By Amir Zia
The News
Feb 17, 2014
Our history will be a sorry saga of inaction, political expediency, opportunism and betrayals by those in power. It will show our weak and meek rulers begging and pleading for a compromise and some give-and-take from parochial clusters of non-state actors who stood against the tide of times.
How would a historian of the future – let’s say someone in 2114 – analyse and describe the present-day conflict and unabated religiously-motivated terrorism within Pakistan? Will the future historian be saying that the world’s lone Muslim nuclear-armed power of its time got overwhelmed by a much powerful and advanced internal enemy or hold the incompetence, indecisiveness and cowardliness of our rulers responsible for the country’s plight and turmoil?
When seen in retrospect, will the local Taliban fighters of 2014 emerge as a force epitomising the collective ethos of these ill-fated times or the historical verdict say that those in power proved too small for the challenge thrown at their door step by the small organised bands of religious zealots whose time had run out a long time ago?
From Pakistan’s perspective, its history of 2014 will indeed be a painful read. It will tell the story of a leadership, which despite having the world’s 7th largest army of 600,000-plus brave men at its disposal, allowed a ragtag force of extremists to undermine the state and kill its citizens with impunity. It will highlight how nations crumble and the writ of the state evaporates when leaders fail to act.
Our history will be a sorry saga of inaction, political expediency, opportunism and betrayals by those in power. It will show our weak and meek rulers begging and pleading for a compromise and some give-and-take from parochial clusters of non-state actors who stood against the tide of times.
Yes, when all of us be gone and buried (or maybe some blown to pieces by a suicide bomber fired by the desire to get hold of 70 virgins in the afterlife), history will certainly not remember the names of Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar and his likes and how they shed tears over the killing of terrorists and gave justifications for a compromise with an enemy of the state and the people. They will be irrelevant in the big picture of today’s Pakistan when looked at from the distant eyes of the future – say 50 or 100 years from now. After all who remembers Yahya Khan’s cabinet members today? Who wants to know the members of the last cabinet of the defunct Soviet Union?
But the names of these two leaders we all know. In the simplistic and popular historical narrative, they are the ones who carry the entire burden of the collective failure of the ruling classes of their age in all times to come. So, here it would be Nawaz Sharif, one of our country’s most experienced politicians and the third-time elected premier, who would carry today’s cross into the future. The historian will judge him and not his comrades-in-arms. Our traumatic times will be seen and defined by Sharif’s actions and inactions – his lone testament for history.
And in that history, Imran Khan and his league of players such as Munawar Hasan, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Abdul Aziz will also be forgotten – or at best serve as a footnote. The confusion they spread in our political narrative through half-truths and distortion of facts will also land in the lap of Prime Minister Sharif, who will solely be held responsible for all the troubles of today. Indeed, such are the cruel verdicts of history. Our pseudo intellectuals, extremist and pro-extremists media persons and the so-called intellectuals in these intellectually barren times will also slide into the oblivion. At the best, they will be remembered the same way as today we remember in a sentence or two those religious scholars and clerics of 13th century Baghdad who endlessly discussed, debated and fought over non-issues of metaphysics and sectarian differences when Mongol armies were sweeping through the Muslim world and knocking at the door of their grand city.
Even in the present-day context, how else can one describe these Al-Qaeda-inspired local militants other than similar barbaric hoards, but this time committing every atrocity, cruelty and crime in the sacred name of Islam and Shariah of our Prophet Hazrat Muhammed Mustafa (pbuh), who taught, preached and practiced compassion, justice and love and respect for human life and humanity?
The Taliban have made their agenda clear not once, but every time they communicate with the world. In that sense one must give them the credit of clarity of mind and steely commitment to their beliefs, which is found wanting on this side of the divide.
The Taliban declare the Pakistan Army as their number one enemy. This position has again been repeated by the Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid in a recent interview with the weekly, Newsweek, published against the backdrop of the much propagated peace talks. They target our sensitive defence installations and kill our soldiers. What a pity that the armed forces are vulnerable in the supposedly safe boundaries of their own country.
The Taliban reject the Pakistani state and its constitution. In their worldview, there is no room for pluralism and civilised dissent. From the small Kalash community living in Chitral to members of other faiths, including various Islamic sects – that do not see eye-to-eye with the Taliban’s narrow and controversial interpretation of Islam – remain a just target for subjugation or complete annihilation. As the Taliban make their agenda crystal clear, their apologists advocate acceptance of their demands for the sake of a bad peace.
