Opinion

When will we stop blaming the rest of the world?

Instead of formulating conspiracy theories, we must look into ourselves and see what we have done wrong.

Asad Munir January 17, 2011

Most Pakistanis believe that unseen forces such as the CIA, RAW, Blackwater and Mossad, are behind most of the problems the country is confronted with. Inventing and narrating conspiracy theories is a favourite pastime of certain segments of society. These theories are further spread through the media. The exponents of conspiracy theories never express penitence or regret once the unfolding of events prove them wrong. This phenomenon is not confined only to Pakistan; people in all parts of the world formulate and believe in such theories. These are generally based on fallacies, termed as logic.

Some popular theories relate to security matters. A large percentage of our population believed in the theory that Jews were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The video recording of Osama narrating the event to a Sheikh with pride, was rejected as engineered and fabricated. The last videos of the pilots alleged to have flown the two planes were also not considered as evidence whilst articles by anyone, who subscribed to the conspiracy theory, were widely circulated. Now there are few who discuss this theory.

American military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan are viewed as actions geared towards capturing oil and other mineral resources.

Furthermore, media hype was created about the presence of Blackwater in Pakistan. A channel showed houses in Islamabad, allegedly rented out by the organisation. Experts from strategic institutes appeared on TV shows to highlight the designs of Blackwater. The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan blamed Blackwater for two suicide bombings in which large numbers of innocent Pakistanis were killed. Different theories were presented about the motives of Blackwater in Pakistan. Where are the agents of Blackwater now? Have those houses, in various sectors of Islamabad, been vacated? Have they left Pakistan? And if so, why did they leave without accomplishing their assigned mission?

A clearly forged statement, in which the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, terms Pakistan a threat to the existence of Israel, is quoted on many websites.

The reason we need to desist from the tendency to believe in conspiracy theories is that they exonerate leaders, government servants and decision-makers actually responsible for running state affairs. Saying that RAW was behind the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team absolves our own law-enforcement and intelligence agencies of any responsibility.

Blaming external forces for all the ills this country is plagued with, shields inefficient leaders. Alleging the involvement of RAW in militancy in Balochistan tends to hide the injustices done to the people of this province by successive regimes. The theory that India never accepted the creation of Pakistan promotes hatred and hampers peace efforts in the region. Instead of formulating conspiracy theories, we must look into ourselves and see what we have done wrong — and learn from those mistakes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (73)

G.Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Pashto proverb, “Chey ka po steney kay sorey nu woo no tar ba pakey nu tloo” Translation: If the needle eye (hole) was not there the thread wouldn’t pass through it. Watch this Video Webster Tarpley in Studio on Alex Jones Tv:of Things to Come http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1dbjWRSkLE @ Wajih Khattak I am completely in agreement with you. As I said earlier, that If we drop the Term" Conspiracy Theory" and investigate the News on its FACE VALUE and ask simple questions, I am pretty certain that we will arrive close to a logical conclusion. Simple question I would ask is that why not all of this was happening in Pakistan before 2001 and more precisely only 4 years ago. One must find out the reasons and do not have to reject one option because USA or West is saying it ,not true or it becomes fashion to sing a particular mantra and use terms like MODERATE or ENLIGHTENED MODERATION. If someone ask the simple question that " Are not human beings created moderate by the creator who created Balance in his all creations"? We will get the answer and We will perhaps be able to think and do something about those Terrorists across the Western borders , who are financed ,acquired, trained and sent to Pakistan to put Bombs in places from every walk of life? Should Not we be finding the similarities in design that we saw in Malegaon, Samjhota Express, Mecca Masjid in India? Important Point is that "SOMEONE" Plants the "BOMB" and blame it on some other community : in that case Muslims of India. Are not they realities? The Most Important Aspect of this is TO PUT Blame of Terrorism on someone else when You yourself are the Sponsor of state Terrorism either it is in shape of SIKH Holocaust and DEMOLITION of their most SACRED Worshiping Place or BABRI Masjid or Mob Violence and Killing of 2000 Plus Muslims of Gujarat or burning of Christians and their Churches across the south. These are all realities. There is no conspiracies in it. However, there used to be when everybody believed that it was work of Muslims until Miscreant Prohit was captured along with other RSS Terrorists. This is the type of Terrorism which Indian State Sponsored or elements in Indian State sponsored including Army and Intelligence agencies. If this is not sufficient than Supporting ELAM (TIMIL TIGERS) against SRI LANKAN Govt. was not an act of State Terrorism that it took 30 long years for SRI LANKAN Govt. to eliminate this Terror? Was not Rajiv Gandhi killed by the same terrorists? What Threat SRI LANKA posed for India? Genocide in Kashmir is an ongoing Phenomena where 90,000 Kashmiris are either killed or disappeared. since 1989 Now Looking at the footprints of such terror, Should not we question that is there a Possibility that these forces might be involved into what is going on in Pakistan? Is that so out of question looking at immense expertise our Eastern Neighbor has developed over the years and who never get tired of blaming its own activities on ISI? At least we should question ourselves and must look for evidences. Because if we do not know the True enemy and their interests in this region, we will never unveil the TRUE SPONSOR of TERROR. I 'd like to invite everyone to watch the other face of the coin that America Main stream Media do not reports( The above Video) . A significant majority even in the USA now believe that Afghan War and Iraq Wars are not worth fighting and that their own Govt. lied to them and hid the truth about these wars. This is not myself but American Media reporting their own activities in Afghanistan and the activities of their Allies there. I would like you to watch the above Video and learn other viewpoints within USA. There are more and more significant high profile people now questioning the origin of this war and as to who it is benefiting and how it was started? Some of the famous names Pat Buchanan ( a Life time Republican and Republican Presidential candidate),Governor Jessie Ventura, RON PAUL( 2008 Republican Candidate for Presidency) many Ex congress members and intellectuals from all walks of lives. So if they can question, why we can not question? You can type their names and find out what they say? They are inside intellectuals so their opinion is also important . Therefore , before rejecting any idea we must look the other side of the coin too. There will be lots of time when we can blame ourselves and do adjustments but now that we are at war with US/NATO and Indian secret agencies, We must get united first. Two: Force the political leadership to act on People of Pakistan voice else change them, Three, get behind our Army and fully support them until this war is over. We will have lots of time once this all is over to do Political and Military , and Policy reforms. But it is Only Possible IF this War OF Terror ends in Afghanistan which is being Channeled into Pakistan by these forces. Until there will be no peace in Pakistan and no economic growth. There will be time for repentance but for now only UNITY OF UMMAH can make us survive. Is not the repeated Message of the Holy Book too? HE has given us Formula for Survival and Peace. One Bonus Video very Interesting iIf interested: Loose Change (full-length) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E3oIbO0AWE

