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Detentions: A case against Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - The fear of "free officers" in military establishments and "free
servants" in society who follow their own ideology has haunted Arab governments
for many years, especially in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Pakistan, too, has had its concerns about mutiny in the armed forces, but the
traditional view is that its army is too big and too professional for elements
to fall prey to dissenting ideology.
Two assassination attempts against President General Pervez Musharraf in
December 2003, [1] and subsequent arrests in connection with the attempts,
show, however, that not only is the army not marching to the same beat, but
that Islamabad's policy of treating radical Islamists, militants and political
Islamists as one and the same is counterproductive, with dangerous
implications.
Asia Times Online has learned from several different sources that behind the
iron curtains of Attock Fort [2] hundreds of people belonging to the Pakistani
army and air force, as well as civilians, are being held. The civilians were
arrested across the country, from the southern port city of Karachi to the
South Waziristan tribal area on the Afghan border.
They are being detained for alleged participation, links, association or at
least familiarity with people involved in the two assassination attempts on
Musharraf in December 2003. The detainees include members of militant
organizations such as Harkatul Ansar and its linked body, the Shuhada
Foundation, created by the Inter-Services Intelligence to support bereaved
families of those sent to fight Indian troops in Kashmir (besides the
Jaish-i-Mohammed).
The civilians have been categorized into those who seduced people in the
military to act against their chief for the cause of Islam, those who hatched
the conspiracies, those who financed them, and those who knew the conspirators.
This situation reminds of "free officers" and "free servants" in Egypt (mainly
belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood), and "free officers" belonging to the
Communist Party in Iraq and the Ba'ath Party in Syria, who toppled governments
in the 1950s and 1960s. In all cases, collaboration between party sympathizers
and army officers and soldiers was common.
In the dock
Asia Times Online has obtained exclusive information that reveals two ongoing
cases in which the charge sheet has been handed over to the accused persons in
one case, and the charge sheet is supposed to be handed over on August 27 in
another case. At least two dozen more cases are pending against persons
detained at Attock Fort; some of them have been in custody for nearly one and a
half years.
In one case, nine people, including a woman, were "charge-sheeted" on March 8
by Lieutenant-Colonel Sultan Noor Ali Khan  of the 96 Medium Air Defense Regiment. One of the accused, army commando
Naik Arshad Mahmood, was given the death sentence, while the other eight (all
civilian) were given different jail terms.
It has emerged that the civilians had been campaigning against army policies
for several years prior to the assassination attempts. Musharraf's policies
have increasingly become a target for militant groups since he turned against
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and sided with the United States after
September 11, 2001.
When the eight civilians appeared to face charges in a military court in Attock
Fort, they appeared subdued, and apparently victims of torture, according to
Asia Times Online information. None of the eight belonged directly to any
political or militant groups. All were religious and sympathetic to the
Jaish-i-Mohammed, but not active in it, such as attending training camps or
fighting in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Naik was awarded the death sentence in absentia. He was alleged to have been
involved in the attack on Musharraf in Rawalpindi (the Jandha Cheechi case) in
which a remote-control bomb blew up a bridge seconds after Musharraf's car
passed by. Experts said that had a bomb-jammer device in the car not worked,
Musharraf would have been killed.
Soon after the incident, Naik was arrested. However, he "managed" to escape
from his detention cell and is still at large. He has contacted some people in
the army, claiming that he was wrongly implicated. Earlier, a member of the
Pakistan Air Force (PAF), Mushtaq Shah, also apparently involved in the attack
on Musharraf, managed to flee. He is still at large.
A second case involving six accused in the December 25, 2003, attempt on
Musharraf was due to be heard this past Wednesday. One of the accused is one
Nasrullah - of the PAF - as are the others, but their names are unknown.
Asia Times Online has learned that these two cases are just the tip of the
iceberg and as many as 1,000 people might still be awaiting court martial.
An army out of step
Asia Times Online has consistently reported on trouble within the Pakistani
army (see for example
Musharraf's army breaking ranks of August 30, 2003,
Pakistan: FBI rules the roost, October 4, 2003, and
Purging Pakistan's jihadi legacy, December 21, 2004). These have all
subsequently been confirmed by the Inter-Services Public Relations of the armed
forces.
Since taking power in a bloodless coup in late 1999, Musharraf has kept his top
brass under tight control through regular reshuffles and by promoting trusted
colleagues. He has also offered incentives such as lucrative real-estate deals.
However, time has proved that it is not the generals who are the problem. Among
the lower ranks the belief has taken root that whatever Pakistan does is under
US pressure. As a result, a huge backlash has emerged.
Similarly, in civilian matters, Musharraf, again under US pressure - Islamabad
is a key US ally in the "war on terror" - has been forced to crack down
domestically against all groups, be they charitable organizations or political
Islamists. [3] This heavy hand, when some groups would be open to compromise or
accommodation, also has created a backlash, as evidenced by people who would
otherwise be peripheral being drawn into active resistance against Musharraf.
As people of all stripes are treated as militants, they start to act like them.
Notes
1. On December 14, 2003, a bomb blew up a bridge near Rawalpindi shortly after
Musharraf's motorcade had passed over it. On December 25, Musharraf narrowly
survived two suicide car-bomb attacks on his motorcade in the same area.
2. Attock Fort is about 100 kilometers from Islamabad on the Grand Trunk Road
to Peshawar. The fort was built by great Mughal emperor Akbar in 1581 to
fortify the Afghan frontier. It is now under the control of the army and
off-limits to the general public.
3. Ironically, while Washington forces Pakistan to adopt this heavy hand, US
decision-makers are coming to the realization that it had better tolerate or
deal with Muslim groups that eschew violence and that are at odds with
al-Qaeda, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. For example, Milt Bearden, who spent
30 years with the US Central Intelligence Agency, including long service in
Muslim societies, commented recently, "I can guarantee that if you go to some
of the unlikely points of contacts in the Islamic world, you will find greater
reception than you thought. The Muslim Brotherhood is probably more a part of
the solution than it is a part of problem."
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Bureau Chief, Pakistan, Asia Times Online. He can
be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us
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