Following is the text of a leaflet that will be be dropped in Mehsud areas in coming days. The text is both in Urdu and Pashto.
Urdu part is shown here.
Clicking on the text image to the left will take you to its source webpage where you can view both Urdu and Pashto versions.
This is a positive gesture in my view and may counter the propaganda which local people are subjected to by the enemies of Pakistan. One has to distinguish between good guys and bad guys here and try to get as many good guys on your side as possible. English translation of the message is given below:
My Message to the Proud Mehsud Tribes: I admit that all of our tribal areas including Mehsuds are faithful to Pakistan and they have always worked for the defense of Pakistan as volunteers.
The aim of current military operation is not to attack proud and patriotic Mehsuds but it is to save them from the clutches of ruthless terrorists who have destroyed peace of the whole region. Therefore the aim of this operation will be Uzbek terrorists, foreign terrorists and local terrorists.
Miltary’s aim is to let Mehsuds live in their area in peace. I am hopeful that Mehsud tribes will side with Pakistan military in this operation and will rise as one against these ruthless terrorists so that Pakistan’s green crescent flag will once again flutter in Mehsud lands with full glory. God Bless you. with best wishes. Gen Ashfaq Kayani. Long live Pakistan. Long Live Pak Military and Long Live Mehsud tribes.
Credits: APP
Good point, Kasim saheb. This is what gets me as well. It seems no effort has been targetted on finding out and disrupting the supply lines for the weaponry to these militants. After all, equipment can’t move around that easily, like money can via havala/hundi outfits.
Listening to NPR today, it was mentioned by an NPR reporter that anti-aircraft guns are positioned at many tactical locations by these folks to take out Pakistani military helicopters and gunships. I am lost as to where they are getting such major arm shipments ? What’s the channel and who are the suppliers ?
“I would imagine the Pakistani army is pretty loathe to be perceived as killing fellow Muslims at”
What fellow Muslims? ‘fellow Muslims’ dont go around and kill children and women of the same Religion.
The state does not need to create a bad image of the Taliban. I think sufficient bombings have done that already.
Dawn news update on leaflet distribution here
Brian,
Thank you for the link. It is a good article to read.
The problem with many Muslim countries – including Pakistan – is that these are ruled by a few ‘elites’. There is no democracy in many/most Muslim countries, there is huge lack of education, big injustice towards the poor of these countries (and there are many!) and so on.
It is a mockery because for one Islam is all about democratic values and two, orders one to get education! (both girls and boys)
Pakistan can defeat the Taliban within one year. It’s not that difficult. Few things that can easily be done:
1. People want an education – not just in Pakistan but throughout the Muslim world. There is big hunger for knowledge. Why dont the Governments create more universities etc? This is the FIRST weapon to fight terrorism. Education – be it Religious or not.
For education, I would open a Religious school where teachers would get a degree from and then they’d be allowed to teach in religious schools. Not every tom, dick and harry can teach Islam but this has been the case in Pakistan. Academic eduction too need to improve ASAP to meet the demands of the young ones. They want to study, so let them.
The only reason governments dont want to do it, IMO, is that if the population get educated then what will happen to them? They will be thrown out of their precious seats. You cant really brain wash an educated person (well you can like during the Iraq War but you get my point hopefully)
2. Next weapon of fighting terrorism after education is a better economy. It is easy to create jobs in countries like Pakistan IMO with so much money in politician’s wallets. Just building more schools will create thousands of jobs across the country.
There are more things that one can do but these two are enough to kill terrorists once and for all. Educate people with the true meaning of Islam and educate them with academic education too. Muslims have done wonders in the past centuries, and there is no reason we cant reach that height again.
Majority of people reject Taleban – in fact many from these affected areas are also against them. But they never had any voice. Now, they are speaking. Like in Swat for example, people are not scare of them anymore and are even fighting them! People power is now more visible in Pakistan. May it continue to get louder.