Adil Najam
The Taliban onslaught against Pakistan continues relentlessly. The feeling of a polity unraveling before our eyes deepens.
Analyses boggle the mind because just keeping up with the news is hard enough. So, here are excerpts from just a few of recent news reports that are worth a read.
Buner falls into the hands of Swat Taliban
(Dawn, April 23, 2009)Taliban militants from Swat took control of Buner on Tuesday and started patrolling bazaars, villages and towns in the district. The militants, who had sneaked into Gokand valley of Buner on April 4, were reported to have been on a looting spree for the past five days. They have robbed government and NGO offices of vehicles, computers, printers, generators, edible oil containers, and food and nutrition packets.
The Taliban have extended their control to almost all tehsils of the district and law-enforcement personnel remained confined to police stations and camps. The Taliban, equipped with advanced weapons, were reported to be advancing towards border areas of Swabi, Malakand and Mardan, the hometown of NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti.
The militants have started digging trenches and setting up bunkers on heights in strategic towns of Gadezi, Salarzai, Osherai and other tehsils. After occupying the Buner district and setting up their headquarters in the bungalow of businessman Syed Ahmed Khan (alias Fateh Khan) in Sultanwas, the militants started patrolling the streets and roads with no signs of law-enforcement personnel. Led by Fateh Mohammad, the militants were asking local people, particularly youngsters, to join them in their campaign to enforce Sharia. They have established checkposts on roads and are searching all passing vehicles. They have virtually established their writ in Buner region, once a stronghold of the Awami National Party.
A Taliban commander said they would set up strict Islamic sharia courts in Buner as they have already done in Swat, but would not interfere with police work. ‘The Taliban who have arrived from Swat have increased patrolling, banned music in public transport and rampaged (through the) offices of NGOs and taken their vehicles,’ local government official Rashid Khan said. ‘We will soon establish our radio station. Our Qazis (Islamic judges) will also start holding courts in Buner soon,’ Taliban commander Mohammad Khalil told AFP. ‘People in their dozens have come to invite us’ to extend sharia. ‘The Taliban will leave Buner after enforcement of Islamic justice system,’ he said.
However, several residents said they felt ‘scared’ and planned to leave the Buner area, fearing similar violence to that in Swat. On Tuesday, armed groups entered the Rural Health Centre at Jure in Salarzai area and took away a Land-Cruiser being used by the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI), Buner. On April 17, they raided a basic health unit in tehsil Chamla and looted 480 cans of edible oil. They took away from the house of a lady health visitor a large number of food and nutrition packets supplied by USAID and sewing machines from an Action Aid-sponsored vocational centre in the Korea village of tehsil Chamla. On April 18, they looted a huge quantity of medicine from a health facility at the Afghan refugee camp in Koga in the same tehsil and 640 cans of edible oil from a godown of the World Food Programme in Nawagai.
Buner judges stop presiding over courts
(The News, April 23, 2009)
Providing credence to the apprehensions of some political parties and civil society organisations, the Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) on Wednesday said that Ulema would be the Qazis (judges) of the Darul Qaza and only they would have administrative control over the Malakand judiciary. Meanwhile, Sufi Muhammad told a delegation that those who called the Supreme Court and high courts “Sharai†were rebels against Islam. The organisation categorically said they would not accept superior courts’ judges as Qazis of the Darul Qaza. Interestingly, the TNSM has recommended the names of three Ulema to the government for Qazis of the Darul Qaza…The TNSM spokesman, while claiming not to have gone through the copy of The Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (NAR) yet, said they would not accept the Darul-Darul Qaza, but the Darul Qaza would be the final court… Amir Izzat said that all candidates for the posts of Qazis would be interviewed, appointed or rejected by Maulana Sufi Muhammad. “Sufi Muhammad will determine their Sharai knowledge and if he finds any candidate below the standard, he will not be appointed,†he said. Regarding the transfer of Qazis, he said once a Qazi was appointed in Malakand division, he could not be transferred outside the division. He added that transfer of judge from the rest of Pakistan to the Malakand division would also not be accepted.
