From: "saeed urrehman" <saeed.urrehman-AT-anu.edu.au> Subject: from the news intrenational, pakistan Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 00:51:00 +1100 Beginning of the end Imtiaz Alam http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/dec2001-daily/10-12-2001/oped/o1.htm The Taliban has finally surrendered Kandahar and with that a phase of de-Talibanisation has begun. However, it is just beginning of the end. The significance of the Taliban's defeat, although a deciding factor, does not lie as much in its military defeat, as being considered by our disappointed holy warriors. It lies in their political rejection by the people in Afghanistan and exposure of an extremely oppressive and ridiculous experiment in the name of an otherwise ruthless version of Wahabi-Islam. Those who sold it as a model to emulate and those who backed it for "strategic depth" have both been thoroughly exposed and embarrassed. This is time for reflection and draw lessons, both at the state and societal levels. Most significant lesson from the rout of Taliban is that extremism and revivalist obscurantism has no place in the present day world; nor should it have any space in today's Muslim societies, if they ought to progress. It rather strengthens the forces it opposes or in its infantile outburst challenges and brings shame to the project it eulogizes. Osama-Omar adventure, as in all other instances of adventurism in political and military history, has, consequently, reinforced the opposite. In this instance, it has reinforced the hegemony of the sole super-power and strengthened global militarism, besides providing a carte blanche to the powerful to unleash terror against the week and the oppressed. The price is being, and will be, paid by the weaker, under-developed and oppressed people and nations elsewhere, such as the Palestinians, even though the Afghans have got an opportunity if they would not again squander it as they have been prone to. How extremism destroys the chances of a possible victory of an oppressed people can also be seen in the current cycle of terror in Israel and the Palestinian lands. Sharon, the Zionist-extremist, and Hamas, Islamic adventurist, created with the Israeli funding, have engaged in a mutually reinforcing terrorism at the cost of the Palestinian people and their Authority. The Palestinian Authority, ironically opposed by all Islamic radicals, is besieged from both sides and, understandably, cannot meet the demands of the opposite pulls. Hamas, by its recent suicide bombing, has provided necessary pretext and international support to the most belligerent Israeli government that, in turn, seems bent upon demolishing the legitimate leadership of the Palestinians. Once, and if, it happens, Israel will be left with no interlocutor from the Palestinian side and, in the end, Hamas and other extremists will be routed as has been the case with Al-Qaida. All these Afghan Mujahideen and Taliban were themselves a product of the US and its allies and served their purpose in both roles - as proteges and spoilers. In the end, to the disappointment of our naive strategists of Hameed Gul variety, Mulla Omar could not even show the guts to go down fighting when the time for much sought after ground-war came, the end he has been persuading his followers to meet - 'the martyrdom'. Osama, on the other hand, is trying to escape from one cave to the other, instead of finding a sanctuary among the people, who are, instead, running after him in thousands, not just for $25 million for his head-money, but to get rid of the scourge that has brought great miseries to the Afghan people. Both Osama and Omar, their supporters and ideological backers, have done great disservice to the Muslim world in general, and the Afghan people, in particular. With the demise of the most barbaric and untenable project of a Wahabi-seminary-state, the prospects of its repetition in the region, Central Asia and Pakistan, have been doomed for a considerable time, if not for good. The Taliban got punished not because that it was the staunch follower of Islam, but due to its extremely illogical stubbornness, medieval approach, inhuman conduct, total lack of understanding of the balance of forces, complete isolation and alienation from the tribal and social realities of Afghan society and the people at large. It was successful against the misdeeds and mis-rule of the warlords. But it turned out to be worse than what it had replaced. By imposing its distorted, most inhuman and repressive system, it did succeed for a while in subjugating the ruled. But such a forced ideological model alienated the people so much that no one in Afghanistan mourns the death of a system that was presented as 'Islamic'. The people, rather, celebrated its demise even at the hands of foreign invaders. It was a spontaneous movement that emerged from the void created by a chaotic warlordism and was imposed on most of the territory with the outside backing at a time when Afghanistan was a forgotten place, except for the small-game players of the region. From a movement that gave an impression of providing breathing space to the Afghans from vicious warring factions, it turned into a monster bent upon throttling the very life of and opportunity for the people. It was least concerned about the life and requirements of its people who could not live on the corporal punishments and destruction of Buddha statues. Thanks to its hierarchical structure that finally got concentrated in the only commander of the faithful(s) and a localised handpicked Kandahari shoora that it not only got isolated from the people, but also from every ethnic community, including Pakhtuns. So self-absorbed and arrogant it became that it gave scant to the advice of its only backer, Pakistan. On the other hand, there are many lessons for Rawalpindi to learn. It is just not that it followed a totally flawed Afghan policy to create a proxy regime in the untenable hope of creating "strategic depth". The kind of religious extremist and jihadi forces it helped unleash were bound to follow their own agenda across the borders and undermine the writ of the state and sustainability of civil society. Reversal of its dangerous Afghan policy after September 11 has created an opportunity to take self-correcting measures, if Pakistan is to remain on the right side of history and progress as a developed state and a progressive society. The paradigm of infantile jihad has to be discarded. No state and international community can live or tolerate it. Nor can any state or society allow private militias. The war against terrorism has just begun. It will spread to every corner of the world. The irony of the damage done by Osama-Omar adventure is that even the legitimate struggles of the colonised, occupied and discriminated people will have no right to take up arms in self-defence that has become the sole monopoly of the occupiers, such as the Israelis and the Indians. Islamabad-Rawalpindi has to review its domestic and Kashmir policy and act before it loses time to do so as happened on September 11. Pakistan must consolidate its position in the international community and let the Kashmiris' indigenous struggle be spared from the jihadi internationalists. Before the international community threatens measures, we must clear our decks of rogue elements. If the Indian annexationists have to be put on defensive and the international support for the Kashmiris is to be assured, we should not let Lashkars and Jaishs play the role of Hamas in Kashmir. General Musharraf had indicated to make a policy on extremism. It is just not an administrative issue. It requires a thorough re-orientation of the state, reformation of education system, reversal of theocratisation of institutions and laws, isolating religious extremists and bringing democratic and enlightened forces back at the centre stage of our nationhood. All extremist sanctuaries have to be tamed and, where necessary, wiped out with full might of the state. Pakistan has look at itself and cannot afford the adventures of jihad all around. This is just not the job of the powers that be who derailed the state from the ideals of its founders. It is essentially the responsibility of democratic forces to be entrusted with the job of democratisation. Instead of repeating the mistakes of his military predecessors, General Musharraf should let the democratic process isolate religious extremism and set the direction right. The writer is a staff member cnnp-AT-hotmail.com --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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