• • • Ammara asks...

[ Ammara, a friend (actually my wife's, but what the hell mine too :p) raised following questions in comments section of a post titled 'Self Destructive Sub-Continent,' and I thought I'd post her 'comment', as it is, as a new blog entry. ]


Yesterday, another catastrophic event took place at Mall (road), some terrorists (so called Taliban) detonated a bomb and brought the police building to rubble. My office happens to be at Mall View Bank Square so it is hardly a few kilometers away from the disaster site. I can tell you that when the bomb went off my office building quaked such that we thought it is going to collapse; thankfully it did not. At first it looked like an earth quake but we could see a thick cloud of smoke in the sky and my colleagues knew then and there that it was a bomb blast. That was indeed a terrible incident and it shook me deeply and for the first time I was scared, though people around me were joking and laughing about it since this is the 4th time they have witnessed such a mishap.

Anyway, Rehman Malik (interior minister) promptly issued a statement that since Taliban are being defeated in Sawat and FATA this is their way of retaliation. President and Prime Minister as usual condemned the attack (it seems like this is the only thing they are capable of doing). My question here is why have we put these allegations on Taliban? What makes us so sure that only Taliban are capable of carrying out such activity? It is known to everyone that there are many external agencies (Iranians, Russians and others) actively operating in Pakistan these days and the mission is to destabilize Pakistan. So, why are Taliban being blamed for everything that is happening around us? It could be that the government wants people to strongly abhor Taliban and to wipe out any sympathies or doubts people have for them.

As per our prime minister, a recent Poll concluded that 75% Pakistani people voted for the army operations against militancy but we tend to forget that 80% of our population is do not have means or resources to the electronic media so which community does this 75% represent?

Another question is that if we allowed US to carry out drones in Pakistan territory, violating our sovereignty then why not allow Britain, India and others who have been the victims of the terrorist activities to carry out drones? I do not see the logic.

I get to read that Taliban are gathering in Karachi or Lahore so are we the next chosen one’s after Waziristan and Sawat? Do I see an end to the war that has started, the answer is NO, I don’t.

• • • Swat deal, A clever tactical maneuver ?

Swat peace deal with TNSM was met with mixed reactions. Some breathed a sigh of relief hoping for revival of peace in the valley, some reacted very strongly against it saying that it would do no good, and rest were clueless. The West and US had very strong reservations of the peace accord and they opposed it vocally. Still government of Pakistan went ahead and got it passed from the parliament. After a couple of months of signing the deal and a month after enforcing the new Nizam-e-Adl regulation, we can now judge it, more objectively.

First of all let's see what were the immediate outcomes of the deal, first the positives;

* Swat became relatively peaceful.
* Most of Pakistanis were finally happy that government listened to their wishes and gave peace a chance.

Now, the negatives;

* Militants started over estimating themselves.
* Rest of the world started accusing Pakistan of surrendering to the Taliban.
* Incidents like flogging girls in public started happening.
* Taliban started to move into other areas of Malakand, like Buner and Lower Dir.
* Finally, a military action in Dir.

Now the question that arises in my mind is that could the peace deal actually be a clever tactical maneuver by Pakistani military establishment, namely General Kiyani, to expose Taliban's true face and intentions and go after them with full force? The government has killed 3 birds with one arrow by signing and exposing the evil militants; 1- got the much needed public opinion swayed in favor of military action, 2- isolated Taliban from any political support that they had like Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmad, and, 3- revived army's lost support in general public.

So if it was actually a calculated, planned strategy, then well done Pakistan! I just hope that the military action this time is decisive and result oriented.

• • • 'Dir' aaye, durust aaye !

On Sunday morning, the Swati Taliban, who have reportedly been gathering in Dir district, ambushed the security forces. The attack on forces lead to a counter attack on the militants by the Frontier Constabulary and as a result many are reported dead. Security forces lost a personnel too. This was inevitable. Despite governments efforts to bring peace in Malakand division through a peace deal with Sufi Mohammad's TNSM, this was inevitable.

