Full dna issue 10 (sunday, 09 15 feb, 2014)

C M YK

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Agha Akbar

Asher John

Joint Editor

Associate Editor

Chief News Editor

Designated terrorists

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2818125 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Pow wow The talks finally start

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camel, they say, is a horse designed by a committee. But imagine the exponential increase in quirkiness that would be the result of committee-meetscommittee. Yes, there would be no other way to do it, but the sheer abstraction of the situation is pretty groggy. consider: there is little by way of government in the government committee and there is little taliban in the taliban committee. sure, the latter’s members seem to enjoy their martial cousins’ trust, but they are not fighting men themselves. other than Maulana abdul aziz of the lal Masjid fame, whose profile in valour is pretty inspiring stuff. and even he announced he would be leaving the committee. it might be argued these are just parleys whose members were chosen specifically because they were away from the centres of power on both sides. it would be their job to report back developments and wait for further instructions. the state of

Pakistan as we know it might not stand a good chance if these individuals, indeed, were ones who were empowered to make decisions. other than one of the two journalists on the government committee, all the members on either side are about as liberal as a couple of centuries ago.

‘Consider: there is little by way of government in the government committee and there is little Taliban in the Taliban committee.’ oliver Wendell holmes famously said, “Between two groups of people who want to make inconsistent kinds of worlds, i see no remedy but force.” that pretty much summed it up. there is no reason to delve really deep into the forces at play when you conduct the test above. the taliban and the citizens of Pakistan seek inconsistent kinds

of worlds. We can guess the outcome of talks. Maulana abdul aziz had already declared the enforcement of the sharia as a condition. insider reports say that Major amir, the former intelligence official in the government committee, rebuked the Maulana for going to the press with such a statement.

Even if, by miraculous powers of persuasion, the government veers the situation away from being a zero-sum game, would that entail handing over certain parts of the country to the militants? Where does the constitution stand on that one? and how would it represent the country, as a whole? Especially if the territory in question is to be used as a springboard for terrorist activities into other countries? in the meantime, we can also expect a lot of confusion on the committee members’ end, especially regarding what has and has not been decided, with one committee member saying one thing, and another saying quite another. g

Craving for power and pelf Causing stir in the Balochistan cabinet

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alochistan cabinet comprises strange bedfellows. it consists of Baloch and Pushtun nationalists and elements of traditional power brokers. the Baloch nationalists come mostly from Makran Division, the only area where tribalism with its primitive socio-political adjuncts is in the main non-existent. the literacy rate here is higher than in the Baloch tribal belt and a small but vocal and socially effective middle class has emerged comprising doctors, teachers and government servants. the Baloch nationalists practice secular politics instead of relying on tribal or religious appeals. this brings them closer to Pushtun nationalists belonging to PKMaP and anP. the Pushtun nationalists in the province share some of the characteristics with Baloch nationalists. they too belong to middle class, which besides producing professionals is also involved in business and trade. Despite their support for Pushtun claims, which are seen by the Baloch nationalists as unrealistic, they feel comfortable with the Baloch. they too are secular and eschew slogans appealing to tribal or religious sentiments. the traditional power-wielders in Baloch areas comprise tribal chiefs who have dominated the provincial assembly in the past. Except for a handful of Baloch tribal chiefs, the vast majority has a primitive mindset. they insist on privileges that they claim as their birthright. they have rivalries with one another and are frequently

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involved in blood feuds. they are prone to changing loyalties and support any party in power provided it is willing to maintain their traditional privileges and allows them full freedom as ministers to misuse provincial resources and provide benefits to relatives, cronies and hangers on. they have recently found shelter in the provincial PMl-n which is led by sardar sanaullah, a typical tribal chief who had fought for but failed to get the office of chief minister. the present rift in the cabinet has not been caused by political differences but a sense of being deprived of power and privileges among the tribal chiefs. the provincial PMl-n and its allied parties’ members maintain that they have not been given enough powers to run their departments. they are using minor issues to justify the impending break up. home Minister Mir sarfaraz Bugti complains he was not invited to the meeting on law and order, presided over by prime minister in Quetta recently.

Further that minister for planning hamid Khan achakzai, was taken to a fishermen convention in Gwadar while adviser to chief minister on fisheries haji akbar askani of PMl-n was not invited. a number of PMl-n ministers and advisers and those in the allied parties have announced their decision to quit the provincial cabinet unless their grievances are redressed. the ball is now in Prime Minister nawaz sharif’s court. he has to decide whether the province has to have a clean government or is to return to the Raisani era. g

We’ve achieved more than our quota

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hE Us notification of Malik ishaaq, the chief of the outlawed lashkar-e-Jhanvi, as a recognised global terrorist would, no doubt, rankle. this is because, as opposed to global terrorists from al Qaeda or the taliban, ishaq is free to go about his business in Pakistan. he is not holed up in some cave in Waziristan or even hiding in plain sight in an urban centre a la osama. no, he is a free citizen, roaming about, even addressing rallies. if one slices it like this, the notification marks one of the tersest points in Pakistan-Us relations. it is a testament to our nadir that the free citizens of our country acquire such dubious distinctions in the rest of the world. there are two ways to fix that state of affairs. one, that the rest of the world eases up. two, that we get our act together. the gentleman in question has been acquitted by the courts. are we to cast aspersions on the court itself or question the quality of the legislation that allows certain people to slip through?

whiteLies

Apollo

We only know one thing: that there are more where he came from. our eastern neighbour has a list. our western neighbour has a list. the chinese have problems with us. the central asian republics have problems with us. Pretty soon, even

‘Pakistan is on its way to becoming a resting stop for militants all over the world.

In some cases, it is a convenient place to hide. In other cases, there is no need to hide in the first place.’ middle-eastern countries are going to be viewing us with suspicion.

Pakistan is on its way to becoming a resting stop for militants all over the world. in some cases, it is a convenient place to hide. in other cases, there is no need to hide in the first place. g

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

It’s a case of the Taliban talking to the Taliban by the looks of it. Other than an odd one or two, the two committees that have taken the news media by storm are manned by those with clear conservative leanings.

The government’s committee is representing Nawaz Sharif. Though Imran Khan refused to be a part of the committee on the other side, a member of his ally Jamaat-e-Islami is on the committee. There’s no getting out of this one, Mr Khan. g

********** There’s the Lukhnawi restaurant in Avari, Lahore. And then, there is the Dum Pukht in Delhi. There is also the Haveli in Delhi, with food from “the NWFP”. And, coming soon, a Lahore themed restaurant in the city, the search for the Lahore-based chef to head it up is already underway.

Here’s to hoping this culinary diplomacy holds greater sway on the relations between the two countries. g

C MYK

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Dialogue of the deaf

The charade continues, further postponing the inevitable, and it could lead to a bigger disaster Arif NizAmi The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.

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ONG awaited first round of talks with the Taliban ended on somewhat of a positive note, albeit without breaking any new ground. After persistent delays and the government and the TTP team playing hide and seek the very fact that the talks did take place seemed to have overawed Irfan Siddiqui, Prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s advisor heading the negotiation team who texted from the meeting describing the atmosphere as “cordial and friendly”.

The founder of Pakistan, Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah must be turning in his grave at the almost surreal spectacle: Taliban sympathizers masquerading as a delegation representing the state and begging a bunch of mullahs acting on behalf of those who want to impose their peculiar brand of ideological dictatorship through the barrel of the gun.

The founding fathers never envisaged a situation where the state thanks to its pandering to the Islamist lobby since its creation would find itself in a cul de sac. Now that the chickens have come home to roost we are begging the barbarians at the gates to spare us.

The government side wants the

talks to be held within the framework of the constitution. On the other hand Maulana Sami ul Haq as head of the Taliban delegation and Maulana Aziz of the Lal Masjid fame on the very eve of the talks made it abundantly clear that without Shariah there can be no deal.

The pro-Taliban analysts are claiming that implementation of Sharia is no longer a demand of the Taliban. But as Sami ul Haq has claimed after the meeting that if the constitution was implemented – according to the lights of the Taliban – sharia will be automatically enforced.

Not good enough for Maulana Aziz who has threatened to quit. This novel interpretation of the constitution if however implemented will spell a death knell for future of democracy in the country.

Both committees while condemning recent (terrorist) attacks in the country have ostensibly agreed that, “there will be no action that could harm the talks.”

Understandably so, the ‘T’ word is missing from the lexicon.

Sharif in the first place carefully chose members of his negotiating team.

Their worldview, as is evident from their past utterances and writings is close to that of the Taliban and far away from the pluralistic democratic society that Jinnah envisioned for Pakistan.

However Sami on the eve of the talks implied that those Taliban groups that did not agree with the strategy of talking with the government could continue with their campaign of mayhem and destruction. This is quite evident from the TTP Peshawar chief owning up to the dastardly sectarian terrorist attack on Tuesday.

If innocent citizens, especially

Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Talibanism vs Pakistanism When shall we realise and understand that the country is in a state of war. It is a situation of emergency. The Taliban have now started dictating us on TV and through TV anchors.

Their strategy has changed. They are now targeting personalities, individuals and media people directly. This is to create fear and dread in order to achieve the desired results.

The talks offer by the Taliban and a powerful bomb blast close to GHQ at the same time is the clear message that they are not serious, they are joking. They are leaving us with no option but to fight. Then why not fight? Why end up in a closed tunnel? Please stop useless discussions on media and in newspaper columns. Leave aside everything else, bickering, personal vendetta, selfaggrandizement, vindictiveness and extremist views or values.

Join hands together and take the lead.

Differentiate between Pakistanism and Talibanism. Strengthen the hands of the armed forces, security institutions and law enforcement agencies to be fully able to fight out terrorists. That is the task which the

belonging to the Shia minority, and members of the security forces are going to remain fair game even while a semblance of dialogue is in process, what is the point of talking? If such groups are outside the ambit of the TTP nominated negotiation team why not initiate talks with them rather than talking to a team that simply reports to a nine-member shura of the Taliban.

Obviously till now there is not much room for optimism that those suing for peace will make any headway.

Surely the government as well as the military is aware that opening a channel with the government to talk at

‘The founding fathers never envisaged a situation where the state thanks to its pandering to the Islamist lobby since its creation would find itself in a cul de sac.’ this stage could simply be TTP’s strategyto buy time to forestall an imminent war against them. To them, whiling away the remaining winter weeks in talks and later regroup and fight with new vigour, makes sense.

Interestingly both delegations, seeking clarifications from each other about their mandate, are not empowered enough. Not only the ninemember Taliban shura is the ultimate authority, the TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah is reportedly not completely sold out on the talks option.

However it seems that the Punjabi Taliban are keener to talk.

armed forces have many a time completed.

Most of us are still wandering in wilderness as to who is right and who is wrong. That is mostly because our governments have not performed well. But on our part what we lack is seriousness. We have not been able to bring in effective replacements in the postoperation areas.

The media is not sensing the situation of war and emergency, nor is it interested in creating awareness. The state and government machinery is not doing its due to train and educate people as to how to do what in situation of blasts and emergency. Public at large is busy in hustle bustle. Wedding halls give a totally different picture. No one realises that this all is at the cost of the blood our thousands of soldiers and people have given for them. It seems as if we are not even interested in hunger, corruption, lawlessness and other ills. Why educated lot is not ready to share the issues in Pakistan rather than talking about what happens in Syria or the like.

Please wake up and let us discuss our problems and expose the corrupt and somehow generate or create a situation whereby we can save Pakistan from terrorists, extremists, sectarianism, and corrupt ruling elite. To stop terror, let us stop terrorism.

PROFESSOR ALYA ALVI Rawalpindi

Questionable role of PCB In the June 2013 ICC Board meeting, PCB officiating Chairman Najam Sethi was presented with minute agreed to by his predecessor, Zaka Ashraf, with details of

The TTP till now has given a respite from terrorist activities in the Punjab – the heartland of the Sharifs. Even if that lasts, Punjab is not Pakistan.

Restricting any deal to the tribal areas could mean that the government is willing to give concessions to the Taliban in their base territory. Could this mean the state is willing to cede sovereignty (already existing in name only) in the tribal belt to the Taliban?

Past deals because of being onesided in favour of the Taliban invariably fell through. The last one being the 2008 Swat agreement between the provincial government and the militants.

The ongoing round of talks sounds to be more tactical than a precursor to a peace deal. On the propaganda front the Taliban are winning both in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Why would they concede to a weak Pakistani government running helter skelter like a headless chicken?

The Pakistani delegation technically reports to the prime minister. However the ultimate arbiter in the matter is the military. The army chief Gen Raheel Sharif despite a scorched earth retaliatory attack against the Taliban in N Waziristan late last months has kept his cards close to his chest.

Both the sides are probably waiting for the US forces withdrawing from Afghanistan in July, when the calculus is bound to shift. Some of the Taliban holed up in badlands of Pakistan will then get busy in Afghanistan to fill up the vacuum left by the NATO forces’ exit.

However probably it could work the other way round in the post-NATO withdrawal scenario. A blowback from the Taliban in Kabul could wreak

matches scheduled till 2023, where Pakistan did not figure. Neither Zaka nor Najam thought it appropriate to warn government, media or patron of dangers that confront the future of cricket in Pakistan.

India has openly taken a stand that it will not play on neutral venues with Pakistan. Yet various chairmen of PCB have in their wisdom thought it fit not to defend PCB and lobby with cricket playing nations of the world against dangers which were clearly staring us in the face. Had PCB raised alarm bells, lobbied at appropriate time in the beginning of 2013, this crisis could have been averted. It was embarrassing to see a former Pakistan cricketer-turned-anchor and commentator, now in employment of Indian electronic sports channel house, towing the line of BCCI and saying this was no time to display “Pakistaniat”, but take crumbs being offered. Even Bishen Singh Bedi had moral courage to oppose the Big Three idea. The problem is that within the PCB there are people who are lobbying for jobs in IPL or Indian media houses, and they would rather betray their country than put at stake chances for crumbs offered by key dons of Indian cricket mafia.

What PCB needs are men of character like Ehsan Mani, or Majid Khan, not weaklings like those who have headed PCB during the past ten years.

S KHALIL Sialkot

Terrorists’ mentors Most of the statements of politicians, after the indication by the government that an operation has been decided, were in preemption aimed at saving their own skins

havoc on Pakistan already infested with rampant terrorism.

The prime minister, well rested after a relaxing weekend in Cholistan should do a little bit of introspection: where does he want to take the terrorism-infested country under his leadership?

Postponing the inevitable, capitulation and appeasement are non-starters as policy options. This is tantamount to sinking in an abyss from where it will be difficult to salvage the nation.

The Taliban team has demanded a meeting with the prime minister and the COAS. Reciprocally however the government team should demand meeting the shura controlling the Taliban team.

Hopefully such a meeting is not on the cards for the time being.

However even before contemplating such a meeting the two Sharifs – together or separately – should be on the same page.

