Saturday, February 28, 2009

Judging the Swat Deal - Problems, Limitations and Prospects

In the Shadow of Shariah
PART I - Swat: the Past, Present and Future
By Dr. Mohammad Taqi

The rout of the secular forces in Swat is now complete. Pashtun nationalist leader, Khan Abdul Wali had once described the infamous Shariat Bill, presented in the Pakistani parliament, as Shararat Bill (mischief bill).Unfortunately, a much more perverse version of the Shariat or Islamic jurisprudence is being implemented in Swat, on the watch of Wali Khan’s son, Asfandyar Wali Khan.

Asfandyar Khan has joined the ilk of Jama’t e Islami and Imran Khan in dismissing the condemnation heaped on his Awami National Party (ANP), for imposing Shariat, as criticism by the nam nihad (so-called) liberals. Apparently the younger Khan has forgotten that most of these so-called liberals have remained associated with his father and his illustrious grandfather for the better part of Pakistan’s checkered history.

The right-wing political forces in Pakistan have gone blue in the face highlighting how fair, swift and in sync with Islam, the pre-1974 judicial system in Swat was. They however, are not the only ones responsible for selling this figment of their imagination as a bonafide judicial thesis to their fellow Pakistanis and the West.

The leaders of the pro-judiciary movement in Pakistan have chosen to conveniently ignore addressing this issue even in passing, and by their omission are aiding and abetting the mutilation of the legal system being attempted in Swat. The deposed Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Chaudhry and his lawyer lieutenants have been shirking their duty to explain and critique this fantastic story about the history and mechanizations of the judicial system of the princely State of Swat.

We find it relevant to the future of Swat, the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan (NWFP) and indeed the whole of Pakistan, to survey the history of Swat and its administrative and judicial system.

The story of the Swat State begins with a young Talib – a student of an Islamic seminary – named Abdul Ghafoor, who had immigrated to the plains of Peshawar, from Jabrai in Swat. Abdul Ghafoor was born into the Safi branch of the Mohmand tribe. He later returned to Saidu in Swat and became known as the Akhund (the holy man) of Swat and was appointed as Sheikh ul Islam or the chief religious leader by the Loya Jirgah – grand assembly – of the local Swatis, who predominantly belonged to the Yousafzai tribe.

Akhund of Swat also led military campaigns against the British but never took a political office. His two sons Abdul Hannan and Abdul Khalique succeeded the Akhund upon his demise circa 1877. The sons carried the honorific Miangul, with connotations being an admixture of a term of endearment and some religious appeal. Abdul Hannan did pursue the temporal power and was involved in local politics of the time, without landing a major success. Abdul Khalique carried on with the religious mantel of the Akhund. The two brothers were survived by two sons each, upon their death. Said Badshah, a son of Hannan, was killed by his brother Mir Badshah and his cousins. Mir Badshah was subsequently shot dead by his cousin and son of Khalique, Gulshahzada Abdul Wadud.

Gulshahzada and his brother Abdul Mannan aka Shirin Jan, after finishing off the rival branch of the family set out against each other. However, around 1915 were forced to forge unity in the face of other rivals, most notably Abdul Jabar Shah of Amb. Jabar Shah had previously been designated a king by the Swatis and had led a campaign against the British alongside the Akhund.

The Miangul brothers swiftly switched sides to enter into an alliance with another rival, the Nawab of the neighboring Dir State. However, Jabar Shah was shunned by the Swatis for being an Ahmedi and because of a lack of tangible gains under his leadership and the Mianguls were invited back in. Miangul Gulshahzada then dislodged the Nawab of Dir from the territories which later constituted the State of Swat, reined in the local chieftains and consolidated his power as far south as Buner and up north till Kalam. He however, was unable to annex Kalam and settled for a British brokered peace with the ruler of Chitral declaring Kalam as a buffer zone of sorts.

The British finally recognized Miangul Gulshahzada Sir Abdul Wadud as the Wa’li or ‘hereditary’ ruler of Swat in 1926. The capital of Swat State became Saidu Sharif – Saidu the exalted - and there being no major city, Mingora was its largest population center.

The illiterate Wa’li ruled Swat autocratically and had divided the State in four administrative provinces, which were then sub-divided in eleven districts or Tehsils. His eldest son Miangul Jehanzeb, a graduate of Islamia College, Peshawar, was designated the heir-apparent or Vali Ehd in 1926. The heir-apparent dealt with the financial matters and along with the Vizier, assisted the ruler in administrative and judicial matters.

The judicial system implemented in the Swat of was a combination of Rivaj – the tribal custom, nominal Islam and the pleasure of the Wa’li. As the Wa’li captured new territories he would ask the tribal elders to put their Rivaj on record and the cases of petty crimes and offences of local nature were decided according to this custom. Major offences, acts against public welfare and crimes against the State were decided by the Wa’li himself at his discretion and the case merits.

In this quasi-feudal system of justice, no guarantees existed regarding fundamental human rights, inheritance, role of evidence and the due process. Shariat, as is understood in the context of Islamic law, has its own set of rules regarding all these matters but was never adopted to be the system for dispensing justice in the princely State of Swat.

The Swat State acceded to Pakistan on July 28, 1969 and along with the States of Dir and Chitral was incorporated into the Malakand Division of the NWFP, but its traditional legal system remained in place till 1974 , when finally the courts were established there, in accordance with the 1973 constitution of Pakistan. Also, the 1973 constitution recognized, under its article 246(b) the former princely states of Dir, Swat, Chitral and Amb as the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) and distinct from the FATA.

The article 247(4) of the constitution states : “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Constitution, the President may, with respect to any matter within the legislative competence of the Parliament and the Governor of a Province, with the prior approval of the President, may, with respect to any matter within the legislative competence of the Provincial Assembly make regulations for the peace and good government of a Provincially Administered Tribal Area or any part thereof, situated in the Province ”. In simple words the president – for the sake of peace and prosperity – can sign as a regulation something, which otherwise would have required an act of parliament. The Shariah being imposed in Swat is apparently going to be implemented under these constitutional powers vested in the President. However, a gross generalization has been made in interpreting the legislative competence of the parliament and the powers that be have pushed the envelope.

The article 8 of the constitution of Pakistan – which deals with the fundamental rights of the citizenry - voids any “laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights”. The section 2 of article 8 further clarifies that “The State shall not make any law which takes away or abridges the rights so conferred and any law made in contravention of this clause shall, to the extent of such contravention, be void “. In other words, the president, parliament, Governor or the provincial assembly cannot give away in compromise, what is constitutionally not theirs to begin with.

Amazingly, all those supporting the implementation of Shariat in Swat have also been calling for extending the writ of the Pakistani State into its Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), including full implementation of the 1973 constitution along with the Political Parties Act. Full-throated sloganeering is going on for establishing the rule of law – British Law that is, in preparation of the long march to restore the deposed CJP. No one has bothered to explain to the common man as to why the 1973 constitution and the courts resulting from it are great for rest of the Pakistan and even for FATA but horrible for Swat.

To its credit the English press in Pakistan has devoted its op-ed pages to raising awareness about the rising specter of the Taliban Shariah but the vernacular print and electronic media has come out in strongly in support of the obscurantist forces. The spin-masters of the federal and provincial government are hard at work presenting the breakdown in their authority as the great breakthrough.

- To be concluded - (author practices and teaches medicine at the University of Florida and can be reached at taqimd@gmail.com)

Also See:
COMMENT: The Swat deal is wrong — Shaukat Qadir, Daily Times
Taking on the Taliban - Zafar Hilaly, The News

Thursday, February 26, 2009

‘General Ashfaq Kayani key to US plans’ - Unlikely

Pakistan's Army Chief Key To U.S. Plans In Region
by Jackie Northam, NPR

Morning Edition, February 26, 2009 · Within the next few weeks, the Obama administration will unveil its new strategy — and goals — for Pakistan and Afghanistan. One of the central figures in that strategy is Pakistan's army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, who has been meeting with U.S. officials this week in Washington.

When Kayani became chief of staff just over a year ago, there was a collective sigh of relief both in Pakistan and in the United States. Kayani replaced Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who also served as president. Musharraf stepped down under pressure and in disgrace after eight years of rule.

Kayani was quickly met with high praise from U.S. officials. The chain-smoking, stern-faced general is eloquent, enjoys a round of golf and studied at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Kayani visits US defence varsity, calls on US agency chiefs - Daily Times
Kayani’s visit to help understand Swat deal: Mullen - DT

Disentangling Layers of a Loaded Term in Search of a Thread of Peace - TERRORISM

Memo From Cairo
Disentangling Layers of a Loaded Term in Search of a Thread of Peace
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN, New York Times, February 25, 2009

CAIRO — If President Obama is serious about repairing relations with the Arab world and re-establishing the United States as an honest broker in Middle East peace talks, one step would be to bridge a chasm in perception that centers on one contentious word: terrorism.

The recent fighting in Gaza offered a potent reminder of the challenge Washington faces in mediating a dispute when the United States refuses to speak directly with some of the main players, including Hamas and Hezbollah, which it calls terrorist groups. Whether the United States has declined to speak with hostile groups because it considers them terrorists, or whether it slaps the terrorist label on groups it wants to sanction or marginalize, a battle over the term terrorist has become a proxy for the larger issues that divide Washington and the Arab public.