To begin with, I feel, Sufi Mohammad's control over the Swati Taliban was somewhat overrated and overestimated. It was a little too much of an ask, and surely Sufi wasn't up to the task. Some of the points that were agreed upon in the Swat peace deal were;

• The Taliban would recognize the writ of the government and cooperate with security forces;
• The Taliban would halt attacks on barber and music shops;
• The Taliban cannot display weapons in public;
• The Taliban would turn in heavy weapons (rockets, mortars);
• The Taliban cannot operate training camps;
• The Taliban would denounce suicide attacks;
• A ban would be placed on raising private militias;

None of these agreed upon conditions were fulfilled by the Taliban despite Sufi Mohammad's promises. The government on their end did whatever was necessary like allowing the Nizam-e-Adl regulation to be imposed and halting the military operation. Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman openly defied the agreement vowing to carry the arms publically. Not just that, Swati Taliban were not only behind the 15th April Charsadda suicide attack killing 15, but they advanced to and took over Buner as well, only to retreat after talks and threat of action by the Army Chief.

Most of the country breathed a sigh of relief after the deal was signed in a hope that peace would finally return in Swat and adjoining areas. But that was not to be. Can an ordinary deal stop the men on divine mission from their duties? I doubt it. Sufi Mohammad still looks like a reasonable man, and reports from areas under his influence aren't that bad either. But his notorious son in law, Maulana Fazlullah, and Swati Taliban cannot be trusted. They can never be trusted. The use of force would be the only way forward, or else their areas of influence would spread.

A positive that has come out of all this 'deal, or no deal' fiasco is that the Swati Taliban have been exposed, and the sympathies, if the had any, in public have dimished. Even people like Nawaz Sharif, Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Imran Khan, who openely supported the deal with Taliban, have now come out in public to denounce them. Now the public, that was earlier against a military action, would support it, which should always be marketed as an option unless Taliban honor the deals like Swat in letter and spirit.

• • • Brownie Points

I have never been a MQM supporter. As a matter of fact, I've always been negatively prejudiced towards the party, it's leadership and all that is associated with them. I still have the vivid images of the torture cells, allegedly run by MQM, with the blood splashed all overall in my mind, and it is not easy to change a point of view as strong easily. I also have the scences of the gloomy and dark 12th May fresh in my head. So my prejudice is not that unreasonable afterall.

Anyway, coming to the point. One should never hesitate to appreciate when it is due. MQM's stance on the Pakistan Government's deal with Taliban deserves all the praise and applause that one can render. Altaf Hussain and his party's vocal opposition of this horrible deal has conveyed the feelings of millions of Pakistanis across the world to the world at large. It really takes guts to stand up an enemy as brutal and dangerous as the Taliban, and MQM deserves all thr brownie points for doing so.

Good work Altaf and MQM.

• • •Taliban Marriage Bureau

Life is full of surprises. These days most of the surprises that life is offering, unfortunately, are unpleasant ones. For example, ten years back, who would have thought that Taliban would be in Pakistan, ruling a tiny territory? Or for example, in Mush's era, who would have thought Pakistan Government would sign a deal with Taliban? But these surprises keep coming along, making it difficult to accept them and come to terms with them.

Now, the surprise that I plan to talk about in this post is something that I wouldn't have imagined even in the wildest of my dreams. Swati Taliban patronizing LOVE MARRIAGES. Exactly! I was also shocked as much as you are.

The Taliban in Swat have set up a Bureau called 'Uroosat' or 'Marriages' which will make sure the men and women who are in love, but cannot tie the knot because of family or tribal pressure can be gotten married. All you have to do is make a phone call, and Taliban will take care of the rest. They have given a fatwa or a religious decree that all the adult men and women have a right to marry someone of their choice or they love. Reports are that they have already arranged marriages of several such couples. They have also given assuarnces that these couple will not be targeted by their familes or tribes under the ages old brutal tribal custom of 'honor killings.'

I hope Government of Pakistan too could take out just this leaf out of Taliban's book and implement it through out the country. But only if wishes were horses...

• • • Koi Ummeed Bar Nahi Aati, Koi Surat Nazar Nahi Aati!

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(Originally posted at Blurred Boundaries on Wednesday, April 1, 2009)


With every passing day I'm loosing hope, hope of a secure, peaceful and bright future, if I'll have one at all, in my beloved country - Pakistan.

Every incident (like the one of lashing a 17 year old girl publicly in Swat for going out with her father in law) instills fear in me. I think of the days, months and years to come.. I think of my own daughter and it gives me shivers, just the thought that what the future might hold for her.

Every news item makes me feel that things have gotten out of hands, that there is just no hope, only fear. And when I see my fellow Pakistanis not realizing this almost certain threat, it saddens me even more.

So I ask myself once again.... Hope - All's lost, Or all that remains?