Pakistan is “paying heavily” for its mistakes in the 1970s when it started mixing religion with politics and promoted extremism, former British prime minister Tony Blair said.
“I think Pakistan is paying a heavy price for the mistakes of 1970s by linking religion with politics and developing religious schools which are, in some cases, dangerous sources of extremism,” Blair told Karan Thapar in an interview with a news channel, The Times of India reported.
The former British prime minister was responding to queries relating to the role of the ISI in spreading terrorism and its links with the Haqqani group in Afghanistan.
When asked if the US, after eliminating Osama bin Laden, should also go after the Haqqani faction, Blair said it was something which “the Americans have to decide”.
“The trouble with these groups is that there is no way to use them wisely. On these issues, Pakistan might have concerns about its influence in Afghanistan vis-a-vis India’s influence there, however, nothing good will come out of supporting these groups,” he said.
“If the ISI is engaged in such activities, in the end it will not merely affect the US, UK, Afghanistan or India, it also poisons the atmosphere in Pakistan,” Blair said.
He said that if there were any links between the ISI and terror groups such as the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), “it is a mistake”.
Blair said there was a need to engage “modern and open-minded” Pakistanis who are involved in a struggle against the extremists.
“We have to see how we can engage elements in Pakistan who believe that this was a mistake. The best way is to allow Pakistan to change and evolve and there are a lot of decent people in Pakistan,” he said.
Blair said that Pakistan itself has suffered a lot due to terrorism, as thousands of people have been killed. There was a “struggle going on in the country between those with a modern and open-minded attitude towards the future, against those who are stuck in a power struggle and will play dangerously”, he said.
He also described as “absurd” allegations against him for using his contacts in the Middle East for gaining personal benefits.
On the recent riots in London, Blair said that they were caused by a very small section of the people and the majority had come out later to clean up the city after the violence ended. He said there were multiple reasons behind the riots, including “a section of society, which is small in number and come from a dysfunctional background”.
“The other reason was criminality, where people saw an opportunity and started looting,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2011.
COMMENTS (67)
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@Asad: unfortunately, the ET censors apparently won't allow posts that specifically challenge your supremacist, religious arguments. More evidence of the climate of fear and intolerance in Pakistan.
How war criminal Tony Blair shills for bankers and despots News of his departure comes as a Channel 4 Dispatches programme to be broadcast on Monday reveals Blair's role in two multi-billion-dollar contracts in Palestine Since he left office, Blair's business empire has helped him sustain a jetset lifestyle. The Daily Mail claims he is a regular at Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace hotel, one of the most expensive resorts in the world. He has acquired a £5.75m country house in Buckinghamshire and a £3.7m home in London. Blair and his wife, Cherie, have also bought properties for their children. In addition to his work for JP Morgan, Blair is on a lucrative contract to advise insurance firm Zurich and is understood to be paid as much as £200,000 a speech. Blair has also been paid for consultancy work by a South Korean oil firm, UI Energy Corporation, which has extensive interests in the US and Iraq, and by the ruling family in Kuwait, from whom he received a reported £1m fee. http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/how-war-criminal-tony-blair-shills-for-bankers-and-despots#.ToQ5pr5sZ64.facebook
For the people who are trying to remind us about "our countrymen living in the UK", well, my dear friends, we did not show up in UK with "east India company" nor do we have viceroys there- in fact, we did not invade you and are surely not forcibly ruling over you. We are not using you as cheap labor, we are not looting your mineral resources, we are not massacring your people nor are we whipping them in public. Go read your dark history before you even think of judging us. You have the nerves to point a finger at hard-working asians, while you are known for bullying and snatching the weaker person's lunch box. If you want to play fair and square, open your borders for us like we do for you and watch us take over your jobs through our hard-work and education. As for Mr.Blair and his 70s observation, lets not forget the reason behind the creation of these madrassas. the CIA needed cheap labour to fight a war against the soviets. They were the pioneers in "brain- washing" and the creation of suicide bombers. Haqqani, Hekmatyar, Osama and Taliban representatives have all been US state guests at some point. Check for Haqqani's photos with the US senators on "getty images". Today, they are all terrorists, yesterday they were partners and friends. Your twisted "New World Order" theory has created havoc on this planet. You started an "oil for food" program in Libya as well - a new Iraq in the making. Wikileaks showed the whole world what you really think about human rights. Your crimes against the innocent iraqi people are part of your ugly history now and there's no you can deny them. You bombed innocent afghans mercilessly. Just because you dress in a crisp suit doesn't mean that people cannot see the ugly monster you really are. Today, what ever wrong is there in Pakistan, it is because of you. You backed corrupt leaders, gifted them millions of dollars so that they turn blind when you rob billions from their country. Don't ever think of yourself as victims, because without us, you will never be able to survive.