A more focused and nuanced approach is needed. Doublespeak both by the military and the civilian leadership has hurt Pakistan. Now there is no room left for further procrastination.

The military is mandated to fight against external aggression and internal subversion. However leadership has to be provided by the civilians, unfortunately hitherto lacking.

While the charade of dialogue of the deaf continues further postponing the inevitable could lead to a bigger disaster. Use of force has its own ramifications. However postponing it where axiomatically required will spell disaster. History is replete with such examples. g

(read life) from the Taliban. KP CM Pervez Khattak’s statement speaks is more appeasing towards Taliban than matching the ground reality. Similar was the response of Imran Khan in his talk on a TV channel. One was expecting JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman would also speak. Here he is with: ‘The government should immediately announce a ceasefire and give tribal jirgas a chance to negotiate’ he said while addressing a protest rally in Peshawar against the KP government. “The use of force is not going to bring peace to Pakistan. The government should first implement the decisions taken at the All Parties Conference; if any one tries to sabotage peace then security forces should act against them.”

One must agree with the Maulana; we should ceasefire and let the criminals, militants and terrorists continue killing our soldiers along with the civilian population.

Such mullahs are playing on both sides. This double-speak and double-game of politicians is the real cause of trouble, not the terrorists or extremists. Secondly, the fear of unknown is the driving force. One, if they take a clear stand, they fear that the Taliban would like to eliminate them first. Two, if they declare them the real enemy, their source of funding will be stopped.

Either the government must convince them or take them to task first, hold them responsible for all the mess. Taliban had attacked Maulana Samiul Haq’s followers in Karachi after they got to know that Sami had been approached by the government to broker talks. Any such attempt by Fazl could have led to threats to his life. With only one statement he has succeeding in diverting their wrath to Nawaz government.

HAMZA ALI Dera Ismail Khan www.pakistantoday.com.pk 03

C M YK

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Path that leads to the well

When we could so recklessly deviate from God’s Word, what chance did Mr. Jinnah have?

HuMayun GauHar

The writer is a political analyst.

He can be reached at: humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com.

M

y last article elicited this response from Mian Suhail Husain: “Sadly, I see considerable problems ahead. As a great grandson of Sir Fazle Husain and a nephew of Begum Salma Tasaduq Husain the passions for Pakistan are high.

“What has gone wrong? My analysis is: 1. The start of our problem is the judiciary and the lawyers, those who know the law, could do public interest litigation.

The judges we have are poorly trained, as are the bureaucrats.

Today, one of the greatest threats we have is human resource

‘In this context ‘well’ is allegorical not least because water in a well keeps purifying. Similarly, life and times need constant updating too to keep pace with changing times to remain contemporary and relevant.

That is called Ijtehad.’ capacity, both in the public and private sectors.

“2. The Judicial system: profiteering from this are the ‘qabza’ [land grabbers] group, the lawyers, corrupt businessmen, politicians etc. Once we can cure the above, our laws are sufficient to handle corruption etc.

“What Allah allows in the Quran, we, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan think we know more and have declared a moratorium on execution.

“We keep praising Dubai, Singapore etcetera but these are police states. Adherence to law there is through the ‘danda’ [big stick].

“Let’s look at Sharia. Why are we against this word? It only means ‘the Right Way’ – right way according to our Maker.

“Circa 1550, examine English society. Were they any different than our ‘wadera’ [feudal] brotherhood? First, they moved out from the island and within 200 years the sun never set on the British Empire.

“Were there any laws to speak of at this time? Definitely not!

“Then see the Miracle from Allah: within 100 years all the laws originated from the UK, spread to the colonies, were adapted by the EU and the USA… And nearly all the origins are from the Quran – a

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true worldly imposition of the Sharia by Allah.

‘To understand God’s Sharia “Does Allah want women to be one needs an ongoing used as a promotional asset for a BMW car, a Q-Mobile etc? It’s understanding of God’s really abhorrent to say the least, a objectives and intent in the scantily clad woman lying on a Quran, its immutable Series 7 bonnet, saying: ‘Try me’.

Does she mean her or the car? fundamental principles on “The Afghan-Pukhtoon sharia the one hand and its secular system is non-Islamic as is the injunctions on the other Saudi system. Hypocrisy would be a better way to describe this that guide us on how to live system. our lives in this world.’

“On the other hand the correct Islamic Sharia, which the world is following, and following Deen-echurches under de facto clerics Muhammadi (even countries like masquerading as scholars basically China where religion does not exist in a struggle for power that have follow this code as the opposite created countless schisms. The only would be Satan’s code) must be acceptable Sharia is God’s Sharia. promoted by the intelligentsia of Period. this nation.

The first surah of the Quran, al “Late Qazi Husain Ahmad once Fateha, is Man’s prayer to God to said, ‘Why are you against the maulvis? you and your laziness have put them there. When you want to educate your children, it has to be the best school and teachers and money is no object.

When you are asked to pay Rs50,000 to a religious scholar, you do not contribute even Rs100. At least they say the Azan at the correct time and are there for your namaz-e-janaza’. I feel hypocrisy should be finished. Decide, if we wish to be an Islamic Our social Republic in the true contract: sense and follow the Mohammad Ali teachings of our Jinnah’s speech prophet (PBUH) strictly to Pakistan’s or otherwise. There first constituent would be a soft Islamic assembly on August 11, 1947 revolution or a bloody one. The decision is for the intelligentsia to take.”

“What you say of Nawaz is so correct. I see a terrible and bloody end to the path he chooses and instead of letting well enough alone he embarks on another confrontation with the military. Had he been a statesman, he would have rung the bell at Musharraf’s place, let bygones be bygones, and asked him to help on the international scene and bridge matters with the army.

An era of peace, tranquility and show him the Right Path and guide phenomenal growth would have him to it and on it: “Guide us to the ensued.” right path. The Path of those on you may not agree with some whom you have bestowed your or any of what Suhail says but it Grace, not of those who have symbolizes growing anger and frustration. Some critical readers ask, “Why are you against implementing Sharia?” They ‘The start of our problem is couldn’t be more wrong. I am all the judiciary and the for implementing Sharia as long as it is God’s Sharia in the Quran, not lawyers, those who know any man-made ones compiled the law, could do public centuries later with their many interpretations? Certainly, the interest litigation. The starting point of all man-made judges we have are poorly Sharias is the Quran, but they are trained, as are the infused with local customs and traditions of the scholar’s times bureaucrats. Today, one of and his interpretations that have the greatest threats we have been superimposed on the Faith and come to be regarded as part of is human resource capacity, the Faith by the unlettered. No both in the public and wonder Muslims are divided into private sectors.’ myriad sects and movements laced with rituals, customs and de facto

earned your wrath.” The rest that follows in the Quran is God’s answer to that prayer, His Guidance to the Right Path.

The word ‘Sharia’ comes from the Arabic word Sh’ar, which means the path that leads to the well, water being the source of life.

The word ‘Sharia’ come from the word Sh’ar and is God’s signs and His way of guiding us onto the Correct Path or Sirat-alMustaqeem that we prayed to Him for in Surah Fateha. In this context ‘well’ is allegorical not least because water in a well keeps purifying. Similarly, life and times need constant updating too to keep pace with changing times to remain contemporary and relevant. That is called Ijtehad, constant interpretation with analogy, without innovation (bidat) and without violating any of God’s fundamental principles in the Quran.

For example, it is God’s intent that thieves ought to be punished but we need not cut their hands off any more as we have jails. In those days there were no jails and punishment had to be immediate and demonstrable. At the same time one will have to consider why someone robbed: was it greed or taking the easy way out or because he was desperate to eat and feed his family? If the society he lives in provides no honourable means of livelihood, then the government of that society has failed and should be punished, not the alleged thief.

It boggles one’s mind why we deviate from God’s answer to our prayer and instead depend on some interpretation of it by some man or men, however scholarly. It bears dinning in: The Quran is God’s way of guiding us to the Correct Path, the Path that leads to the well.

That is the Sharia I want implemented in Pakistan, God’s Sharia in the Quran, nothing else.

But it won’t suit mullahs masquerading as scholars and terrorists masquerading as jihadis in their quest for power.

To understand God’s Sharia one needs an ongoing understanding of God’s objectives and intent in the Quran, its immutable fundamental principles on the one hand and its secular injunctions on the other that guide us on how to live our lives in this world. To implement Sharia at the level of the State requires the implementation of the rights of all of God’s Creations of which the human being comes first. That we call Haqooq ul Ibad.

The Quran is for all Mankind, not just for Muslims. Thus western Christians have used the Quran to make their laws and constitutions.

Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, used the Quran extensively while participating in

making the US constitution.

Jefferson’s Quran is very well known. The UN Charter of Human rights is based partly on the Quran.

So are the Geneva Conventions on the rules of war and the treatment of prisoners of war, though they are still behind the rules of war and its prisoners that were given in the Quran just before the Battle at the wells of Badr, the first battle fought for Islam that the heavily outnumbered Muslims won.

Our constitution is arrogant enough to claim that Pakistan is an Islamic republic, that no law shall be made that is repugnant to the Quran and Sunnah and that Islam is our state religion. yet you find many things in our constitution that are not in consonance with God’s laws, like the provision of immunity to heads of state and government and others. The nonimplementation of Articles 62 and 63 that pertain to the eligibility and non-eligibility of someone to contest elections and hold public office reflects our hypocrisy: the two Articles are impossible and are there only to pay lip service to God’s injunction to “choose from amongst yourselves and choose from amongst the best.”

‘Then see the Miracle from Allah: within 100 years all the laws originated from the UK, spread to the colonies, were adapted by the EU and the USA… And nearly all the origins are from the Quran – a true worldly imposition of the Sharia by Allah.’

There is no realistic mechanism in our constitution to ensure that we only get to choose from amongst the best so we are consigned to choosing from amongst the worst because only the worst have the mentality, priorities and wherewithal to contest and often rig elections under our corrupt and alien political system.

All good laws anywhere in the world are in consonance with Islam; only the bad ones are a deviation.

The first and foremost duty of an Islamic state is to be a welfare state and not hide behind repugnancy clauses. Pakistan can only become an Islamic Welfare State by making the implementation of Haqooq ul Ibad or the Rights of all God’s Creations a Divine duty of the State.

Meantime, you really want to become an Islamic Welfare State?

Then follow Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s speech to Pakistan’s first constituent assembly on August 11, 1947. That is our social contract. Because we have deviated from it too is why we are in the pathetic and confused condition we are in today where the very integrity of our broken state has left us with is in grave danger.

But when we could so recklessly deviate from God’s Word, what chance did Mr. Jinnah have? g

C MYK

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Closet militants negotiating with real-time militants At stake is the ethos of Pakistan

CANDID CORNER

Raoof Hasan The writer is a political analyst and the Executive Director of the Regional Peace Institute. He can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com.

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ven the word bizarre cannot really describe the happenings in the state of Pakistan. Could one imagine that a group comprising the worst of the closet militants would get down to negotiating the fate of the country with another group of real-time militants? Well, that’s exactly what is on course to happening.

The group constituted by the government comprising closet militants including Irfan Siddiqui, Major (Retd) Mohammad Amir, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Rahimullah Yousafzai is getting down to negotiating the future of the country with another group constituted by the so-called militant bands.

This group comprises Maulana Sami ul Haq, popularly dubbed as the father of the Taliban, Maulana Abdul Aziz of the Lal Masjid fame who rose in rebellion against the state of Pakistan letting loose his moral vigilantes on the people of Islamabad, and Professor Ibrahim of the Jamaat-e-Islami – a party that believes that Osama bin Laden is a hero and he lives in the hearts of the people and which mourned the death of Hakimullah Mehsood calling him a true soldier of Islam. They are the people who have been tasked to define the parameters of the future of the state of Pakistan. At stake is Pakistan’s constitution and the cherished values of the people of the country which, understandably, they hold dear. What credibility these arch representatives of the worst of the fundamentalist forces of the country have and how are they going to translate their closet regression, bigotry and degeneration into defining the contours of the future of the state of Pakistan?

But there is more to it, much more. The progressive forces of the country, ostensibly represented through some political parties also, are behaving like their voice has been taken away, like they no longer have the capacity left in them to protest the criminal enactment around them. They are watching as bystanders, falsely believing that these bizarre happenings will not impact their fate.

Also quiet are the academics, the intellectuals, the human rights activists and a host of people who are perceived to represent the values that constitute the enshrining principles for which Pakistan was created.

The tentacles of regression are digging in deeper by the day and everyone appears to be swayed by the false prospect of peace in the country in an environment reflected, more than anything else, by the fear syndrome that engulfs us today. This is so because the state has failed to protect the life and property of its citizens and they have been consigned to the brutality of the hate-puking and swordswinging multitudes of militant bands that are out to impose their sick writ on a weary people.

Pakistan’s creation is rooted in the principles that were so eloquently put forth by the Quaid in his August 11 speech before the constituent assembly. I am constrained to

quote from it for the umpteenth time because, so far, it appears not to have registered. At that fateful moment, three days before the creation of Pakistan as an independent and sovereign country, he said: “now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in cooperation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste, or creed, is first, second, and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make”.

Afraid that he may leave some ambiguity, he went on to elaborate further: “You are free.

You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State”.

Have we forgotten the vision that the Quaid held forth for the yet-to-be-born state?

Have we lost the will? Have we allowed our dignity to be compromised? Is this the road that we have chosen that best represents our destiny and that of our fellow beings? Are we

‘Also quiet are the academics, the intellectuals, the human rights activists and a host of people who are perceived to represent the values that constitute the enshrining principles for which Pakistan was created. The tentacles of regression are digging in deeper by the day and everyone appears to be swayed by the false prospect of peace in the country in an environment reflected, more than anything else, by the fear syndrome that engulfs us today.’

going to allow the spectre of religiosity to devour us completely and denude us of our identity and self-respect - or whatever is left of these? Are we absolutely convinced that we are going to allow these two groups, comprising the worst of the fundamentalist forces in the country, define our destiny and our future? Do we feel helpless in their hands? Are we resigned to be influenced by the webs of deceit that they, and their criminal cohorts, are continually weaving to sabotage our aspirations for genuine progress and growth and of turning the country into an egalitarian, progressive and enlightened entity? Is the cloak of religiosity for real?

Have we lost it all?

I understand that the spectre of militancy, of death and destruction, has haunted us for over a decade now. I understand that the people are exhausted and they desperately seek peace so that they could work to advance the prospect of their progress, so that they could move on in an increasingly competitive world. What I don’t understand is that they are actually convinced that embracing religiosity and violence is the right course to take to secure peace. As a matter of fact, I

‘It is just madness, unmitigated madness. Closet militants and individuals with criminal backgrounds have been entrusted with the task of bargaining the fate of the country with bands of militants whose hands are drenched in the blood of the thousands of people including its brave military officers and soldiers. On the face of it, a move towards embracing further regression already appears to be a fate accompli!’ firmly believe that this is inimical to their enshrining aspirations and their desire for creating conducive environment that would be devoid of fear, where they would be able to express their will and where they would be able to work for the attainment of their ideals.

