The good general would like to explain rationale for maintaining relations with Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network.
IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON: This is with reference to Lt-Gen. (retd) Asad Durrani’s article of April 28 titled “God bless WikiLeaks”. The piece reflects the mentality of the military. The former head of the ISI is being selective about the information that he is quoting from WikiLeaks. He has used this to say that the CIA is itself a rogue organisation that cannot be trusted but conveniently ignored material suggesting that the same is true for the ISI. For instance, no mention is made of the fact that Pakistan differentiates between Taliban who are ‘good’ and ‘bad’.
Perhaps the good general would like to explain his rationale for maintaining relations with the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network in the light of our past strategy of supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. Furthermore, what would his comments be on the recent grassroots struggle for self-determination, devoid of so-called ‘freedom fighters’, by the newer generation of Kashmiris who are tired of militancy and the political posturing by both India and Pakistan?
The article suggests, regrettably, that the military sees its surroundings as a regional chessboard, where success is measured through strategic influence and dominance. The rights of nations and its people are an afterthought at best, and certainly not an area of concern in the larger scheme of things. One also has to wonder why he and others like him cry themselves hoarse whenever the ISI is criticised but are deathly silent each time there is a suicide bombing in Pakistan.
Naveed Ejaz
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2011.