Asit | 13 years ago | Reply Saima jee.. what is the point of having an ego that is not sure when there is an explosion when you step out? What is the point of your ego when you cant provide opportunities to the poor to be better with education and health and for the common man a safe life and instead mindlessly spend on weapons based on some loose and blind conspiracy theories? It hurts ofcourse.. the truth always hurts if you are not on the right side that is. The point is we have begun to find joy and comfort in these nonsense theories that are sure bound to be hurt when truth comes out!!!!!

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Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Wow! This is so amazing. Such a major chunk of human population lives the life that it denies the existence of. All of you people, adamant conspiracy theorists, as well as the self-loathing apologists, need to realize the essential fact of economics. The sole truth that runs this world, from micro, to macro level - When there is no demand, the supply disappears. If there were not any demand for guns, there won't be any. If there were not any demand for corrupt leaders, then certainly, there won't be any. If it is still vague for you, then think of the extremist attitude of the people in Pakistan who endorse corrupt religious leaders (Case in point- mass' contempt for Aasia Bibi, and admiration for Mumtaz Qadri). Those religious leaders, to keep their sinister agendas look just, elect even more corrupt political leaders. This downward spiral continues till chaos results in confrontations at micro levels, resulting in the weakening of the populace in the continuous power struggle between the leaders and the mass. In a chaotic organization (which, in this case is the state of Pakistan), nobody wants to take a step toward solution, so everyone blames others. I say everyone, because while a conspiracy theorist blames all the foreign forces, the apologist like this Munir guy, blames the masses for not recognizing the facts that he claims to have recognized, thus successfully differentiating himself from those whom he is blaming - Cynicism disguised as humility. At least the conspiracy theorists are direct in whatever they say. The fact is, everyone in this world is responsible for his or her condition, for, nothing is imposed upon anyone. But such despair arises when the extremists/corrupt themselves are not aware of their real character. I recall talking to this person (Mushtaq -from Pakistan of course), who was visiting the States, and was keenly following news covering drone strikes and suicide attacks. Mushtaq always sounded very concerned for the country and appeared very frustrated at the state of affairs. As a self-proclaimed 'moderate liberal', he would often say these suicide bombers should be shoved inside a pig and hung in the streets for everyone to see and learn. Despite all my painstaking efforts he failed to see how he himself belonged to the group he was criticizing. And the problem is, I see a Mushtaq in everyone who has commented here. So many people are putting in so much of their time, energy, and bandwidth to convince none other but themselves that they are such concerned citizens of the world. Faux. If any of you were really what you think you are, you would rather be putting your resources to a better use by helping the destitute in Khar. Why blame others again, and again, only so you can see a saint when you look into the mirror next time? Just think you are the good guy, job's done. Otherwise, for a reality check, don't we all know how we kept our children hungry for days and fed the Army our best meat for the sake of Kashmir? Indeed it was not for the East Pakistan, which was infested with 'swines', per Late Mr. Bhutto. It is said, what goes around, comes around. With acute myopia, we wholeheartedly endorse the evils presented to us, and when it bites us back, we complain. So quit blaming the politicians, or the Army, or even the Taliban. We wanted them, now we have them. Sanely, we should blame the individual, who is suffering, because he is busy blaming others. Oh, and for conspiracy theories, there won't be any if we didn't have a taste for these spicy stories.

observer | 13 years ago | Reply @Imtiaz C Chatta .

Some of the American writers have proved that 9/11attacks were conducted by the Israel to get hold of Pakistan’s nuclear assets

Can you name some of these 'American writers' and where can I find their writings.And if Israel attacked America, its greatest friend and ally, to 'get hold of Pakistan's nuclear assets', how about Pakistan attacking China or Saudi Arabia (Pakistan's friends and allies) to get hold of Kashmir.

Black Water is in Pakistan,and one of my friends, had seen them in Super Market, Islamabad

Wow, an eyewitness account , no less. Brother please tell us what do they look like, so that we can also recognise them if we see them at the Tikka shop or Bun-Kebab counter.

the world powers are conspiring to eliminate Pakistan from the world map.More than 3000,innocent Pakistanis have died in Drone strikes

Well 'eliminating' 180 million people at the rate of 3000 a year will take about 60000 years, provided the Pakistanis cooperated by not adding a single person to the population for the entire period. But then all intellectuals like Hamid Mir,Dr.Shahid,Irfan SIddiqui,Meher Bukhari,Nadeem,Kamran Khan,Talat Hussain,Aulia Maqbool Jan,Imran Khan and Haroon Rashid know that the CIA/RAW/KGB/MI6/Khad/Mossad types are not as bright as the mother of all agencies..

Saima | 13 years ago | Reply @ Yaseen Baig Sahib I think the writer has touched our weak point.I agree with you,he shouldn't have termed ,things we believe,as conspiracy theories.It hurts my ego and beliefs just like you.

Sultan Soomro | 13 years ago | Reply Why do most of Pashtuns,Sindhis,Balochis and Saraikis,do not believe in conspiracy theories,while Punjabis love these?Why are politicians hated by Punjabis?All Pakistanis love their religion,but why only Punjabis are ARABAISED and are obsessed with religion?Why Qaumi Ghairat is more dear to Punjab?The land which has produced great people like Faiz,Bhullay Sha,Madhu Lal Hussain,Waris Sha,Habib Jalib,Qasmi,Munu Bhai,Salman Taseer,only remember Ilam Din and praises a murderer like Qadri? Has these got to do something with military mindset?Could any reader from Punjab answer these questions?