@Dalit Hindu: Your "intelligent" post is devoid of any sanity. Not once did I defend Mr. Blair or anybody else for that matter. Read my post again and think for a minute before replying. This was my last interaction with you. Sincerely!
in the 70s pakistan had the greatest leader it ever produced ZAB
Pakistan is paying for the mistake it did in aligning with US in1970,that is when all the so caled religious groups got arms and served the imperialist agenda . Mr. Blair is atleast pakistani is paying for that mistake plus many more before and after .. One big one by the british empire not sure Mr. Blair would comment on that ..
Interesting to watch the movie " Ghost Writer " ..reveals a bit about Mr. Blair ..
We can hope and pray for stable and peaceful Pakistan
@Asad: How is Quran banning Alcohol a miracle? How does one stretch common sense and make it miraculous? Consumption of alcohol in excess is bad but alcohol has many positive uses aswell. As a disinfectant it helps save countless lives too. Anything can be used to do good or bad. Fire cooks, sterilizes and provides warmth and it also destroys. Would you go ban the use of fire by humans as many get burnt by it too?
@Asad: Is it just me or your Islamic preaching is a bit off topic and in poor taste? Do you have to bring religion in everything? The news article is about Toni Blair's interview. Let's keep our discussion relevant, please :)
How about positive constructive non-religious criticism for a change?
@Asad: I fully agree with you. Islam is the only religion that is acceptable to Allah(swt) and muslims should strive (Jihad) to spread the message of islam to non muslims to counter this crusade propaganda by the likes of blair. We all know that their crusade won't succeed since Allah(swt) as a mercy to mankind promised to keep the message of the quran intact in its original form till the end of the world. But what is surprising from the comments above is that the seculars are actually lauding a war criminal like Blair just because he said something they wanted to hear. Does secular ideology advocates support of war criminals?
@Asad:
You are welcome to your views about The Quran and Islam - as long as you do not try to push your ideology down others throats.
But as far as I am concerned - it takes three to make the Universe work - Brahma - Vishnu and Shiva - they Create, Maintain and Destroy respectively. If you have an inclination towards the sciences, you will find this link to be of interest.
This is the man who supported faith schools in UK. This is the man whose government is tolerant of Hib Ul Tahrir. See: http://www.hizb.org.uk/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7908262/Hizb-ut-Tahrir-is-not-a-gateway-to-terrorism-claims-Whitehall-report.html Hizb ut Tahrir is not a gateway to terrorism, claims Whitehall report Meanwhile it has been banned in some countries: "Three of Hizb Ut Tahrir's British members are currently on trial in Egypt for belonging to an outlawed group. Hizb Ut Tahrir is banned in a number of Arab countries." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3182271.stm http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/02/education.labour Faith schools may be Blair's most damaging legacy http://www.angelfire.com/nb/lt/docs/called42.htm Tony Blair on faith schools
Example of the miracles of the Quran:
Alchohol was banned 1400 years ago. Reason? It intoxicated people and led to vices. Even today Alchohol intoxicates people and most crimes are committed under the influence of Alchohol. So the ban of Alchohol in the Quran was for all times to come as alchoholic dangers/vices remain the same.
Secondly Quran mentions how people disbelieved in God and wondered how they would be raised up alive again. Even today after 1400 years, the disbelieving human beings have the same views.
Quran mentions how the disbelievers of then doubted in the message the Prophet (saw), even today the non muslims have a similar attitude.
Allah orders in the Quran to feed the poor and orphans and be kind to them. Even today you have poor people and orphans who are in need after 1400 years. Poverty can only be eradicated if a true Islamic governance model is implemented.
There are so many other scientific facts like the shape of the earth, sun and moon revolving in their own orbits which people knew only in the last century or so and this was mentioned in the Quran 1400 years ago.
The Quran contains a very serious message and has no fairy tales, love stories or other non serious stuff as found in other scriptures.
But as Allah says in the Quran, only those whom Allah wills become believers...
