Page 1 of 2 THE FIGHT FOR PAKISTAN'S POLITICAL
SOUL, Part 1
Deal with militants emboldens opposition
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Dramatic events over the past week since militants began calling the
shots in the Malakand division on the northern fringe of Pakistan's North-West
Frontier Province (NWFP) - which includes the Swat Valley - have already had an
effect on political developments in other parts of the country.
Just over a week ago, the NWFP's provincial government gave in to the demands
of militants and announced a ceasefire, lifted a two-year-old curfew and
announced the implementation of Islamic sharia law. For their part, the
militants agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, which has reportedly now been declared
permanent.
In another development resulting from the Malakand accord, a
mujahideen shura (Shura Ittehad al-Mujahideen) council was formed this
weekend due to the personal efforts of Sirajuddin Haqqani. His network is the
most resourceful and strongest component of the Taliban-led Afghan resistance,
and has long-standing links to Pakistan. Other members of the council include
pro-Pakistan militants such as Moulvi Nazeer and Hafiz Gul Bahadur and,
importantly, Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who has fought against
Pakistani troops in the tribal areas.
The shura decided that the leaders would combine forces for a joint struggle
against coalition forces in Afghanistan and end hostilities against Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the government has sent the first installment of a compensation
package for militants in Swat worth 480 million rupees (US$6 million). It will
be used to pay the families of those killed and injured by security forces and
those who lost property.
Political parties have seized on the mood in NWFP, where the central government
in Islamabad is perceived as having lost most of its writ, to force their own
agendas.
The premier Islamic party - the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) - has taken a lead role in
a campaign by lawyers to have Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the chief justice who
was sacked in 2007 by president General Pervez Musharraf, reinstated. The JI
believes this volatile issue could boost its popularity in urban centers.
In this atmosphere, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani
travels to Washington this week for meetings with senior officials aimed at
protecting the US's plans for the region.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan captured the mood succinctly during a
television talk show. "God is great! [US Assistant Secretary for State for
South and Central Asian Affairs] Richard Boucher and [former state secretary]
Condoleezza Rice set up a coalition of secular and liberal parties [in
Islamabad] to block the march of Islamization and the Taliban. ... That setup
has single-handedly enforced Islam and led to a signed agreement with the
Taliban."
This is a clear defeat for the American war in the region, but nobody is ready
to accept responsibility, with the Pakistani coalition government criticizing
the army for not taming the militants. The Barack Obama administration now
faces the prospect of an unending stream of fighters entering Afghanistan from
Pakistan without obstruction.
Jamaat-i-Islami on the offensive
The JI, considered the country's most organized political force, especially in
street agitation, is gearing up to mobilize its cadre against the Pakistan
People's Party-led government when lawyers next month begin a march and sit-in
in Islamabad over the reinstatement of Iftakar Muhammad Choudhary. The JI aims
to hijack the lawyers' movement to revive its strength in key urban centers
such as Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, the capital's twin city.
Asia Times Online contacts maintain that top decision-makers in Washington have
said the situation is bleak and they want some answers from Kiani, whose
appointment was forced on Musharraf by the US as he was perceived as being
pro-US. This will be the Pakistan military's first direct contact with the US
administration since Kiani took over in late 2007.
Pakistani government officials in private conversations with Washington have
blamed Kiani for not launching any "genuine" military operations against the
militants, a situation which left them with no choice but to bow to the demands
of the militants.
US Ambassador to Islamabad Anne W Peterson has also been urgently summoned to
Washington and she will take part in these important discussions.
"After Musharraf, neither the Indians nor the Americans knew who was in charge
of the country. The army chief's visit aims to sort out this problem with a
clear-cut strategy,” a source said of Kiani's visit.
Whether Kiani is the man to do this is another matter. In conversations with
senior representatives of the media, he has indicated that the military does
not want to intervene in the affairs of the government.
The trouble is, the situation is rapidly being controlled by non-state actors,
and the agreement in Malakand is a major milestone in this regard.
The JI, which boycotted general elections early last year and therefore rapidly
disappeared into political oblivion, has been quick to claim "ownership" of the
Taliban's victory in Swat and other areas as a victory of Islamic forces.
Its chief in NWFP, Sirajul Haq, was the first leader to hold a press conference
to endorse the agreement. The JI has also sent a message to all its members
saying that the lawyers' protest should be the "Jamaat-i-Islami's show". The JI
sees this as a turning point, where JI-led countrywide protests against the
government could draw together scattered Islamic elements in the urban centers
under its umbrella, much like the Taliban did in NWFP.
This means that a powerful nexus of militants and anti-American political
forces is rising, which threatens to cripple the ability of the American allies
in the Pakistan government to act in the US's favor.