Yaseen Baig | 13 years ago | Reply your column shows that there is paucity and dearth of thoughts and topics with the writer. he is trying on such a cliche that i think serve no purpose of understanding then just filling the pages of newspaper.

Tony Singh | 13 years ago | Reply Agree with Hassan Khan. More to do with Punjabi mindset.

aniqa sherazi | 13 years ago | Reply nice article : i think the idea is good so further disscussion is necessary

Hassan Khan | 13 years ago | Reply The people of Central Punjab formulate conspiracy theories.They hate politicians.They love and support autocratic rulers,because they dominate establishment.They have a typical mindset.agree with Aristo

Shehla Ahsan | 13 years ago | Reply Conspiracy theories are required for our degree holders people.They are mentally uneducated,can not think cearly and rationally,but are not aware of this cognitive defficiency in them.These include people with middle class morality,specially the sallaried class.Such theories should be invented to give them hope,purpose of life,so that they love this country.

Aristo | 13 years ago | Reply The root cause of all the evil in Pakistan today is the powerful Punjabi (PJ) establishment. Nothing to do with the downtrodden people of Punjab though. PJ establishment mindset is the root cause of the breaking away of Pakistan in 1971, the insurgencies in Baluchistan, FATA and for all the hurdles in other provinces progress. In my opinion, until PJ establishment does not change the way it treats other provinces equally, which I believe will never happen, the danger of breaking up of Pakistan further will always linger around to be exploited by anybody with an ill intent towards this God for saken nation.

Ahsanullah | 13 years ago | Reply Some other conspiracy theories:- 40 Crores rupees were recovered from Zardari's briefcase,once arrested from Governor House Lahore in,1996 Aitazaz Ahsan handed over list of sikh extremists to India. Murtaza Bhutto shaved off, one side of mustache of Zardari. Politicians have looted "QUAMI DOLAT".Commission received from multi national companies is not from Pakistan exchequer or treasury. ISI settled down AL Qaeda in South and North Waziristan in post 9/11.A famous writer,considered to be an authority on Taliban,is the initiator of this false theory. ISI is training and supporting Pakistani Taliban. Bangladesh was created by Bhutto by stating "UDHER TUM,IDHER HUM". The whole world is conspiring against our cricket team. The west is scared of Islam,therefor have launched a crusades against Muslim.

Kevin | 13 years ago | Reply We have our idiots, you have yours.

vasan | 13 years ago | Reply Imtiaz Chatta The biggest conspiracy theorist must be you Shabana Baloch; Another war monger

Anoop | 13 years ago | Reply @Farooq Khan, The way I remember Samjhota Express blasts was that India didn't wait for Pakistan to send dossier after dossier before it got into action and put people in Jail. As a result now the backbone of Terror groups is broken and there were no Hindutva Terror incidences in 2010. Maybe you should learn from India and maybe you will have a Terror free WEEK, forget a whole year.

Avanti | 13 years ago | Reply Solution to Pakistan's problems? Go back to your roots. Be proud of your heritage. Pakistanis have done a lot of damages to themselves by "culturaly" distancing from India and going closer to the Arabs. The Saudi's have no respect for anyone from the sub-continent, or any non-white, for that matter. Separation of Bangladesh can be viewed from this angle. The Bengalis are very proud of their music and language which Pakistan tried to crush. India could have been a disaster if it had tried to merge states based on zones (as opposed to languages). Enjoy Sufi music. Celebrate Basant. Wear Saaris if you feel like once in a while. Remember, Pakistan and India and Bangladesh together created our culture. Don't give all the 'credit' to the Indians. All the problems are internal for India or Pakistan. Blaming someone isn't going to solve them. RAW or ISI or CIA, if involved, are there because of our internal weaknesses and divisions.

Shabana Baloch | 13 years ago | Reply We want BanglaDesh to be recaptured by the Army.East Pakistan,Balochistan,Sind and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ,joined together,would be in majority.That is the only way to defeat the extremists and Mullahs of Punjab.We can make Pakistan a secular,progressive and prosperous country.Kashmir,as rightly pointed out,has never been part of Pakistan.Kashmiris are also religious fanatics,annexing them would only increase bigotry in this country.

Imtiaz Chatta | 13 years ago | Reply The incidents termed as conspiracy theories are all facts.Some of the American writers have proved that 9/11attacks were conducted by the Israel to get hold of Pakistan's nuclear assets.Black Water is in Pakistan,and one of my friends, had seen them in Super Market, Islamabad.Israel considers Pakistan as the greatest threat to its existence,because we have the best Army in the world.Our nuclear missile can target all cities of Israel.RAW was proved to be involved in the attack on Sri Lankan team.RAW is sponsoring terrorism in both FATA and Balochistan.I think the writer is an ill informed person,and does not watch the informative talk shows on different channels.He must listen to intellectuals like Hamid Mir,Dr.Shahid,Irfan SIddiqui,Meher Bukhari,Nadeem,Kamran Khan,Talat Hussain,Aulia Maqbool Jan,Imran Khan and Haroon Rashid to know how the world powers are conspiring to eliminate Pakistan from the world map.More than 3000,innocent Pakistanis have died in Drone strikes.Americans are aiming to get hold of huge mineral resources of Tribal areas.These are all facts,and the writer is trying to mislead the uneducated people,by terming these as conspiracy theories.

prashanth | 13 years ago | Reply Rulers of India came to their senses after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. I do not see any sanity in the Pakistani leadership even after Mrs. Bhutto's assassination. The Pakistani leadership still think they can "manage" terrorists to achieve their nation's objectives. Unless Pakistanis develop strong democratic leadership, it is doomed. Military leadership is always immature.