I also understand that a majority of them are afraid to speak out simply because they are not quite sure who lives next-door and how many bombs and suicide jackets are stockpiled in their environs. Let’s leave FATA aside. Forget for a while the militant nurseries of the Southern Punjab. Just roam the sprawling urban slums of the country and you would discover that these are infested with individuals who belong to one militant group or the other. They are not limited by any respect for the rule of law. They make their own laws and operate without any fear.

They have been allowed to move into these vast urban slums over a period of time because the writ of the state has collapsed and the political leadership has been complicit with these militant groups in an endeavour to advance their self-serving political ambitions, and of realising their latent dream of becoming the Amir ul Momenin and hoisting the fiefdom of their family to perpetuity.

One understands that the Taliban Committee has put forth its conditions for the talks to continue. It has voiced reservations about the government committees mandate and its seriousness in negotiating with the militants and has asked for its meetings to be arranged with the prime minister, the army chief and the head of the ISI. And what, if I may ask, are they desirous of discussing directly with these people? Is this an expression of a lack of faith in the members of the government team who, in their sick perception, don’t quite measure up to their benchmarks of carrying enough deadly germs of militancy, hate and violence and who, consequently,

cannot be trusted enough for deliberations to continue any further?

For any state to undertake the onerous task of meaningful negotiations with deadly foes who have eliminated over 50,000 of its innocent citizens and caused material damage running into billions of dollars, it has to be in a position of proven strength and should also have its writ accepted without any proviso. It also has to define in advance the parameters that would mark the red lines which no party would trespass. There would also be a definite timeframe within which the process of negotiations will have to be completed. no such thing has been stipulated in the so-called ongoing process of negotiations between the government team and the militants. It appears to be a noholds-barred undertaking that may take any direction depending upon the whims of the individuals involved and the interests that they represent. It also smacks of an acknowledgement of the weakness of the state in the face of unremitting barrage of violence perpetrated for over a decade now which continues even as talks are being undertaken. Criminally, the bunch of political parties and interest groups that are represented on the committees as well as those who sit on the sidelines have become shameless apologists for the brutal killings and mayhem unleashed by the militants without a break. In the process, they attribute the ongoing violence to those unseen forces which do not want the talks to succeed. But they don’t let us know who constitute these forces and, even if the ongoing talks with some militants groups were to succeed, how these would be controlled to actually bring violence to an end. They continue to dream that they are on a messianic mission which is bound to succeed.

It is just madness, unmitigated madness.

Closet militants and individuals with criminal backgrounds have been entrusted with the task of bargaining the fate of the country with bands of militants whose hands are drenched in the blood of the thousands of people including its brave military officers and soldiers. On the face of it, a move towards embracing further regression already appears to be a fate accompli! g

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When dead men talk : How and wHy BalocHistan Burns

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Who was behind this horror? No prizes for guessing

Aziz-ud-diN AhmAd The writer is a political analyst and a former academic.

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hirteen mutilated bodies, or what was left after crows and vultures had feasted on them, were discovered in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan on January 17.

Such is the state of fear in the province that the shepherd who brought the news to the deputy commissioner’s office divulged it on condition of anonymity. the way the bodies were dumped together under a thin layer of earth indicated a disdain on the part of the killers for the victims.

As in the case of hundreds of disappearances and dumping of mutilated body the question being asked now is who was behind this horror? to many in Balochistan, the answer is simple. Forced disappearances, dumping of mutilated bodies on roads and the discovery of mass graves are links of the same chain. Circumstantial evidence points towards the agencies operating in Balochistan as being responsible. the Supreme Court has taken suo motu notice of the horror on an appeal by nasrullah Baloch, chairman of the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons. the provincial chief minister has ordered a judicial inquiry. he has also ordered an autopsy by a panel of doctors which has been carried out and samples sent to islamabad for DnA tests.

Ample evidence about the involvement of the security agencies in disappearances has been documented. it has also been established that quite a few mutilated bodies dumped in various parts of Balochistan were those of missing persons who were whisked away by the agencies. nasrullah Baloch fears that some of those in the mass graves might in fact be the missing persons. there were complaints for nearly fifteen years that the agencies were picking up suspects in violation of law and keeping them in illegal custody for months and years. the agencies denied any involvement. enquiries conducted by independent civil society organisations, however, incriminated the agencies. the first series of interviews to find out the truth was conducted by the hrCP during December 2005-January 2006. the investigation committee of the rights body met relatives of the missing persons and those in whose presence they were taken away. What surfaced was that in many cases the victims were whisked away by security personnel in official vehicles.

More solid proofs surfaced during the hearings initiated by the Supreme Court in 2013. the agencies first contended they had never taken anyone into custody in violation of law. Further that those being referred to as missing persons had of their own free will had either gone to Afghanistan, died fighting the American troops or made to disappear by enemies of Pakistan, i.e. indian and Afghan security agencies. But soon the Supreme Court was presented with incontrovertible evidence regarding the involvement of army personnel in disappearances. the apex court then ordered action against those found to be involved in the crime.

When literally caught with their pants down, the agencies changed tack. instead of defending the cases of the officers involved on merit, in June last the Mi submitted a reply

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‘With people in Balochistan fast losing faith in the state institutions and government departments, what bond other than force can keep them a part of the federation?’ in which it said that neither the court nor police had jurisdiction to proceed against any serving army officer under the Army Act, 1952. Attorney General Muneer A. Malik however told the apex court that neither the Pakistan Army Act 1952 nor Pakistan Penal Code/Criminal Procedure Code prohibited registration of a case and initiation of a criminal proceeding against a serving army officer if he misused his authority with mala fide intent. Citing several court verdicts, the AG argued that the protection to a serving army officer would not be there if he abused his legal authority.

On July 26 the Supreme Court passed orders for the arrest of two brigadiers working with the iSi. One of them was heading the Balochistan wing of iSi when one Ali Asghar Bangalzai was taken away by the agency 13 years ago. the Federal government directed respective provincial governments to take action. Still being treated as holy cows, the officers however could not be arrested. that Supreme Court failed to take note of the violation of its orders which led to unfortunate consequences. the Baloch who had lost faith in parliament for its inability to recover the missing persons now started looking to international organisations like the Un to come to their rescue.

As the apex court started taking up the cases of the missing persons, mutilated bodies began to be dumped on the highways and streets in Quetta. this was considered to be the most convenient way of disposing off evidence. it became increasingly common to arrest the suspects, torture them and dump their bodies. As time passed more and more mutilated bodies of people with a particular orientation were dumped in Balochistan. A

‘There were complaints for nearly fifteen years that the agencies were picking up suspects in violation of law and keeping them in illegal custody for months and years. The agencies denied any involvement.

Enquiries conducted by independent civil society organisations however incriminated the agencies.’

corps commander once said the army was not involved and that some of the ‘patriotic elements’ among civilians might be behind the killings. there were reports in the media regarding a gang of killers having been raised on the behest of the agencies to do the dirty work.

After 2010 there were more mutilated bodies than any time before. Many were recognised by relatives or acquaintances. Man of them already listed as missing persons. in early november 2010 four bullet-riddled bodies were found in turbat, Pasni and Khuzdar districts. two of them were identified to be those of students while the other two, activists of the BSO-Azad Abdul Samad Kurd and Zubair Zahid, had gone missing earlier. in May 2012 two bodies were found on the Coastal highway, near District headquarters Uthal, Lasbela. According to hospital sources, “they were brutally tortured and killed by electric shocks.” the bodies were identified as those of Murad Ali Marri, 35, of Kohlu and Dil Murad of Sibbi who had been kidnapped some months ago. their relatives had recorded statements before the Supreme Court that the men were missing.

When in 2012 the Supreme Court started a regular hearing on the law and order situation in Balochistan, the incidents of the dumping of dead bodies further increased. the CJ was forced to make the observation that mutilated bodies start to surface whenever the bench hears the case in Quetta.

Baloch journalist Abdul razzaq’s mutilated body was found in August last year. he too was amongst the missing persons. there were protests and shutdowns in the province against the horrible acts. in October last year Balochistan home Department revealed that 595 mutilated bodies had been found in the province during the last three years. the mass graves are the finale of a three part series: forced disappearances, dumping of mutilated bodies and mass graves. there is a sense of fear in Balochistan.

Witnesses are willing to make revelations only if their identity is kept secret. there are important questions that need answers. is the number of bodies discovered in Khuzdar really 13 or more? how many more mass graves still remain unidentified in the province? how many more missing persons are going to end up as unrecognizable corpses stuffed in guinea bags? With more and more evidence of atrocities emerging in the province, what is the future of the elected government? And last, with people in Balochistan fast losing faith in the state institutions and government departments, what bond other than force can keep them a part of the federation? As Ataullah Mengal once put it, one may enslave a person by force but the slave would run away at the very first opportunity he finds. g

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Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Change in the Middle East What it means for Pakistan, india and Afghanistan?

Arif AnsAr

The writer is chief analyst at PoliTact, a Washington-based futurist advisory firm (www.PoliTact.com). He can be reached at: aansar@politact.com, and on Twitter at: @ArifAnsar

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OLITACT has maintained that it’s the situation of Middle east especially connected with Iran, whether it involves a rapprochement or conflict, which will have a greater influence on the future direction of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This observation is based on what the history suggests. The political and religious forces exerting influence in this area have usually come from the west and from the north. While in the past, people may have been caught off-guard.

In the present times, the region, particularly India, is much more aware of what this implies.

The change gripping the Middle east has already forced India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to adjust their policies. Both India and Pakistan had to craft their stances to the evolution of military interventions in the Arab world, whether it was Iraq in the past, or Libya and Syria more recently. They did so being acutely aware of the extremists and insurgencies in their own backyard.

Then there are the American and european sanctions on conducting economic and energy dealings with Iran. In consideration of its strategic ties with the US and Israel, India had to curtail its energy imports from Iran. Despite severe energy shortages, Pakistan is still grappling on how to proceed with Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, and balance its ties with the Gulf States, especially Saudi Arabia, and US. While Afghanistan is fighting Sunni extremists inspired by egyptian ideologues on the one hand, it still had to keep the Iranian involvement at bay because of Western apprehensions and the sensitivities of Sunni powerhouses. how this will play out in the future would be watched carefully. The intent to include Iran in the just-concluded Geneva II talks on Syria immediately backfired. The invitation to Iran had to be rescinded due to the boycott threat from the moderate Sunni rebel fighters.

The potential switch in the Middle east balance of power will now require even bigger adjustment from these countries of South and Central Asia. however, a lot will first depend on the response of the Arab world to the rapid change and the perceived and real threats. If the West’s détente with Iran progresses; what kind of posture can be expected from the Saudis. Will it take it as a zero-sum equation or form alliances and diversify ties with global powers.

At the macro level the regional change is associated with the shift in the traditional balance of power in the core Muslim world: amongst the Arabs, Persians and the Turks which is also impacting the regions in the periphery. This trend has also gotten intertwined with the blooming Arab Spring and the transformation of extremism in to Al Qaeda and its associates. The anxiety regarding western intentions on reshaping the region anew is growing, and that in turn it is stressing out long established ties. Added to this complexity is the emergence of BRICS nations, which is also impacting the western strategies for the territories in question.

This is causing the Gulf countries to become increasingly concerned about where the Arab Spring might be heading next. In addition, the Gulf states are also deeply anxious about the backlash from Syria, repercussions of dramatic changes in egypt, and Iran’s nuclear programme.

There are, however, differences within the GCC. For instance, Qataris and the Saudis have often supported different rebel groups in Syria. Moreover, when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Qatar has supported hamas in Gaza, like Turkey and Iran – a move opposed by the Saudis, the new egyptian regime, and the Israelis. These differences have also complicated US posture towards egypt and Iran.

The irony of the matter is that the Saudis have not supported the mainstream Islamic party Muslim Brotherhood in egypt, but it has provided backing to similar religious parties in the peripheral regions of the Islamic world, including Pakistan. In Syria, it is assisting groups that it has control over, such as the Islamic Front, against Assad government.

To further preempt the consequences of the negative trends, Saudi Arabia in particular is pushing the GCC towards a union and a confederation: to cooperate and coordinate their foreign policy and increasingly, security affairs. “We aspire to a strong union with integrated economies, a joint foreign policy and a common defense system,” Prince Salman bin Adbul Aziz commented in December 2012 at the annual GCC Summit held in Manama, Bahrain. At the meeting, the Gulf ministers agreed on developing a unified military command and the creation of Peninsula Shield Force, which according to some will pave the way for a Gulf Army.

In March 2011, the GCC offered $10 billion each to the member states of Oman and Bahrain. In May 2011, the GCC showed readiness to admit two other states afflicted by pro-democracy protests, Jordan and Morocco. Recently, Saudi Arabia announced an economic package of $4 billion for egypt to stabilize the regime that got rid of Mursi.

Many political and bureaucratic challenges remain in implementing this vision. however, the Gulf states are aggressively positioning themselves to meet the emerging threats. high-level defense and security exchanges between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have increased in recent months, and the country may be pulled in to support the defense needs of the GCC, as it has been in the past, and recently in Bahrain. Other than religious affinity, Pakistan has economic interests tied up in the Gulf region. And a stable region means more money in the exchequer.

According to publicly available sources, in fiscal year 2012-13, Pakistan’s remittances from the Gulf region were expected to reach $10 billion, which constituted about 61 per cent of its total remittances. Its remittances from Saudi Arabia alone stood at $3.68 billion during 2011-12. Based on an interview that Pakistan’s ambassador to UAe Jamil Ahmed Khan gave to Khaleej Times in 2011, the volume of Pakistan’s trade with the GCC is expected to increase from $59 billion to $350 billion by year 2020. however, trade volume between Pakistan and Iran is presently quite low and is estimated to reach $5 billion by 2015. This obviously will change if Iran-Pakistan pipeline project is factored in.

Talking to Arab News during a visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2013, Pakistan’s foreign minister at the time hina Rabbani Khar commented, the talks “focused mainly on the roadmap and on a range of bilateral and regional issues including Syria and Afghanistan.” She went on to add, “I have intensive discussions on the roadmap that will set out a new vision of relationship between the two [Pakistan and Saudi Arabia] countries.” Little was said about the substance of the new roadmap alluded to by Khar. however, as long as Middle east remains in flux, managing and balancing Iranian, Turkish and Saudi anxieties will be an ongoing and a delicate process for Pakistan, and, for that matter, India and Afghanistan as well.

At the same time, recognizing the growing important of BRICS, the Saudi security and economic ties with India have gone through a dramatic transformation. In 2012, it assisted in the arrest of Mumbai attack suspect Sayeed Zabiuddin Ansari, incriminating Pakistan. high-level exchanges now occur routinely between the two states.