The perception gap, which grew wider when President George W. Bush declared his war on terror in 2001, was blown even further apart in Gaza, when most Arabs came away certain who the real terrorists were.

“Public opinion views what happened in Gaza as a kind of terrorism,” said Muhammad Shaker, a former Egyptian ambassador to Britain. “And on the other side, they see Hamas and other such organizations as groups who are trying to liberate their countries.”

Many here said they saw little distinction between Hamas’s shooting rockets into civilian areas of Israel and Israel’s shooting rockets into civilian areas of Gaza, even if Hamas militants were operating there or just hiding out.

Israelis often focus on intent in drawing a distinction between Israel and Hamas — saying their forces kill civilians only as an unfortunate consequence of war while Hamas aims attacks at civilians. “The Israeli military effort is to neutralize the forces of aggression that have been used against its civilians, and there sometimes can be collateral damage,” said Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. “That happens in every war and every conflict.”

For complete article, click here

"Resolution of the Kashmir conflict Missed"?: The art of reading between the lines

Second Editorial: A ‘near miss’ on Kashmir?
Daily Times, February 24, 2009

A credible American source on Pakistan, journalist Steve Coll has revealed in an article that India and Pakistan had come within an inch of granting autonomy to the region of Kashmir before President Musharraf’s domestic trouble overtook the process of secret negotiations in 2007. Earlier, Pakistan’s former foreign minister Mr Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri had said much the same thing in his statement in the Pakistani media. President Musharraf and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were aiming to demilitarise Kashmir prior to a settlement but, just as he had muffed the chance of clinching Kashmir with the BJP government, Musharraf got lost in what can be called his “impermissible incumbency” politics.

Had Musharraf been able to clinch it, it would have brought on a paradigm shift in South Asia’s life. The Coll story says: “Under the plan, the Kashmir conflict would have been resolved through the creation of an autonomous region in which local residents could move freely and conduct trade on both sides of the territorial boundary. Over time, the border would become irrelevant, and declining violence would allow a gradual withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops that now face one another across the region’s mountain passes”. But there were elements that never liked what he was doing.

By 2007, General Musharraf was so weak he was not able to sell it to the centres of power in Pakistan. The spectre of India was looming in Afghanistan and the “peace talks” with India under Foreign Minister Kasuri were being looked at negatively by those whose consensus had propped up the President-General of Pakistan. In 2007, the power syndicate stabbed him in the back over Lal Masjid and forced him to take on India again to regain his stripes of legitimacy. But the media rallied behind the sudden national sympathy for Lal Masjid and sealed his fate.

If General Musharraf’s India policy had a chance of being picked up and kicked forward by a notoriously “pro-India PPP”, it was sought to be obviated with the assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto. Then in November 2008, the PPP was decisively put on the backfoot by the Mumbai attacks. Once again, this was achieved with complete media support. How unfortunate. *

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

New Rport on Pakistan: "Comprehensive U.S. Policy Needed"


Pakistan Report: Comprehensive U.S. Policy Needed
Report by the South Asia Centre of the Atlantic Council of the United States,February 26, 2009

Executive Summary
A total of $4-5 billion above the (Biden)-Kerry-Lugar proposals is needed beyond the IMF and other loans from the U.S. and other sources. Of this, about $3 billion should go to the economic and social sectors directly.

About $1 billion of fresh or redirected funds would go to security forces -both military and law enforcement. Of this $1 billion, approximately $200 million would be applied to recruiting, training, and deployment of an additional 15,000 police within the next six months who are essential to bringing long-term law and order to all of Pakistan.

During 2008, several useful reports on Pakistan were published by some of the nation’s most respected think tanks. Each of these studies contained sensible analyses of what the United States should do regarding Pakistan and proposed sound recommendations accordingly. Rather than repeat or duplicate these efforts, this report by the Atlantic Council proceeds along a different path.

First, this report sounds the alarm that we are running out of time to help Pakistan change its present course toward increasing economic and political instability, and even ultimate failure. The urgency of action has been brought home by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in late November that set Pakistan and India on a dangerous collision course. Simply put, time is running out for stabilizing Pakistan’s economy and security. As Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari told the Atlantic Council during our December 2008 trip to Islamabad, “we – [the United States, Pakistan, NATO and the world at large] – are losing the battle” to keep Pakistan stable, at peace and prosperous.

Unlike Afghanistan - where the international community is losing the struggle because of its failure to reform the civilian sector - Pakistan has the manpower and infrastructure to win its battles. But Pakistan can only do so if it gets the necessary support urgently. And it is self-evident that a secure, stable, and prospering Pakistan is in the best interests of the international community.

We – meaning Pakistan and its friends – can and must win collectively. The starting point must be a full and objective understanding of today’s Pakistan and the fact that it is on a rapid trajectory toward becoming a failing or failed state. That trajectory must be reversed now.

Second, this report provides a conceptual framework, strategy, and specific actions that are needed to begin the long process of bringing peace, prosperity, and stability to Pakistan and to the region. The issue is not Pakistan alone or Pakistan and Afghanistan. The issue is broader and is inextricably linked with India, the Gulf, and Pakistan’s other close neighbors. As a senior Pakistani military officer told us: “If Pakistan fails, the world fails.”

Third, this report outlines the possible short-and long-term consequences of inaction: some of these, such as the breakup of the country, civil war or an all-out war with India, could be catastrophic for the country, for the region, and for U.S. interests.

Despite its current economic hardships, the United States has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into Iraq and many billions into Afghanistan in the past. However, it has been relatively miserly in its assistance for Pakistan where the stakes are far larger and more important to long-term American interests. There are good and bad reasons for this contradiction between needs and funding. And it will be extraordinarily difficult to convince a skeptical Congress and a public – already reeling with the trillion dollar cost of bailing out failed American corporations and agencies – of Pakistan’s urgent needs.

The time horizon to get aid to Pakistan so it can begin the job of turning around its economy and polity is months not years. Pakistan requires a great deal more assistance than it currently getting if it is to succeed and the principal source of that assistance must be the United States.

The U.S. also needs to urgently close the “Trust Deficit” between it and Pakistan, with greater exchanges of high-level visits, closer military, intelligence, and economic cooperation. And it needs to pass the (Biden)-Kerry-Lugar bill as soon as possible to begin the flow of more resources to Pakistan.

For complete report (pdf), click here

Need for "Strategic Renaissance" - Reinventing Iqbal's Dream

comment: Iqbal, Bacha Khan and terrorists — Suroosh Irfani
Daily Times, February 26, 2009

It might well be that the heartless war our homegrown jihadis and Afghan Taliban are waging against Pakistan exemplifies Islam’s dangerous inversion that Iqbal had warned against some three generations ago. Such inversion has virtually displaced Bacha Khan and Iqbal’s spiritual humanism by a jihadi extremism at war with humanity

“Muslims are at war with one another, in their hearts they only harbor schism. They cry out if someone else pulls a brick out of a mosque which they themselves shun” — Allama Iqbal, Armaghan e Hijaz (verse translated by Mustansir Mir)

When Muhammad Iqbal, the ‘spiritual founder of Pakistan’, wrote the above verses shortly before his death in 1938, the blowing up of mosques and beheadings of fellow Muslims had not yet become part of everyday Muslim life. Nor was the destruction of schools, or the ban on girls’ education and music part of a freedom struggle that led to the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.

Indeed, by the 1930s when Iqbal’s Islamic rethink had earned him the appellations of ‘Poet of Islam’ and ‘Wiseman of the Ummah’, non-violence was shaping the freedom struggle against British rule in much of India. While Gandhi was emblematic of such a struggle, shades of non-violence also permeated Muslim political discourse. Such a discourse was as much in evidence in the ‘martial’ North West Frontier Province — the cradle of jihadi terror in Pakistan today — as the rest of India.

For complete article, click here

Democracy, Drama and Disqualification - Sharifs Out?

Sharif brothers declared ineligible, Shahbaz no more Punjab CM
The News, February 25, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The three-member Bench of Supreme Court has disposed off Sharif brothers’ electoral eligibility case by declaring them ineligible for contesting elections in its two-line short order announced here.

Shahbaz Sharif under this verdict has lost his seat in the provincial assembly and being no longer member of the Punjab House, he is no more Punjab chief minister, as SC has annulled the earlier notification about his being chief minister.

This case was under hearing of the SC three-member Bench headed by Justice Musa K. Laghari for the last eight months, in which, the Attorney General of Pakistan, Latif Khosa giving his arguments said that Punjab chief secretary and speaker were not the party in the case. Attorney General said that all the judges have taken oaths under the constitution and talking about the oath of the interim constitution was irrelevant.

He said that Nawaz Sharif’s proposer and seconder could become parties in the case if the court permits them and their becoming parties was not necessary. He further said that it was the discretion of the judge to withdraw from the Bench and no one could direct him to pull out.

On conclusion of the arguments, after a short break, the Bench disposing off the Sharif brothers’ eligibility case declared them ineligible.

Following the verdict, Sharif brothers’ lawyer, Akram Sheikh told media that the decision was as expected, as the government was giving dictation to the judges. He said that Sharif brothers were declared ineligible on the orders of President Zardari. He said that the judges would be made accountable on the Day of Judgement. Akram Shiekh said that now it was up to the people to decide if the verdict was on merit. He said that he couldn’t comment on the incomplete two-line judgment. This decision would be presented as bouquet to President Asif Zardari on his return from the China tour.

