Militants have turned their guns towards the military and the state because they are convinced that the military has betrayed their jihad. All the jihadist networks that were facilitated by military rulers in the past to fight proxy battles in Afghanistan and Kashmir find it difficult to operate and survive in the changing ideological climate of the country, which now resents extremism and violence as instruments of state policy. When General Pervez Musharraf agreed to assist the US to fight the war on terror, he knew the negative fallouts of militancy and extremism. Still, instead of standing up against them along with his military, he continued with the policy of the state backing the militant groups and thus, endured and proliferated extremism and intolerance in our society. The biggest fault of General (retd) Musharraf was his inability to introduce a culture of democracy and accountability in society. The extremely polarised society in which we live today, divided on ethnic, religious and sectarian lines, is the gift of generals like Ziaul Haq and Musharraf. The former created the likes of the Taliban and the latter used them to prolong his stay in power. The religious identity that both these generals tried to impose on our society failed to galvanise the people and only eroded state cohesion.
Our first test as a society today is to move away from the orthodox legacy of religion that the military rulers have imposed on us. For the state, survival does not only mean securing geographical borders; it also means redrawing and reconstructing our ideological boundaries. The military will have to lead the way and when it launches operations to root out militants, the soldiers of Pakistan must fight to win against these self-proclaimed soldiers of Islam.
Today, the loyalties are clearly defined. Mullahs have turned against a military that is not ready to support their ideology and the military led by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is supporting liberal democracy — demonstrating neutrality by its disengagement from indulging in political activities/affairs of the state that it indulged in the past — for the first time. Institutional protection stands out as the most immediate occupation for a military leadership that is concerned with putting its own house in order before it proceeds to take on the militant forces through military operations.
It is my belief that this country will not disintegrate because its politicians, no matter how corrupt they may be, still remain the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan and are far better than the military dictators, whose promotion and support of Islamic militancy has put at risk the political, social and cultural stability of this country.
The lesson that the military seemed to have learnt is that the scope of its execution of proxy wars and its consequences extends to all areas of national security, including public and societal security. The dark shadows that fighting these proxy wars has cast are not limited to institutional but societal degradation.
For Pakistan to progress as a self-respecting nation, the idea of a Pakistan for tomorrow will have to be based on a different ideological orientation. Either we choose to allow the Taliban to dictate their terms to us or we fight and reject their ideology.
In other words, we have a choice between raising our hands to either garland Mumtaz Qadri or raising them to pray for the health and well-being of Malala Yousufzai and the likes of her. We cannot and must not raise our hands to do both. It is time for Pakistanis to make a choice and pick a side in the battle for the soul of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2012.
COMMENTS (41)
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"the military led by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is supporting liberal democracy — demonstrating neutrality by its disengagement from indulging in political activities/affairs of the state that it indulged in the past — for the first time."
That's just a convenience for now. I don't see how anything fundamental will change until the military oath is altered to vow obedience both to the Constitution AND elected officials who serve under it.
@gp65:
You have no credibility left. If I were you, I would take my piffle somewhere else.
There is no need to discuss the ideology of Pakistan–it is like asking how long is a piece of string? Everyone will have a diffrent answer--we need to resolve our existing differences, not create new ones. The fact is that Pakistan exists and we should get on with it.
We are fortunate enough to have one of the best pieces of real esate on this planet, loaded with resources: highest mountains, largest glaciers, stunning meadows, fertile plains fed by some of the mightiest rivers on this planet, the bluest seas, the prettiest beaches, the loveliest deserts, the fours seasons, snow, monsoon, fog, birds, animals, gems, gold, copper, rare earth metals, coal, oil, gas, dams, canals, roads, railway tracks, telecommunication infrastructure, nuts, fruits, vegetables, fish, livestock, grains, rice, cotton, sugar cane, art, literature, music, culture, history, a well-equipped and sizable army, a nuclear deterrent, an entrepreneural spirit, an army of overseas forex earners bringing in $15 billion per annum, a geostrategic position and a large working age population.