Before the imposition of sanctions, India’s trade with Iran was projected to reach $30 billion, while its business with GCC was expected to hit $150 billion in 2012-13. however, in the backdrop of Iranian resurgence, and US reversal on Syria, senior Saudi officials have indicated that a serious rethink is taking place. While President Obama is slated to visit the Kingdom in March, it will likely be a relationship management exercise as the West continues to proceed with the Iranian détente. The fact of the matter is that the ground reality has altered to such an extent that it appears Iran can deliver more when it comes to the fight against extremists and the Middle east peace process.

The key question to examine is; in what form and fashion will the Middle east proxy war being waged in places like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, shift to South Asia. Moreover, how are Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan preparing to respond or avert this?

Needless to say that in the above laid out backdrop, the campaign against extremists and US-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement takes on a lot more weight than is commonly discerned. g

Calm logic will decide the 2014 election So is it all over bar the shouting? Not quite out of turn

MJ AkbAr

The writer is a leading Indian journalist and author. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Guardian. He has also served as Editorial Director of India Today.

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he poor reputation of Janus, the Roman god of doors and beginnings, is quite undeserved. Janus was not double-faced simply because he had two faces. he could look east and west simultaneously without swiveling his head; but this was clarity, not deception. his hindsight helped foresight; the charm of a door is that it enables you to go in as well as go out. January is named after Janus: one year disappears, another enters.

As India’s electoral fog begins to clear this January, we can see that how precisely cause begets effect. The substantive failures of 2013 are shaping the general elections of 2014.

India’s economy began to creak and collapse much before, but it was in 2013 that Indians were firmly convinced that problems which could have been resolved were allowed to accumulate into a serious crisis. An economic freefall is not some theoretical statistic for the voter. It translates into specifics: prices rise, jobs evaporate, confidence falters, hope evaporates. Voters blame governments rather than traders for a price rise, because they expect government to control profiteers, not surrender to them. A slump in economic growth aborts future jobs and threatens existing ones.

These are bread-and-vegetable issues. It was in 2013 that governance and the economy became dominant factors in the gradual process through which voters make up their minds before a general election.

Many voters are, of course, still swayed by partisan emotion. But a significant majority will be influenced, in 2014, by calm logic.

This is already evident from the opinion polls bouncing around media, predicting an NDA victory, and reaffirming Narendra Modi as the preferred favourite for prime minister.

Try this sequence of questions: Who can set the economy right?

Not those, surely, who created the problem. What kind of government can turn things around? A stable one, capable of taking tough decisions. Can a remorseful and repentant Congress lead a stable coalition? Not likely: its own numbers have plummeted to less than half of 2009 in opinion polls, and allies are either breaking off or

increasing their distance from Congress. Old reliable DMK has preferred isolation. Sharad Pawar’s NCP has told Rahul Gandhi to cool off on accusations against Narendra Modi over the Gujarat riots. Partnerships from Kashmir to Assam are in disarray. The one eager ally, Lalu Yadav, poses more questions than he answers, since he happens to be convicted of corruption. The torch of honesty cannot catch fire in Rahul Gandhi’s right hand, if his left is clasped to the ashes of Lalu Yadav’s reputation.

Can a Third or National or Partial Front patched through the strain of contradictions work? however which way you do the math, the numbers do not add up.

There will be regional spurts in states like West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee will win a handsome number of seats; but despite rhetoric this will not be sufficient to seed a post-election coalition. In any case, the times are too fragile, and voters across the country are not in a mood for experiments. Can Arvind Kejriwal, whose muffler will have to be discarded as the season changes, offer stability? You know the answer.

No prizes for guessing who’s left. Narendra Modi might not be able to walk on water, but at least he can walk on land, unlike the competition, which stumbles disconcertingly whenever it tries to move at all.

Congress lost the governance plot not just on the economy, but also on Telangana. The impact of a disturbed Andhra, another longform story of 2013, is much larger than the size of one state. The chaos in the south is not the best advertisement for firm governance in a year when voters want tough decisions.

So is it all over bar the shouting? Not quite. Narendra Modi has attracted voters because he is the outsider, poised, in their wish-list, to cleanse Delhi of corruption, end dithering and propel the economy forward as happened in Gujarat. The one thing Modi cannot afford to do is slide into the syndrome of politicsas-usual as he expands from regional concerns to national priorities. he cannot abandon the old school, for that is where present politics lives; but he cannot look stale even before he has begun. It is a tight-rope walk.

Modi will need some dexterity to evade the siren call of Delhi’s prime-time sin, sycophancy. There is a scathing Urdu couplet, written by a Karachi poet, Parwin Shakir, who died in 1994 at the young age of 42, which describes Delhi perfectly: Basti mein jitne aab gazida thhe sab ke sab/Darya ke rukh badalte hi tairak ho gaye (All those in town who were terrified of water/ Became expert swimmers when they saw the river change course).

This is the double-face that becomes dangerous once January is over. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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Cover Story: peaCe ploy and talk of war

Talks Tailored To fail; NW operaTioN a cerTaiNTy But the PM’s resolve remains in doubt

shahab Jafry The writer is Lahore-based journalist and can be reached at jafry.shahab@gmail.com

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ven before the prime minister’s new peace initiative ran into the old miscommunication and missed deadlines frictions, few people with good understanding of the insurgency – military and civilian – gave it much chance of success. For one thing, it came just when the ruling party’s senior leadership had clearly opted for military action – Rana Sanaullah went so far as to threaten “smashing” militant outfits in an interview with The Guardian – and contradicted growing public opinion in favour of use of force.

For another, the PM’s team represented a peculiar brand from the country’s wider population – a small group of the religious right, those comfortable with it, and, of course, confidants from the old Midnight Jackal days, when military intelligence played to bring its preferred client, nawaz Sharif, to power.

There was also the realisation that the n-League, especially interior minister Chaudhry nisar, had not been completely honest about the fate of talks since november. Counterinsurgency (COIn) officials claim, on condition of anonymity of course, that Mr nisar’s story about the nov 1 drone strike that killed (Munawwar Hussain’s martyr) Hakeemullah Mehsud was, as seemed, untrue. Rather than a mysterious three-member team ready to depart on the day of the drone strike, it appears the government had already ruled out talks with Hakemullah two days earlier. He hadn’t stopped playing double games with Afghanistan’s

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national Directorate of Security (nDS), and the military didn’t even dignify his demand for release of senior Taliban prisoners with a response. If anything, the assassination provided convenient face-saving to a government facing embarrassment for staking its reputation on talking to the Taliban.

After Hakeemullah, military intelligence pinned hopes on chatter that its old mujajhid from the Soviet war, Khalid Sajna, might be chosen head of the TTP. With no religious or school education, he was a battle hardened commander, and the military had a good record of doing business with him. But when Mullah Fazlullah was appointed the new emir, his history with the Swat insurgency coupled with his known sanctuary with nDS in Kunar across the border, left intelligence circles with few doubts about the nature of the proxy war to follow. General Kayani ordered a re-evaluation of a possible nW strike shortly before his retirement. General Raheel’s input was central to the war strategy.

InformatIon defIcIt Then, as attacks on the Shia, Christians, and security personnel grew, and popular opinion rallied behind Gen Raheel’s immediate retaliatory airstrikes in nW, the prime minister himself signaled imminent, and very serious, action. Then came the sudden turn towards talks.

“It is an unmitigated disaster”, said Ahmed Rasheed, journalist, author, and an acknowledged authority on the AfPak region.

“Months of pressure and momentum have been lost. Talks with insurgents are supposed to follow decisive military action, when their backs are against the wall, not precede it”.

After the Hakeemullah breakdown, the Taliban had repeatedly mentioned rejection of Pakistan’s constitution, countrywide imposition of their reading of sharia, release of their prisoners with the government, and withdrawal of all military forces from fata as their core demands.

“That the government still chose to talk, even when preparations were made for military action, signalled weakness”, Mr Rasheed added.

Among other things, the about face fueled speculation that despite the bravado, an nW operation remains fantasy at best.

Any decisive sweep of Mir Ali, where the TTP is holed up, will disturb the geographical overlap with the Haqqani network headquartered in Miranshah. And why would the military upset that balance now, when it risks pulling in another giant alongside the TTP, especially when the Punjabi Taliban also lie in wait in sleeper cells along main cities and the long border regions with Sindh?

“How can you have an operation when you back is uncovered?” said Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, author of the controversial bestseller Military Inc and known for her research work on militant groups that form the Taliban’s Punjab chapter.

“When there’s a thief in your house, you don’t tell him to wait while your get your pistol”.

For years the government, and the military, chose to keep the public in the dark about its compulsions and choices regarding alliances and strategy, creating what she calls the “information deficit”. even with more than 50,000 dead and many more maimed, most people have no idea about the direction of the insurgency, and a belligerent electronic media stokes feelings of fear and doubt.

It is also unclear what any negotiations can possibly hope to achieve, with the government not going to accept Taliban demands and the militants, with funds and arms continuing to pour from foreign agencies, in no apparent mood to unconditionally disarm and respect state writ.

HIgHly orcHestrated neglIgence?

There is little doubt, however, that any incursion into nW, howsoever favoured by a growing number of the middle class, will bring unprecedented blowback to Sindh and particularly Punjab, including urban centres. The Punjabi Taliban, the biggest fear factor, are former intelligence assets, the lashkars and jaishes, that understood the implied parting of ways with their masters following the ’07 Lal Masjid operation, something lost to popular corporate media to this day. And even COIn officials are surprised by their penetration of main cities.

“Surprisingly, they have even spread among student unions”, they said, requesting anonymity for themselves and the unions.

“They have had a large number of militants stationed in university hostels, armed and ready”.

The political deadlock over talks produced an operational paralysis that allowed such deep militant roots in mainstream society, creating a situation satirically referred to in COIn parlance as ‘highly orchestrated negligence’.

These findings help explain the military’s no-comment on peace talks. It gives more time for pre-emptive measures, and helps wait out the winter. A few hundred thousand will flee Waziristan once the fighting starts, and the SW IDP nightmare has left instructive memories of futility of setting

up refugee camps and over burdening of small cities like Bannu and DI Khan, especially when the snow is still far from melting.

It also brings an added advantage to the military. With the talks bound to fail and the government’s inability to take charge exposed, it will be able to play the leading role, and the operation will commence around or after spring time.

Yet there are a few who offer another explanation for the prime minister’s strategy, and they make some heroic claims. Sources close to the leadership are convinced nawaz Sharif has green lighted the nW operation, but wants to play some decisive politics first The pro-Taliban makeup of the negotiating team is no accident, and the unlikelihood if it even coming close to achieving its intended mission is not lost on the prime minister. It allegedly comes after carefully planned military moves, surgical strikes in the badlands in coordination with nato forces to discourage border crossing (even though nato has not had more than occasional aerial presence on the Afghan side in years). And with talks going nowhere, and the PTI and Jamat e Islami mindset finally silenced, Mr Sharif would emerge as the political consensus builder and the leader that finally took the fight to the existential enemy. either way nW is effectively fair game, even if the PM’s own position, and ability, remain in question. g

CMY K

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

TaliBan – The good, The Bad, and The PunjaBi o I

The Talks conundrum

There is method in TTP’s responses

ne reason militant Islam became increasingly potent as the war on terror wore on was the inability of those confronting it to understand its deeper dynamics.

First the Americans failed to differentiate between Afghanistan’s Taliban regime and small al Qaeda pockets allegedly responsible for 9/11, destroying the government and killing thousands of civilians.

Some al Qaeda Arabs got killed, some fled, and the war turned into a long guerilla conflict with Taliban insurgents fighting foreign occupants. Right from the beginning, the war began to drift from its mission – 9/11, its perpetrators, and its victims.

Then in Iraq, where Saddam’s Baath Party had long kept a lid on sectarian sensitivities through its mukhabbarat services, and never allowed al Qaeda tendencies anywhere near the country, it took the Americans some years to understand just how Salafi militants were able to turn the tables not long after President Bush declared military victory.

But in going after IeDs and suicide bombers, they ignored funding and arms sources of different groups that operated independently yet in similar ways.

And when they did explore foreign hands, they linked Iran with al Qaeda, Saddam with the Salafis, taking another couple of years to arm moderate Sunni tribes and slowly flush out militants. That too unraveled almost as soon as they left.

And in Syria, they embraced, funded and armed, same al Qaeda groups they fought and droned in AfPak. It would be another three years, more than a hundred thousand dead, and millions raped, maimed and made homeless, before they, and the Israelis, would begin to understand the price of befriending the Saudis. Only now a slow realisation seems setting in that petrodollar jihadis pose a far graver threat to their interests than the old Iran-Syria-

Hezbollah axis. Hence the gentle thaw with Tehran.

Pakistan faces a similar perception problem. Despite tens of thousands of deaths, the true nature of the TTP is still lost on much of the population. even a regular journalistic exercise reveals that despite appearances, they do not owe real allegiance to Mullah Omer’s Afghan Taliban. They were, in fact, the outcome of a split between Omer’s men and the Arabs they lost their government protecting.

Once Kabul had fallen and the insurgency underway, it seems Omer forbade hordes fleeing across the border from confronting the Pakistani military. no doubt he counted on his old contacts to provide a degree of protection.

But al Qaeda had more expansionist designs, and was able to exploit tribal grievances and Pashtun appetite for foreign funds to stitch together the multi party TTP conglomerate.

Initially a strained working relationship existed, with Afghan Taliban borrowing militias from the Pakistani chapter for cross border raids, but with the fight expanding in Pakistan, differences increased.

The Pakistani military’s much criticised, and misunderstood, Good Taliban policy comes from these days.

Intelligence agencies supported tribal commanders that agreed not to fight, regardless of their activities in Afghanistan.

Subsequently Bajaur strongman, and former TTP number-2, Molvi Faqeer was mobilised to initiate ceasefire with the Mehsuds dominating the umbrella group, and South Waziristan’s Mullah nazeer was armed and assisted in driving out Uzbek militants and chastising similar potent groups.

Pitting insurgent groups against each other, and pushing for negotiated settlements from within, is traditionally considered good counterinsurgency (COIn)

strategy, but since Pakistan’s good boys continued to play in Afghanistan, the Americans got angry, and initiated a savage media and military offensive on the good Taliban. Soon, Mullah nazeer was droned, undoing years of work that finally brought peace to SW, and Molvi Faqeer was arrested by the Americans on a visit to Afghanistan.

Pakistani intelligence has long claimed the TTP has become a proxy force for Afghanistan’s nDS and Indian intelligence. And when the Lal Masjid operation led to the formation of Punjabi Taliban, which were former government proxies, Pakistan was confronted with a rapidly strengthening insurgency that now boasted presence across the length and breadth of the country. Funded and armed by Pakistan’s enemies, their sharia guise is a tool that Saudi, Pakistani and American intelligence first experimented with, very successfully, in the Soviet jihad. every time they cry sharia, they are in fact buying time. And whenever they bend towards talks, they end up recalibrating their funding and arming routes.