ML-N workers in sizable number were present on the occasion of the announcement of verdict raising slogans in favour of long march and Sharif brothers. Security arrangement remain tightened in the capital city here.

Also See:
Zero hour approaches for premier - Rauf Klasra
I will ask nothing for five years if judges reinstated, says Nawaz - DT
Verdict in Sharif brothers’ eligibility case likely today - What it may mean - The News

LATEST:
Governor’s rule imposed in Punjab as Sharif brothers disqualified - The News
Rallies against SC verdict - The News
BB portrait set on fire - Daily Times

Pakistan's extremist triumph - By Ahmed Rashid

Pakistan's extremist triumph
The government has caved in to the Taliban in the Swat Valley to avert more violence.
By Ahmed Rashid, Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2009

Writing From Lahore, Pakistan -- Maulana Sufi Mohammed, a radical cleric who was freed last year after spending six years in jail for leading 10,000 Pashtun tribesmen in opposition to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, has begun a new campaign. He is leading a peace march through the strategic Swat Valley in an attempt to persuade his son-in-law, Maulana Qazi Fazlullah, to accept the government's offer of a cease-fire and enforcement of an Islamic system of justice in the valley.

The fact that Mohammed has embraced the government's offer is a sign of how fully Islamabad has capitulated to the demands of extremists in the region. And the fact that the peace deal has not yet been accepted by Fazlullah, who leads the Swati contingent of the Pakistani Taliban and is closely allied with Al Qaeda, is a sign of how radicalized some of the region has become.

Fazlullah's men have fought bloody battles with the army over the last two years, finally driving it out and taking control of most of Swat last year. The fighting has led to about 1,200 civilian deaths and the forced exodus of an estimated 350,000 people out of a population of 1.5 million. Fazlullah has blown up 200 girls schools, hanged policemen, set up Sharia (Islamic law) courts and established a parallel government.

Now, rather than order the army to retake Swat, the Pakistan People's Party government in Islamabad led by Benazir Bhutto's widower, President Asif Ali Zardari, and the Awami National Party (ANP), a Pashtun secular party that runs the provincial government of the North-West Frontier Province, have capitulated to the Taliban's demands in order to avoid more violence.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Editorial: Debate over Swat ‘peace deal’ - Daily Times
Swat deal local solution to local problem: Qureshi - The News

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Details of the Swat Deal

Sufi unveils nine-point peace plan By Delawar Jan
The News, February 24, 2009
Asks militants to stop activities; schools reopen in Swat

MINGORA: Tanzeem Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad, while expressing concern over the activities of the militants in Swat after the peace agreement, asked them on Monday to stop their militant actions.

The TNSM, whose black-turbaned activists are staying in a mosque here till Ƭrestoring peaceƮ, asked NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haidar to visit the Taliban-infested Swat Valley, where until recently ministers and even MNAs and MPAs could not go.

Unabated activities by the militants even after a ceasefire have been causing a serious setback to the peace deal. The militants picked up the newly-posted District Coordination Officer (DCO), Khushhal Khan, and three other people on Sunday, who were released after six hours of talks.

However, cashier of the National Bank of Pakistan Yousaf, Akbar Zaman and Bakht Ghulam, who were kidnapped from Odigram area near Mingora, are still in the captivity of the militants. Sufi Muhammad, who has been making unflinching efforts for bringing back tranquillity to Swat, was perturbed and intended to have a direct contact with the militants in near future.

Unveiling a nine-point plan for restoration of peace here at a press conference, he asked both the militants and the government to fulfil their responsibility by taking measures for bringing back calm to the valley. Sufi, who was unwell, started the press conference with emphasis on a life in accordance with Shariah. He, however, asked the TNSM spokesman, Amir Izzat Khan, to read out the plan.

Before going into the details, Izzat thanked the government for enforcing the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and doing away with certain check-posts.

The nine points of the plan are:

1) The government should shift the Army from schools, houses, mosques, hospitals and other places to safer locations and remove all the ƬobstaclesƮ so that the problems of the people are addressed.

2) The district administration and police should be taken to their respective positions with the help of the TNSM activists and the people.

3) The government should immediately reinstate those police and Levies officials and FC personnel who had been sacked or imprisoned.

4) People’s losses, particularly human, should be compensated and the process should commence in line with the announcement of Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti. He should visit Swat to accomplish Ƭthis noble task.Ć®

5) Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat’s leaders should direct their Taliban fighters to immediately remove the barricades and stop checking people there.

6) The Taliban should stop armed movement and other militant activities.

7) The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan should not create obstructions on roads for vehicles taking soldiers or their ration. Also, they should not interfere in the affairs of the administration and police.

8) Both the sides should release all the prisoners straightaway.

9) The people (IDPs) should come back to their homes.

The document said that incident of Musa Khankhel murder and kidnapping of the DCO had created panic among the people and hindered the process of establishing peace.

The TNSM urged the people from all walks of life, including the civil society and political parties, to help the TNSM in restoring peace and implementing Nizam-e-Adl.

“Particularly, I appeal to the media to help restore peace,” Maulana Alam, deputy chief of the TNSM, requested on behalf of Sufi Muhammad.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
For Pakistan's Swat residents, uneasy calm - Christian Science Monitor
Presence of army in Swat part of peace deal: Sherry - The News
State fails to control non-state actors: Athar Abbas - SANA

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Radio Pakistan Rises to the Occasion - Well Done Murtaza Solangi

Editorial: Radio Pakistan takes a revolutionary step
Daily Times, February 23, 2009

After a three-day conference of its station directors, Radio Pakistan has decided to initiate some reforms that clearly promise to revolutionise its role in society. It has decided to launch a special project of “radio schools” for children with little or no access to schools “in restive NWFP”. It also plans to “establish an Educational Channel to help promote literacy and create greater awareness in society about security, social and economic challenges”.

The conference also approved the new “community broadcasting” initiative, requiring the stations to plan new programmes focusing on the needs of local communities. Above all, it decided to increase local language programming to 70 percent, lowering the Urdu content to 30 percent. Information Minister Ms Sherry Rehman is to be congratulated for allowing this very bold departure from the traditional notion of “nation-building” that has ruled the functioning of Radio Pakistan but could not be abandoned despite clear signs of failure.

Radio Pakistan is receiving a new impetus from its Director General Mr Murtaza Solangi, a VOA veteran who has firm views about the failed techniques of “social engineering” applied in the past to radio in Pakistan. Obsessed with “unity”, the state imposed Urdu on the population through the radio. Urban dominance led to the eclipse of this most effective medium till the Taliban usurped it through the FM system. Now Radio Pakistan has to fight the FM battle against terrorism. And it will have to move from all-Pakistan and all-province coverage to a focus on the community. If warlord Fazlullah can do it, Radio Pakistan can do it too.

The lesson will have to be learnt from the terrorists. A backup will have to be added to the community FM broadcasts, especially in the field of primary education and the children’s requirement of reading material. The innovation may not appeal to the radio bureaucracy but will be supported by donors outside Pakistan. If Radio Pakistan can’t change it might as well shut shop and go home. *

Sufi Islam Versus Salafi Islam

Faith Wars By Ayesha Siddiqa
Dawn, 14 Feb, 2009

Recently, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani lauded the role Sufi Islam could play in keeping the society away from religious extremism. Lest we consider this a personal bias, since he represents the Sufi tradition himself, similar sentiments were expressed by others as well. One such example is the 2007 RAND Corporation paper, Building Moderate Muslim Networks, which identifies Sufi Islam as one of the potential forces within an Islamic society that must be strengthened to fight the rising intolerance, extremism, and violence in Muslim societies. Although the RAND report pertained to the Middle East, it could be equally applied to Pakistan, which suffers from a high risk of religious conservatism often bordering on extremism.

Pakistan, in fact, makes an interesting case study for the battle between Sufi Islam and the much more rabid Salafi Islam for two obvious reasons. First, it is a country with equally dominant traditions and institutions of Sufi Islam that were critical in spreading the religion in the Indian Subcontinent. For that reason, many argue that Punjab, especially southern Punjab, which has drawn international attention particularly after the Mumbai attacks, cannot fall to Salafi Islam because it is a hub of Sufi – or what is popularly known as Barelvi – Islam. The wife of Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Farahnaz Isphani, expressed such views a few months ago in a CNN interview. Second, unlike Turkey, where Sufi institutions were throttled by Kamal Attaturk, or Saudi Arabia, where the state shut down similar institutions to accommodate Salafi Islam, Sufi traditions have continued to thrive in Pakistan.

For complete article, click here

On Sufism, see
Sufism - sufis - Sufi Orders By Dr. Alan Godlas
Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition - By Hossein Nasr
Pakistan's mystical Islam thrives - BBC

On Salafism, See
Salafi - From Wikipedia

In Support of John Solecki

Solecki’s mother appeals to public for help
Daily Times, February 22, 2009

ISLAMABAD: The mother of a United Nations (UN) official, kidnapped nearly three weeks ago, has urged the public to help secure her son’s release, in an audio-taped message released by the UN on Saturday.

"My name is Rose Solecki. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) worker who went missing in Quetta, John Solecki, is my son. I am appealing to the people of Balochistan for whatever support they can provide to secure my son's safety and freedom," the 83-year-old said in the tape, given to AFP by a local UNHCR official.

John Solecki, head of the UNHCR in Quetta, was abducted at gunpoint on February 2. His driver was killed in the ambush.

