which Jinnah immediately dropped). Yet their loyalty to Pakistan was such that we never had to post a single Pakistani soldier at our western borders despite the greater Pakhtunistan movement, our deplorable relations with Afghnistan, and even when the Soviet Red Army was in Afghanistan for 10 years! Wake up to facts of history.