The Pakistani government, and right-leaning population, is mistaken in taking their religious inclination at face value. Their targeting of soft civilian targets, sectarian minorities, and kidnapping for ransom have alienated all segments of society except the religious right. With their foreign patrons bolstering their position in fata, and their Punjabi brethren threatening savage Allah-Akbar attacks in urban centres, the government’s talks offer is bound to fail. The only way of ensuring successful negotiations is first smashing their funding and arming arrangements, then driving them into a corner militarily, and assuming a position of strength for the government. g

– Shahab Jafry

t seems that the ttP evaluates the evolving situation in Pakistan continuously and very carefully – especially the trends in public opinion and the drivers behind those trends. In the aftermath of the US drone strike that killed the ttP leader, the ttP must have noted the divergence in views and sensed that a decisive military operation against them was not likely. they escalated violence with two deadly strikes against the Pakistan military ostensibly to avenge its supremo’s killing. the rapidity and violence of the military’s response took them by surprise. the bigger surprise must have been the near complete swing in favour of a military operation to end the violence — not just in FAtA but in urban areas where there was an insurgent-organised crime-militant linkage. their response came in the form of two overtures for ‘meaningful talks’.

On the very verge of sanctioning a military operation the government agreed to give talks ‘one last chance’ and announced a four-member committee for the negotiations. the ttP has responded to the government offer after consultations within their ‘shura’. they have named a five-man team to be their arbitration committee. None of these five is a ttP member or associate and two have promptly publicly disassociated themselves from representing the ttP. the ttP has also named a larger ‘political monitoring’ committee to oversee the work of the arbitration committee and all the members of this larger body are ttP members. there is method in this considered response. the message being sent to Pakistan and the world is that the taliban in the ttP are Pakistanis fighting for ‘reform’ of their homeland and are being represented by other Pakistanis drawn from their support base within Pakistan. the implication being that Pakistan is indeed divided into pro and anti-taliban segments. they have also clearly indicated that the entire process will be overseen by the ttP thereby implying that all those within Pakistan who support them accept their leadership.

It goes without saying that the ttP thinks it has moral ascendancy and that it has achieved a superior position through its efforts and has forced the government to not only accept the talks proposed by them but to also agree to the teams proposed by them. the four-man government committee will be talking to its own people representing the other side. the whip hand will be held by the ttP with its capacity to orchestrate violence and its monitoring committee that will have the final say.

It is being said that this entire exercise is a government master plan to gain time for a final military operation. If this is so then the trigger for this has been provided by the taliban through their talks offer. It can also be said that this is a taliban ploy to gain time for consolidation and preparation and to continue violent attacks to sap the will of Pakistan for a fight. the most recent attack on policemen in Karachi has not been owned by the ttP. there may be many more such ‘false flag ‘operations as the dialogue enters the long haul stage. there is also no guarantee that violence will cease even if the talks succeed and territory is ceded to the taliban. After all there are no attacks within territory controlled by the taliban and a territory formally acknowledged as their stronghold has many implications for Pakistan — especially because of the large number of factions that may have their own agendas and ideas. the entire dialogue process has to be very carefully monitored and analyzed over the entire duration of its progression. the state has to be clear on its red lines from the word go and public as well as media support must be ensured by transparency to the extent possible. Now that the decision has been taken to give talks ‘one last chance’ then the implications of this decision have to be fully grasped and capacity built accordingly. In the backdrop must be the evolving situation in Afghanistan and the impact on Pakistan of the possible scenarios.

Spearhead Analyses are collaborative efforts and not attributable to a single individual. Website: www.spearheadresearch.org

For more on the same, see: g

editorial ‘Pow wow’ –Page 02;

g

‘Dialogue of the deaf’ by arif nizami –Page 03;

g

‘Closet militants negotiating with real-time militants’ by raoof hasan –Page 05

www.pakistantoday.com.pk 09

CMY K

IntervIew: Dr AmjAD SAqib

Creating little islands of hope

That is the business of Akhuwat, and in the process it has given microfinance a whole new dimension, an entirely different meaning By agha akBar

h

e is the progenitor of the idea of interest-free microfinance as well as the driving force behind Akhuwat. It is a tribute to Dr. Amjad Saqib’s dynamism and also that of its board of directors that in just about 12 years, Akhuwat has from a fledgling that started off with negligible seed money has become an organization with a national footprint – with presence in all the four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

It is already collaborating with the governments of Punjab and GilgitBaltistan, both having channeled their poverty alleviation programmes through Akhuwat to the tune of Rs2 billion and Rs200 million. Apart from this most credible recognition, ‘Lend with Care’, an international NGO with presence in 80 countries across four continents, is now also directing substantive funding toward Akhuwat in a significant manner.

Akhuwat has grown big and the momentum it has generated in the last few years is reflective of it being embraced by an ever-broader base of donors. That it doubled all its key indicators in 2013 year-onyear is another measure of the organization having become a vital force in alleviating poverty.

The figures are impressive, indeed.

From a few thousand rupees to an organization dealing with cumulative asset base of Rs 7 billion, from being too poor to buy furniture as a startup venture in a non-descript shanty, now having a sprawling seven-storey headquarter in Lahore. Then it had to per force seat its people on the floor. Now having grown to 256 offices in 143 cities, on average disbursing a loan every three minutes, having reached 400,000 families and counting, it still operates from the floor. This is deliberate: one, to keep operational costs low in order to make every donated rupee go farther; two, to empathize with its borrowers who are essentially the poorest of the poor, and, three, to remain embedded with tradition.

But even more impressive than the figures is the philosophy that draws on the innate human goodness, providing it a vehicle to share one’s well-being with the less fortunate with the intent to lift them out of poverty – for good.

Akhuwat is also an organization of

10 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

amazing contrasts. It draws its spirit and its moral moorings from Mawakhat-e-Medina, yet religion plays no part in its consideration when financing a project. And while it holds its loan disbursement functions at mosques and shrines, again irrespective of the religious belief of the borrower, for the same purpose it also goes to churches and temples without the slightest inhibition. The message is loud and clear: Humanity is foremost, and, again the concept flows from one of Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) sobriquets, Rehmatul lil alameen(Blessing for all).

Here is how Dr Amjad Saqib describes the entire venture, how it was conceived, what he and his comrades have gone through in the last one dozen years of building Akhuwat into a force to reckon with. excerpts from an interview: Q: Were you not daunted by the fact that interest-free microfinance was not practiced anywhere on this planet, at least not on a mentionable scale, when you conceived of Akhuwat?

A: Well, I knew it was not going to be a cakewalk. But before I answer the question, let me narrate you a real-life incident. Once I had this occasion to introduce Akhuwat, then in its early days, in what was a very brief interaction in the middle of a reception to one of our former prime ministers. When I told him that Akhuwat lends on ‘No Interest’, he quipped, words to the effect: “How can you remain solvent?” As he moved on, I wondered about the futility of convincing a banker to forego interest! How could he have appreciated that inherent in ‘interest’ is business, a transaction which is always more beneficial to the lender than the borrower. And this is anathema to Akhuwat, the antithesis to our core belief.

The basic premise, the assumption on which we commenced this rather eventful journey in March 2001 was that there were people who wanted to share their wellbeing with others who weren’t as fortunate as them. From the word go, this was not to be a charity, though it was funded out of donations. We lend with the intent to turn the borrower into an entrepreneur, but along the way our staff is trained to interact with

the person and the core group in a manner that he or she becomes a part of the Akhuwat family and subsequently a donor. Herein lies the sustainability of the organization, the more people it pulls out of poverty, the more donors it has – on top of those who donate to support the programme.

But to answer your question, No, I and my friends were by no means daunted by the concept. We knew that it would be difficult to bring people round to the idea of interest-free microcredit but we also were confident that once we had a few success stories behind us, the organization would draw strength from it and grow.

Q: You make it sound so simple… What are your considerations while evaluating a borrower?

A: Well, the idea is simple, the execution has its own complexities but we have overcome those with

‘It is ironical, and it is a global phenomenon.

Yields in microfinance are higher than traditional finance now because the lenders cover their risk.’ the assistance of our staff and volunteers. everybody whose life is touched by Akhuwat becomes a part of it and starts owning it. That is the beauty of Akhuwat, the selflessness, the spirit and sense of sharing and sacrifice it cultivates gets people hooked to it for good.

As for our evaluation process, we lend smart, with care, after due diligence. Where we feel that the borrower is not ready, we arrange for on the job training prior to lending etc. The proof of the excellence of our system is Alhamdolillah 99.8 per cent recovery rate.

Q: But you must be aware that microfinance has become a huge business in itself, sucking up world’s surplus cash and parking it in a sector that yields high profits?

A: Yes, it is ironical, and it is a global phenomenon. Yields in microfinance are higher than

traditional finance now because the lenders cover their risk. I don’t want to sound critical of microfinance; the intent is definitely poverty alleviation, but the fact is that the costs are horrendous.

Q: What made you resign from the Civil Service of Pakistan, when you were in the prestigious DMG and on the verge of promotion to grade 19?

A: Well, certainly not out of any disrespect for the job. Actually once I had decided that my future was in the social development sector, I believed that I perhaps could contribute far more if I dedicated all my energy and attention to that than remaining tied to the civil service. Once that decision was made in my mind, it was not difficult to quit. However, let me make it clear that one can do a lot for the people remaining in service as well. And there have been and are too many shining examples of devotion to service in our bureaucracy, the sort that makes a real difference. But as I said, it was a personal decision, with the drive coming from within.

Q: Did you ever regret leaving the civil service?

A: early on it was difficult to reconcile with, owing to financial as well as social issues, for once you’re out of the service one invariably goes a few notches down in the social pecking order. But regret I never did. My father and father-inlaw both had been in civil service.

Convincing them would have been a tad difficult. But I had made my decision to take the plunge, so I just confided in my spouse, and it was she who discouraged me from even discussing it with my father and father-in-law not because it may have weakened my resolve but created undue anxiety. Contrary to my wife, most of my well-meaning friends in the service had advised me to go on long leave and test the waters first, but personally I didn’t want to waver. I was much too focused on what I had to do, and the intent was such that I wanted to be up-front and in no way use underhand tactics to stay out and yet in the service at the same time.

It is not without a hint of irony that, other than seeing Akhuwat grow, the two happiest days of my life were when I was selected [He had the distinction of standing first in

the civil service written exam, and third overall] for the Civil Service of Pakistan and the day I left it for good.

Q: Who would you give credit for Akhuwat’s success and what to you is the reward?

A: Mima Taufiq Illullah, credit is to those who had the means but more importantly the impulse and the grace to do a good deed. My gratitude is for those who had faith in us, and who contributed, big and small is irrelevant, toward Akhuwat becoming what it has. Next the credit goes to nearly 450,000 people so far who borrowed from us, lifted themselves literally from their bootstraps to prove that our assumption about their being trustworthy was right. Then comes the Akhuwat staff and volunteers who made Akhuwat’s philosophy a way of life. As far the board members, most of them my friends, as that age-old Persian saying goes ‘Hisaab-e-dosta’n dar dil’, that debt of gratitude is between them and myself. And it shall remain there forever.

As for reward, the work and the sense of fulfillment that it has given me is a reward unto itself. What makes me most happy about the venture is that it has introduced me to so many who with a little prompting respond to our social obligations and moral and religious responsibilities.Jazakallah.

Q: A full one dozen years on, what sort of satisfaction does it give you? Where is Akhuwat headed to? Where would you want to see it?

A: It gives me immense satisfaction not just in the personal sense but also from the point of view of transforming lives, giving hope to people, if I may say, creating those little islands of hope that is the business of Akhuwat and the momentum, range and dimension that it has gathered, I would not want to swap it for anything in the world.

From what Akhuwat has become, which is no less than a movement now, and the way it has been institutionalized, one can safely predict that this is going to grow bigger and bigger. I would want to see Akhuwat one day, hopefully not too far in the future, being acknowledged as an organization that contributed majorly in alleviating poverty from this country. g

CMY K

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

‘Everybody whose life is touched by Akhuwat becomes a part of it and starts owning it. That is the beauty of Akhuwat, the selflessness, the spirit and sense of sharing and sacrifice it cultivates gets people hooked to it for good.’

‘The way it has been institutionalized, one can safely predict that this is going to grow bigger and bigger. I would want to see Akhuwat one day, hopefully not too far in the future, being acknowledged as an organization that contributed majorly in alleviating poverty from this country.’ www.pakistantoday.com.pk 11

kt

C M YK

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

satire

TELLING IT LIKE IT ALMOST NEVER IS khabaristan.today@gmail.com

Bilawal vows to undo PTI fan's Facebook video shortlisted for Oscar mess created by parents, grandpa LoS angeLeS

Our HOllywOOd cOrrespOndent

MohenJodaro Our sindH cOrrespOndent

P

akistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has vowed to undo the mess that his parents and grandfather created in Pakistan, Khabaristan Today has learnt. Bilawal was discussing the Sindh Festival in Moenjodaro which according to the PPP chairman was the “first step towards eradicating the legacy of his immediate ancestors.”

“I might be going all daredevil on the Taliban recently but I realise that Mama, Papa and Grandpa had their part to play in nurturing religious extremism in this country. I’m all out to undo the mess that they created and festivals like the one in Moenjodaro, is one of many such projects planned to counter fundamentalism.”

Bilawal mentioned how his grandfather rammed Islam in 1973’s constitution and capitulated in front of the Mullahs by excommunicating

Ahmadis in 1974 and banning alcohol in the country. “Clearly his own political career was dearer to him than the future of religious minorities in Pakistan.

We can blame Zia all we want, but Grandpa set the ball rolling by declaring Ahmadis nonMuslims. Succumbing to the Mullah is probably his most influential legacy.”

The PPP chairman then brought his parents under the gun, “We must not forget that it was Mama and Naseerullah uncle that actually created the Taliban. And of course Papa presided over the Swat deal in 2009, after we’d actually defeated the Taliban. So my immediate ancestors have created some serious mess that I will try to undo.”

When asked how he was planning on going about undoing the mess, Bilawal said, “When you have people like Nawaz and Imran, it’s not particularly difficult to sound like an antiTaliban revolutionary. I’ll let my tweets and Super Sindhi Man shirt do the talking.”