The UN has been trying to establish contact with the kidnappers, who have threatened to kill Solecki, AP reported.

The previously unheard of Balochistan Liberation United Front, which claimed to be holding Solecki, has demanded the release of 141 female detainees ‘with Pakistan’, and information about 6,000 men ‘missing’ in operations against the insurgency.

On Monday, the kidnappers said they had extended a 72-hour deadline for the government to meet their demands for Solecki's release. No new deadline was set.

"Please help us find John and return him safely to his family, friends and colleagues," Rose Solecki said. "John has helped many people in Balochistan and now my son needs your help." afp/ap

Also See:
Talal smells a rat in Solecki’s abduction - The News
John Solecki, American Kidnapped In Pakistan, Threatened With Death - Huffington Post
Kidnappers of John Solecki in Pakistan decline talks with U.N. officials, report says - Star Ledger

Flash Forward Pakistan By Samad Khurram

Flash Forward Pakistan: Pakistan online
By Samad Khurram, Dawn, 17 Feb, 2009

Samad Khurram speculates on the challenges which face this country in future years as part of Dawn.com's launch special 'Flash Forward Pakistan: Where do we go from here?'

In Swat, the army indulges in another never-ending battle with elusive militants who hold entire cities hostage to their whims. The silent victims of this violence are ordinary residents whose lives have been utterly devastated by the carnage. Sadly, there is no hope for peace until the residents of Swat and the people of Pakistan actively stand up and do their part in combating terrorism.

Speaking out against Islamic militants remains taboo in the minds of Pakistanis for many reasons. People are genuinely afraid of threats or falling victim to terrorism. Numerous editors have claimed to have been threatened by militants or their supporters. Furthermore, many who disagree with the militants in their actions may sympathize with what they stand for – a Shariah-based system of governance. They tend to silence their criticism either in the vain hope that militants will reform themselves, or for fear of being labeled a non-Muslim.

While we are often quick to dismiss conservatives as narrow-minded, this strategy of selective silence stems from the most progressive people of our country. PPP loyalists, who tend to be the most vocal advocates of human rights during other governments, turn a blind eye towards the appointment of honor killers in their cabinet. Those who still let principles guide their conscience and dare to speak up are scorned for sowing the seeds of a military takeover or being right-wing. Constructive intellectual discourse is stifled by an ‘us vs. them’ rhetoric that has become commonplace in our society.

For those who do wish to speak up, alternative media presents a different avenue. People can communicate without having to reveal any personal information using blogs, in chat rooms, or by commenting on popular sites and online videos. The messenger is saved from witch-hunts while the message trickles down. Given time, these drops of dissent can form a reservoir of change. Indeed, those of us who had no experience with or intention of starting a blog or mailing list realized that alternative media was the only tool left to us when the mainstream media vanished from our households in November 2007, when General Musharraf imposed emergency rule.

Eventually, the real resistance to the emergency was built on the internet. Millions signed online petitions and hundreds of thousands extended support as the world watched the blogosphere explode with anti-Musharraf rhetoric. Efforts such as The Emergency Times blog and mailing list, which I helped publish, helped people stay informed about protests as well as emergency-related news developments.

Some in Swat have tried to follow a similar model, but have enjoyed limited success. They were drowned out by the cacophony of voices on the internet or lacked the fundamentals of good blogging. Ironically, it was the mainstream media that helped put alternative media back on the map during the present crisis. An online dairy became a success once BBC Urdu picked up the blog of a brave seventh-grade school girl from Swat who pens her thoughts as well as the sights and sounds from the area, and tailored it for the general audience.

These online efforts have helped advocate for change, but the fact is the Emergency Times and Swat Diary will remain event-centric blogs, popular only among a small band of followers. Real, long-term impact is achieved by those who are willing to reveal their identities along with their message. Moreover, credibility is built by being consistently honest and advocating for the same principles each time.

Professor Adil Najam is one blogger who has spoken critically and impartially on many issues ranging from economics to foreign policy and religion at Pakistaniat.com. Thanks to his careful analyses, this liberal has garnered the trust and goodwill of many conservative Pakistanis across the world, and has even succeeded in changing many of their minds. Comments on Prof. Najam’s website clearly suggest that his readers do not agree with everything he says. Yet when he asked for help in reconstructing a girls’ school in Swat, his readers were quick to donate one-third of the cost in a few days. Many of the pro-judiciary, pro-Musharraf, pro-Nawaz, and pro-PPP cadres, who normally point knives at each other’s throats, banded for a common cause.

The same results could not be achieved by other cyber-intellectuals such as Ahmed Quraishi and Zaid Zaman Hamid. When reports of the crisis brewing in Swat were first revealed by Hamid Mir, Zaid Hamid was quick to dismiss them as fabrications and allege instead that Mir was a covert CIA operative. Neither website today has any mention of the crisis in Swat. And, in my opinion, neither would succeed if they initiated a call for action.

The fact is, alternative media has changed the dynamics of moral responsibilities. If you are a Pakistani who is able to read this message, it is your ethical and national obligation to speak up, present your side of the story, advocate for change, and organize for a better tomorrow. It also means that you are responsible for whatever statements you make as a Pakistani on the internet. Online readership is not geographically bound and one irresponsible statement can unleash a storm of hate. The vitriol generated by Zaid Hamid’s war threats to Indian journalists and citizens is ample proof of the high potential of abuse alternative media has.

The eventual hope of positive change in Pakistan rests with those who choose to make their voice heard by whatever means necessary. Specifically, that hope lies with nonpartisan activists such as Prof. Najam and not with those who exacerbate the ‘us vs. them’ split. Criticism must begin at home and must be applied without restraint to everyone, beloved or hated. That is the only way to change the minds of those on the other side and make the most of the power of free speech.

Samad Khurram is an undergraduate at Harvard University who made headlines by refusing to accept an award from the US ambassador to Pakistan, citing continuing drone attacks in the country. He maintains a popular blog and has participated in the lawyers’ movement to restore the judiciary dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf.

Wariness in Pakistan - Swat Deal in Focus

Wariness in Pakistan
By Shuja Nawaz, Boston Globe, February 22, 2009

PROVINCIAL authorities in the Swat Valley in northwestern Pakistan struck a peace deal with local Taliban franchisees this week, and in it the government agreed to extend Islamic law in the area. Since then, commentators around the world have pretended to know what the agreement means. Some suspect a "hidden hand," whether it be the intelligence agencies or the United States. In a conspiracy-prone Pakistan, some even talk of an inside deal between the army and the militants - even as they ignore the hundreds of casualties that the army suffered in Swat. Never mind that facts may interfere with these pet theories.

In reality, only the locals know what the deal really means. I recently received the following account from a young woman from the area:

"For months and months the military has been trying to quell the militants. Two days ago their failure was accepted when the provincial government of the North-West Frontier Province went into talks with Mullah Sufi Mohammad and accepted some things. We don't yet know what those things are but the first promise is peace. Peace on what grounds? We don't know.

"Today the party of the Mullah announced that 'democracy' is un-Islamic. It is too late. We have lost the battle against the militants. We have seen day by day how government and army have [been] weakened, how they have finally been reduced to talk and to deal. Nobody is accountable for the thousands killed, for the closure of schools, for the beheadings of men and women. Nobody. Someone said to me the other day - 'Don't complain, because the one you complain to will be your enemy.'

"We no longer can turn [to anyone] here to complain. We now have to think about how to survive this. We now have to give up much of what many of us believe in - tolerance, peace, educated women, and freedom."

She believes the North-West Frontier Province is lost. And she questioned whether President Obama understands the extremists. "He seems to think that these people can be contained within their land, or [any] land. He thinks there is a meeting point, a dialogue possibility. Those who think that giving the militants their haven will contain them - well, the rest of the country and the world will see what this will lead to. This is not the end, it is only the beginning."

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Pakistan Made No Concessions to Taliban in Swat, Envoy Says - Bloomberg
Swat Valley Blues - The Opinionater, New York Times

Endgame is near ? - By Zaffar Abbas

Endgame is near? By Zaffar Abbas
22 Feb, 2009, Dawn

It’s not the endgame. Perhaps it cannot even be categorised as the beginning of the end. But the powerful salvo fired by a highly frustrated Nawaz Sharif towards Islamabad may change the course of events in the days to come. Already there are clear indications that the wedge between the Zardari government and Sharif-led opposition may soon take the form of an all-out confrontation.

In some ways it is vintage Pakistani politics, in which one year is too long a period in the life of an elected government, and destabilisation is the name of the game.

But then what has happened in the form of Nawaz Sharif’s outburst is also quite understandable.

The way some of the events unfolded in the last few weeks had in them many elements that were bound to alarm Sharif. The Sword of Damocles hanging over his head in the form of the disqualification case in the Supreme Court and the never-ending diatribe by a belligerent Punjab governor, were enough to convince him that his political career was being consciously undercut.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
I am ready to sacrifice Punjab govt for Pakistan: Nawaz - The News
Nawaz Sharif, the march on Islamabad and mid-term elections - DT

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Pakistan face to face with Skepticism, Concerns, and Prejudice

In the face of chaos
The Economist, Feb 19th 2009 | ISLAMABAD AND LAHORE
How Pakistan’s army is failing, and what America must do, to crack down on rampant Islamist insurgencies in the region

IN A rooftop restaurant overlooking the old Mughal city of Lahore, Richard Holbrooke dined on February 11th with a group of liberal Pakistani businessmen, human-rights campaigners and journalists. He had come, midway through his inaugural tour as America’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a heavy question. Against a rising thrum from the narrow streets of the red-light district below, Mr Holbrooke asked: “What is the crisis of Pakistan?”