Asghar Khan | 13 years ago | Reply @MORBID ISOLATION You have mixed up scientific theory with conspiracy theory.Earth, and not World was believed to be flat,it was not a conspiracy theory.You have selected all words from dictionary and assumed these to be nightmares for US,India and above all Israel.A classic example of conspiracy theorist.BTW,the word pseudo intellectual has also not been used in the appropriate context.Must consult dictionary for the correct meaning of this word.I do not agree entirely with the writer,but he has written on a topic,which we come across in our day to day life in all places and social gatherings.We love to discuss conspiracy theories.

Wajih Khattak | 13 years ago | Reply I think Morbid Isolation has a point there and as they say there is no smoke without fire, so these conspiracy theories must have something to it, and as the Author have served in the military I believe he would know much better than us about the intelligence services of other countries interfering and making the situation worse as would ours. The main problem that I see these days is that our elders blame us and the new generation for coming up with blame games and not taking the responsibility themselves. The country that we grew up in was raped by the corrupt leaders and officials in higher ranks, when all of this was happening no one said anything or blow the whistle but many took part in this corruption. And now we are to blame for having the situation. And for some of the comments above who suggest that these bombing were done by Pakistani or Afghan are just trying to be fashionable. I can not accept that one of our own has been doing these hideous terrorist acts, this is not who we were and who we are, some from us have been used for this purpose and how they are used to such things is to an extent a mystery. If we look back from the start of this whole drama we would see that many of the respected Chiefs of the tribal villages were assassinated, these were the leaders who would not go against us (Pakistan). Still the tribal (Pashtun in general) areas are held responsible for the situation. There is a simple answer to the discussion, who got the benefits from all this, for one needs something out of it. Its definitely not us, maybe a few but calling them "us" is a mistake, but on the other side there are facts which prove that the western world did got a lot out of this. In Pashto there is a proverb, "Chey ka po steney kay sorey nu woo no tar ba pakey nu tloo" Translation If the needle eye (hole) was not there the thread wouldn't pass through it. Not sure if the translation can convey the message but hope all you understood what I meant, so we were weak from the beginning and let others involve in our affairs where the insurgency of these militants started. Therefore we are to blame but saying that these killings and bombing is done by one of our own is wrong. This cant be done without the help and manipulation of another government. The article is good, but biased.

G.Din | 13 years ago | Reply @Sohaib Masood "...Can u believe that we used Thorn (Kanta) to stick papers.a mere Thorn.Files of papers sticked with Thorn can still be found Lahore Secretariat and yet we managed to made Nuclear Bomb and made our defense unbreachable.." Using a thorn (kanta) to staple papers together was NOT a Pakistani invention and so should not be taken credit for. This artifice was resorted to by the colonial administration during WWII because of shortage of steel. As regards making "Nuclear Bomb", the jury is still out on that(Chinese will not like your taking credit for that). As far as making "our defense unbreachable.", the jury has not even left to deliberate. Then: "...one thing is for sure that there are some strong countries in this world who does not want us to prosper " There again your favourite conspiracy theory. Please explain why that would be so? If Chinese burgeoning economy does not threaten or coerce the tiny neighour Viet Nam, who would feel threatened enough by an insolvent, teetering-on-bankruptcy economy of Pakistan. Pakistan does not even appear on the radar screens of any country in the world except as a black dot to avoid. Yet you have repeated the fiction what the author and many of your compatriot commentators have tried to repudiate; that you are oh-so-important that you matter. No, sir, you don't, especially in your current state. Now, mind you, I am not trying to put down Pakistan but only to nudge you towards facing the grim, harsh realty that stares you in the face which you are trying to block out by closing your eyes and going into denial. Ghaib said it well:"Dil ke bahlane ko Ghalib, yeh khayaal achha hai" Your rejoinder to Vikas: "...Just think for a moment.When two Muslims BHUTTO and MUJEEB ur REHMAN favored and priorities their personal interest instead of the betterment of the country then how come Hindus and Muslims worked and build this sub continent a super power." You have put your finger on the problem - the inability of a Muslim to see beyond his short-term interests as well as the inability to walk alongside another human being shoulder to shoulder. A Muslim has a digital mentality; he can only function only in two states -a master or a slave, never an equal friend. That is why he views the world only in terms of control or the lack of it.

Jahanzeb | 13 years ago | Reply @ Morbid The theories mentioned by the writer have already been proved wrong,9/11,Black Water,Capture of resources in Afghanistan and Iraq by the US,attack on Sri lanka team by RAW,forged statement of Israeli PM.So we do not have to wait for the future,to dig out this article.Come out with the listed theories,which,in your opinion might be proven right?

Farooq Khan | 13 years ago | Reply @Anoop India is as bad as we are. Remember Samjhotha express? They said " we thought ISI will be blamed for this". By the way how is kathrina kaif?

Badar | 13 years ago | Reply I can assure you dear author that most wars are waged by and for the political or business elites of any country. USA is quite unique cause it uses proxies to achieve objectives. With regards to Iraq its a well known fact that USA wants control of oil. Natural resources are diminishing and who ever controls it will control the world.

Morbid Isolation | 13 years ago | Reply Why does it have to be an 'either/or' situation? Why can it not be both? Pakistan has an internal problem which external forces have been able to manipulate. Yes,charity begins at home and thats where the first Spring Cleaning should occur. BUT,our vulnaribility as a nation is an opportunity for others as well. Pakistan is in the middle of a domestic AS WELL AS an international crisis. Hence,internal and external forces are BOTH to blame for this. We are a nuclear country, a predominanty MUSLIM country bordering China and Iran (See:US Nightmares). Also, there is a strategic,political,economic,geographical and geological significance to India,the West and Israel. Let's not be naive, Pakistan is a young prodigy going through a major,tumultuous adolescent phase. The other,older,been-through-their-adolescent-phase nations are just trying to pressurize it into choosing a side instead of letting it face its demons and understand what will be best in it's own interest. So who do we blame? First and foremost: OURSELVES. Yes each and everyone who has posted this,read this,shared this and commented on this. THEN we can blame the politicians,the extremists,the past,the present,the donkey on the side of the road and the water that got contaminated because of OUR waste. AND FINALLY, the external forces...the opportunists,the capitalists,the commercial usurpers of nations,independence,freedom and sovereignity. Conspiracy theories or not, the world was believed to be flat and the world being round was a theory laughed upon,so lets choose not to blindly believe or consciously disregard a theory that in the future just might be proven right and people dig up this article of the past,and laugh at the naivety of a pseudo intellectual.