How many countries on this planet can you name that have even half of that? So many nations will give an arm and a leg to get what we have but do not realize. If that is not enough to build a good life for us, only God knows what else will be? What does it matter how Pakistan came to be? What matters is it did and we got a good piece of property–think of it as a gift inheritance. All we need is to develop it and enjoy living there as Pakistanis first and everything else after that. All we are missing is education and justice for the masses; hopefully, our new aspiring politicians have a good grip on this reality and will use their best minds to evolve a strategy that takes us away from the path of war to the land of peace. It has all the ingrredients to be one of most vibrant countries on earth and it will be absolutely fantastic to live in a new Pakistan.
@sabi: "@gp65: you have mixed sultan khan with sultan.Two different commentators"
Sabiji, You are correct about that - my error surely. I still fail to understand the comment in light of anything I have stated on this blog.
@sabi:
This is not the first time she has mixed things up--it is the hallmark of her self important, confused thinking!
@gp65: you have mixed sultan khan with sultan.Two different commentators.
@yousaf:
You are right.
@Umer: Brother it is not about me, your deen and your iman and what you are willing to do to defend thrm against kufr. It is not supposed to be easy, may Allah grant you strength of character. Ameen.
@Alamgir::No offence please,I don't feel like commenting on your comments except that you better try to first understand ISLAM and the cause of PAKISTAN thoroughly before giving comments on such serious subjects
The author is spot on in his concluding remarks that Pakistanis should make the choice to either back or reject Taleban ideology and fight them as raising both hands is taking the country nowhere. Majority of Pakistanis after Malala's incident and many incidents of deaths of thousands of innocent people at the hands of TTP are supporting stern action against Taleban. However, the military who supported these jihadis earlier are still on the cross-roads of taking any decisive action against these barbarians who have even beheaded soldiers a number of times. Its time for the Pak military to save the precious lives of people of Pakistan for which they take oath to sacrifice their lives against external as well as internal threat to the country. If no action or half-hearted military action is taken against TTP, the country would be doomed for ever and even go back to stone-age.
@wonderer::I am not sure about what you mean by 'all is not lost',as for me,I too don't want that we lose all but as you can see we are doing nothing to check the decay in our national character (the master-pin of nation building,the soul of Pakistan as author calls it) nor have we learnt any thing from our 65 year's of history,where we have continuously been losing on all fronts,yet we unashamedly keep claiming that we have lost nothing.God bless us.To be optimistic is a good thing but you have to have some tangible reason for that,which I don't see any where in our daily life.Sorry if I disappoint anyone but facts are facts.Many a un-sung hero of our beloved country have sacrificed their entire worldly belongings defeating all types of temptations but to no avail in the end.The force of evil has always won over the desire for doing good.Alas.
@gp65:
There there, quite predictably, the edifice of civility comes tumbling down and the fascist lurking just under the skin bares his teeth.
I do not want to waste time with you anymore but will give you some good parting advice: when you use data to lie, make sure you look at it before using it as a reference. The same Pew research you referred to (http://dawn.com/2012/08/15/who-gets-to-be-a-muslim-in-pakistan/) shows Pakistan higher than Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Indonesia, some of the wealthiest and rapidly developing Muslim countries. I am sure they have other growth drivers but it is also partly because they don't have noneties like you masquerading as intellectual luminaries, posting useless drivel and wasting others time.
And I am amazed that in Sri Lanka, we now have devout Pakistan bashers? Did we not give you enough weapons to get rid of the Tamil Elam? Or perhaps you are holding a grudge because you are part of the vanquished terrorists?
@Emmad Khan:
Really? Next time you need a visa for Dubai or the US, submit either your Humanity or Ummah issued passport.
We are Pakistanis first, period--the rest is just personal beliefs. Ask the poor Palestinian what it means to have an independent country--they have been longing for one and being denied it for over 70 years. Don't screw up what our great leader, Jinnah, bequethed to us by falling for Bollywood siren songs--you will regeret it dearly!
The army needs to first get out of its other 'businesses': the real estate business, cement business, construction business etc - and focus on protecting the country.
@yousaf:
I am as pessimistic as you Sir, but may be only a little less. All is not lost, yet.
I strongly feel that Pakistan is that sort of country, or perhaps the only one, which will realize its true potential by a terrorist revolution. If you see contradiction in terms here, not your fault.