It was learnt that judges in the Taliban-controlled Buner district stopped working and shifted the official record. Apparently, the decision was taken after growing control and strength of Taliban in the district. The judges were asked by PHC, it was learnt, not to attend the courts till May 2.
Sufi might have been a little ‘Kafir’ too: Munawar
(The News, April 23, 2009)
Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Syed Munawar Hassan has said that Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammad chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad had once contested elections of local councillor and won it and therefore might have been a little ‘Kafir’ (infidel) too. Talking to newsmen in Lahore after meeting a delegation of Khaksar Tehrik led by Hameeduddin Al-Mashriqi, he said that the 1973 Constitution was a consensus document having the support of all ulema of the country. Therefore, Sufi Muhammad should consult the ulema and elders before passing edicts.Swat Taliban promote ‘love marriages’
(The News, April 19, 2009)
The Taliban of Swat have set up a bureau named ‘Shuba-e-Aroosat’ for arranging love marriages of couples who are denied the marriage of choice by their families for one reason or the other, reports BBC Urdu Service. Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the marriage bureau headed by Taliban Commander Abu Ammad arranged 11 ‘love marriages’ in the last nine days while 300 girls and boys are waiting for their turn. “The love marriage aspirants contact the bureau on a fixed telephone number. The Taliban collect their particulars and then contact their familites to arrange these choice marriages,†he said, adding that Islam allows every adult to get marry according to his/her own choice. He said, “Most of the girls, or their families, who contacted us wish to marry ‘militant’ Taliban.†Analysts say the Taliban are paving the way for themselves to marry the girls of their choice. It is really strange that they flog the couples on one hand for moving together while on the other hand allow young couples to marry according to their choice. Also the question arises how is it possible for a boy or girl to propose while they have not seen each other, reports BBC Urdu Service.
These people are the follower of Dajjal there is a Prophetic Tradition which says 70,000 Ulma will baith on the hands on dajjal.
Now the situation is going on that side now. These people are dajjali.
please check this link out.
http://islamabadobserver.com/2009/04/20/taliban-sl aughtering-accused-like-animals/
Most barbaric act I have ever seen…..no words.
How to clear the mess
Thursday, April 23, 2009
By Imran Khan
The reason why there is so much despondency in Pakistan is because there is no road map to get out of the so-called War on Terror – a nomenclature that even the Obama Administration has discarded as being a negative misnomer. To cure the patient the diagnosis has to be accurate, otherwise the wrong medicine can sometimes kill the patient. In order to find the cure, first six myths that have been spun around the US-led
Given the underlying and growing resentment against the feudal/tribal power of a narrow and corrupt ruling elite in Pakistan, it is almost certain that Swat represents only the beginning of a bloody revolt in the rest of the country in which the military does not seem to be taking sides. The Taliban are quickly gaining the upper hand by exploiting class warfare and long, deep resentment of the rural poor against their landlords.
It is also clear that the new generation of Pakistanis do not want to accept life under a feudal or tribal system that denies them basic human dignity. In the absence of significant economic growth (even the phenomenal 8% growth roughly equals 2.5m jobs), not enough jobs are being created for 3 million young people ready to join the work force each year, resulting in growing availability of recruits for terror outfits who pay them fairly well by local standards. According to Rand corporation estimates, the Taliban pay about $150 a month to each fighter, much higher than the $100 a month paid by the governments in the region. This fact has been amply illustrated by recent growth of the Punjabi Taliban who have been found recruited by terrorist groups for suicide bombings and violence within and outside Pakistan.