Anonymous | 13 years ago | Reply Never......!

Awan | 13 years ago | Reply Well written. Informative and great piece by Mr. Asad Munir. Agree with writer that we must look into ourselves and see what we have done wrong — and learn from those mistakes.

ashok sai | 13 years ago | Reply More sensible and sane comments from our pakistani counterparts except G.Khan.

Jahanzeb | 13 years ago | Reply General Hameed Gul and Aslam Beg Sahib,please formulate a strategy for re taking of East Pakistan.Their Supreme Court has declared it a secular state.Islamic parties have been banned from taking part in politics.We lost it once you both were in the Army.Your command on strategy is acknowledged by all. The Nation is already enjoying fruits of your brilliant theory of strategic depth .You should coin a slogan "EAST PAKISTAN FIRST",and the Nation is likely to follow you.Forget about CIA,Americans,RAW, MOSSAD and Kashmir,concentrate on the Pakistan,which Jinnah handed over you to defend.

Mumtaz Gul | 13 years ago | Reply The popularity of conspiracy theories, is directly related to the obssesion of security establishment one Province, with the issue of Kashmir.China is an economically emerging super power,they have a claim on Taiwan.However, their visionary leaders, have put the issue on back burne, and instead, are concentrating on economy.They know that if they are economically strong,Taiwan is likely to fall in their lap, in the times to come.Our more than 40% population is leading a life,beyond the accepted poverty line.We can not afford to be in conflict,in case we are serious about uplifting the standard of living of our poor and alleviation of poverty.Do not surrender our claim on Kashmir,but relegate it to a lower priority,for at least 50 years.The effects of this policy would be visible,in few years.Do not blame politicians for all the ills,give a fair chance to democracy and politicians.They will make mistakes,but 4 to 5 elections,without in between, intervention from Army,are likely to transform political parties into institutions. The era of conquest has gone,no one is likely to disintegrate this country.Conspiracy theories breed insecurity.The main issue is rising extremism and militancy.Be united to fight against the forces ,promoting intolerance and bigotry.

Anoop | 13 years ago | Reply Very apt article for Pakistan's situation today. This subject should be tackled more often. It is interesting to note while you have tackled many Conspiracy Theories believed by the Pakistanis, you haven't tackled the one about Mumbai being a conspiracy of RAW and Hindu Right in India or that Karkare nonsense. The most important country for Pakistan to make peace with is India and these kind of absurd theories will not help.

mindconscious | 13 years ago | Reply Yes it's time to stop the "blame game" and realise that we are responsible for our thoughts and actions.

shahzad | 13 years ago | Reply i totally agreed with mr asad munir artical & rest of all that we are responsible ourselve for allthe mess in country. the only thing which confuses is that who is funnding these fundamentalists.

Wajih Khattak | 13 years ago | Reply I agree with the main point of the article but saying that we are solely to be blamed is not true as well. If we are to say that non of the foreign agencies are involved in what is happening to us these days would not be completely true, somewhere somehow they have an affect on this situation might be directly might not be but they do make the situation worse than it actually is. Even when one of our politician denied that there are any black water working in Pakistan, later it was confirmed by an American politician that they are working in Pakistan but their nature was not discussed as it is discussed by our people. We have lived and grown up in a corrupt government and now its us paying for the sins of our father who destroyed everything for us just for a acquiring wealth they can not spend for many life times. Blaming others would not help a bit solving the situation we are living in but at least we are coming to a point to find out the hidden motives behind their friendly gestures. All these so called NGO's who have funded Pakistan for the past decades has made us more handicapped than we were ever before, and why is that by their efforts of so many years still we did not advanced as we should have? We have been injected with huge amount of cash which we have to pay back and still we dont have ownership of these funds and most of its is going back to western countries as the highest paid consultants and employees are from these countries. There is so much to say about this but yet we cant come to a conclusion but blaming just ourselves wont do much good as blaming the foreigners.

Sohaib Masood | 13 years ago | Reply @ Vikas What i have got and understood from your comment that you are one of those guy who is against the Partition.In broader term this can be accepted but ground realties are different Bro.Pakistan Population is 170 million.Bangladesh is 164 million and Muslims in India is app 165 million making a whooping total of app 500 million.Indian Hindus are app 1 billion as per today so they would have controlled this whole subcontinent would it be united and this was never workable The idealogical,radicals,intellectuals,militants,extremist have always existed in both Muslims and Hindus which which would have never allowed to work the Hindus controlled govt. Just think for a moment.When two Muslims BHUTTO and MUJEEB ur REHMAN favored and priorities their personal interest instead of the betterment of the country then how come Hindus and Muslims worked and build this sub continent a super power.

Ikhtiar Khan | 13 years ago | Reply The day someone decided that security is the primary concern of the state of Pakistan,the people and their problems were placed at back burner.Conspiracy theories were invented,to misguide the masses that the existence of the country was in danger.Salable media person were hired to reinforce these theories.They made, and are still, making fortunes,at the cost of the poor.The poor can't feed their kids,but are told, that there is no better "NIAMAT" than azadi.Few thrived, and rest were fed with conspiracy theories.A well thought out campaign was launched against politicians,starting in 1951.They were, and are still, portrayed as monsters,responsible for the misfortunes of the country.Once politicians are not in power,foreign powers are held responsible for the miseries of the poor and the downtrodden.Good that some one has touched this topic.

vikas | 13 years ago | Reply The root cause of every problem is illiteracy and its result extremism.in poor countries like india, pakistan we the common man lost in arranging bread for two time.if someone tells us that our neibour enemy has done anything we pays instant attention to it.politicians in pakistan delivers a statement every second day about kashmir problem.why they care so much about kashmir.only because they can divert the common man's attention from their curropt acts.its the voice of extremists also.just think if pakistan gets kashmir today then will the militants, extremists of baluchistan get lost ,will exploitations on woman stopped, will people like qadri stop killing non islamic persons ; will energy, gas, curroption, poverty, illiteracy crisis be finished.one should ask to people like qadri should hindu, jews, christians stop visiting the holy pakistani land?one should first set one's house in order. rama or mohammed sahab never decided that india is for hindus and pakistan is for muslims.it is we who decides.just think once if we were not partioned in 1947 could the war of 1962, 65, 71,99 happen.we would be stronger than america, britain and any other.then there would be no kashmir issue. We should now concentrate to develope our economies not on a part of land.