What do the Taliban and their defenders mean when they ask the state to concede?
Officially handing over parts of Pakistani territory to the local and foreign extremists so that they can use it to foment violence and terrorism within Pakistan and abroad. In a nutshell, they want the state to compromise its sovereignty in the first phase. (And the Taliban apologists expect that by taking this course, we will be able to halt the US drone attacks once for all.)
For some government stalwarts and Taliban mouthpieces – the one and only Imran Khan and his strange and familiar bed fellows – it is of no consequence if the state fails, or its institutions surrender or collapse. In their zeal to appease the enemies of Pakistan and to keep themselves away from harm, they do not want to see the domestic and international fallout on the country if their not-so ‘innocent demands’ are accepted.
The mantra that if peace talks collapse, it will result in terror attacks in Punjab, which by-and-large escaped terrorism in recent years, simply means that they can’t look at the bigger picture called Pakistan. They want to accept the Taliban demand that our forces pull out of the troubled areas and accept the Taliban’s control over them. They want terrorists freed so that they can rejoin their terror cells.
Imran Khan disclosed that the armed forces have 40 percent chance of success if a full blown operation is launched against militants. For him, this means that talks and the so-called peace deal should be the preferred course, which ironically have 100 percent chance of damaging Pakistan and its short- to long-term interests. The continued killings and terror attacks are a proof of the kind of monster we are dealing with. If the situation is as bad as described by the Taliban cheerleaders, then the armed forces should take a gamble even if there is one percent chance of winning this conflict for the sake of the country. This one percent chance will translate into 100 percent success if barracks and the people are on the same page.
It is now time to play one memorable, bold and courageous innings for Pakistan. And such an innings is hardly expected from trader-turned-politicians. They only know the art of give and take and selling and buying. Such leadership may perform tricks in normal times, but not in times like these. It will not come from a player-turned-politician. The challenge is too big for a small time player and his narrow mind.
In this barren landscape, the nation has nowhere to turn to but towards the armed forces which are Pakistan’s first and last line of defence – our one and only hope. Can someone suggest any other force that can lead and win this battle for us? For the future historian, the story can only be different if someone with courage accepts this gauntlet.
The News
Feb 17, 2014
Our history will be a sorry saga of inaction, political expediency, opportunism and betrayals by those in power. It will show our weak and meek rulers begging and pleading for a compromise and some give-and-take from parochial clusters of non-state actors who stood against the tide of times.
How would a historian of the future – let’s say someone in 2114 – analyse and describe the present-day conflict and unabated religiously-motivated terrorism within Pakistan? Will the future historian be saying that the world’s lone Muslim nuclear-armed power of its time got overwhelmed by a much powerful and advanced internal enemy or hold the incompetence, indecisiveness and cowardliness of our rulers responsible for the country’s plight and turmoil?
When seen in retrospect, will the local Taliban fighters of 2014 emerge as a force epitomising the collective ethos of these ill-fated times or the historical verdict say that those in power proved too small for the challenge thrown at their door step by the small organised bands of religious zealots whose time had run out a long time ago?
From Pakistan’s perspective, its history of 2014 will indeed be a painful read. It will tell the story of a leadership, which despite having the world’s 7th largest army of 600,000-plus brave men at its disposal, allowed a ragtag force of extremists to undermine the state and kill its citizens with impunity. It will highlight how nations crumble and the writ of the state evaporates when leaders fail to act.
Our history will be a sorry saga of inaction, political expediency, opportunism and betrayals by those in power. It will show our weak and meek rulers begging and pleading for a compromise and some give-and-take from parochial clusters of non-state actors who stood against the tide of times.
Yes, when all of us be gone and buried (or maybe some blown to pieces by a suicide bomber fired by the desire to get hold of 70 virgins in the afterlife), history will certainly not remember the names of Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar and his likes and how they shed tears over the killing of terrorists and gave justifications for a compromise with an enemy of the state and the people. They will be irrelevant in the big picture of today’s Pakistan when looked at from the distant eyes of the future – say 50 or 100 years from now. After all who remembers Yahya Khan’s cabinet members today? Who wants to know the members of the last cabinet of the defunct Soviet Union?
But the names of these two leaders we all know. In the simplistic and popular historical narrative, they are the ones who carry the entire burden of the collective failure of the ruling classes of their age in all times to come. So, here it would be Nawaz Sharif, one of our country’s most experienced politicians and the third-time elected premier, who would carry today’s cross into the future. The historian will judge him and not his comrades-in-arms. Our traumatic times will be seen and defined by Sharif’s actions and inactions – his lone testament for history.