Blair is scared of Islamic governance spreading in countries because its the best form of governance (being Divine) and far superior to the current man made western governance models used by countries...hence his tirade of blaming Pakistan's problems on Islam. The reality is Pakistan's problems are due to a lack of understanding of Islam.
Blair is 100% correct!
All religous parties should be banned from politics!
Islam the best religion should be enforced in complete spirit and substance and not as a slogan.
@Asad: You are right. Blair is against Islam. Pakistan should continue supporting Haqqani Network and L-e-T. And then US will leave Afghanistan and India will leave Kashmir and Pakistan will grow with more land and more depth and expanded security.
@Amjad: Again you are suffering from identity crises. Who are you calling "them"? Why are you forgetting that you also got your independence from the very same britishers?
@Asad: You are Living in a fool's Paradise & suffering in dementia. Look around the world to see the consequences.
Problem with leaders like Blair is that they see things form one perspective only and they think that is the only correct prespective. THAT is ARROGANCE and short sightedness.
Blair is a commiited Christian. One who was not affraid to show his Christian credentials when he was PM. He words:
ON WAR IN IRAQ: 'you took this decision because of your faith',"... "But it gave me strength when it is sometimes very easy to be overawed by the responsibility."
"The oddest question I have ever got asked is 'Is your faith important in your life?'," ... "If you have religious faith, in the end, it is the most important thing in your life; it is not an adjunct, it is the core." Source: Guardian.
He expresses support for the evangelical churches, contrasting the "dead hand of tradition" in certain churches to those that are "energetic and charismatic, where people are going out and telling people what it is about, you can be better people, create a better world, and go out and do God's work." Source: Guardian.
Yes you are right my dear Ex-Prime Minister. Now the time is coming when West will pay for the mistakes they are doing since start of this century. The laws of the Nature never change. I pray for you to live and see that time. Adios.
@Asad: Blair is an enemy of Islam, if you see his other interviews also ,in one way or the other, he always speaks against Islam.
Mr. Asad, are you for real? Mr. Blair said nothing against Islam. He did speak against mixing national policies and religion and how ISI has been using it to achieve their own twisted goals. By your ignorant comment, you are equating Islam to the policies of hatred and terrorism.
I request the Tribune to publish this below comment. I am stating my opinion, not against any particular person.
Look at what everybody are upto on this topic. Nobody is challenging, NOBODY, the notion that Pakistan's reason for this state is its obsession with Religion, that Blair pointed out.
Everybody are blaming him for the Iraq war. The whole World knows the Iraq war WMDs was a sham, that isn't up for discussion here. What is up for discussion is if Islam has been the major reason for the situation in Pakistan now.
Blair shies away from, or is ignorant of the circumstances and the real ideological call on which Pakistan was born. The rot set in not from the 1970s but from 1937 when Jinnah used the call "Islam is in danger".
Khaliquzzaman was a guy at the time of Partition who violently asked for Pakistan. Later in an interview with M.B.Naqvi, a Pakistani Journalist, noted that the Partition had not helped the Muslims of India one bit and only aggravated their situation.
He said this:"Look at the condition of the three isolated Muslim communities [in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh]. They dare not communicate with one another. Pakistan today is not one-third as important as the pre-Independence Muslim India was. Are the Indian Muslims a third of their forebears in political weight? And the Muslims of Bangladesh — well, you know, they do not count as much as even Pakistan”.
Also, one of the pamphlets from that time when Jinnah was president of the League goes,"Musalmans. . . . have been ordered. . . . by God and His Prophet to support the Muslim League candidate[in Bundelkhand] to give a crushing reply to the non-Muslim organization so that in future it will not dare interfere in the affairs of Mussalmans."
Communalism is as old as Pakistan, even older. It is rooted in this ideology. Unless some great man comes and reverses this, Pakistan has no way out.
The mistake Pakistan made was to support the Western alliance against the USSR in Afghanistan. Now we have seen that neither the West nor Afghanistan is anyone's friend. We should have left the Russians in Afghanistan.
You are absolutely right Mr. Blair, the problem Pakistani establishment faced in the 70s was that, there wasn't any legitimacy left in the two nations theory after East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Now these elites needed a weed to make the masses high on... Hence they propagated convoluted picture of Islam which was never seen before. They made religious and extremist parties their partners to accomplish their agenda, got funding from Saudi and led the foundation of extremism in Pakistan. Islam was far better practiced before the 70s in Pakistan and even better before partition in undivided India.