Sohaib Masood | 13 years ago | Reply The Biggest Problem in Pakistan is the lack of honest,obedient,loyal and hardworking LEADERSHIP.This is our biggest problem.All of a youth and intellectuals and layman in this country does not doubt the potential of this country to become one of the most stable and strong economy.One of the guys commented that after the creation we had more resources and less land to manage compare to India and resources can,t be dug out with bare hands.You need a lot of investment and Human resource to capitalize what has been Gifted to you.And in the Late 50,, after the independence,Pakistan economy was in such turmoil that we didn,t even had enough money to spare to buy Common Pins to hold paper.Can u believe that we used Thorn (Kanta) to stick papers.a mere Thorn.Files of papers sticked with Thorn can still be found Lahore Secretariat and yet we managed to made Nuclear Bomb and made our defense unbreachable.. We are strategically important or not that,s another debate but one thing is for sure that there are some strong countries in this world who does not want us to prosper and that,s acceptable.every country has enemies and has friends but these problems are catered.solved by the Loyal and Honest leadership which unfortunately we don,t have.Look what our leadership did and is trying to do with REKODIK RESOURCE IN BALUCHISTAN Rekodik resources has Gold and copper worth of 260 billion dollars.Our current Foreign debt is 60 billion dollars.We have already paid 74 billion dollars as interest on these loans or debts.65% of our tax revenue goes into the payment of our loans.This one rekodik project can change the fate of this country.But does our leadership allow it to..Unfortunately NO

observer | 13 years ago | Reply @Burha Durani and Rehman Yousafzai Hats off Sirs. Hope some day the policy makers in Pakistan will realise this. Let us also not forget that Vajpayee was PM representing the BJP, a right of centre party, and even he made this gesture of unequivocal acceptance of Pakistan. Sadly, what he and India received in return was the invasion across the LoC in Kargil.

Asma Abbas | 13 years ago | Reply Very relevant point raised by Burha Durani.Never occurred to me.Would some 1 like G.Khan throw some light on the issue?

Farooq Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Daring.

Rehman Yousafzai | 13 years ago | Reply The Indian initiated an economic program in the early 90's.The economists,who conceived the plan, stated that these reforms are only likely to succeed if we do not go to war with Pakistan.If the economic reform agenda continues as planned,Pakistan would become economically irrelevant by the second decade of the 21st century.Once they were reforming their economy,we were preparing Jihadis.All wars with India,except 71,were initiated by Pakistan.Vajpai visited Meenar e Pakistan,where Pakistan Resolution is inscribed.There have been no agitation or mass movement by Hindus,in 1947, against creation of Pakistan.So where is the historical evidence,that India has not accepted the creation of Pakistan?

Burha Durani | 13 years ago | Reply Kashmir has never been part of Pakistan,Bangla Desh was ,till 1971,.Could any conspiracy theorist put me wise,,as to why we want to liberate Kashmir,,and do not talk of recapturing, a part of our own Country?

Junaid | 13 years ago | Reply @ G. Khan I think the writer has no where stated that only Pakistanis are responsible, for the mess, created in this country.His point,which i understood, is that we should analyze rationally our failures, and should not blame others for our problems.We should not be in a state of denial.Blaming politicians for all the ills, is another conspiracy theory,which the writer should have included in his piece.The politicians have ruled this country for only 22 years (1947-51,,,-72-77,,,,88-99,,,,08-10),while other forces have governed it, for almost 41 years,more than double of politicians.No one can loot national treasury,it is documented and accounted for.The people fighting against USSR were not Mujaheddin and those waging war now are also not.I think the writer has truly identified the Pakistani mindset,and you have proved him to be right.

Yousaf Gul | 13 years ago | Reply An very straight forward article indeed and most of us would probably end up defending and accepting the fact that we being Pakistanis are the best.... Well I am sorry but that is not the case anymore... its very different. We are living in a country where honestly when i leave for work i don't know if I ll ever be able to reach home in time and in one peace.... we are kinda people who have become more inhumane towards humanity itself whether it be the drag race event in which people died in a terrible car crash where our youth ended up making videos while the dead bodies were lying around on the ground and making sure they be the first one to upload them... Whether it was the open air "HEAT" murder of The Governor of Punjab. Mr.Asad's articles besides being informative are always eye openers for most of us depending on the fact if we care to believe where we are wrong and rectifying them (Learning from the experiences). Blaming others is one thing we all are so used to that we use that mode in our daily lives and we are so proud of it. We believe whatever we say and believe is the final word ... we don't care to listen and learn and honestly most of us even being educated do not have the justifications to stand by to our statements. I just went through the entire thread of conversations and realized that people are molding towards understanding the flaws and accepting it rather than posting other questions which are mostly Conspiracy theories. I seriously think the media has played the worst role so far .... and this is what they get paid for ... narrating and making new spicy stories... and think about it; if the media was so well and honest why wouldn't they follow the Rules and Regulations of PEMRA and not showing blood shed 24/7 which is eventually being buried in the minds/ sub-conscious of us all. anyways if I carry on writing here .... I wont STOP...... inshort "We need to accept... Rectify and Move on !!!!"

