Pakistan is a land of many stories, and I miss them terribly. But what I don’t miss, having been forced to leave Pakistan this summer because of a possible threat to my safety, is the constant barrage of conspiracy theories and an unwillingness by smart people to accept what is clear as day.
The shooting of Malala Yousufzai is just the latest case. There are many educated Pakistanis who simply can’t accept that the barbarous thugs known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) could shoot a brave 14-year-old schoolgirl reformer in the head. No matter that the TTP spokesman claimed credit for it. No matter that he said they would do it again if given half the chance.
Curious timing, these conspiracists mutter darkly. The attack is obviously an attempt to force the military into an operation in North Waziristan against Pakistan’s will, they say. Or, it’s a plot to discredit the PTI and its opposition to drone strikes. (What drone strikes have to do with the bloody attack on a child is never clearly explained.)
This, if I may, as an outsider and an observer of Pakistan, is Pakistan’s gaping wound: a collective inability — or unwillingness — to accept responsibility for its internal problems.
Everything is a plot by the Indians, Americans or Israel. Or all three! Militancy, power cuts, corruption, economic stagnation, Osama bin Laden, all of it. I once had Latif Khosa, governor of Punjab, blame power outages on the American invasion of Afghanistan, and not the Pakistan government’s inability to settle the circular debt problem. Zaid Hamid, conspiracist extraordinaire, vowed revenge on the TTP and their “Hindu backers”. Even the match-fixing by the Pakistani cricket team was a set-up by dark forces bent on Pakistan’s destruction.
Goodness! How did Pakistan manage to acquire so many shadowy enemies? In short, it — or rather, the men who run it — invented them.
Anyone with a lick of sense knows the Pakistani “establishment” (such a polite euphemism) has for years cried wolf in order to justify claiming its outsized share of the national budget and foreign aid. India was poised to invade at any moment! The Americans are going to steal our nukes!
The efforts to spot dark plots and enemies under every bushel have found fertile soil in a population already poisoned by a school system that promotes bigotry against other religious groups, by a media that lionises murderers in a chase for ratings and by politicians such as Imran Khan and his PTI who pal around with men who openly support the Taliban and their vicious ideology. I refer, of course, to men such as Hamid Gul and Maulana Samiul Haq.
Pakistan has real problems, yes. India is an economic rival and the relationship with Washington is a complicated one. The issue of Pashtun nationalism on both sides of the Durand Line has to be handled carefully. But instead of looking at what is right in front of them — the military’s support for jihadist groups since the 1980s has now gotten out of control and threatens the state — Pakistanis have been encouraged to blame others. They ignore the cancer that has been eating away at Pakistan since before the usurpation of Ziaul Haq: the supported rise of an intolerant and severe nationalism that conflates piety with patriotism. It’s an ugly nationalism that excludes and marks others as outsiders and, thus, as enemies.
This twisting of a faith was not the work of America, or India or Israel. This was done by Pakistan’s own leaders and generals for crass and short-term gains. The knock-on effects have been catastrophic for a society that was once more tolerant, open and welcoming to the outside world. It leads to smart people unwilling to see what is plain in front of their faces: That militants once backed by their own military are intent on killing anyone who disagrees with them, even if it’s a 14-year-old girl. And that the men with guns need to be dealt with. With all the severity they mete out to others.
In the end, the real enemy of Pakistan is not India or the United States. It’s not even passivity in the face of — or even acceptance of — a pernicious and twisted ideology. It’s the denial that the ideology has come from within Pakistan itself.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2012.
COMMENTS (68)
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@Nauman:
First correct yourself on figure of population..we are a nation of 180 million not 1800 ?
Problem over simplified! How the heck a nation of 1800 millon, which also has produced a functional/credible nuclear and missile programme missed such a simple hitch, may be there is more to it, may be it is even more complicated then rocket science OR may be one needs to have a very clear state of mind, I mean really clear, with no impressions from history e.g the world we live in is at pinacle of morality where there has been no exploitation, no colonisation, no slavery, no divide n rule policies, no mass killings for economic and resource greed etc. If u have such clarity then there is no room for conspiracy theories, but in case u are not the gifted one then it is all together a different situation.
Now for the ones who are fighting it out on daily basis and the bystanders who feel bad but don't feel like participating, let it be clear that our holy Quran tells us that the non Muslims envy you to the extend that they bite thier fingers in anger and they would always conspire against you, no matter what, but let's not make it an excuse for not doing what we are suppose to do and that also includes taking responsibility for events taking place around us. If u sit on a back seat of a bus and expect it would take u where u desire it may or may not, depending on drivers mood, else u should have disciplined the driver before hand to be a chauffeur, through your superior intellect, so that u can sit back and enjoy. If u have not done so then plz don't only blame the driver, he may be doing his best. Secondly we are not loosers, in fact we have never been loosers as we are being made to feel. At badar we fought triple sized enemy and there are many more examples including Russian defeat etc, all we need is the direction/unification. And we don't have to look far for that, its rope of Allah (the Quran) and color of Allah (the guided path). The situation which confronts us today is due to the fact that we have left our basic job (You are the best people raised for the good of mankind, you enjoin good and forbid evil and believe in Allah (The Quran 3,111)). So let's strengthen ourselves from within and be assured that no out side force can heart us. May Allah guide and protect us.Taliban were brought to Pakistan thru Americans during the cold war. Now the US is negotiating with them in Aghanistan. The rotten US ruling class has to lean on all the reactionary forces owing to their historical bankruptcy . They support their corrupt allies all over the world to interfere in various countries to plunder their resources. The nexus between the US and Taliban cannot be ruled out. Taliban might be a US frenchise, considering their crimes in the past
Someone in another thread observed, quite astutely, that Pakistan today is much like Germany before WWII. The same victim complex, the same conspiracy mania, the same degree of entitlement in assumption of supposed superiority of culture over everyone else's in the world. Pakistan, like Germany, has to scrape the bottom before it attempts to climb out of the hole it is in. It doesn't have the strength of pre-war Germany to start a war which expedited the matters for Germany. Yet, there is no alternative to total destruction before its rebirth as a rational entity. The only course seems to be a violent implosion!
