VIEW: Pakistani Taliban apologists —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad
VIEW: Pakistani Taliban apologists —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad
Courtesy to "Daily Times"
It is baffling to note how anyone can support and justify the TTP
while at the same time proclaim to be champions of democracy, rule of
law, equality before the law and most of all justice. Or do they mean
justice TTP-style?
One has always believed that
confusion
is good as it breeds creativity. This is not merely a position that is
propagated by pop psychology quizzes and agony aunts of newspapers. In
fact, if I remember correctly, during my psychology graduate days, we
were told that one of the signs of highly creative people is that they
are highly confused. This, for understandable reasons, was oddly
consoling for me personally too!
However, nowadays, increasingly
I am realising that not all confusion is “good”. Just like I am finding
out that not all creativity is “good”. Like “good” and “bad”
cholesterol, there is good and bad confusion. Confusion of the mind
that leads to thinking out of the box is good, to cite an example.
Confusion of the mind as exemplified by some leaders and political
parties calling for negotiating with mercenaries, rapists, kidnappers,
arsonists, i.e. the Pakistani Taliban, breeds chaos and unrest. Perhaps
the point that I am trying to make was articulated eloquently by one
blogger active in the Pakistani blogosphere: “The dilemma of a section
of the Pakistani middle class is their mental confusion. They condemn
the bomb blasts but not the source of the blasts. They deplore the act
of closing down of girls’ schools but find excuses for the
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to order the closure of schools.”
This
section of society is fortunately only a handful, but unfortunately
well entrenched in some political parties and some sections of the
media. They are self-styled experts whose understanding of the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has been acquired by reading
perhaps two books and three newspaper articles. Their familiarity with
Swat perhaps would be more for touristic reasons than anything else.
However, without batting an eyelid and without skipping a beat, they
urge the curtailment of military action against the Taliban and attempt
to make a case for differentiation between the “good” and the “bad”
Taliban. They are also at great pains to explain to us that the TTP is
actually fighting for justice — justice for the Muslim Ummah apparently
— and that in order to curb Talibanism and extremism, it is important
that festering political issues like the Middle East conflict and the
Kashmir issue are resolved. According to these Pakistani Taliban
apologists, there is value in the TTP’s argument for ensuring speedy
justice and fighting in the name of Islam as Muslims are allegedly
under threat from all the nations of the world, as exemplified by the
lingering Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Kashmir.
Space here
is limited for getting into the pros and cons of the
Palestinian-Israeli and the Kashmir conflict. However, suffice it to
say that you cannot talk about rule of law, you cannot claim to be for
justice, peace on the one hand, and support the act of taking the law
into your own hands through violence on the other. This is what I mean
when I specifically refer to confusion in people’s minds — intellectual
and ideological confusion.
The Pakistani Taliban, specifically
the TTP, are individuals with a narrow understanding and interpretation
of religion as well as limited world view. They openly declare that
their ideology is to enforce their brand of Islam in Pakistan and
declare that their objectives are to “struggle against the Pakistani
Army and NATO forces in Afghanistan”.
Pakistan is not a banana
republic. It is an independent and sovereign country with its own laws.
To openly declare a struggle against the laws of the land cannot be
justified nor excused under any pretext. To justify their acts by
declaring that the TTP has out of frustration resorted to violence is
to indirectly support and justify not only the use of indiscriminate
violence but also promote anti-state activities. It is tragic that
these Pakistani Taliban apologists are actually promoting extremism,
radicalism and anti-state activity.
It is baffling to note how
anyone can support and justify the TTP while at the same time proclaim
to be champions of democracy, rule of law, equality before the law and
most of all justice. Or do they mean justice TTP-style? Is justice for
them the lashing given to the poor girl in Swat who was accused of
having illicit relations? Is democracy for the apologists, government
in the hands of people against the people and for inhabitants of
Central Asian States who have been given refuge in the tribal areas of
the country? What rule of law are they talking about when they urge
talks and a “soft hand” with individuals and organisations like the TTP
who are banned by the government of the country. For, it is a fact that
since August 2008, the TTP is a banned organisation with frozen bank
accounts and a ban on media appearances. If the Pakistani Taliban
apologists are actually serious about the rule of law, how is it that
they are supporting banned organisations?
The case of 13-year
old Meena is well known. However, this is just one case. Just North of
Malakand, there is a rehabilitation centre for children captured by the
army in Swat. These children were being trained by the Pakistani
Taliban as suicide bombers. Interviews with the children revealed that
they were mostly kidnapped, thus busting the theory of the ideological
commitment of suicide bombers. These children, after being kidnapped,
were threatened with dire consequences if they did not agree to become
suicide bombers. One child, during the interview, revealed, “There were
three of us. They locked us up in a room. They did not even let us
pray. They would say that you boys do not need to pray as you are
already going to heaven.” A hue and cry is raised by some political
Taliban apologists about “collateral damage”, but the Pakistani Taliban
treated the children not just as collateral damage but as cannon
fodder. One of the children at the rehabilitation centre said, “I asked
them how can I blow up a mosque? To which the reply came that the
mosque will get martyred and the people there will get martyred too.
They would then go to heaven and would be grateful to you for sending
them to heaven.”
The dictionary defines confusion as a “state
where one is unable to place oneself correctly in the world by time,
location and personal identity”. This is perhaps the best way to
describe the Pakistani Taliban apologists who tragically are present in
the country’s political, social, media and academic arena. Until this
segment of society is tackled, efforts for peace will remain
half-baked.
The writer is an Islamabad-based development consultant. She can be reached at contact@individualland.com
In : Gulmina Bilal Ahmad
Notes