And in that history, Imran Khan and his league of players such as Munawar Hasan, Maulana Samiul Haq and Maulana Abdul Aziz will also be forgotten – or at best serve as a footnote. The confusion they spread in our political narrative through half-truths and distortion of facts will also land in the lap of Prime Minister Sharif, who will solely be held responsible for all the troubles of today. Indeed, such are the cruel verdicts of history. Our pseudo intellectuals, extremist and pro-extremists media persons and the so-called intellectuals in these intellectually barren times will also slide into the oblivion. At the best, they will be remembered the same way as today we remember in a sentence or two those religious scholars and clerics of 13th century Baghdad who endlessly discussed, debated and fought over non-issues of metaphysics and sectarian differences when Mongol armies were sweeping through the Muslim world and knocking at the door of their grand city.
Even in the present-day context, how else can one describe these Al-Qaeda-inspired local militants other than similar barbaric hoards, but this time committing every atrocity, cruelty and crime in the sacred name of Islam and Shariah of our Prophet Hazrat Muhammed Mustafa (pbuh), who taught, preached and practiced compassion, justice and love and respect for human life and humanity?
The Taliban have made their agenda clear not once, but every time they communicate with the world. In that sense one must give them the credit of clarity of mind and steely commitment to their beliefs, which is found wanting on this side of the divide.
The Taliban declare the Pakistan Army as their number one enemy. This position has again been repeated by the Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid in a recent interview with the weekly, Newsweek, published against the backdrop of the much propagated peace talks. They target our sensitive defence installations and kill our soldiers. What a pity that the armed forces are vulnerable in the supposedly safe boundaries of their own country.
The Taliban reject the Pakistani state and its constitution. In their worldview, there is no room for pluralism and civilised dissent. From the small Kalash community living in Chitral to members of other faiths, including various Islamic sects – that do not see eye-to-eye with the Taliban’s narrow and controversial interpretation of Islam – remain a just target for subjugation or complete annihilation. As the Taliban make their agenda crystal clear, their apologists advocate acceptance of their demands for the sake of a bad peace.
What do the Taliban and their defenders mean when they ask the state to concede?
Officially handing over parts of Pakistani territory to the local and foreign extremists so that they can use it to foment violence and terrorism within Pakistan and abroad. In a nutshell, they want the state to compromise its sovereignty in the first phase. (And the Taliban apologists expect that by taking this course, we will be able to halt the US drone attacks once for all.)
For some government stalwarts and Taliban mouthpieces – the one and only Imran Khan and his strange and familiar bed fellows – it is of no consequence if the state fails, or its institutions surrender or collapse. In their zeal to appease the enemies of Pakistan and to keep themselves away from harm, they do not want to see the domestic and international fallout on the country if their not-so ‘innocent demands’ are accepted.
The mantra that if peace talks collapse, it will result in terror attacks in Punjab, which by-and-large escaped terrorism in recent years, simply means that they can’t look at the bigger picture called Pakistan. They want to accept the Taliban demand that our forces pull out of the troubled areas and accept the Taliban’s control over them. They want terrorists freed so that they can rejoin their terror cells.
Imran Khan disclosed that the armed forces have 40 percent chance of success if a full blown operation is launched against militants. For him, this means that talks and the so-called peace deal should be the preferred course, which ironically have 100 percent chance of damaging Pakistan and its short- to long-term interests. The continued killings and terror attacks are a proof of the kind of monster we are dealing with. If the situation is as bad as described by the Taliban cheerleaders, then the armed forces should take a gamble even if there is one percent chance of winning this conflict for the sake of the country. This one percent chance will translate into 100 percent success if barracks and the people are on the same page.
It is now time to play one memorable, bold and courageous innings for Pakistan. And such an innings is hardly expected from trader-turned-politicians. They only know the art of give and take and selling and buying. Such leadership may perform tricks in normal times, but not in times like these. It will not come from a player-turned-politician. The challenge is too big for a small time player and his narrow mind.
In this barren landscape, the nation has nowhere to turn to but towards the armed forces which are Pakistan’s first and last line of defence – our one and only hope. Can someone suggest any other force that can lead and win this battle for us? For the future historian, the story can only be different if someone with courage accepts this gauntlet.
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