The Academy Awards jury decided to bend its rules at the 11th hour and decided to nominate a Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) fan’s Facebook video for this year’s event, imaginary sources toldKhabaristan Today. Facebook released every user’s ‘review’ video on its 10th anniversary, highlighting their most liked posts and images. The Academy Award jury believed that the PTI fan’s video was among the most invigorating and enlightening cinematic experiences of their lives. “It (the video) is a dark satire on the Pakistani society. A youthful modern girl dedicating so much energy for a couple of years on Facebook to facilitate the Taliban coming into

David Moyes celebrates World Hijab Day

ASWJ looking to hire CEO Shia Genocide Jhang Our GenOcide cOrrespOndent

Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) formerly Sipah-eSahaba, is looking to hire a new CEO for its Shia Genocide project, after Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) leader and former CEO Malik Ishaq was promoted to the designation of ‘Global Terrorist’ by the US. The ASWJ is now looking for someone who is competent enough to fill those massive shoes. “We’re looking for someone who can follow the sectarian, apostatising,

violence brewing footsteps of Mr Ishaq. The ideal candidate should be a Takfiri Deobandi, whose life is dedicated to excommunicating the Shias. He should be a staunch believer in the fact that his own religious sect is the only branch of Islam that is true Islam. He should have the passionate desire to kill everyone who disagrees with this branch,” an ASWK spokesman said.

Interested applicants should contact ASWJ through social media, or start chanting anti-Shia slogans in Jhang and they would be shortlisted.

power who would eventually shut down her account… I mean that’s a leaf out of Victorian irony,” a jury member said. The PTI girl’s video begins from the year 2007, and mostly revolves around her posting a selfie every other day and talking about her boyfriends till October 2011. The next two and a half years see her posting a selfie every other day and talking about how PTI would sweep the elections. “It’s a scathing critique on the Pakistani youth and how they were blindfolded by man just because he was ‘hot as hell’ and won a cricket World Cup,” another jury member added.

The Facebook video has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Documentary, Best Live Action Short Film and Best Film Editing awards.

Stoke Our spOrts cOrrespOndent

Manchester United Manager David Moyes expressed his solidarity with Muslimaat all over the world by wearing a burqa on February 1, which was the World Hijab Day. After his side’s 2-1 defeat in the league against Stoke City that left Manchester United further off the pace in the race for fourth spot, Moyes was seen sneaking outside Britannia Stadium wearing a burqa. After being spotted by reporters, Moyes told

them that he was a massive feminist at heart and absolutely against Orientalism. “I believe feminism means something different in every particular culture.

And the reason why I am wearing this burqa right now is to express my support for Muslim feminists all over the world,” Moyes said. When asked whether feminism in his culture meant wearing a burqa to escape the wrath of angry Manchester United supporters, Moyes kicked our sports correspondent in the tummy and fled the scene, while hurriedly dialing Robin Van Persie’s number.

Govt-TTP talks Uptown snob claims she can relate to Taliban after dumping her boyfriend again Lahore Our cOunterterrOrism cOrrespOndent

An uptown snob in DHA Phase5 claimed that she could totally relate to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) according to eavesdropping sources. After dumping the same boyfriend for the fifth time, the girl in question told Khabaristan Today that the ongoing government-TTP negotiations

12 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

were exactly what she had experienced when she told her boyfriend that she would be breaking up with him for the fifth time. “He is clingy and just refuses to let go. I had already dumped him four times, but he always asks for one last talk.

What do we talk about when there’s hardly anything that we agree on?” the girl said.

She went on to cite 2005’s Sararogha peace deal; 2006’s Miranshah peace deal; 2008’s

Khyber Agency agreement and 2009’s Swat deal as examples of the number of times the Taliban have dumped the government.

“I was in the TTP’s shoes in Gloria Jean’s yesterday,” the girl said adding that, “I told my boyfriend that there is nothing negotiable, nothing that we agree on, we simply don’t share the same future. But he kept on asking for one more date.” Eyewitnesses at Gloria Jean’s revealed that it was the most absurd talks they had ever witnessed in their lives. “He was literally begging her, going down on his knees and kissing her feet. She wasn’t even looking at him. He desperately wanted her to see him one more time at Mohammadi Nihari House,” an eye witness told Khabaristan Today.

C M YK

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

SaTire

You’re so cute, Meher But stick to being a doll, will you please?

KKS The writer is a socio-political critic.

He can be reached at kkshahid@hotmail.com.

M

eHeR Bukhari (now Meher abbasi) is one of the most famous journalists in Pakistan, as far as Google analytics is concerned.

However, this has got nothing to do with her journalistic expertise. Meher ranks prominently in Google images according to searches in Pakistan. it’s obviously because Meher is pretty cute and has a lot going on for her as far as the physical appearance is concerned. However, Meher took her cuteness up a few notches on February 5, after she did that show on ‘talks with the ttP’, which made a lot of people go, “aww”. the first aww moment came when Meher confessed that she wouldn’t mind the shariah, as long as it’s not enforced. she wants a version of shariah that’s so sweet

that it makes “her want to cover herself up and stay at home”. and i want a version of shariah which would make me want to be lashed frequently, have my hands cut off and ultimately be stoned to death… stockholm syndrome isn’t too unpopular among women in most Muslim countries but Meher vied to redefine it on a prime time show on national tV. and she gave it a pretty decent shot. i mean here’s a woman, pretty liberal in her outlook – as Google analytics, Google images and quite a few videos confirm – who wants a societal and constitutional upheaval that would make her want to not go out without covering her head; that would make her want to sit at home all day. a quick Google search by the taliban would mean that Meher would be dealing with stones and lashes according to the shariah, whether or not this would make her want to cover herself up and stay at home all day is up for debate. Whether or not this makes her sound ridiculously hypocritical is

slightly more obvious. the second aww moment came when Meher agreed with Maulana abdul aziz on the same show that watching dance shows can force men to rape women because they get too excited. Being a rape apologist for tRPs isn’t too bad an idea in Pakistan, but the fact that it’s Meher who pulled it off so nonchalantly, makes the whole thing incredibly cute.

‘Liberal’ women, like Meher, are striving hard for women rights and ensuring feminism doesn’t sound like mythical anthology. Maybe one day Meher will claim that some women actually enjoy rape, like many rape apologists do. if she wants to enjoy living in a patriarchal society, there’s no limit to the brutalities that she would be able to enjoy under the shariah rule orchestrated by the taliban. and of course nothing safeguards women rights like the shariah does.

Meher, sweetheart, we all know you’re a sell out, but please don’t put the freedom of more than half the population of this country at stake for your self-seeking nonsense. nothing in the world can possible make you want to stay at home or live in a burqa all your life, because you’re too big an attention seeker for that and make too much money through pointless blabbering on tV. so, please don’t utter absolutely grime that might put other women’s life in jeopardy.

You’re a cutie Meher, stick to being a doll, will you please? g

The hardest part about being faithless Will the real faithless please stand up?

LuavuT Zahid The writer is a journalist based in Lahore. Her writings focus on current affairs and crisis response. She can be reached at luavut@gmail.com, she tweets @luavut

P

akistan is a mixed bag when it comes to faith – you have your gardenvariety Muslims, which come in all shapes, sizes, and flavours of kuffar, and then you have the other minorities that have nothing to do with islam. if we set aside the debate on which branch of Muslims is more kaffir than the other, we can move onto the real kaffirs – and no, i don’t mean Hindus and Christians, i’m talking about the real faithless: the atheists, the irreligious, the deists, the agnostics and whatnot. they maybe few in numbers but they are lurking about the country. some of them will tell you who they are and others will hide in the shadows much like Batman does.

there has not been enough focus on how difficult it often is to be faithless. the only mainstream media attention that is given to people that lack an interest in a divine power is when some suicide attack happens and politicians take it upon themselves to announce, “these people are not Muslims! they have no faith! no deen, no iman!” they say that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but having the taliban put into the same box? that really is no fun. there are no support groups or advice columns on how to deal with being faithless either.

What can one do? Where should a non-believer go to find solace?

On the top of the list of problems for faithless is the absence of bad duas and buri nazars. ‘Nazar lagay tere dusman ko’ does not ring as true as it once did. Many times being faithless means that you are being a skeptic about not just a deity but also numerous other things. anything that resembles Voodoo magic gets the boot. so when an atheist’s mother proudly tells them their dushmans will burn in jahanum, it means nothing. similarly, you can no longer cure illnesses by riding yourself of someone’s evil eye. When you are living it out pre-pubescent style, the mothers would often lament how their kids got sick because of some aunty or the other getting

jealous of everything they had to offer. then the same mothers would move on to exorcising the evil eye from their bodies. and voila! they would be good as new in a couple of days. this method could work on anything from a small flu to something as grand as chicken pox. But no, the faithless have to rely on modern medication to do the trick. it has zero charisma and enchantment of having an egg waved over one’s body and it costs a good chunk of money too. Bad duas and buri nazars are a product of religion.

One either buys the full package or doesn’t buy it at all.

Of course, black magic is also out of the cards for non-believers.

When they previously had faith, anything from slipping and falling to failing a test could be attributed to a neighbour, relative, friend – just about anyone under the sun who didn’t like them could be a potential black magic instigator. and it is quite popular. it’s hard to come across one household that doesn’t have a black magic story. some of them are truly frightening, but none of them ever offer any concrete evidence. You got demoted? it’s your fault. Wife left you? it’s your fault. Your car crashed? it is YOUR fault! You have to take responsibility for anything and everything that happens to you. You are the master of your own faithless ship

and if you steer it wrong, you guessed it: it’s your fault. it is a hard, sad, and miserable life for the faithless. if they don’t believe in religion, they can’t have the perks of using things it gave birth to. Black magic is one of those things. You don’t believe in a higher power but you believe in black magic? How utterly and hopelessly ironic! there’s also the people pleasing aspect of their lives that gets thrown into turmoil. not only does one have to construct their moral compass from scratch but a pesky part of their brain activates itself where they must question everything. Most people are sensitised from the moment they’re born into accepting certain things, many of which benefit them. Let’s take feminism for example, that doesn’t really fit into religious scriptures, at least not the ones being touted in Pakistan. a non-believer grows up believing that he’s the superior sex as a man and then bam, atheism happens. they’re no longer superior, they’re just a man. it’s not an easy life for the faithless at all. so, before when a non-believer’s ammi would tell them they had two entities affixed to their structure judging their every move, they had to behave.

But can they now misbehave? no.

Remember the part about being responsible for their own actions?

Being faithless really takes the glamour out of life. One gets stuck with all the existential angst and barely ever gets to ravage the allyou-can-eat-life-buffet. then there’s the whole business of being nice without any incentive. a faithless person has to be good, not so they can bribe their way into heaven but because they’re a decent human being. and we all know how hard it is to be a decent human being in Pakistan, the species is almost extinct. there are no 72 virgins waiting for them and you’re not going to get multiple rivers of milk when they’re done with life. it is such an absolute disappointment. there are so many people nonbelievers have been nice to in their lives hoping for some free cookies and then years later they realise that they should have just punched these people in the nose – what would have it cost them, really? the worst part from all of this is perhaps the fact that no faithless voice really exists. the faithless title has long since been hijacked by people in this country who do have faith, and a disastrous amount of it in fact. Why do they get to walk around with all that faith and still get to be called faithless? Lekin degree degree hoti hai, aur iman iman hota hai; jiska nahi hota, Pakistan mein uska bhi hota hai. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 13

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INTERNATIONAL

DANNY PEARL’S FINAL STORY ASRA Q NOmANI

I

Washingtonian

t’s May 5, 2012, the first time in three and a half years that KsM—as he’s known to American officials—has appeared in court, outside his prison cell. We are at Guantánamo, where a Us military commission is about to arraign him and four other men for the september 11 attacks, in a courtroom that feels like a movie set.

I’m in seat number two in the first row of journalists and spectators, separated from the defendants by a wall outfitted with soundproof glass. A video system feeds sound and pictures to screens above us. I’m about 30 feet behind KsM, and there are 40 of us in the gallery.

For the families of those who died on 9/11, the day marks the start of what’s likely to be a

14 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

years-long trial for justice against KsM, the self-described architect of the World trade Center attacks. For me, it’s something else.

KsM is the man who bragged about taking a knife to the throat of my Wall street Journal colleague and close friend Daniel Pearl. twelve years ago, on January 23, 2002, Danny left my home in Karachi, Pakistan, for an interview and never came back. Like so many of our peers, we had each put down roots in Pakistan to report on America’s socalled war on terror. I was on book leave from the Journal, finishing a memoir. Danny, the newspaper’s south Asia bureau chief, and his wife, Mariane, were living in Islamabad. they’d come to see me for a few days so Danny could do an interview for a story about Richard Reid, the Englishman who had packed his shoes with explosives and tried to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami three days before Christmas

2001. the plan was for Danny and Mariane to vacation in Dubai after Danny’s meeting.

We couldn’t have known that Pakistani militants would kidnap Danny.

On February 21, 2002, a courier for Danny’s captors met an FBI agent at the Karachi sheraton and handed over a three-minute propaganda video glorifying his ghastly end.

A year later, KsM was captured and taken by Us intelligence officials to a secret detention center, where he was tortured and waterboarded throughout months of interrogations. During that time, and again after being transferred to the prison at Guantánamo, KsM confessed to his membership in al-Qaeda and to plotting a long list of terrorist attacks including the 1993 World trade Center explosion, Richard Reid’s botched shoe bombing, and 9/11. He also confessed to cutting off Danny’s head.

A Us military commission charged KsM and his four accomplices with terrorism,

hijacking, conspiracy, and murder for killing 2,976 people on september 11.

But he hasn’t ever been charged with Danny’s death. that’s why I’ve come to Guantánamo.

Unsettled by my country’s failure to close Danny’s case, I spent a decade reporting the facts of his murder and chasing his killer. *********** We were both living in Pakistan then, he in Islamabad and I in Karachi. He came to see me on December 29, 2001. Danny thought he’d be back at my house in Karachi from his interview by 9 pm. At 10, there was no sign of him, so Mariane and I flipped open his laptop to look for clues about his meeting. We found his source immediately. the man had written Danny from nobadmashi@yahoo.com. In Urdu, a native tongue of Pakistan, badmashi means troublemaker.

I spent the night working the phone for leads, and the next day Pakistani policemen swarmed my home. It didn’t feel right to sit back and watch them, waiting for news. As a journalist, I felt I had to investigate, too. then in March 2007, the Us government released a transcript of a military hearing at Guantánamo in which KsM again admitted to murdering Danny. “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan,” KsM said. “For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the internet holding his head.”

By that time, I had moved back to the Us and tried to go on with my life. But I still hadn’t shaken lingering questions about who had actually killed Danny. In 2002, a Pakistani court convicted four militants for the crime.

But I knew from my sources in Pakistan that there wasn’t solid evidence that the men had actually slit my friend’s throat—only that they’d planned the kidnapping. I also knew that Pakistani authorities had released the courier who had delivered the murder video to the FBI. I felt sure he was a link to the mysterious hand.

If that hand belonged to KsM, as he claimed it did, why wasn’t he being held responsible?

Had KsM told his interrogators the truth?

Was he really Danny’s killer?

In the summer of 2007, I set out to answer that question—to finish Danny’s last story.

Computer-assisted reporting, combined with old-fashioned shoe leather, was how we’d try to prove whether KsM’s “blessed” right hand was the one in the video.

