Divisive drones

Though the death of Mullah Nazir will be hailed as a success by the US, it may not go down quite so well in Pakistan.

The attack which killed key Taliban warlord Maulvi Nazir or Mullah Nazir as he was also known, could add to tensions between Washington and Islamabad over the controversial US drone programme. Though the death of Nazir, and his deputy Ratta Khan on January 2, after a missile fired by a drone hit their vehicle in Birmal Tehsil of Wana subdivision will be hailed as a success by the US, given Nazir’s activities in Afghanistan, it may not go down quite so well in Pakistan. Nazir, under the rating made by the military establishment, fell in the category of ‘good Taliban’, mainly as he was part of a peace agreement which involved maintaining the calm in the area of South Waziristan which he controlled. His was also among the Taliban groups not involved in attacks within Pakistan — or so we are told.

The fact that Mullah Nazir had banned polio vaccination in his area in July last year, citing the 2011 Dr Shakil Afridi incident, did not apparently bring about any change in the category he was placed in. The lives of Pakistani children are apparently of little consequence to authorities who strike such deals. Nazir, a member of the Wazir tribe fiercely opposed to Mehsud-led Taliban factions, was also a hardliner opposed to technology, including mobile phones with cameras on the basis that they could be used to photograph women. He also disliked Uzbek militants and had begun driving Mehsud tribesmen out of the Ahmedzai Wazir area of South Waziristan after a November 2012 suicide attack on him. The jirga for his faction has named Bahawal Khan, known as Ayubi, as his successor.



The life — and death — of Mullah Nazir raises many questions about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ militants. It seems obvious that this distinction is flawed; to win back control of our country from these men of violence, we need to accept that all of them play a retrogressive, evil role. Violence should never be accepted. Right now, it will be interesting to see how Islamabad reacts to this latest drone attack and the removal of a man seen with different eyes by the US and Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2013.