A day will come when all Pakistanis, or all those still left standing, will rise unitedly against religious obfuscation and terrorism and destroy their tormentors decidedly.
Malala, that courageous and divinely beautiful Daughter of the Nation, has already shown us the way. Our army and politicians are too cowardly to stand up and be counted. Let us unite and take up the challenge.
@Alamgir: It is people like you who are the cause of our problems; whether they are generals, judges etc. We have had enough of you, thank you.
just one word - AWESUM
Islam and Muslims are two different entities nowadays because Time has changed and Muslims are divided into different sects and every sect believe they are true followers of Islam. To me Islam is not a static ideology. Our Prophet also took decisions on Political Compulsions which of course had got Divine nod e.g. The decision of Sulah e Hudabia. The point is decision should not only taken on ground of right or wrong only. Capability to confront and eventual chances of Victory should also be kept in mind. When Muslims had encounters with Kufar e Makkah the weapons on both sides were more or less similar. BUT now we muslims are lagging far far behind in Weapons. We are using American,Chinese,Russian (all are Kafir or Mushrik) weapons or technology. Drones usage in Pakistani Territory is condemnable but do we have Anti Drone Technology. When the void is so huge in almost every sphere of Life. Mutual co existence should be ethos on which policies should be based rather irrational dogmatic,self inflicting/defeating policy that we are only the entity(Muslims) who have the right to live. Let the world live as they want to and improve in Science and Technology so to bridge the gap between you and KAFIRs. Once you outwit them only then we can start Power game successfully. Bide your time.
@Sultan Khan: This is the first argument of yours that I can more or less agree with - though overall I liked this OpEd and you did not, your points make sense to me.
@Emmad Khan: Worry less about image and more about iman brother.
@Indian: Unbelievable. Now you are an authority on Islam and teaching me. No wonder we had to make Pakistan, just to get away from Indians like you and be free to be Muslims.
@ Indian: Fully agreed with your comments about Alamgir. They are the people who actually brings wrong image to Islam. All of us are first human beigns any Religion comes later.
Alamgir : I bet my bottom dollar that there are more than 180 millions of view points in Pakistan in defining who and what a "MUSLIM" is. After 65 years of independent existence, it is a pity that Pakistan has not reached a conclusion on this.
@Alamgir:
As a viewer from the side, I may observe that Pakistan are not doing a good job of defending Islam. Do you not understand what the rest of world including Islamic nations have to say about Pakistan?
There are apparent contradictions in the op-ed. The use of the term 'Islamic Extremism' is totally wrong. Islam has nothing to do with extremism. If some so-called Muslim does some act,good or bad, it does not become the property of Islam. To associate every bad thing done by so-called Muslims with Islam is the line adopted by biased west and the writer has followed the same. Moreover, instead of pointing his guns towards those who can answer his allegations, he very courageously and bravely, has pointed them towards a dead general and one who is not in the country and in doing so he has very innocently forgotten to mention the basic reasons for the spread of extremism in the country. Unfortunately, both of them are the product of the civilian governments. First is the Objectives Resolution introduced by Liaquat Ali Khan and the other is the expulsion of Ahmedies constitutionally from the fold of Islam by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Further to this, no doubt , democracy is the only way for Pakistan but it should be for the masses and not for the elites. It is another thing that life was easier for a common man under the military dictators than under civilian didtators.
Good and balanced article based on ground realities. Well done col sb. It appears you are really concentrating on your profession instead of running for plots. Keep it up. A welcome addition in writers specally from the khaki
@Alamgir: You are the problem in this world... people like you who use religion for personal purpose.. haven't you read quran? "one life is equal to whole mankind" ... you are the one who is destroying the good image of Islam and Mohammad (pbuh).. If you want to fight go to Afghanistan and fight, don't justify killing of young children and don't call it ISLAM. You don't even know what Islam is and claiming yourself to be Muslim.
Dear lieutenant colonel, I salute you! I have mostly been critical of khakis but if there are officers like you, i don't mind giving respect when its due! Please spread your view among the officers of the armed forces, we can not survive as a nation with current situation prevailing in the country, we can not mollycoddle the 'strategic' Ass/ests anymore !