Asia Times Online spoke to the JI's central vice president, a former federal
minister and a senior former parliamentarian, Professor Ghaffour Ahmed, to
explore how the JI aims to gain from the Swat deal. Ghaffour, 80, is a cost and
management accountant and a pioneer of the Institute of Cost and Management
Accountancy in Pakistan. He worked both at the faculty and as a top
professional manager in the corporate sector.
Asia Times Online: What is your opinion of the Swat agreement?
First, the militants used intense force against the state and as a result
military operations were carried out. The militants then used the demand for
the introduction of Islamic laws as a blackmailing tool and the government
surrendered to their terms and conditions. What is your assessment?
Ghaffour Ahmed: I think your assessment is wrong. You know Swat
was ruled by a leader wali [when it was a princely state]. Swat was
annexed to Pakistan in 1969. Before that it was not part of Pakistan. From 1926
to 1968 Islamic laws were enforced in Swat. Qazi courts were present and
justice was quick in those days.
When Swat was annexed to Pakistan, its civil and criminal laws were enforced.
Cases of this nature went pending for years. As a result, there was a feeling
in Swat that [its people were] being deprived of justice or that they were
getting delayed justice. Even the justice they did get was very costly [lawyer,
court fees etc] and filing a case could mean spending millions of rupees.
So the people were just demanding that they revert to the old system which was
more compatible for them. As far as sharia is concern, the demand is not there
only, it is mentioned in the 1973 constitution, approved by Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto's government, that Islam is the state religion of the country. It says
all laws shall be framed according to the Koran and sunnah [traditions
and sayings of the Prophet Mohammad]. It also mentioned that all laws which are
un-Islamic shall be modified according to Islam. Therefore, their demand [in
Swat] was neither unconstitutional nor illegal and there was nothing strange in
it. The people only wanted justice, and quick justice.
Then there is another thing, the military operation. The US-led war on terror
started over there. When an army initiates action in any area, especially in a
place like Swat, which is not a tribal but an urban center, mostly innocent
people are killed in the collateral damage. Every day, it was projected that
the army had killed many terrorists and miscreants. However, they [the
authorities] never gave their names. The reason is that they only killed
innocent people. As a result of this operation, at least 350,000 people
migrated.
ATol: Over 600,000 people migrated.
GA: I am just giving you a very conservative figure. These people
were living in camps. After this peace agreement, there has been a wave of joy
among them. I don't know whether this agreement will be successful or not, but
the people are happy. Therefore, their demand was justified, legal and
constitutional. None of their demands was against the law.
ATol: A statement issued to the press by Qazi Hussain Ahmed [the
president of JI] condemned the acts of the Taliban in Swat, such as forcing
people to grow beards and executions. He classified these as having nothing to
do with Islam and its teachings.
GA: Who was doing such things?
ATol: The Taliban in Swat were blamed for this and for destroying
schools and blowing up the shops of hairdressers.
GA: I think there is a lot of propaganda in this.
ATol: Sir, let me say, this is Qazi Hussain Ahmed's statement.
GA: Indeed, he might have issued that statement. I say that all
those actions have nothing to do with Islam. Islam does not ask for force in
such matters. It is true that there are certain things Islam does insist on,
for instance children's schools. Almost 200 schools were destroyed in Swat. But
nobody asks who built those schools. The people of Swat built the schools and
the majority of them were privately owned - not by the government. The people
of Swat were operating them, but suddenly the army occupied them. So the
militants argued that those were no longer schools - they were merely buildings
used by the army. You see, in such conditions a reaction is generated. You will
have seen that such huge military operations failed to bring peace to the
tribal areas.
ATol: I had the chance to visit those areas. I also got the
chance to speak to militants. They say that they are against the existing
education system in secular schools. They want an Islamic system of education.
By an Islamic system of education they mean a madrassa brand of
education, at least the majority of them believe that ...
[Ghaffour interrupts]
GA: I asked you the question, who built those schools? The 200
schools which were blown up were not Islamic seminaries ... those schools were
built by the people of Swat.
ATol: But those schools were not built by the militants either.
GA: Yes, but the schools were built by the people of Swat. I mean
to say here that the people there are not against schools. However, they want
Islamic seminaries too. You have to appreciate that now even in the Islamic
seminaries, different subjects like geography, science, maths and English are
taught. Even graduates from the Islamic seminaries do master of arts degrees
from universities and in some cases they become Phds.
ATol: I beg your pardon, but the secular syllabus is not part of
the Islamic seminaries in North-West Frontier Province.
GA: You are talking about a region which is not under the control
of the provincial government. The FATA [Federally Administered
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
Meanwhile, the government has sent the first installment of a compensation
package for militants in Swat worth 480 million rupees (US$6 million). It will
be used to pay the families of those killed and injured by security forces and
those who lost property.