Well might he ask. Pakistan, the world’s sixth-most-populous country and second-biggest Muslim one, is violent and divided. A Taliban insurgency is spreading in its north-west frontier region, fuelled partly by a similar Pushtun uprising against NATO and American troops in Afghanistan (see article). Some 120,000 Pakistani troops have been dispatched to contain it, yet they seem hardly able to guard the main road through North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). On February 3rd NATO briefly stopped sending convoys through Pakistan—which carry some 75% of its supplies to Afghanistan—after Pakistani militants blew up a road bridge in NWFP. A related terrorism spree by the Pakistan Taliban and allied Islamists, including al-Qaeda, whose leaders have found refuge in the semi-autonomous tribal areas of the frontier, has spread further. Pakistan has seen some 60 suicide-bomb blasts in each of the past two years.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
COMMENT: Pakistan and prejudice — Karan Thapar

Shia-Sunni Relations in Pakistan: Reconciliation is the Need of the Hour

Editorial: A Shia backlash in the offing?
Daily Times, February 22, 2009

After a suicide bomber killed at least 30 Shias and injured another 157 who were attending the funeral of an already murdered Shia leader in the southern district of Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP, the victimised Shia community has staged protests in all the big and small cities of the country. The Shia youth organised under the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), and led by their local clerics, clearly manifested signs of disquiet that may give rise to more widespread sectarian violence.

For some years now, the ISO has been lying low after realising that avenging Sunni violence is counterproductive. It was formed in 1972, and in the 1980s it aimed to protect the Shia community against a freewheeling spree of Shia-killing on the part of the politico-sectarian militias created by the state to fight jihad in Kashmir against India. Today, that policy of low-profile reaction could be coming under pressure simply because the state is not capable of giving them the protection they deserve under the Constitution.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Riots after Shia youth shot dead in Karachi - DT
Pakistan's evolving sectarian schism - BBC, Feb. 20
City tense after ISO-ST clash - The News

Obama Widens Missile Strikes Inside Pakistan?

Obama Widens Missile Strikes Inside Pakistan
By MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID E. SANGER, New York Times, February 21, 2009

WASHINGTON — With two missile strikes over the past week, the Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan, attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government.

The missile strikes on training camps run by Baitullah Mehsud represent a broadening of the American campaign inside Pakistan, which has been largely carried out by drone aircraft. Under President Bush, the United States frequently attacked militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban involved in cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, but had stopped short of raids aimed at Mr. Mehsud and his followers, who have played less of a direct role in attacks on American troops.

The strikes are another sign that President Obama is continuing, and in some cases extending, Bush administration policy in using American spy agencies against terrorism suspects in Pakistan, as he had promised to do during his presidential campaign. At the same time, Mr. Obama has begun to scale back some of the Bush policies on the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, which he has criticized as counterproductive.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Bomb kills 30 at Shiite funeral in Pakistan - AFP
Karzai Walking on Thin Ice - CRSS, Pakistan
A Three-Pronged Bet on 'AFPAK' - Washington Post
Swat-style deal in Afghanistan acceptable, says Gates, The News
Swat: signs that inspire hope - Rahimullah Yusufzai

Afghanistan & pakistan on the brink: CSIS Report

Afghanistan & pakistan on the brink: Framing u.s. policy options
February 2009, CSIS
Authors: Frederick Barton and Karin von Hippel with Mark Irvine, Thomas Patterson, and Mehlaqa Samdani

Dramatic changes are needed in order to succeed in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Almost daily, the people of the region experience deteriorating security and a worsening economic situation. At the same time, Afghans and Pakistanis will both be making tough political choices in the coming months, and the United States and major allies are in the midst of multiple policy reviews. The appointment of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke should provide the opportunity to transform the current approach into one that has clear goals and a compelling narrative.

Afghanistan and Pakistan on the Brink is the result of a 200 person conference, held on November 21, 2008 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and co-organized by the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University (NDU). The event included participants from all parts of the U.S. government. (See agenda in Appendix A and participants in Appendix B).

The report is divided into three sections: 1) Policy Challenges; 2) Assumptions; and 3) Recommendations and Policy Options.

Policy Challenges

Afghanistan and Pakistan pose some of the most complex challenges imaginable. All parties have struggled with: 1) formulating and implementing an integrated strategy across U.S. government agencies, and with international and local partners; 2) understanding the evolving situation on the ground in both countries, especially in the gray zones (or "ungoverned spaces"); and 3) managing civilian political and economic development programs in dangerous, conflict environments.

This report outlines eighteen major questions, including:

What U.S. and international force levels are required to achieve the stated objectives? Are sufficient forces available? (p. 3-4)
Will more equipment and training address Pakistan's insufficient counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capacity? (p. 7)
What discussions should take place with the Taliban? (p. 8-9)


Assumptions

The report highlights nineteen realistic assumptions that should inform policy. Among those discussed are:

Afghanistan is no longer the safe haven or base for the al Qaeda network (though they still maintain a presence) and it is unlikely that a major attack on the United States will come from that country in the near future (p. 11).

The NATO allies do not all share U.S. priorities, thus the mission in Afghanistan will continue to be opposed by the publics of some of the top contributing allies. Significant increased force deployments or rules of engagement that are more flexible are unlikely in the near term (p. 12).

Pakistan will not eliminate Taliban/al Qaeda sanctuaries or develop a rapid political solution for the governance problems in the tribal regions. The Pakistani government is not likely to devise a workable political-military strategy and doctrine or build the necessary public support to deal with counterinsurgency in the near term (p. 12).

Extremism could well spread into other parts of Pakistan as provincial issues are not addressed and economic pressures increase. Greater U.S. and NATO military efforts in southern Afghanistan may generate a spillover into adjacent areas of Pakistan (p. 12).

It will not be enough to make incremental improvements. Small increases in troops, improved diplomacy, reduced corruption, and a flush of economic assistance will be insufficient. The publics of Afghanistan and Pakistan have been losing confidence for more than two years, and it is necessary to make more dramatic changes in order to gain their full participation and ownership of the challenges (p. 11, 13).

Recommendations and Policy Options

The report offers five major recommendations for this critical period. Within the recommendations are the following ideas:

Simplify and clarify the overarching goals to develop a sense of common purpose. The people of Afghanistan and Pakistan must believe that their safety and well-being will be advanced by fighting the insurgents/terrorists and stabilizing the region. Their allies must see targets achieved within reasonable periods. Shared goals, in turn, will enable all parties and partners to develop the appropriate strategy, realistic objectives, and measures of success, as well as secure the necessary resources (p. 13-14).

Secure a three-year military and economic commitment from the allies and signal to the Afghans that the military commitment is not open-ended, although the financial commitment will continue. The 134,000-soldier target strength of the Afghan National Army by December 2011 is consistent with this timeframe. Ensure that the elected governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan accept leadership responsibility (p. 4, 14-16).

Focus the vast majority of the effort (70-80%) in a few provinces (in both Afghanistan and Pakistan) and seek to build governance wherever it is promising, from select ministries to governors, local village, city, and civil society leaders, women's groups, and public servants, such as teachers, judges, and police (p. 15).

Success can be achieved with a clear direction and goals, the assumption of responsibility by all parties, and regular and open information flows directly to the people of the region and to allied nations.

For Complete Report, click here

Friday, February 20, 2009

Two US Congressmen Calls for Immediate Relief in Gaza and Change in Policy

Congressmen View Destruction in Gaza; Call for Immediate Relief and Change in Policy
(Congressman Keith Ellison and Congressman Brian Baird) - February 18, 2009

GAZA - February 19 - Two Members of Congress, Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) and Brian Baird (D-Washington) visited Gaza on Thursday to view first-hand the destruction from recent Israeli air and ground attacks, and to meet with international and local relief agencies.

The visit, which did not have the official sanction of the Obama Administration, is the first time anyone from the United States government has entered into Gaza in more than three years.

Prior to entering Gaza, the Congressmen met with the chief negotiator of the Palestinian Authority, and traveled to the West Bank city of Ramallah to meet with Dr. Riad Malki, Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority.

On Friday, Ellison and Baird will tour the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon, which have been the targets of numerous rocket attacks, repeatedly launched from within the Gaza strip, and which Israel has said are one of the root causes for their recent actions into Gaza.

"Staff from the U.S. State Department advised us of security concerns for our own safety, and we are well aware of the sensitive political issues involved in this visit," said both Congressmen in an official release. "But we believe it is important to be here to see what happened for ourselves; to meet directly with people who have been affected by the destruction, and to express our concern and support," said Congressman Baird.

"We also want to better understand what can and must be done to recover from the devastation, address the underlying issues, and work toward a lasting, just and peaceful resolution," said Congressman Ellison.

After spending the day visiting various locations within Gaza, and meeting with civilians and relief workers, Ellison and Baird were deeply affected by what they had seen and heard.

"The stories about the children affected me the most," said Ellison. "No parent, or anyone who cares for kids, can remain unmoved by what Brian and I saw here."