Recently, Zardari has called for a Marshall Plan for Pakistan. Marshall Plan style effort is needed to transform Pakistan from a feudal/tribal to an industrial society to create 3m+ jobs each year for its young population that is looking for work. Unfortunately, such an effort will face major hurdles from Zardari’s own party and its corrupt feudal leadership. However, if it is successfully implemented to respond to mounting pressure by the Taliban, new opportunities will open up for the nation’s young population to offer them better alternatives to joining Jihadi outfits or seeking work in countries like Saudi Arabia where they are further radicalized. I just hope it’s not already too late.
I have been keenly following the developments and am disappointed that many Pakistanis are simply sitting by and doing nothing. There are no protests, no black day and no long march to let the government know that we, the people will not stand for this.
Maybe our awaam has lost faith that anything will be done and any protest or march will be futile.
Our President, Prime Minister, and politicians have the gall to stand in front of cameras and tell everyone that these Taliban are actually going to bring peace and justice to Swat. Then why do we have a government!
The people know that our leaders have no capacity to lead nor do they possess a backbone to stand up to this menace. Our people have seen so much terrorism, so many murders, killings and blatant disregard for peoples’ rights, over the years, that we have become desensitized to how dangerous this situation actually is.
Many people, like myself can post our anger and vent on these forums, but unless those of my fellow Pakistanis who reside within our borders do something to show that this is not right, this is not Islam and this is not Pakistan and we will not stand up for it – soon there may be no Pakistan.
I pray that, the day never comes.
What our country is going through right now and what lies ahead for us all in these tumultuous times has compelled me to air my take on this. I have to air it somehow. I have gone through the full cycle from amazement to disbelief to disappointment and finally, to acceptance. Accepting of the fact that why do most Pakistanis have a problem with calling these animals for what they are? Why do we not stand up and be counted as people who are repulsed by this heartless and senseless scum as they slit innocent people’s throats, thrash children mercilessly in the streets, and videotape the gruesome acts for intimidation of the masses?
I understand when we do not hear a peep from the mainstream mullahs, as it would hurt their mainstay, their bread and butter, their business,the business of religion, but what I did not understand was when people like me and you and the vast majority of the populace do not call them the Zaliman. Why not? They are no Muslims by any account. Well, except for the fact that they call themselves as such. Why do we have a hard time accepting this fundamental (no pun intended) fact?
I’ll tell you what I think, though. I could be wrong, but my primary goal is to understand this phenomenon too. I think it all emanates from the fact that we do not understand our own religion well enough. That inhibits our collective thought and moral courage to come out and say it loudly that these people are not us, they do not represent not just my way of thinking but also Islam either. I am sure these Zaliman would slit my throat as well for saying this. But why can’t we say this? Why don’t we preach it? Why? Because we do not understand our own religion well enough to proclaim this. Our biggest fear is “What if they are right and I am wrong?” Why does this insecurity give way to giving them the benefit of the doubt? Any person who stands up and says he is Muslim and is going to perform an act, any act of depravity, in the name of Islam, almost instantly we go into a mode of denial. Denial of not the deed, or the morality of the act but of the fact that we cannot condemn this barbaric act because of what is going on thousands of miles away in another country, in another culture, in another demography, in another dynamic.
There is no excuse for taking an innocent life, no matter where, no matter why, in any religion, let alone Islam. If we give the Zaliman the benefit of the doubt then why cannot they give the policemen, the army jawans the civilians they capture, the same benefit? Why can’t they spare their lives just because they also say the same kalima and pray the same way as their captors?
I shudder at the thought what acts of cruelty they would mete out to a non-Muslim if they got a hold of him/her. Sikh families who have lived in that area for generations have,for the first time in centuries been forced to migrate or face certain death. These zaliman do all this because they are subhuman beings and hence they can. They are missing all the hallmarks of Islam -conscience, humanity, goodness, mercy and compassion. If they have any religion at all, it is the religion of barbarism, of ignorance, and of intolerance.
A rabid animal has only one cure, and sadly, that is what we will have to resort to if we are to rid of this animal and save our beliefs, our children and our country. And this will not be possible with good intentions alone, unless we really want to walk the road to hell.