Adil Najam
To view such a video and assume that all of Pakistan is against the Taliban would be as delusional as the proposition that all of Pakistan is for them is deceptive.
The point of this video is not that all Pakistanis are opposed to Talibanization. It is that not all Pakistanis are for them.
The distinction between the two is subtle, but vital. The video puts to a lie the notion that anti-Taliban sentiment are to be found only in the so-called “liberal” and “elite” classes. Indeed, the empirical fact is that the people who the Taliban and other religious extremist forces have been killing in Pakistan are (a) nearly all Pakistanis, (b) nearly all Muslims, and (c) none of them are either very “liberal” or very “elite.”
It should not be a surprise, then, that at least some, probably many, and possibly most, “non-liberal,” “non-elite,” Pakistani Muslims would be against the Taliban and the war they are waging on Pakistan, Pakistanis and on Pakistani Muslims. The tragedy is that too many Pakistanis remain agnostic on the Talibanization threat and even more who are afraid of or reluctant to raise their voices against them.
There is clearly a need to counter the propaganda of those who would have us believe that the Taliban are opposed only by a few “liberal elites.” But equally important – even more important – is the need to acknowledge and somehow deal with the deep fissures and divisions within Pakistani society. Indeed, if there is any one unambiguous truth about Pakistan today it is that we are a deeply divided society. Deeply divided on many of the most existential questions about the country’s past, present and future: Including on questions of what the Taliban represent and how they should be dealt with. It is this division that the Taliban are exploiting. Until these societal fissures are somehow addressed neither military action, nor political strategy, nor international intervention will make any difference whatsoever.
Very appropriate video. Shows vividly that ordinary Pakistanis are against the mullahs. And strongly against.
“Could it be the inability and failure of the society at large to provide a fair and just socio-economic system for all? Is it the greed and the selfishness of
@ Adnan Siddiqui…
‘rural areas of NWFP,Sind and Punjab, you will learn yourself why Talibans are popular over there.’
I will bet that you have not even been to any place in the NWFP besides Peshawar…if at all even that far…
I am from Mardan…I am from the same soil of which you speak yet know nothing about…you lie through your teeth…….and lie with every sinew…every fiber of your soul….no one supports them…they fear them yes…
but I suppose for a Mullah fear and support are the same thing…
I will say this again….If you Mullah’s had wanted the right to tell us how to live then you should have fought and died for this country at its creation instead of opposing it…..
The question was: “Which section or sections of the society support Taleban and why?”
The answer provided by Mr. Adnan Siddiqi is: “start living in rural areas of NWFP, Sind and Punjab, [and] you will learn yourself why Talibans are popular over there.”
To which Mr. Aamir Ali has responded by saying: “People of rural areas of NWFP have no fondness for Taliban, rather they form Laskhars to fight them. When the Taliban cross the Indus and arrive in Punjab, you will start singing a different tune as well.”
I think both gentlemen have a point here. USA, West, Iran, India, Northern Alliance and Pakistani urban upper middle class (both at home and abroad) including the landed ruling classes of Pakistan are the ones most threatened by the rise of Taleban. Even though brutal, illiterate and basic, Taleban do have some support from the urban as well as rural ‘have-nots’ of Pakistan. Rise of Taleban will take Pakistan back to the medieval times that is if there will be a Pakistan at the end of this class struggle. But here is an opportunity for the urban upper middle classes of Pakistan, the crowd that blogs, logs and comments at the Internet to think. What gives rise to the gangs like Taleban? Could it be the inability and failure of the society at large to provide a fair and just socio-economic system for all? Is it the greed and the selfishness of ‘haves’ that makes ‘have-nots’ to side and sympathise with movements like Taleban? This is the time for ALL of us to introspect and think where did we go wrong.
@Aamir: Being a Karachiite I have experienced MQM and it’s millitant activities for 5-7 years and have seen how they killed their own people and we all know MQM is a secular party and have no relation with Talibans, Infact they are sync with you people.