DigVijaySingh : I like your satirical comments on Pakistan and Blair's advice. Keep it up.
@Asad: And through your views you have proven you may have studied all religions but not learnt anything from it because direct claim of being best is only possible through actions and right now there is no evidence of it. Your statements by itself are a proof that no one should listen to you. I agree Islam is a great religion and i believe in it but also believe muslims are the worst people... they have themselves demeaned and undermined the religion. So it would be great if you would talk of pluralism and inclusiveness which the religion teaches us and not exclusionism which the Pakistani muslims suffer from
@Asad: I'm sorry, if tomorrow I get a message from God, and with the help of hindsight, create a religion, with much more detailed code, will it become more divine than others? What has "completeness" to do with divinity? And how can one religion be "more divine" than others? Btw, my new religion will have guidelines for dealing with the Internet, airplanes, space travel, Darwinsim, and iPads along with everything else other religions have. No other religion could match my new religion's "completeness". Will my new religion be more divine than the rest?
Blair! Lolx, this was the guy who supported the tyranny of the big boss George.W.busch, despite the fact that many of common english were against iraq war. This man is really silly, its all about our national interests. We can not allow indians to secure their objectives in Afghanistan. Beleive me, pakistan and her citizens will be much more in miseries in coming 10-infinite years, if india secured her position on our west border. Whatever we did in the past, all were measure to secure our ideological and physical boundries, as every nation has the right to do. We dont need any commentries about our past from such tyrannic bonapartes, who have the blood of innocent iraqis on their hands. We ask them to play their rule in resolving the issue of kashmir. In fact, the issue of kashmir needs to be addressed as one of the major elements of the so-called end game in afghanistan.
I never liked Blair and have the openion that he made many mistakes when he was British Prime Minister But to day I can say he is not that bad when he pointed out THE BIGGEST MISTAKE PAKISTAN EVER MADEMr. Blair should realize that such nonsensical blame-games will not help us attain the trust, friendship and love of Pakistan. As a secular Indian and a humanist, I'd say, we need to build bridges between the Islamic and non-Islamic nations for eternal prosperity. To begin with, Mr. Blair should have shown gratitude to Pakistan for consistently demonstrating its immense reservoir of courage, forbearance and generosity. The countless sacrifices made by Pakistan for restoring peace and justice in the neighborhood regions has gone largely unnoticed and it has been unfairly branded time and again with dubious epithets. This constant victimization of Pakistan has to stop immediately and it's time to admit that the world needs Pakistan much more than Pakistan needs the world's or its own citizens. Only with Pakistan's help and advise can the world hope to conquer the evils of extremist violence and nuclear proliferation.
well said. I wonder when our leaders will be able to talk like this. Oh wait when Pakistan is a first world country
Blair is an enemy of Islam, if you see his other interviews also ,in one way or the other, he always speaks against Islam.
@DJ
I have studied all religions- Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism. and The ONLY religion which has a complete code of life is ISLAM. The Quran and Hadith talk about Islamic Criminal Law, Family Law, Inheritance Law, Commercial Law, Political governance, social security (via Zakat), manners to greet people, eat food, etc. I challenge anyone and dare say that all the other religious scriptures do not have this level of detail on how to spend life at an individual and state level- Only ISLAM does, reason being Islam is the only divine religion.
Great comments by Tony Blair he is such a wise guy.
Pakistan originated from a voluntary fusion of religion and politics - otherwise, there was no rationale to its creation through Partition. Please note that the full name of the country is "Islamic Republic of Pakistan".
Since a sizable proportion of Muslims opted to remain in post-partition India under a secular constitution, there is no way anyone can ignore that Pakistan's very existence is rooted in rejection of the principle of separation of State and Religion. Only those Muslims formed Pakistan who desired a fusion of religion and politics.
There is no logic in expecting Pakistanis to develop towards anything but a stronger religious identity. If they ever favor secular politics their own origin will look ridiculous. The so-called ' .... vast majority of decent Pakistani's .... ': do they exhibit the strength to go through that?
I submit that the above is the reason for the inability of Pakistani's to form a modern nation with an effective political system at its core. They are a group that collectively elected to regress to medieval politics, and have been living in that self-created system these six decades and more now. For them to emerge into the modern world would require volunteering to undergo a mind-wrenching experience without historical precedent.