Our first big break came in an e-mail from a former FBI agent who had seen an article in UsA today about the course. “I know more than what the FBI has allowed to be told,” he wrote me. A week later, tarine “ty” Fairman, an agent who had been assigned to Danny’s case, showed up in our classroom with an inch-thick binder of internal FBI reports.

He’d interviewed two of the convicted kidnappers—and the courier whom Pakistani authorities had released.

Getting the courier’s name helped us square an account we later got in online chats with a Pakistani policeman named Fayyaz Khan: Khan had interrogated a guard of Danny’s who had witnessed the murder and given the video to the courier.

I went on interviewing current and former officials from the FBI, the CIA, and Pakistan’s government and law enforcement. One source we plumbed regularly was a Pakistani police officer I’d met the day after Danny disappeared. the cop, like so many of the others who were helping us, was frustrated that after all the investigative work he’d done, so few suspects had been arrested. In the spring of 2008, he agreed to meet me in Dubai.

We picked a nondescript hotel and booked a conference room for daylong interviews with the policeman and a Pakistani private investigator. A couple of hours into the first session, the cop pushed a manila envelope stuffed with police reports across the table. I could see that the documents, many of them

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Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014 marked “secret,” were critical.

But once I got back to the US, I couldn’t bring myself to open the folders of police reports for anything more than a cursory glance at their contents. I knew that a big chunk of the documents were written in Urdu and that I’d need my parents to translate them for me.

Over the next several months, they handwrote their translations, my mother agonizing all the while.

The report describing Karim’s police interrogation was the most unsettling to my mother and the most critical to me. He was the guard who was there for the killing and who had been with Danny from the day his kidnappers carted him to a walled-off compound on Karachi’s outskirts: On the front seat was Daniel Pearl. I didn’t recognize the driver. Naeem opened the front door and got Daniel Pearl out, and he put one hand around his neck and had a pistol in his other hand and said, “Come on.” The driver was about 20 to 25 years old, and his skin was colored wheat. They called Daniel Pearl inside. . . . They took off all his clothes. They took all his belongings, which included his camera, small tape [recorder], mobile phone, wristwatch, glasses, wallet . . . shoes and Citibank card. . . . After about 10 to 15 minutes, Naeem Bukhari left with the Alto driver. After about two and a half hours, he returned with food, bedding, chains and a lock, and a tracksuit for Pearl. . . . Daniel Pearl asked in English, “What is going on?” . . . “Is this security?” . . . We tied up his legs with a chain and bound the chain to an old engine that was lying in the room. . . . Then on the third day, Naeem Bukhari arrived with a camera. An English newspaper was put in Daniel Pearl’s hands and a photo was taken. . . . This went on for eight to ten days. . . . . . . Three days before the murder, Daniel Pearl tried to escape in the night. Lagi Khan and I were sleeping. Haji and Lalu took Daniel Pearl to pee in the bathroom. Pearl pushed Lalu, who fell, and tried to jump on the latrine and began screaming, “Help me!”

Lagi Khan and I heard the commotion, and all four of us dragged Pearl into the room and tied his legs, hand, and mouth. . . .

Karim went on to describe how on Danny’s last day, three “Balochi” men arrived. It was a reference to natives of Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province, from which KSM’s family originates: They had a video camera. Naeem Bukhari said, “They are doing something. Let them do it.” . . . These boys had something wrapped in a cloth. In one cloth shopping bag, there were more shopping bags. The Balochi boys made a film with the camera and interviewed him.

Disguised Baloch No. 2 did the interview in English. . . . Later, they gave him a piece of paper with something written on it and asked him to memorize it. After they made him memorize it, he said it in front of the camera.

It was a message for the American government saying, “Stop the cruelty and violence against the Muslims.” . . . After the interview, Pearl’s hands were tied behind his back and a cloth was tied around his eyes. Baloch No. 1 took out two knives and a cleaver from within the cloth. At that moment, the camera was still on. Baloch caught Daniel Pearl by his hair while I held his waist. The Baloch then took the knife and slashed Daniel Pearl’s neck, but due to some technical difficulty, the scene was not captured on the video. Disguised Baloch No. 3 said that they were unable to film it. Disguised Baloch No. 1 expressed his anger. After fixing the camera, they reenacted the whole scene and separated Daniel Pearl’s head from his body.

Afterward, they cut up Daniel Pearl’s body into pieces and put it into the shopping bags.

After being done with the work, they then began to walk around the plot and these three Baloch men started discussing if they should bury him here. Then, on the right side of the room, Gul Khan and I dug a big hole and took out Danny’s remains from the shopping bags and buried the pieces in the big hole. They had made ten pieces of the remains. . . . The floor of the room was then washed and the sunset prayer was done.

All the while, I never stopped checking in with my sources about the ongoing inquiries into Danny’s death. Once I finally started the Pearl Project in 2007, my quest consumed me 24-7.

Ten years after Danny’s family buried him, I

got the opportunity I thought would never come: a slot in the press pool for KSM’s arraignment at Guantánamo in May of 2012.

On the eve of the hearing, 50 other journalists and I boarded a Miami Air charter jet at Andrews Air Force Base. It was a three-hour flight to Guantánamo, and I felt anxious the whole way.

By 9:25 am, we’re seated and a Guantánamo bailiff bellows, “All rise!” As Army colonel James Pohl, the judge, enters, the five defendants remain sitting.

All day it goes like this.

The judge asks KSM questions, and he refuses to answer. The other men copy.

I watch KSM and the other defendants whisper to one another throughout the morning of the arraignment.

For at least an hour, the defense attorneys press their cases for different cultural and religious accommodations for the men.

The stalling goes on and on: The judge’s credentials are questioned. KSM wants everyone in the back of the courtroom identified by name. It’s clear that none of the defendants will be pleading guilty. Four hours in, the judge announces a break for lunch and prayer. The gallery begins to empty. I stay.

KSM and his buddies start chatting and smiling, maybe joking with one another. The courtroom mikes are turned off, so I’m not completely sure. A few minutes later, I’m stunned to hear the familiar singsong of a call to prayer so loud it penetrates the soundproof glass.

I see Al-Shibh cup his ears, the sign that this melodious azan is his. “. . . Hayya ’alas-salah.

Hayya ’alal-falah. Hayya ’alal-falah. Allāhu akbar . . .” he sings.

KSM takes his place in front of the others, and I watch as they begin the same series of rituals I did. Until then, I had watched the killing online only once, in 2003, long after it happened. It was too gruesome, and it was hard to see any of the footage in real detail— not useful. But at the start of the Pearl Project, we learned that the original footage given to the FBI was clear, sharp, and nothing like what appeared on the web. I knew I had to get that copy to see the hands up close.

Kira and I took it back to our office in Georgetown and pushed the DVD into my laptop. “My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish,” came Danny’s voice.

The picture was perfect. The killer’s hand sawed and sawed and sawed, then yanked Danny’s head back and pressed on his jugular vein, just like the consul general John Bauman said, as blood rippled in the swamp at his throat.

I watched it over and over, pausing, rewinding, playing, pausing, rewinding,

playing it again and again, to study the hand on the knife.

FBI agents did the same thing. The agents were in search of the smoking gun to tie KSM’s right hand to the hand in the video.

One agent even took still frames of the murderer’s hand and asked the CIA to compare the photo to KSM’s right hand. The telling detail on the FBI’s photo was a Yshaped vein that extended from the killer’s middle and ring fingers up to the wrist.

Before long, the agent got a reply from his counterpart at the CIA: “The photo you sent me and the hand of our friend inside the cage seem identical to me.”

It was more than a clue—it was a confirmation. But the bureau didn’t act.

Nor did it act when KSM confessed to the agency. Nothing. We learned that the FBI extracted that confession from KSM in 2007, and through crucial interviews we were able to clear up the last mystery: how it was that Danny ended up dying at the hand of KSM instead of the Pakistani kidnappers. KSM told the FBI the captors weren’t sure what to do with Danny and asked al-Qaeda leaders if they wanted him. They did, and it became KSM’s job to deal with him.

KSM told the FBI he believed that killing a Jew would make for powerful propaganda and incite his fellow jihadis. To ensure that the US would seek the death penalty against him should it ever pin the crime on him, KSM told the bureau, he butchered the journalist to have the man’s blood on his hands. “I know why you took the photo of my hand,” KSM said.

Over the course of the Pearl Project, we read more than 2,400 pages of court records and pored over hundreds of other documents, including classified diplomatic cables, slowly piecing together the identities of 27 people involved in Danny’s demise.

We also finished the Richard Reid story Danny had been chasing when he got kidnapped. On the day Danny left my house, he thought he was going to meet a man named Sheik Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, the radical Pakistani cleric who the Boston Globe said could have assisted Reid with the American Airlines plot. Danny thought that finding Reid’s facilitator might lead him to the plotters of 9/11, and he had been promised an interview with Gilani.

But we learned from information KSM gave to the FBI that Gilani wasn’t actually Reid’s hookup; Ammar, KSM’s nephew, was. The source who promised Danny a meeting with Gilani never planned to deliver; the actual plan was to kidnap him. And as we learned from the FBI, it was his kidnappers who eventually

handed him over to KSM—meaning, sadly, that Danny’s instinct about being led to the architects of 9/11 was right-on.

Yet of everything we learned and published in 2011 in our 31,000-word report, the FBI’s vein-matching revelation was the most significant. It was the strongest piece of evidence against KSM independent of his confession—evidence that I was never able to see with my own eyes.

Which, suddenly, at Guantánamo, as my mind replays the murder video and the TV screens above me show close-ups of KSM fiddling with paper, becomes so . . . obvious.

The reason I’m here.

It’s right in front of me.

It’s a look at KSM’s right hand.

All day I’ve been listening, I’ve been observing, absorbing, and now it’s almost over and I haven’t seen that hand.

And I need to. I zero in on the screens, afraid to lose any glimpse I might get.

KSM reaches for a pen, and I see he’s righthanded. I watch as he goes to write, his hand clenched in a fist and bent slightly toward his core. Yes. Yes. The Y-shaped vein. I see it.

Seeing KSM’s hand, I so badly wanted him to be charged with the crime. But I knew it wasn’t likely. In 2006, a group of federal officials had recommended trying KSM for 9/11, not Danny’s death, even though they believed they had a strong case for murder.

“Looking at the two photos, there was nothing that stood out to me to contradict that conclusion,” Morris Davis, the chief prosecutor for the Guantánamo military commission from 2005 through 2007, told me. “I have no reason to doubt that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed killed Daniel Pearl.”

From a procedural perspective, as it was explained to me, federal officials felt that bundling Danny’s case with the 9/11 charges would make KSM’s prosecution more complicated. And so it became clear, at Guantánamo, that the only work left for me to do was to heal my wound.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed never said a word to the court in Guantánamo that day. When the last words of the 88-page charge sheet were finally read at 10:28 pm, 13 hours and 5 minutes after the proceeding began, the judge cracked his gavel and just like that the arraignment came to a swift, odd end.

KSM stood up and smiled, and I watched as he picked up a stack of books draped with his tazbi, his prayer beads. A minute later, he was gone. And what was I left with?

(It is an edited version of a longer piece on the Washingtonian). g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 15

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Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

INTerNATIoNAl

The makers of jihadist strategy The core of this work is an exegesis of the written works of four of the most prominent strategic thinkers in the al Qaeda world: Abu Ubayd al-Qurashi, Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin, Abu Bakr al-Naji, and Abu Musab al-Suri.

T

MArk SToUT War on the rocks

hese days, westerners write more about jihadist strategy than the jihadists do. In fact, just as the study of jihadist strategy was taking off in the West, the golden age of strategic studies within the jihadist world was coming to an end. Decoding Al-Qaeda’s strategy: The Deep Battle Against America,

by Michael W. s. Ryan of the Jamestown Foundation, is one of the most recent contributions to western literature on a jihadist strategy. It can almost be thought of as the Makers of Modern strategy for the al Qaeda world.

Like innumerable books on modern jihadism, Ryan’s book discusses the works of sayyid Qutb and Ayman al-Zawahiri, but its core is an exegesis of the written works of four of the most prominent strategic thinkers in the al Qaeda world: Abu Ubayd al-Qurashi, Abd alAziz al-Muqrin, Abu Bakr al-Naji, and Abu Musab al-suri. Interestingly, even though the struggle against al Qaeda continues unabated, by 2005 all of the writers highlighted in this book had gone silent—captured, killed, or vanished—and no comparably big names have since arisen to take their place.

Ryan is diligent in noting the many shortcomings in the strategic thought of the individuals he discusses. however, two of these thinkers, al-Qurashi and al-Muqrin, are undeniably the intellectual inferiors among the quartet. In many ways, al-Qurashi is more of a pundit than a full-fledged strategic thinker in his own right, and Ryan doesn’t portray him as any deeper in this book. AlQurashi’s modus operandi was to appropriate western works on military strategy or ideas current in western military thought and then show how they indicated the inevitable victory of the mujahideen. As far as alMuqrin is concerned, his work is basically an Islamist rehashing of traditional insurgency concepts of individual countries. Al-Muqrin’s intellectual contribution seems to have been little more than making the ideas of Mao and Giap more accessible to Arab jihadists.

Abu Musab al-suri, however, is a thinker of a much higher order, one who contributes original thought. Ryan provides a useful chapter-length summary of his work. (Those eager for more should read Brynjar Lia’s book, Architect of Global Jihad.) Al-suri takes a comprehensive look at the last fifty years of sunni Islamist radicalism and observes that its revolutions have repeatedly been thwarted both militarily and in terms of spreading their message. he finds that the two main modes of jihadist operations are no longer applicable. Clandestine terrorist organizations like the egyptian Islamic Group can no longer achieve their goals given postCold War realities. They cannot play the two superpowers against each other and they are too weak to survive without sanctuary or support. Meanwhile, the “open fronts” such as Afghanistan in the 1980s (or syria today) are usually doomed to failure unless they are in far corners of the earth, because the United states and other high-tech powers are militarily undefeatable and willing to intervene almost anywhere. In fact, in general Al-suri thinks that modern militaries are essentially unbeatable on their own terms, especially when they operate in concert with the local security services which know the human terrain and have excellent intelligence insights.