"The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering" said Baird, "Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed, schools completely leveled, fundamental needs such as water, sewer, and electricity facilities have been hit and immobilized. Relief agencies, themselves, have been heavily damaged. The personal stories of children being killed in their homes or schools; of entire families wiped out, and relief workers prevented from evacuating the wounded are heart wrenching. What went on here? And what is continuing to go on, is shocking and troubling beyond words." the Washington state Congressman said.

Inquiring about the status of relief efforts, the Congressmen learned that some aid material has been allowed in since the intensity of the attacks lessened a month ago, but much is still being blocked by the Israeli defense forces. An example of aid that has been banned by the Israeli Government includes lentils, macaroni, tomato paste, and other common food products. Basic building materials, generator fuel and parts to repair damaged water treatment equipment have also been kept out.

"If this had happened in our own country, there would be national outrage and an appeal for urgent assistance. We are glad that President Obama acted quickly to send much needed humanitarian funding to Gaza for this effort. However, the arbitrary and unreasonable Israeli limitations on food, and repair and reconstruction materials are unacceptable and indefensible. People; innocent children, women and non-combatants, are going without water, food and sanitation, while the things they so desperately need are sitting in trucks at the border, being denied permission to go in" said Ellison.

The Congressmen's concerns about treatment of Palestinians were not limited to Gaza. They also visited Palestinian hospitals that treat patients from East Jerusalem and the West Bank. There they met with doctors, nurses and hospital directors who described how official Israeli policies restrict border checkpoints which make it exceedingly difficult and expensive for patients, nurses, medical technicians, and other essential personnel to reach the hospital to receive or provide care.

"It's hard for anyone in our country to imagine how it must feel to have a sick child who needs urgent care or is receiving chemotherapy or dialysis, then to be forced to take a needlessly lengthy route, walk rather than drive, and wait in lines as long as two hours simply to get to the hospital. As a health care professional myself, I found this profoundly troubling - no, actually it's beyond that, it is outrageous." said Baird.

Responding to this and other issues the Congressmen emphasized that fundamental changes and solutions are needed beyond the immediate challenges in Gaza.

"The first and most urgent priority must be to help the people in Gaza. At the same time, the rocket attacks against Israeli cities must stop immediately. Just as the people of Gaza should not be subject to what they have experienced, the Israeli civilians should not have to live in fear of constant and indiscriminate rocketing. The entire region and the international community must recommit itself to making the difficult but necessary changes to bring about lasting and just peace, and security for the region. President Obama has made important and encouraging initiatives. United States Special Envoy, George Mitchell, will undoubtedly listen long to the aggrieved parties and then give advice accordingly. For now it is up to leaders and citizens here in Gaza, the West Bank and in Israel to move forward toward that shared goal," Ellison and Baird concluded.

For Sources of this report, click here

The Fallacies of Mainstreaming ‘Jihad’ - Prof. Ayesha Jalal

The Fallacies of Mainstreaming ‘Jihad’
By Ayesha Jalal, Dawn, 14 Feb, 2009

Ayesha Jalal speculates on the challenges which face this country in future years as part of Dawn.com's launch special 'Flash Forward Pakistan: Where do we go from here?'

Not for the first time in its short and eventful history, Pakistan stands poised to make the proverbial descent into anarchy or, if wiser counsels prevail, settle down to being the normal place so many of its citizens and well wishers abroad would like it to be.

As on many occasions in the recent past, Pakistanis are divided and confused about how to avert disaster without compromising on what they value as emblems of their national sovereignty and Islamic identity. Whether reading newspapers or watching any of the newly set up television channels, it is impossible to avoid the sinking feeling that comes from a realization of an ever-widening gulf between ground realities and the sharply varied perceptions of them among Pakistanis. Being in denial about the threat posed by the expanding web of militancy gripping the northwest of the country is a relatively minor problem compared to the naĆÆvetĆ© expressed in some newspaper columns and television talk shows about settling matters with the militants through political dialogue and accommodation.

It is true that purely military solutions never work and have to be supplemented by political approaches in order to resolve intractable conflicts that have got out of hand. Yet, history is replete with evidence that there can never be lasting peace unless all sides in a dispute acknowledge some sort of constituted authority and agree to work within its legal parameters. However well-meaning, suggestions by certain ‘experts’ in Pakistan to bring the bands of armed men galvanized around the likes of Maulana Fazlullah in Swat and Beitullah Masud in South Waziristan into the political fold, are ultimately wrong headed.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Justice in Swat? - Ayesha Siddiqa

Pakistan - China Relations: Testing Times?

Pakistan and China: A Fraying Friendship?
By Vivian Salama, TIME, Feb. 19, 2009

There is an old Chinese proverb that says to attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend. On Friday, an old friend is due to come calling in China. Pakistan's President Asif Zardari will make his second visit to China in four months for meetings with senior political and business leaders. A key ally in the U.S.-led "War on Terror," Pakistan — desperate for money and in need of a good friend — has recently found itself beckoning China for rescue. But is China willing to invest its pennies in Pakistan, much less play superhero for an old but now problematic ally?

Once an "all-weather friend," China stood with Pakistan during its old confrontations with India. Ties between the two countries date back to 1950 after Pakistan joined a small handful of nations in recognizing the communist People's Republic of China. In 1962, war broke out between China and India over the disputed Himalayan border region, further aligning China and Pakistan in the name of a common enmity toward India. Since then, Beijing has often offered its support to Islamabad in the way of economic assistance, but also with no-strings-attached military aid and support to Pakistan's nuclear program.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Pakistan Taliban release Chinese engineer: officials - AFP
China underlines importance of Zardari’s visit - APP
Pakistan Islamists in a deal with China communists : a sign of the times? - Reuters
Pakistan's all-weather friend - Shahan Mufti, Global Post

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Pakistan's Taliban slayer - Hope is on the Way...

Continuing Controversy regarding Drone Attacks in Pakistan - Is Pakistan Government on Board


Pakistan Lends Support for U.S. Military Strikes
Leaders Continue to Condemn Air Attacks, but a Private Shift in Policy Aims to Aid Drone Assault on Militant Targets
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG in Islamabad, and SIOBHAN GORMAN and JAY SOLOMON in Washington, Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2009

Pakistan's leaders have publicly denounced U.S. missile strikes as an attack on the country's sovereignty, but privately Pakistani military and intelligence officers are aiding these attacks and have given significant support to recent U.S. missions, say officials from both countries.

American unmanned Predator aircraft have killed scores of Islamic militants in Pakistan in more than 30 missile strikes since August, provoking outrage in the South Asian nation. Two in the past four days have killed more than 50 suspected militants. Yet, with the Taliban pushing deeper into the country, Pakistan's civilian and military leaders, while publicly condemning the attacks, have come to see the strikes as effective and are passing on intelligence that has helped recent missions, say officials from both countries.

As a result, "the Predator strikes are more and more precise," said a Pakistani official.

Eleven of al Qaeda's top 20 commanders have been killed or captured since August because of the Predator missions conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to the Pakistani official, and current and former U.S. intelligence officials.

Dennis C. Blair, the new U.S. director of national intelligence, said last week that "a succession of blows" to al Qaeda in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas have thrown the group off balance, forcing it to promote inexperienced operators to leadership posts.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
U.S. steps up missile strikes in Pakistan’s northwest - Reuters
Google Earth reveals secret history of US base in Pakistan - Timesonline

A 'Slightly' Different Take on Whats Happening in Pakistan Today!

The Great Game revisited
The News, February 19, 2009
Charles Ferndale

The Israeli army – which, despite Israel's veneer of democracy, actually runs that country -- has for some decades now pursued certain policies of direct relevance to Muslim countries in its vicinity. Amongst these countries are Iraq, Iran and Pakistan. First and foremost amongst these Israeli policies is the determination of that army to remain the pre-eminent military power in the region. And in order to retain its military hegemony, the Israeli army must necessarily prevent any Muslim country in the region from obtaining effective nuclear weapons. And if, like Pakistan, such a country already has nuclear weapons, then the Israelis believe it is essential to disable that country to the point where it ceases to operate as a nation militarily. Once we have understood the centrality of this policy to the Israeli army, then much of what has happened, and is happening, in the region falls into place.

For complete article, click here

For similar Opinions, See:
Why CIA Is Engaged In Motivated Campaigns Against Pakistan’s ISI, Military? - Pakistan Daily
Destabilizing Pakistan, America Plays with Fire - Global Researcher, Canada

Musa Khankhel — murder of a brave journalist in Swat

Musa Khankhel — murder of a brave journalist
The News, February 19, 2009
By Rahimullah Yusufzai

PESHAWAR: Musa Khankhel used to tell his colleagues at The News International that he will be killed for his work as a journalist in Swat.
He was right.

On Wednesday, he was brutally murdered by unknown people while covering the vehicular procession of Maulana Sufi Mohammad, who is on a peace mission in Swat, from Mingora to Matta. The killers executed him after kidnapping him from Matta.

Musa Khankhel died with his boots on. He lost his life in the line of duty. He was the fourth journalist to be martyred in Swat since 2007 when violence first erupted in Pakistan’s most beautiful and peaceful valley. Sirajuddin, Aziz Khan and Qari Shoaib had been martyred earlier. However, Musa Khankhel’s murder was the first target killing of a Swati journalist.