Dr. ABHISHEK | 13 years ago | Reply @G. Khan: yes, Pakistan is a Victim of Circumstances But It is Because she Chose to Be so. It was she who chose to Support US in Afghan War both times, not Because she was forced but she thought it was in her National Interests(Say it the lake of Foresight of Your Policy makers). You are Taking 50% Responsibility because the Supply of Humans and the Poisonous Material to Transform them into Demons, was from Pakistan. Don't you realize How big this 50% is when it is Multiplied by Today's Pakistan? After Using Mujahidins in her west border she used these unemployed MUJAHIDINS(Doesn't matter what you call them Terrorist or whatever, the fact is that few of them are taking the Lives of Innocent Pakistani people Everyday today) in your Eastern border in 1989. What you Got in Results?? Pakistan took decisions and Implemented the State policies Written in Blood, so there is no point of Crying now about being Victim. USA, USSR and afghan did what they thought was in their National Interests and every Country, every Person Does.The Only Point Author is raising and to be Considered by this Article is that "were the Decisions taken by Pakistan protected and served her National Interests? were her policy makers not able to see Today's Pakistan while Implementing such Policies? and Most important How many More Years and How many more lives will it take to understand even the educated people like you, that the two Solutions, completely contradictory to each others, are not possible for one same problem and Defending them is Biggest Sin you can do with your Nation... I may Sound Little arrogant Mr. Khan, But i feel bad when my Pakistani Friends like you,{Who have Potential(Knowledge and ability to think Different) to Form the Future's Pakistan}, Keep beating the Bush. God Bless you and Pakistan...

Ajaz Hussain | 13 years ago | Reply I fully agree with the writer! nothing else to say because everything is said by the person himslef. Great Artilce.

Zubair | 13 years ago | Reply Great read indeed. we should not blame RAW,MOSSAD,CIA and God knows what else that most conspiracy theorists are hell bent in pointing fingers towards,people have been made fools by 'Zion' Hamid. BUT BUT having said that,I being a secular an...d realist do realize that war on terror served us nothing and that bombing the crap out of everything that moves or anyone that has a beard wont really achieve us nothing.When you have allies like US who ask you to do more or like saudis who send so many retarded Jihadists here to train then whats the point of being their allies ? Military operation is a short term solution but what we need is a Long term solution and that lies with uplifting areas like FATA,Balochistan socio-economically. All we did was we marched there,moved our tanks there but never did anything for the people of the area. as for Balochistan,India is involved and when you have Terrorists like Brahamdagh bugti openly admitting it on live television then action is needed. wont blame foreign powers for FATA conundrum but Balochistan's been toyed not only by military and civilian regimes here but retarded Indian intervention as well.

Naveed Mushtaq | 13 years ago | Reply @ G Khan Your argument is exactly whats wrong with our society. Bad Governance and corrupt politicians is a macro issue. How about we start addressing our education system, micro economics, research and development, infrastructure etc. What happened and whats happening in Iran Iraq and Afghanistan is secondary. AND please for the love of God Terrorism is terrorism, by us or against us. This war is not against USA, I mean which foreigners were these extremists trying to take out when they bombed a local market in Peshawar. Cant you see, you are also a victim here. Soviet Invasion was decades after the creation of Pakistan. What had we achieved in those decades? Any invention you can think of? Any brekthrough research you can come up with? The answer is a big NO in your face.And as far as I can remember there was no Usama, no invasion etc at that time. Its about time we open our eyes and realize that we have a much bigger task at hand than to play the ever so famous BLAME GAME.

Awais Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Thanks Asad Munir for contributing such a good article. However, please also tell us who implanted these lies in the minds of the people? I hope you will be able to pin-point in your next article or you won't??? Dear Sir, these ideas regarding India, Israel, etc have been continuously implanted by the establishment of the country. In the same way the Jihadi culture was nurtured by the establishment. So please spare the innocent public. To tell you, around 70% of population is illiterate and they can easily be manipulated. Do you know that few years back the establishment used to kidnap people who used to talk, what you have written today???? Lets pray for the betterment of this country and its prosperity

Danish | 13 years ago | Reply Good article. this is exactly the kind of mindset that needs to be cultivated amongst Pakistanis if they want to move forward.

ifti | 13 years ago | Reply when the rezt of da world stops blaming us......

Azad A | 13 years ago | Reply As long as people like ZH and AQ exist.. such nonsense will continue. And oh ...there are many people who want to blindly believe them and spread hatred (even when they know there is no truth in what they spew...

prasad | 13 years ago | Reply The moot question to ask here is what are the efforts being made (if any) in the current army to change the discourse. Gen Kayani is still India-centric. There is no point if he changes his tune after retirement. In fact the script for the next folly is already being written - just watch any programme on PTV News - all they talk about is how Pakistan can secure their interests after America leaves Afghanistan. No one talks about leaving Afghanistan alone, not interfering in their internal affairs. Gen Musharraf and his loyal band believes that no government is possible without a pashtun majority in kabul - so regardless of what retired generals and brigadiers say, there is no change when it comes to the establishment.

G.Khan | 13 years ago | Reply @ Asad Munir Here is my little suggestion to you : Analyze the situation correctly with unbiased collection of Data , and you will find the truth. Truth is always somewhere in between. If this article wants to suggest that all that is happening in Pakistan, only Pakistan and Pakistanis are responsible for that, then that's entirely a misleading statement. This is reality that there were events that happened outside Pakistan's Borders which Pakistan has no control of e.g. 1) Invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet Union 2) 9/11 regardless of who did it ( by the way it is also not proven that Usama did it) . You will be surprised to know that even a FIR against Usama doesn't exist in the USA. 3) Invasion of Afghanistan by US and NATO forces is nothing to do with Pakistan. Should not there be a reaction of local Afghan Population against invasions by two armies first by Soviets and then US? Is not that a reality? Where did the Afghan refugees in Soviet invasion taken refuge? In Iran and Pakistan. So what about now? Would not be an influx of Afghans who suffered in US war in Afghanistan? Are these events in Pakistan's control? NO sir. Therefore, their aftermaths we are also dealing with. There should be no denying from that. Well, Internally we suffer more due to Corrupt Politicians who looted the treasury with both hands and who are incompetent. That's for sure is an internal factor. But one must not forget that economic dwindling is mostly due to Wars in Afghanistan. I reject the idea calling Afghan resistance as Terrorist because it was the same USA who supplied them arms to fight Soviets and called them MUJAHIDEEN ( freedom Fighters). Can you answer me how they became terrorists all of a sudden when they did almost the same thing they did against Soviets but this time it was against USA. Should not we apply the same principle to both invasions? If yes, Then they are still Mujahideen. Therefore, pakistan is going through important Phase and yes we are having problems due to illigitimate occupation across the border. Since rest of the world is involved in Afghanistan, therefore they must shoulder the 50% Blame as fair assessment. I will agree on 50% our internal shortcomings.

