Author: Anil Narendra
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: October 4, 2001
In this new war against terrorism
initiated by the United States, the biggest winner is Pakistan's President
General Pervez Musharraf. General Musharraf has been successful in not
only legitimising his military regime but has also emerged as the closest
ally (after Britain) of the US in the present war. All one has to do is
watch the CNN. General Musharraf's picture follows President Bush's and
Prime Minister Blair's in the war bulletins. The US, which, till a couple
of months ago, was insisting on a roadmap for democracy from Pakistan,
and also refused to address Gen. Musharraf as "President", is now praising
the extremely bold stand taken by the military ruler against terrorism.
Democracy be damned.
In the process General Musharraf
has successfully managed to get the sanctions removed. He has also been
rewarded with a $50 million loan by the US. The loans from IMF are separate.
With full American backing, General Musharraf can now go ahead with his
nuclear programme and produce more "Islamic bombs". It doesn't come as
a surprise when the Taliban say that Pakistan's Atomic bomb is in fact
an "Islamic Bomb'. After all, they too have contributed to the building
of the Bomb. The best part is that Gen. Musharraf in the process has Osama
bin Laden and the Taliban. He has successfully fooled the Bush Administration
that he will hand over bin Laden to it. Time and again President Bush has
given Gen. Musharraf an extension to deliver bin Laden. Meanwhile, Gen.
Musharraf has arranged sufficient time for bin Laden and the Taliban to
set their house in order and prepare for any eventuality.
One can't blame Gen. Musharraf for
making full use of the opportunity provided by Bush and Co. Surely the
Americans are not so naive as to believe that Pakistan is not involved
with bin Laden, the Taliban and terrorist activities originating from this
region? The Taliban is the illegitimate child of Pakistan. The Taliban
has called for jihad and appealed to Muslims around the world to come to
their aid in case the US attacks. In this they have found substantial support
from Pakistan, despite Gen. Musharraf's assertion to the contrary.
Again, it is quite possible that
bin Laden may have crossed into Pakistan, either to remain there or make
this way to one of the very few countries in the world that might host
him. After all, planners of such ingenious attack would have, in the very
first stages of their scheme, taken into consideration that bin Laden would
obviously be the prime suspect and Afghanistan the target. So, Pakistan
would be quite capable of running with the hares and hunting with the hounds.
The attacks have proved that the motivation was two fold. On the one hand,
it was fundamentalism, an unquestioned belief in shahadat, and on the other
intense hatred for the kafirs.
Classified information gathered
by the Indian intelligence agencies reveals that a group of high ranking
officials of the Pakistani Air Force are helping the Taliban at Bagram
Air base, while the Pakistan counsel general, an official of the ISI based
in Herat, is an advisor to the militia on militancy and political issues.
Significantly, Pakistani nationals are still occupying senior posts in
the Taliban regime. Mullah Israil, a native of Chaman, heads an intelligence
wing, while Abdur Razak, a resident of Quetta, looks after security in
Kabul. While Pakistan has apparently sealed its border with Afghanistan,
the truth is that he has redeployed its forces near Kabul. A few months
ago, the ISI opened two new offices in Kandahar and Kabul, ostensibly to
liaise with the Taliban. The ISI has also set up an office in Mazar-e-Sharif
to facilitate coordination with Islamic offensive in Uzbekistan and Chechnya.
About 2000 Afridis - many from the
Islami Jamaat-e-Toiba, student wing of the Pakistan based Jammat-e-lslami
- are fighting alongside the Taliban in Tak Shar province where 250 cadres
of the Sipah-e-Saba have also been deployed. Pakistani students of various
madarsas, many belonging to Maulana Fazlur Rahman's Jamaat-ul-Ulema Islam,
have been fighting the forces of the Northern Alliance. However, in violation
of the UN resolution 1333 of December 2000, Islamabad continues to support
the Taliban. A five-member UN expert group, set up to monitor the sanctions
against Kabul, pointed out recently that Pakistan "could do more to help
enforce an arms embargo and other sanctions" against the Taliban. Its report
observed that Pakistan had failed to "regulate" its madarsas, which were
an important sources of recruitment.
Reports and intercepts also confirm
that some Pakistanis occupy high posts in the Taliban army. Pakistani commando
sub-units are stationed in the building of the artillery headquarters in
the area of the former 110 division in Nangamar province, Faizan; military
advisor in the south-west group and Mohammed Gul, military adviser in Kandahar,
are both from the ISI. It doesn't come as a surprise when Pakistan sends
its ISI chief as part of the delegation to convince the Taliban to see
reason. A Russian news to the UN reported that Osama bin Laden had at least
55 bases or offices in Afghanistan earlier this year, with over 13,000
men, ranging from Arabs and Pakistanis to Chechnyans and the Philippines.
In addition to bin Laden's own men, about 3,500 fundamentalist Pakistanis
too are in Afghanistan, apart from soldiers and diplomats, to the hard-line
Taliban movement.
With the American stand being what
it is, where does it leave India? It is hoping that the US President meant
what he said: States harboring terrorists will be held as responsible as
the terrorists themselves, and will be dealt with accordingly. With Pakistan
emerging as the saviour of American interests, India cannot expect any
positive response from the US in its ongoing war against terrorism created
by Pakistan. We have handled the situation for the last 11 years and are
quite capable of handling it in the future as well. Home Minister Advani
should be complimented for initiating steps against this ongoing war. The
first step has been taken. Fundamentalist and anti-national organisations
like SIMI have been banned. I would not like to get into a debate whether
banning will give us the desired result. But what is more important is
to send a clear message that India means business, and that it is prepared
to back up what it says - unlike the US which, for the past three weeks,
has been fooling the American people and the entire world.
Other important steps that are required
is the banning of madarsas in India that are involved in anti-national
activities. Also, withdrawal of the security cover to Hurriyat leaders
who openly defy the nation and are in league with the ISI. Another important
measure could be the setting up of special courts to obtain fast convictions
of terrorists in our jails. Guarding them is difficult, and they are forever
involved in planning and execution of many anti-national schemes from their
cells. India must also demand the extradition of Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota
Shakeel, Tiger Memon and their other associates, accused in the Mumbai
blasts case. These people fall in the same category as Osama bin Laden
and his gang, whether President Bush or General Musharraf agree or disagree.
It is in India's strategic interest
to forge an alliance with Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran to fight
Islamic fundamentalists. China, Iran, the former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan and even neutral Turkmenistan dislike Islamic fundamentalism
for their own reasons. Iran, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan face threats of
a spillover of Taliban's extremism into their territories. China, Russia
and Uzbekistan already face problems of Islamic separatism. The Kashmir
turmoil needs no explaining.
