The known unknowns
IS hate the acronym 'Daesh' so much that they have threatened to cut out the tongues of those that publicly use it
amina.jilani@tribune.com.pk
That spreading band of enormously well-heeled thugs whose member militants have spread terror, fear and foreboding in the Western democratic world through what they perceive as ‘successes’ are known by various names — IS, ISIS, ISIL and Daesh. Apparently, so say a couple of sources, they so hate this latter adapted acronym of their Arabic name — Dawlat al-Islamiyah f‘al-Iraq w Belaal al Sham — that they have threatened to cut out the tongues of those that publicly use it. So, good for the ISPR spokesman-General when at the end of last month he firmly put to bed any fears and stated to the world that “there is zero tolerance for Daesh in Pakistan. Even Daesh’s shadow will not be allowed in Pakistan.” The media should follow suit, forget about IS or whatever, and stick to Daesh in defiance. However, it may be that ISPR is somewhat over-optimistic as the ‘shadow’ could well be with us. At the same time, a report by this publication on the Pew Research Center data told us that 62 per cent of Pakistanis are undecided as to their approval/disapproval of Daesh (that’s a lot of don’t knows), while 28 per cent are anti with nine per cent pro.
The don’t knows are a tad worrisome. In a poverty-stricken country, and a national mindset that is deeply and dangerously intolerant, with a religious right that tends to dictate to the ignorant, with a population of which two-thirds are under the age of 30, with over two dozen extremist groups scattered around the land, and a decades-long history of enthusiastic jihadism of the wrong type, this could well be a potentially ripe breeding ground for manic religiosity. Daesh literature has been openly aired, a number of sympathisers have been arrested as have some 500 who were on their way to join their fellow followers in Syria. Also troubling has been the state’s wishy-washy reaction to the international fight against Daesh and its ideology.
Then we come to the government, albeit it is dominated by what coyly is known as the establishment. It is led by an indecisive man, who consults only with a small, tight coterie imbued with an ugly combination of nepotism, sycophancy and corruption. He tries to do what he thinks is popular, thus befooling many of late by his mention of the words ‘liberal’ and ‘democratic’. Liberal is a joke, as is democratic. The Islamic Republic as it stands has no concept of the true meaning of liberal — to far too many it is a smutty word, as it is to Daesh. The prime ministerial mind, in the second coming of Nawaz Sharif, was all tangled up in dreams of a caliphate and a caliph. The leopard and his spots applies.
The ruling party is thought to be well-entrenched as far as numbers are concerned. It is controlled from above, but it has tight and binding ties to one of the world’s most prolific financial and doctrinal supporters of global false-religious inspired terrorism. Charitable donations far too often land up in the hands of terrorists. That is no secret. And the same goes for the funding of Daesh. Oil smuggling, plundering banks, flogging looted antiquities, extorting ransoms, and amassing funds from its supporters in the Gulf area have, as reports the NYT, made the group “arguably the world’s richest militant organisation”. One study last year has it that it controls assets in excess of $2 trillion with an annual income of some $2.9 billion — ample funds with which to make inroads into this troublesome country. As with all militant groups, the prime source of power is the funding. And the main problem is how to cut off the cash flow. There are the greedy amoral arms and munitions suppliers, equally greedy and amoral banks through which funds flow, and donors. How on earth does one control them unless Daesh is eliminated — and eliminating an ideology is no mean thing (as we here well know)?
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2015.
The don’t knows are a tad worrisome. In a poverty-stricken country, and a national mindset that is deeply and dangerously intolerant, with a religious right that tends to dictate to the ignorant, with a population of which two-thirds are under the age of 30, with over two dozen extremist groups scattered around the land, and a decades-long history of enthusiastic jihadism of the wrong type, this could well be a potentially ripe breeding ground for manic religiosity. Daesh literature has been openly aired, a number of sympathisers have been arrested as have some 500 who were on their way to join their fellow followers in Syria. Also troubling has been the state’s wishy-washy reaction to the international fight against Daesh and its ideology.
Then we come to the government, albeit it is dominated by what coyly is known as the establishment. It is led by an indecisive man, who consults only with a small, tight coterie imbued with an ugly combination of nepotism, sycophancy and corruption. He tries to do what he thinks is popular, thus befooling many of late by his mention of the words ‘liberal’ and ‘democratic’. Liberal is a joke, as is democratic. The Islamic Republic as it stands has no concept of the true meaning of liberal — to far too many it is a smutty word, as it is to Daesh. The prime ministerial mind, in the second coming of Nawaz Sharif, was all tangled up in dreams of a caliphate and a caliph. The leopard and his spots applies.
The ruling party is thought to be well-entrenched as far as numbers are concerned. It is controlled from above, but it has tight and binding ties to one of the world’s most prolific financial and doctrinal supporters of global false-religious inspired terrorism. Charitable donations far too often land up in the hands of terrorists. That is no secret. And the same goes for the funding of Daesh. Oil smuggling, plundering banks, flogging looted antiquities, extorting ransoms, and amassing funds from its supporters in the Gulf area have, as reports the NYT, made the group “arguably the world’s richest militant organisation”. One study last year has it that it controls assets in excess of $2 trillion with an annual income of some $2.9 billion — ample funds with which to make inroads into this troublesome country. As with all militant groups, the prime source of power is the funding. And the main problem is how to cut off the cash flow. There are the greedy amoral arms and munitions suppliers, equally greedy and amoral banks through which funds flow, and donors. How on earth does one control them unless Daesh is eliminated — and eliminating an ideology is no mean thing (as we here well know)?
Published in The Express Tribune, December 12th, 2015.