Al-suri’s solution, of course, is individual

16 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

jihad, or death by a thousand cuts to the actions into strategic success. It is a enemies of Islam. This seems to be a tactically virtuosic and strategically tone-deaf somewhat reworked version of the idea of idea. As Ryan puts it, “all al-suri’s individual leaderless resistance, a notion that originated and small unit terrorism accomplishes is a in the 1950s with the American far right— continuation of random terrorist acts to which was concerned about a Communist exhaust an enemy…unaccompanied by opentakeover—and later moved to the racist right, front insurrections, such acts are politically which was concerned about other sorts of meaningless.” takeovers. It is not at all clear, however, that Of the four thinkers that Ryan discusses, Abu al-suri was exposed to the American idea of Bakr Naji is the only one who really leaderless resistance and Ryan does not addresses al Qaeda’s grand strategic address the question. In fact, al-suri was problem: how to build a caliphate that would very likely not exposed to it, because though encompass much of the globe. Naji assesses he is well read in the field of western and the global oppression of Muslims and finds Marxist literature on revolutionary warfare the United states to be the linchpin of that there is little written on leaderless resistance, system. he notes that the U.s., much like the and what there is generally is not categorized UssR in its day, has global power as a result as military literature. hence, this may of a combination of actual actually be a case of military strength, a : parallel development of “deceptive media halo” and gy te ra St l-Qaeda’s Decoding A comparable ideas. social cohesion. however, erica Am t ns ai Ag ttle The Deep Ba In any event, the problem these determinants of Rumi Author: Raza sity er with individual jihad is power are also points of iv Un a bi m lu Publisher: Co that—as with leaderless vulnerability. successful rk Yo w Ne , 13 Press, 20 resistance—there is no way terrorist and to translate individual uncoordinated

insurgency operations can force the United states to overstretch itself, puncture the media halo and allow the fissures in American society to widen, ultimately laying the country low. This, Naji says, is what the mujahideen did to the soviet Union, which he claims was twice as strong as the United states. Once the United states is brought down, then the mujahideen can use classical Maoist insurgency approaches to building the caliphate one country at a time.

There are a number of problems with Naji’s work, however. First, his prescription for bringing down the United states could rightly have been described as delusional when it was first written and the intervening decade has provided no reason to think otherwise. second, Naji writes in excessively general terms. For instance, though he does recognize that there are various streams of Islam, he tends to think of Muslims as Muslims, full stop, not stopping to consider other sources of identity such as nationalism or ethnicity. In the real world, the al Qaeda movement has faced significant problems managing these issues, as the fraught relationship between the Arabs of Al Qaeda and Taliban before 9/11 and difficult relations between Arab and Tuareg Islamists in Mali indicate. More broadly, political, economic, social and geographic conditions differ radically across the Muslim world. hence, it is difficult to imagine that a generic blueprint for revolution will work in all countries. In fact, every international border will be a firebreak for revolution. New technologies and social media may allow revolutionary zeal to jump borders more easily than it used to, but revolutionary forces manifest themselves differently in every country and revolutions unfold differently in every country. Compare egypt and Jordan (for instance) since 2011 and one sees the point immediately. As a result, building the caliphate would be a slow, slow process, eminently vulnerable to counteraction.

Ryan emphasizes two main themes in Decoding Al-Qaeda’s strategy. The first is the debt owed to traditional Maoist thinking on revolutionary warfare by the strategic thinkers that he considers. he is thoroughly persuasive on this point. The other theme is the importance of the “deep battle” of ideas.

Ryan rightly maintains that the United states and its partners are excellent at the “close battle,” killing and capturing terrorists. he also notes that the jihadists have not been particularly successful in attracting support, as Mao would have wanted them to do.

Unfortunately, his argument for the importance of the “deep battle” and the development of an American counternarrative seems rather tacked on to the beginning and end of a book that is otherwise overwhelmingly military in its flavor.

Nevertheless, this book is a useful addition to the literature. It also has the merit of containing in its appendices translations of two essays by Al-Qurashi’s: one very early one dating probably from the 1990s on revolutionary war and one on Fourth Generation Warfare. Perhaps the book’s greatest contribution, however, is in succinctly illustrating the extent to which the jihadists have failed to answer the most important strategic question: how to conduct a global revolutionary war.

Mark Stout is a Senior Editor at War on the Rocks. He is the Director of the MA Program in Global Security Studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Arts and Sciences in Washington, D.C. g

Sunday, 09 - 15 FEB, 2014

Books

A pakistani’s true love A remarkable piece on a much ignored Islamic past, taking us through the cultural development during Muslim rule in India

MEhrEEn oMEr The writer is a status quo critic by habit and a marketing scientist by profession. She tweets @mehreen_omer.

B

efore you mistake this book as just another travelogue and that too of supposedly Pakistan’s biggest enemy, take a minute to sit down and read through this review. raza rumi has delivered a remarkable piece on a much ignored Islamic past, taking us through the cultural development during Muslim rule in India while discussing its sharp contrast to the state of affairs we have today.

Yes, there was a time when the producing heirs, rumi shows how Hindus and Muslims were one two prominent women had stood nation and an atmosphere of up against their brothers and inclusiveness prevailed. rumi fathers who in fact happened to be discusses how Islam spread in the Mughal emperors. Zebunnisa, the subcontinent largely through the eldest daughter of Aurangzeb, was Sufis and their message of love for famous for her poetry and did not everyone, regardless of their agree with the strict belief. interpretations of Islamic law that The Sufis gained deep admirers her father ascribed to. In the from not only the Muslims, but words of rumi, she was the also the Hindus. The Sufis did not antithesis to her father’s concentrate on converting people personality and politics. to Islam; those that did convert did Jehanara Begum, the eldest so primarily out of love for the daughter of Shah Jahan and the Divine, and not out of fear. And yet sister of Aurangzeb, was initiated it is so difficult today to make the into the Qadiriya Sufi order. She evangelists understand today that commissioned the building of faith is a matter of conviction and many mosques, and sponsored the you can convert more people by construction of Jaame Masjid in having a good 1648. She was a character than by great patron of verbally teaching Sufi literature, ‘Rumi discusses how them about the unlike her Islam spread in the message. brother While many Aurangzeb who subcontinent largely would disregard was bent upon through the Sufis and Muslim women enforcing his their message of love for as playing any puritan version everyone, regardless of better a role in of Shari’a in the their belief.’

Islamic land. civilisation than razia Sultana on

the other verse from hand was his poetry ‘Dara Shikoh was extremely upset born during reads: about the ‘emptiness of rituals and the time of “May the the surface understanding of the Delhi world be spirituality’. A verse from his poetry Sultanate, free from and the noise of reads: May the world be free from succeeded the mullah; the noise of the mullah; And none her father And none should pay any heed to their fatwas.’ should pay Shamsuddin Iltutmish as any heed to the their empress. She believed that the fatwas.” While some may take his spirit of religion was more creed to be absolutely heretical, it important than anything else and is only but a rejection of the was against over-burdening of the monopoly of Islam by the clergy non-Muslims. She established and not a rejection of Islam itself. many schools, public libraries and This book has countless anecdotes centres of research during her from history for those who like to reign. understand how Islam spread in But perhaps the most shocking the Indian subcontinent, along narration in the book is that of with its cultural dimensions of Dara Shikoh and his sharp contrast language, architecture, food and in terms of views to his brother, music. It serves as a sharp Aurangzeb. Dara Shikoh was reminder for all of us who still see extremely upset about the the Indians as ‘emptiness of enemies, not a part of rituals and the a common tradition rt surface dating more than a Delhi by Hea Rumi understanding of thousand years Author: Raza ns rperColli spirituality’. A back. g Publisher: Ha Rs 995 Price: Pages: 322;

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Countless Sufi establishments or khanqahs dotting the Indian spiritual landscape with deeply entrenched pilgrimage networks were the major means that brought the masses into the fold of Islam. The khanqahs blended local tradition with Islamic values and provided caste-less, monotheistic version of spirituality where the charisma and wisdom of the pir of his descendants served as powerful elements to attract the local population.

Centuries of coexistence were destroyed overnight by new definitions of ‘we’ the harmless and ‘they’ the harmful; hence ‘they’ should be attacked, raped and killed. Over time, violence lives on, sometimes in wars, at other in the form of India’s communalism and Pakistan’s sectarian bloodbaths.

The curious mélange of music fusion in North India started with Arab and Mongol incursions into India. However, it was the arrival of the Sufis and their accompanying musicians that served as a catalyst to the emergence of contemporary

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Hindustani classical music as we know of today…The famous music composer AR Rahman’s devotion to the Chishti saints and the naming of his music conservatory in southern India after Khwaja Moinuddin of Ajmer, is a continuation of this vibrant, ongoing and, very possibly, endless process.

At its zenith, Chandi Chowk was a fabled area frequented by local elites, Armenian and Turkish adventurers, Persian poets and Italian merchants. Just a little distance away, stood one of the world’s richest courts. Rumour had it that it required fourteen full years to evaluate Shah Jahan’s riches! There were bustling tree-lined boulevards with coffee houses for the rich, wafting aromas of the imported bean from Persia, and shops selling Chinese eye-glasses, jewellery, cheetahs and even eunuchs!

Dara Shikoh was the eldest son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal… He constantly chided the ignorance of these self-appointed guardians of faith who were not

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unlike the fundamentalists of today. Dara wrote that in every age, every prophet and saint had undergone afflictions and torments because of the rigid bigotry of clerics, the mullahs.

High literature in Urdu grew in three different centres – the Deccan, Delhi and Lucknow. The Deccan emerged as the earliest centre for the Urdu ghazal, due to the linguistic interactive between the local people and Muslim conquerors from Central Asia who settled there in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Mughal pre-Mutiny pageantry was best represented by grand festivals that were a matter of public excitement. The emperor would ‘parade the streets on his elephant, the ministers, the heirapparent and the Mirzas in their places. A straggle of foot soldiers went in front and behind; musicians sounded trumpets and rhapsodists recited the imperial praises – a slightly tarnished and tawdry assembly perhaps, and raucous to the ear, but cheerful and colourful and much appreciated.

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Art

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Show

The AAP

The only exhibition that displays works of more than one hundred artists from all over Pakistan

Nadeem alam The writer teaches Art-History at the University College of Art and Design, Lahore. He is a researcher, art-Historian and art-critic with a special interest in Western, South Asian and Pakistani art. Email: nadeem.cad@pu.edu.pk

I

t was a beautiful evening of January with soft sunshine. the elongated shadows were creeping down the cubic shape brickarchitecture of the Alhamra Arts Council, where almost a hundred artists were together for the opening ceremony of the 13thNational Show which eventually was the 28th Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculpture and Graphic Arts under the umbrella of the Artists’ Association of Punjab, commonly known as AAP. this show has some unique features as this is the only exhibition that displays works of more than one hundred artists from all over Pakistan. On the genre-based categorization, this show encompasses landscapes, figurative paintings, still-life paintings, portraits, drawings, miniatures, calligraphy and graphic art prints whereas oil colours, water colours, pastels, acrylics, pencils, ballpoint pens and inks; all mediums seem bursting into the various frames and scales of creativity and emotional emancipation. to quote Mian Ijaz ul Hassan, the chairman of AAP: “In the present

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exhibition, there is a considerable range of art works on display. they represent several interests and points of view ranging from calligraphy, traditional and modern miniatures, perceptual and conceptual works and modernist and post-modernist endeavours.�

Pakistan is considered a dangerous zone, especially in the recent years after engaged in the brutal challenges of War on terror, talibanization, militarization, martial-law invasions, Ziaism, Bhuttoism, Corruption and Political gains, Enlightened Moderation and Liberalization; all together with no space to think or decide! therefore, this country has become an experimental pulpit for numerous sermons that have been driving almost 180 million individuals from one point to another, physically as well as psychologically. In this situation, an art show that provides an equalopportunity platform to nearly 120 artists from all over Pakistan seems really a valuable effort.

However, the assortment of the artwork in this exhibition provides a visual documentation of varied thoughts, ideologies, and atmospheres along with facial

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‘In the present exhibition, there is a considerable range of art works on display.

They represent several interests and points of view ranging from calligraphy, traditional and modern miniatures, perceptual and conceptual works and modernist and post modernist endeavors.’

Mian ijaz ul Hassan, Chairman aaP

and anatomical expressions of this land. For the last 28 years, this show has put together various trends, styles and techniques to document and record the development of different art forms and their exponents in the brochures; published yearly with images of paintings.

One cannot ignore the professional efforts of the Artists’ Association of Punjab (AAP) in organizing this gigantic show. the AAP is formally divided into sub-committees for this purpose under the chairmanship of Mian Ijaz ul Hassan. the Selection Committee comprises on Mr. Ghulam Mustafa, Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali, Ms. Maliha Azami Aga and Mr. Quddus Mirza; the Display Committee has the services of Mr. Ghulam Mustafa Ms. Amina Cheema and Mr. Raza ur Rehman; the Seminar Committee is studded with Dr. Musarrat Hasan, Dr. Rahat Naveed Masud, Ms. Maliha Azami Aga and Ms. Kehkashan Jafri. the Printing and Publication Committee consist of Mr. Ghulam Mustafa, Mian Ijaz ul Hassan, Mr. Quddus Mirza and Mr. Mahboob Ali whereas the Media Committee’s members are Ms. Shela Farooq, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Zulfi and Ms. Amna I. Patodi. this show not only has always been serving novice artists as a reputable platform but also providing them the opportunity to exhibit their work alongside the big names in the art of Pakistan. this is a unique show keeping in view the diversity and range of the displayed artwork.

Over the last three decades, this venue has helped many emerging artists to grow and skill themselves as notable names of Pakistani art.

Education, research and publication have never been a priority for the ruling elites in Pakistan, who never bothered to allocate a good percentage of the state’s budget for this purpose. In the field of arts, this scarcity is even worse with a handful of publications on the subject.

Moreover, these books and catalogues are usually authored by individuals who, either were foreigners or immigrant Pakistanis like Anna Molka Ahmad, Marjorie Husain, Marcella Nomen Sirhindi and Barbara Schmitz, or were related to other subjects rather than purely to the visual arts with exceptions of Musarrat Hassan and Ijaz ul Hassan.

In this scenario, the continuous

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publication of the AAP brochure every year, over a span of almost three decades, is a precious, visual as well as analytical, contribution to the documentation of the general evolution of art in Pakistan.

Apart from the exhibition, the Artists’ Association of Punjab has to its credit, a seminar every year, on art-related issues of Pakistan. this seminar provides the opportunity to the researchers, arthistorians and art-critics of our country to share their views, analysis and observations. It is a universal fact that today, the appropriate documentation of various art schools and art movements, of the Western world, is due to the proper and timely efforts of their art historians and

‘On the genre-based categorization, this show encompasses landscapes, figurative paintings, stilllife paintings, portraits, drawings, miniatures, calligraphy and graphic art prints whereas oil colours, water colours, pastels, acrylics, pencils, ballpoint pens and inks; all mediums seem bursting into the various frames and scales of creativity and emotional emancipation.’ art critics who not only preserved the history and changing patterns of diverse art forms, but also provided guidelines and ideologies to the generations to come.

Had the café Moulin Rouge not been a hub for painters, scholars and writers of France, we would not have been able to have the refined and sophisticated vision of the Western or modern art. In Lahore, Pak tea House once used to serve the writers, scholars and painters of the city in the same manner. Now this place is only confined to literary activities, and seldom any artists, art-historian or art-critic is found in the subdued and serene atmosphere of that café.

In these circumstances, the annual seminar on Pakistani art is a blessing unmatched. g

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