His younger brother Isa Khankhel, who is also a journalist, was crying when he phoned this scribe to break the news of Musa Khankhel’s murder. He had lost not only a dear brother but also a professional colleague. They used to work together, helping each other at every step. Being older, Musa had taken Isa under his wings. Now Isa would have to cope for himself.

Friends and acquaintances used to joke with the two brothers while mentioning their names. Both had been named after prophets. Their names had a certain rhythm. One had to mention Musa and the name of Isa would come to mind. Like their names, Musa and Isa stuck together.

Musa Khankhel phoned this scribe on Wednesday morning to complain that the officials manning the military-run Swat Media Centre in Saidu Sharif had denied him permission to cover the press conference that senior provincial minister and ANP leader Bashir Bilour and other ministers were addressing. Isa too was denied the permission and he too called this writer with a request to take up the matter with the higher authorities. No reason was given for keeping the two brothers out of an event, which the government was keen to publicise. The ministers had ventured to travel to Swat after a while in a bid to show that the valley was returning to normalcy after the announcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.

It wasn’t the first time that Musa Khankhel had encountered problems in his dealings with the security forces and other stakeholders in Swat. Last year, he was manhandled by the men in uniform at the Circuit House in Saidu Sharif. Obviously, they weren’t happy with the reporting of the happenings in Swat by the headstrong Musa Khankhel.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Journalist covering Swat rally shot dead - DT
Swat peace rally reporter killed - BBC
Safma head Imtiaz Alam attacked - The News
Wana Press Club building blown up - The News

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Advancing Enemy...In the Name of Justice


WASHINGTON DIARY: The advancing enemy — Dr Manzur Ejaz
Daily Times, February 18, 2009

Our ruling elites kept crying ‘Wolf!’ for decades to scare the West into supporting their tenures. And now, as the NWFP government prepares to promulgate sharia law in Swat and Malakand, the proverbial wolf has finally arrived. President Zardari’s statement regarding Taliban designs to take over Pakistan should have read: “The Taliban have already captured parts of Pakistan and they are on their way to grab the rest.”

Given the narrow vision of the governing elite, the prevailing anarchy in the country and absence of any alternative movement of resistance, the Taliban takeover of Pakistan or large parts of it seems a very real possibility now.

Up until the recent past, many of us believed that, beyond the tribal belt and its adjoining areas, the Taliban’s appeal could never be translated into a theocratic state. The underlying theoretical belief had been that backward ideologies cannot take over or overrun economically and socially more advanced societies. This belief has been shaken because of the state’s failure to stop the Taliban’s continuous penetration into settled areas.

Looking at the ruins of Harappa and Mohenjodarao, two sites of the great Indus civilization, one feels in awe of the level of advancement those societies had achieved. These ruins indicate that these cities had better civic planning than many contemporary cities of the subcontinent. But they could not defend themselves from less advanced invaders and perished. Although the destruction of the Indus civilisation may have been caused by natural forces as well, the way Vedic literature narrates the destruction and burning of enemy cities, it is clear that this great civilisation was invaded from without too.

Similarly, the Muslim invaders coming from West and Central Asia were not socially and economically more developed then the Indians. And it is puzzling how with a few thousand soldiers they defeated grand Indian armies of several hundred thousands, which were equipped with thousands of elephants as well. And it happened many times between the 10th and 16th centuries. Can it happen again?

Security agencies have reported to the government that about 18,000 Taliban are armed and organised. Furthermore, there is every indication that the Taliban are equipped with the most modern arms and accompanying technology. If their influence expands, as it happens with every successfully advancing force, Taliban numbers are going to swell because many opportunistic influential families will start joining them. Moreover, the Taliban already have a very well configured network in Punjab, which makes itself visible every time militant commanders want to display their strength to the Pakistani state.

Many knowledgeable observers had noted these militants’ organisation and force — especially those based in Muridke — when they attacked the Mall in Lahore to express their rage against Dutch cartoonists. A senior political figure opined that, based on the organisation of these groups, including the Laskhar-e Tayba, one can say with certainty that the militants can take over Lahore whenever they want. This may be an exaggerated projection but the larger point is valid.

And one should not forget that almost all of the Mumbai attackers belonged to the Punjab. Therefore, the Taliban have already sunk their tentacles in the Punjab and the rest of the country. Their advance can hardly be stalled because of the narrow mindedness of the ruling elites, petty thinking of the economically rich sections of society and the apathy of the general public.

As a matter of fact, contemporary Pakistan is an ideal example to solve the historical puzzles of the past where retrogressive forces ruined much advanced societies. The rulers in Islamabad are only minding the interests of their feudal clique; the rich do not want to share their wealth with society and fulfil their civic duty; the people are consumed by their daily socio-economic agonies; and the intellectuals are absorbed by political correctness and anti-US rhetoric. No section of society is prepared to recognise the imminent threat.

Rulers averse to an independent judiciary and an equitable socio-economic order; an economic upper class hostile to paying its fair share in taxes; self-obsessed intellectuals and media persons; and a poverty-stricken population — this presents the perfect mix for the forces of destruction.

The armed institutions of such societies have no will to fight the real enemies, not to mention a section of these institutions may be inviting this destruction in post-Ranjeet Singh Darbar style when they invited the British to destroy the Khalsa army.

The stage is therefore set for Northern invaders overrunning Punjab and Sindh. And, unfortunately, such dangers are never recognised until it is too late.

Well, let us continue playing Nero’s flute because “hanooz Dilli dur ast” (‘Delhi is still far away’).

So the rulers obsessed with control will have their wish fulfilled, though the mullahs will be in control. The rich will rejoice if they can do without their parties. And the intellectuals will have to start practicing to write and speak for their ‘independent’ theocratic state.

The people, used to suffering for centuries, will hardly notice any change. And, most of all, the clean-shaven supporters of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar will get a real taste of living under the system of their beloved heroes. The dream of making Pakistan a real ideological state may come true after all.

The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com

Also See:
Shariah Zone: One Solution for Pakistan? - By I A Rahman
Rescue or surrender? Local hero brings sharia law to troubled region - Guardian
Pakistan-Taliban Peace Deal Shocks and Worries West - ABC
Swat deal: an act of desperation? - By Naseem Zehra
Islamic Law Instituted In Pakistan's Swat Valley - Washington Post

For Historical Context, See
Swat: A Critical Analysis By Dr. Sultan-i-Rome
The Black-Turbaned Brigade: The Rise of TNSM in Pakistan - Hassan Abbas

Latest Development:
Sufi in Swat to woo militants - The News
Cartoon Source: Zahoor, Daily Times, February 18, 2009
US privately backs Pakistan's 'Sharia law for peace' deal with Taliban - Telegraph

Behind the violence in Gujarat, Gaza and Iraq is the banality of democracy?

Behind the violence in Gujarat, Gaza and Iraq is the banality of democracy
The moral deviancy of our elite no longer shocks. What is dispiriting is its tacit endorsement by electoral majorities
Pankaj Mishra The Guardian, 11 February 2009

In his memoir, Secrets, Daniel Ellsberg describes how he decided to risk years in prison by leaking the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret record of American decision-making on Vietnam, to the New York Times. Hoping that his wife, Patricia, would help him make up his mind, Ellsberg showed her a few memos on bombing strategies crafted by his former superiors at the Pentagon. She was horrified by some of the phrases in the documents: "a need to reach the threshold of pain"; "salami-slice bombing campaign"; "the objective of persuading the enemy"; "ratchet"; "one more turn of the screw". "This is the language of torturers," she told Ellsberg. "These have to be exposed."

I recalled this scene while reading about Israel's objectives in its assault on Gaza, as defined by the country's political and military leaders and its western supporters. Speaking to a delegation from the Israeli lobby Aipac, President Shimon Peres confirmed that "Israel's aim was to provide a strong blow to the people of Gaza so that they would lose their appetite for shooting at Israel". Writing in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman, who had previously explained that the US invasion of Iraq was meant to say "suck on this" to the Muslim world, agreed that "the only long-term source of deterrence is to exact enough pain on the civilians".

Perhaps it is no longer shocking that elected leaders and mainstream journalists in democracies seem to borrow their tone and vocabulary from Ayman al-Zawahiri and Hassan Nasrallah - after all, the war on terror, now officially declared a "mistake", unhinged some of our best writers and thinkers. What is more bewildering and dispiriting than the moral deviancy of our political elites is its tacit endorsement by large democratic majorities.

Democracy, loudly upheld as a cure for much of the ailing world, has proved no guarantor of political wisdom, even if it remains the least bad form of government. In 2006 the Palestinians voted for Hamas, whose doctrinal commitment to the destruction of Israel makes peace in the Middle East even less likely. Given the chance, majorities in many Muslim countries would elect similarly intransigent Islamist parties to high office.

For complete article, click here

Monday, February 16, 2009

Pakistan - Swat Militants Deal - Pros and Cons?

Govt-TNSM deal a high-risk affair
The News, February 17, 2009
By Amir Mir

LAHORE: Islamabad’s decision to sign a peace deal with the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi by enforcing the ‘Sharai Nizam-e-Adl Regulation’ in the Malakand division of the NWFP, primarily to bring back peace to the Swat valley, is a highly risky affair for both Maulana Sufi Mohammad and the government since both sides have put their credibility at stake and will have to prove in the coming days that they are capable of honouring their part of the treaty unlike the past.