Ehsan saab please don't spread your confusion and sentimentalism. Pakistan was made for Muslims and for Muslims Islam comes first, second and always. We won't hesitate to make any sacrifice for defending Islam and Pakistan against kafir enemy. One Malala is a small sacrifice for this purpose.
Author The best article so far with some sound solutions-Kudos All main stream politicians are aware of the intensity of the situation and off the records talk of crushing this menace with full military might.But they are afraid.They are afraid of military intents.They are afraid of double game by generals and for that reasons they are reluctant to condemn right wing mindset let alone military actions.That's why I'm always of the view that it's the military that will have to take the lead.Military leadership should sit together and assure the civilions that ---This Time No Trick but business.If this happens and civil miltary leaderships develop a comprehensive policy on bringing back Jinah's original Pakistan.i.e secular Pakistan.Then I bet the same politicians who are being labeled as right wing will take the lead by not only denouncing self concocted- 'idealogy of Pakistan' but wil take real actions to curb the menace of all kind.Let us see if this initiative is taken by general Kiyani or next army chief. Regards.
Very balanced and clearly thought out Op Ed in the most independent paper in Pakistan. Most people do not realize that democracy and economic progress (not bombs, huge army) would surpass the corruption and even fanaticism. India has been a democracy since birth. However, it took more than four decades to gain economic momentum and the whole society benefitted from that. We would have to wait a few more elections and keep the generals in their DHA mansions not in politics to change our plight. The need of the hour is our social scientists to write and teach the public that it is the democracy, literacy, and trade that is going to take care of corruption and social evils not one man from the top down.
Beautifully said. Every sentence and every word is so meaningful.....
"For Pakistan to progress as a self-respecting nation, the idea of a Pakistan for tomorrow will have to be based on a different ideological orientation. Either we choose to allow the Taliban to dictate their terms to us or we fight and reject their ideology."
Sir, we are also facing a problem of similar magnitude (if not bigger) in the form of Naxalism. However instead of the problem of Ideological orientation this is more of problem of Socio economic deprivation. This is the biggest threat to our security and integrity . " The battles of this war will be fought by our military, along with the allied security forces but the war will eventually be fought and won by the liberal democratic government representing the popular support and will of the people and the future they want and desire for this country"....this prescription of your's hold very true for our battle for the soul as well (provided we start counting the tribal and population of extremely deprived section as people as well).........
"In other words, we have a choice between raising our hands to either garland Mumtaz Qadri or raising them to pray for the health and well-being of Malala Yousufzai and the likes of her. We cannot and must not raise our hands to do both. It is time for Pakistanis to make a choice and pick a side in the battle for the soul of Pakistan."
This is the crux.
What are you waiting for? Instead of preaching on internet why do not you go and fight your war (since you are declaring it is your war)
@author::It has taken us 65 years to create present mess.If the white and yolk of a scrambled egg can be separated back to their original form then the theory you propound is also practicable otherwise the situation is beyond any repair,at least for the time being,and in future too,only some miracle will be needed to put the matters right.impracticable possibilities are going to do no good except for wishful thinking.YOU CAN CALL ME A PESSIMIST,but what I say is more than true,as you being an analyst know very well
Very well said. Thank you for showing clarity of thought in this matter. There are very few writers with your back ground who espouse this thinking. Totally agree that there should not be any ambiguity in our response. But there are so many who are vigorously trying to obfuscate the issue. Shamelessly using religion to further their regressive mind set; pitting the nation against practically the whole world. Drastic measures need to be taken to reverse this dangerous mind set. I am not hopeful however that our leaders, military, political and religious, are capable of doing that.
It is my belief that this country will not disintegrate because its politicians, no matter how corrupt they may be, still remain the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan and are far better than the military dictators Yes, Absolutely true. In fact this is the silver lining that Pakistan has at present.
It was in 1973/74 when Butto sahib started helping out afghans who were rebelling against the then afghan government led by Sardar Daud Khan because he was interfering in Pakistani border areas. He continued to support them and strengthen them till the day that he was removed. Check with Qazi Hussain Ahmed who can tell you details of the program. So why do you blame the Generals? The policy was started by the "Qaid-e-Awam".