Rana Asghar | 13 years ago | Reply Excellent Article & 100% based on Facts!

Asfandyar Munir | 13 years ago | Reply Sir.... I feel proud to be a Pakistani today...to so openly admit what is wrong with us.....Thank you for trying to raise our conscience :) Salute to you sir :D

Ammar Zafarullah | 13 years ago | Reply Well in all fairness I must say a bold peice! One can only hope that this thinking is also shared by our intelligence agenices. The delusional strategic depth has done much harm and for year we have nurtured non-state actors and will still are doing the same. The world does not revolve around us and thier is no grand conspiracy also for any sane mind how can RAW,MOSSAD AND CIA collaborate as they have conflicting institutional interests. Sorry the break the bubble the world is not after our ATaaam Bomb!

mg | 13 years ago | Reply Excellent Article..

Naveed Mushtaq | 13 years ago | Reply We continue to live in the physical and intellectual confines erected around us by our so called learned elders. We rob, rape and kill eachother. We are the Mullahs, the liberals, the democratically eclected reps and the generals. We are the Jinnahs, the Bhuttos, the Sharifs, the Zias and Musharafs. The stance we take is neither religious nor patriotic. Lets face the fact, we are extremists with an individualistic approach. Its not the hindus, christains and jews but its the sunnis, shias and various other islamic sects which have denied us the propsperity that we should have achieved. While most countries surrendered to the menace of growing population and made it an excuse, India and China made it their strength. Their business model is the one to follow now. While we had a brighter future to look towards, with lesser population more resources and a significantly smaller land to manage as compared to India, we failed and they progressed. The very first step towards rectification is taking the blame for what we have done wrong. As Obama would say, we have driven ourselves in to the ditch, deep. Lets ask ourselves a question here "Why would any one be interested in Pakistan anymore?" We have nothing to offer, sadly. Let me also pop the bubble for some of you who would argue that we are of strategic importance to the world. Are you kidding me? Thanks Mr. Asad Munir

saud amjad | 13 years ago | Reply we won't stop blaming the rest of the world as blaming them allows us to remain in denial about the real reason for our sorry state of affairs.we can't accept the fact that blindly following religious rituals & edicts has led us to have a myopic & bigoted view of the world. We have a false sense of superiority over others just because we're muslims.we think only knowing how to read arabic somehow makes us better than ppl of other religions.we should get out of our delusions & start questioning religion's role in the present state of our country.

Naveed Mushtaq | 13 years ago | Reply We must come out of the confines, physical and intellectual that our so called learned elders have erected around us. We are the ones to blame, not hindus christians and jews. We rape eachother, rob eachother and kill eachother. We are the ones sitting at the helm of affairs, making laws breaking laws and ammending laws. We are the mullahs, the liberals, the democratically elected reps and the generals. While most Nations surrendered their ability to progress in the name of growing population, India and China made it their strength. Their business model is the one to follow now. On the contrary after partition we had more resources, less population and a significantly smaller land to manage as compared to India. While we had a comparatively brighter future to look towards, we did not have leaders who could steer us to it. It pains me to admit that we are a corrupt Nation, but that is what we are now and the first step to rectification is admitting that there is absolutely no one else but ourselves to blame. To be honest, why do we even think that people care about what is going on in our country, let alone interfering in our affairs. And let me also pop the bubble for some of you guys "WE ARE NOT IMPORTANT STRATEGICALLY" as few of us would argue. THANKS MR ASAD MUNIR.

MQ | 13 years ago | Reply Conspiracy theories in Pakistan emerge from the same mindset that propagated the fiction during the 1965 India-Pak war that the bombs dropped by the Indians over Pakistani targets were caught mid-air by green-turbaned "beings", thus protecting the targeted sites.

muhammad tanvir | 13 years ago | Reply the problem with our society is that we think that just because we're muslims that makes us better than everyone else just by being muslims.Till that time when this demented need to prove that 'my god is better than your god" remains we'll continue to see the religous terrorists blow themselves up ( and a lot of other ppl as well) in the hope of getting their 72 virgins & we'll see religous terrorists pump 27 bullets into an unarmed man. We need to get out of our obsession with religion & concentrate more on education,inventions & research & development.

Israr | 13 years ago | Reply Reason and logic are rare commodities in this country.Foreign powers and politicians are the favorite targets for most of us,holding them responsible for the failure of the state.The common man,not suitably equipped to find answers to his curiosity,resort to conspiracy theories.He is fed with imaginary stories,to explain events,which he believes.There are people in this country, who believe, that Pakistan could become a super power,only if the world powers stop conspiring against it.

Indian-in-America | 13 years ago | Reply WOW ! Is this a column in a Pakistani Paper ? What a surprise !!

Zahir Sha | 13 years ago | Reply If the whole world is against Pakistan,there must be something wrong with us.

vasan | 13 years ago | Reply This is the frankest admission of the lies propagated by the conspiracy theorists in Pakistan. Nobody could have shown any better mirror to such enemies of Pakistan and south asia

pl/sql | 13 years ago | Reply @Author Honest article. As long as there are lunatics like Zaid Hamid talking nonsense on TV, there cannot be any change.

faraz | 13 years ago | Reply A famous urdu columnist wrote that Blackwater is behind the target killings in Karachi and 500 Humvees are hidden somewhere in Karachi which are going to take over the city :)

Dr. ABHISHEK | 13 years ago | Reply who says Pakistan don't have any Hope?.. read Mr. asad munir.. Brave, needs to be implemented and to reach the masses..

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