File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2001/postcolonial.0112, message 56


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



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