It is not for the first time that the TNSM and the NWFP government have inked a peace deal to end fighting in exchange for implementation of Shariah or Islamic law in a large region of the Northwest Frontier Province. It was on April 20, 2008 that the NWFP coalition government signed a six-point accord with the TNSM led by Maulana Sufi Mohammad whose son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah alias Maulana Radio calls the shots in Swat. The then imprisoned TNSM Amir had promised to renounce militancy and suicide attacks, refrain from targeting the Army and the government installations and not to oppose female education and immunisation programme for children. In return, the government withdrew all pending cases against Sufi, commuted his remaining prison term of four years and set him free unconditionally.

Sufi’s release meant that the coalition government in the NWFP, comprising the Awami National Party, which champions Pashtun nationalism and secularism, and the Pakistan People’s Party, a left-of-centre secular party, wanted to use him as a partner in tackling militancy and extremism and bringing peace to Swat. However, in a strange move, almost a week after his release, Sufi disowned his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, saying he would not talk to him again for the sake of peace in Swat as he has shown disobedience to him. While there are those who believe it was a shrewd move on the part of Sufi who had already been freed and who wanted to carry on his old agenda of enforcing Shariah in the Malakand division, the NWFP government circles believed it was hard for Sufi to take back the initiative from his son-in-law who had already established himself as an unchallenged commander of the TNSM in Swat and strengthened his position by joining forces with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, led by the South Waziristan-based fugitive Commander Baitullah Mehsud.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Nizam-e-adl: what next for the Taliban? - Brig (r) Asad Munir
NWFP govt unveils Nizam-e-Adl - Daily Times
Army to obey deal between NWFP govt, TNSM: ISPR - Daily Times
From Pakistan, Taliban Threats Reach New York - New York Times
New Islamic justice system to buy peace in Swat - The Hindu
Pakistan Makes a Taliban Truce, Creating a Haven - NYT

A Pakistani Cab Driver Writes a Book



‘For Hire’: Cabbie knows how to move pen and he does it well
By Mahtab Bashir, Daily Times, February 16, 2009

ISLAMABAD: Asif Hussain Shah, a taxi driver, has written a unique book titled ‘For Hire’ to relate his experiences on the wheel.

Feroz Sons published the book in January this year. Shah told Daily Times he quit studies at Grade 12 but his quest for learning still raged.

“I drive taxi to make ends meet. Sometimes I feel on the verge of break-down and sometimes exhausted. All the same, I decided to pen down my experiences in the form of short stories and I did it,” Asif said.

Born in Lalamusa, Asif was a plumber when he got married and came to Rawalpindi in 1993. Then he took to driving taxi, which he felt adventurous.

“Time is money for me. I don’t while away on roadsides, taking tea and smoking. Rather I read people and note down my experiences,” he said.

He said, “I have met some very interesting passengers over 15 years of my experience as a cabbie. I thought why not write short stories on them in simple language and then I got down to it. Slowly I ended up in writing this 120-page book.”

Shah is an inspiration for common men, who think they are lost. Shah tells them no they are not.

Having written a successful book, he is not going to leave his profession as a cabbie. He said whatever he was today was because of this profession.

Pakistan-Taliban Deal in Swat: A Way Out?

Govt, TNSM agree on Nizam-e-Adl in Malakand
By Daud Khattak, Daily Times, February 16, 2009

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government and Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) leader Sufi Muhammad have agreed on the implementation of Shari Nizam-e-Adl Regulations in Malakand, an official source told Daily Times on Sunday.

The decision was taken after a meeting between the government and Sufi Muhammad in Dir district. A member of the Swat Qaumi Jirga told Daily Times the two sides had signed an agreement whose key points were peace in Malakand division and implementation of sharia. Another key point was the formation of a committee to work towards freeing captured Taliban, Aaj Kal added.

Ceasefire: Hours after the meeting, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Mullah Fazlullah announced a 10-day ceasefire in Swat through his illegal FM channel. “The Swat chapter of Taliban agrees with talks between the provincial government and TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad, and ceases hostilities for a temporary period of 10 days,” locals quoted Fazlullah’s broadcast. They said he had elaborated the Taliban would review the progress of sharia implementation after 10 days and decide their future course of action. He said the TTP fully respected the TNSM chief’s decisions.

For complete article, click here

Also See:
Pakistan and Taliban Appear Near Deal - New York Times
Militants may sign Swat peace deal: officials - AFP

Benazir Bhutto and the Taliban

COMMENT: Benazir Bhutto and the Taliban —Zafar Hilaly
Daily Times, February 16, 2009

Created as a homeland for Muslims, Pakistan is ironically being destroyed in the name of Islam. The pace of this meltdown is bewildering.

In the course of a few months, the writ of the federal government has ceased to exist in four of the seven tribal agencies that comprise FATA, and is being seriously challenged in the remaining three.

In the settled areas too, like Swat, Dir and Mardan, where local law and order forces are weak, poorly equipped and indifferently-led, it seems only a question of time before they too are overcome by the contagion.

A discredited provincial leadership, an incompetent federal government, a confused public, fractured national parties, a broken economy and, not least, an army ill equipped to fight this war make up a lethal mix, presaging disaster. No wonder then that the resistance of the Frontier citizenry has been half hearted and an exodus of families from Swat and portions of Peshawar has already begun.

In December 2007, I asked Benazir Bhutto whether Pakistan could withstand the Taliban onslaught and survive. Her response is as relevant today as it was then.

Bhutto viewed the Taliban and their ilk as the detritus of a failing state and a broken economy; the victims, if you like, of a rapacious and corrupt military and a civil elite who had by their transgressions and ineptitude reduced the country to the present, sorry pass.

For the failure of the state however, as distinct from civil society, Bhutto blamed the military. And if politicians too must carry a portion of the blame, their share in comparison, Bhutto felt, was only a fraction of that of the generals. Zia-ul Haq, in her view, carried by far the largest onus of blame followed by Pervez Musharraf.

In the circumstances, it is small wonder, Bhutto said, that impoverished and angry segments of the population had turned in desperation to Islam for deliverance and, as often happens in Islamic republics, into the waiting arms of religious charlatans that promised not only a living in this world but also a glorious life in the next; visions of a new dawn; the privilege of being God’s warriors chosen to visit retribution and mayhem on His enemies, in this case the state.

The lack of any effective countervailing force meant that the extremists prospered and commensurately their conviction in the righteousness of their cause. So much so that gorged with success, the Pakistani Taliban now proclaim as their final goal the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Pakistan.

Reinforcements from Al Qaeda, the Punjabi Taliban, Central Asian and South East Asian terror networks, assorted militant and criminal elements which operate relatively unhindered and unmolested across international borders, have augmented the Taliban numbers and their fighting prowess.

Lucre from the heroin trade, smuggling, money laundering, the black economy and foreign and local sympathisers ensure a source of ready funds, just as the international black market in arms, old Soviet era weapon caches in Afghanistan and captured and looted arms serve as a source of weapons. Of course, not to be excluded from the list are secret agencies of foreign governments who are eager to aid and abet the Taliban to destabilise Pakistan even as they feign ignorance.

Taking on such a foe on its home turf and in a difficult terrain, Bhutto believed, was no easy task. It would require extraordinarily resolute and united leadership, public support, a large, well equipped and skilled fighting force and, not least, pockets deep enough to bear the cost of the war; all of which, she conceded, was a tall ask but nevertheless not an impossible one. In any case, as the fight was one for Pakistan’s survival, failure was not an option.

Bhutto, who was by instinct a fighter, believed that the battle had to be a no holds barred contest and one that was to be fought to the finish. Casualties of all types, collateral or targeted, would be high. As the Taliban believed that the end justifies the means and gave no quarter, they could expect none in return — “They say that they seek death well, perhaps, we should oblige.” No bargains would be struck, no truces concluded; and the only negotiations conducted would be those to determine the moment and place of the enemy’s surrender.

In sum, Bhutto felt that while there was a time to talk and a time to fight, the present (i.e. December 2007) was the time to fight. She would, albeit only in my opinion, have scoffed at the “Dialogue, Development and Defence” strategy propounded by her party. There can be no dialogue with an enemy that craves martyrdom, or for that matter, any development in a warzone.

Bhutto did not equate the use of force exclusively with army action, while that may be necessary. She said that equipping the lashkars and the FC with appropriate weapons and training, with the army in reserve, would be more effective. Pashtuns, she believed, should do the fighting because those who were killing and were being killed were overwhelmingly Pashtuns. If they were not prepared to fight their killers or sided with the Taliban, then nothing the army did would work.

By way of preparation, Bhutto intended to announce the incorporation of the tribal areas into Pakistan proper — “One country, one law, one people, is what I believe.” Similarly the Political Parties Act would be extended to the tribal belt with each constituency being represented in the federal and provincial assemblies, thereby giving every tribe a stake in the governance of the country.

Accompanying such a move would be a massive development project for the tribal areas with focus on those projects that build the state’s legitimacy and create a demonstration effect throughout the tribal belt; for example, schools, roads, small health units and infrastructure improvements.

Unregistered madrassas, the Taliban’s ideological nursery, would be closed or made to operate under government supervision. It made no sense, Bhutto said, to fight the Taliban on the one hand and allow the madrassas to churn out recruits for their cause on the other.

A ‘Task Force’ and an ‘Education Corps’ would be created to oversee or take over the madarassas which had been proscribed and army protection would be afforded to all learning institutions in troubled areas.

The writer is a former ambassador