Emerging from monumental mistakes requires monumental strength. So when the mistakes originate from weak-mindedness ...................... !
So true, Pakistan and for that matter any country should never mix religion with politics. Many muslims have a strange concept that Islam is a complete set of code to live life forgetting that every religion claims so - 1. Hindus have their complete code - Bhagwat Gita, Puranas and Manu smriti 2. Christians - Bible 3. Jews - Torah, Hallaka laws, etc So, its naive for some people to think that their relgion is the most superior and has a code of life. But we must understand that in todays global and multi-cutural society we need rationalism, secularism, peace and prosperity and so its my wish - PAKISTAN MUST BECOME SECULAR.
The religious extremist in Pakistan have made to look our religion as promoter of terrorism and war.They have never listened to the voice of reason and nor will ever.Mr Blair comments are for the benefit of Pakistan as he has tried to identify the issue and now it is up to us to accept any sane suggestion.
Pakistan's ideology is based on religion but there was still tolerance otherwise till 1970's.
@true Pakistani:
Before writing this sort of a comment, have you ever thought about your country men living in UK ???
"Blair told Karan Thapar in an interview with a news channel, The Times of India reported". so they are discussing Pakistan without the presence of a Pakistani!!!! isnt that what we call backbiting. Secondly, I wonder how cruel could the revenge be. So called mistakes conducted by previous generation is suffered by younger ones!! Each time US takes a step against Pakistan or India assists them, the reason seems to be only one behind it all. Such a shame for US policy makers. What has common people to do with that.
well if Religion was not there Pakistan would not have been there as well.......Pakistan was made because of religious differences with Hindus of India
I wonder when Mr. Blair will be called to Hague Tribulan of war crimes for his waging war on Iraq withoug proof of weapons of Mass destruction....
"There are a lot of decent people in Pakistan" . . .
Doesn't look like it if you read the comments section of this piece.
Yeah Mr. Blair- coming from someone who said that Iraq had WMDs - your words are believable. Just keep giving the Indians the words they like to hear. After all it was the British who gave them freedom and they have been best buddies since.
ISLAM is there to decide wether muslim were wrong in 70's or wrong in 2001 Not the Blair has right to decide
Mr. Blair forgot that the muslims have complete idealogy and take the directions from Islam about Living which includes the politics as well.
Basically Mr. Blair want us to direct like a Master and would be happy if we do according to there directions and become the part of Crusade.But what should we say; these Western Minded Masters never happy with Muslims even we follow them; we kill our people; we make enimies who are our brotheres but these Western Masters always ask for DO MORE............
So it would better for us to follow ISLAM and it would better for Blair to SHUT UP.....
As usual nothing good comes out of this barbaric animal (in the form of human body).
I support Blair and he is so right!
"“I think Pakistan is paying a heavy price for the mistakes of 1970s by linking religion with politics and developing religious schools which are, in some cases, dangerous sources of extremism,”:
And from mistakes made every year after the 70s......
Yup this war criminal can identify a mistake when he sees one! Waiting for him to say Oops, my bad, over Iraq.
Truth well told.
Pakistan was conceived by the union of religion and politics. Pakistan is not paying for the mistakes of 70's. The preamble to the PAK constitution clearly defines the ideology of PAK.
The present struggle between religion and politics in PAK started beginning with the first constitution convention of PAK. Even the present constitution went through the same problem.
Two generations of religious ideological doctrine in politics cannot be corrected in one generation. All the secular PAK nationalists were either silenced or sidelined from main stream politics.
It will take another 30 years for PAK to come out of the religious clasp, provided the present course is maintained. The region-wise compartmentalized religious-political parties with their vote bank are PAK's major challenge.
PAK thinks that Islamic ideology and secularism are incompatible.
All nations of this world have religious identity but it is the secularism that maintains the cultural character of the nation without sacrificing the religious identity. What is the cultural character of PAK today? Can it be separated from religious character?
Too late to inculcate the philosophy without major cultural revolution in PAK.
And why does this war criminal easily forget the fact that his friend/elder brother George W. Bush called (the so-called) War On Terror a 'Crusade'. One must watch the following video and then tell who has begun a religious war in Iraq.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvO575U-25g
I agree... Pakistan is held by the corrupt system which acts as the glue. As insanity will grow this will lead to melting of the glue. Hopefully Pakistan of today will not be the Pakistan in 10 years in every sense. The system is breathing its last....