I have always said, Denial is a river that flows through Pakistan
Denial and conjuring up conspiracy theories that point fingers at others is a cowardly response to avoid facing the real issues with oneself.
Agreed 100%. When Muslims/Pakistanis claim 'a good muslim' could not have done this or that latest atrocity", we essentially refuse to take responsibility for crimes that come from within us. It's as credible as germans saying 'good germans' could never have carried out the holocaust; or 'good catholics' cannot be held responsible for the inquisition. 'Good' muslims like any other religious or national group, which otherwise profess peace and love for all, can and do commit abominable acts of violence. And until we stop holding on to the ridiculous notion that as muslims cannot be possibly nasty, we will never address the root causes of why may be so.
@Tahir Ali: Why you blame US for the Afghani Jihad. Is it the fault of US that Pakistanis were willing to sell their motherland to the highest bidder?!
@Enlightened: Rest assured Pakistan would not Talabanize, but if it does, I assure you the entire world, especially India, would face the consequences. Recent history teaches us that whenever militancy is used as an instrument, it backfires.
Taleban is going to have the last laugh when the whole country will Talbanise and Pakistanis would still be blaming India and US for the same. Have a nice day.
In my opinion Pakistan always wanted to setlte score with india, first because of kashmir and second because of the formation of Bangladesh. For this it required a strong ally in USA and did everything to strengthen it's relationship with USA. Unfortunately nobody envsioned the impact of direct involvement in Afganistan. Later mujahadeens and arms were seen a strategic asset to achieve it's Kashmir goals. Unfortunately for Pakistan coldwar ended, Indian economy opened up in 1991. It traditional ways of working with western powers was no longer working. It's strategic assets became rogue power and became a headache for the whole world. Thanks to right wing the conspiracy theories starts building up. I actually can understand the conspiracy theories in a country like Pakistan, where it sees itself as a victim. What i am not able to understand though is the significant reductions in it's minority population due to cocentrated effort from certain section of the society and whole system being blind to it.
go and sell mangoes........!
@Umair: You say that "The attack on 14 year old girl by Taliban can't be possible"! WOW, Taliban have repeatedly taken credit for this attack and have threatened media for talking about it, so just where do you get your information? Please tell us WHO shot Malala and other two girls so we can all hear the TRUTH! NOT!!!
Watch a movie called 'ARGO' which is a real life story of A CIA operative and then tell me why should we not be paranoid. I realise it is Hollywood but the real agent was inerviewed on CNN by Jim Clancy and you get a good idea as to what lengths the CIA can go to achieve its ends. As another senior writer correctly said ' It lies, lies and more lies '.....so who knows the truth ?
This article in ITSELF is a conspiracy theory........Author wants no blame to be put any where not even for coerced cooperation...ONLY PAKISTAN IS WRONG. Shame on you...
Carry on with main stream western media narrative You will be writing for CNN, BBC or FOX news in no time
How very educated of you How very smart of you
You deserve to be paid in $$$'s
Well done
If only we were all as intelligent and as informed as you are
Who is supporting TTP? Are you sending your wages to them? Are you supplying them with guns and bombs? you well informed intelligent man
Don Quixote of Pakistan attacking Indian Wind Mills +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ They only impress Sancho Panzo
Chris, You just put a dent in my source of entertainment; Zaid Hamid and Hamid Gul. They may start doing fewer interviews. What am I to do? Start watching Sacha Baron Cohen? Well, that may be OK, if Pakistan improves a bit due to your article. I forgive you. ..pc
@Unfortunate Pakistani in US: Good luck to you but it's people like you, who are born and raised in this country and then flee out. You are ashamed to associate yourself to this country but what did you return to this country after having been raised to an adult using resources of this country?
@ethicalma
"Denial Debial denial denial….that’s what Pakistan is …"
No Sir, now it is conspiracy, conspiracy, conspiracy, conspiracy, and more conspiracy!
Has the whole world nothing better to do?
There are two kinds of people in Pakistan..1) who blames US for everything 2) who blames PTI for everything..Both are equally pathetic
Very good realistic article...but as usual we will never accept it as our failures.....
The attack on 14 year old girl by Taliban can't be possible. It's by those who wants to play with Pakistan with the name of Taliban.
India is an economic rivaland the relationship with Washington is a complicated one.pakistan is a economic rival of india .lol
We know the reason behind this article and the conspiracy we issue fatwa and ghazwa e America India and Israel
" They don't even know when they are lying " So well summarized .
Denial Debial denial denial....that's what Pakistan is ...
Chris, rather than being thankful to George Galloway for taking or at least putting all the blames on the 'West', we are calling it a new USrael 'chal' (trick).
If pakistan want real progress, first they change their mindset. congrats to Chris Albritton
Author! This denial is the root cause. By looking at the statements of pro-establishment figures like Shaikh Rasheed, Qazi Hussain Ahmad and others, one can clearly observe that this denial mood has not changed. The real power brokers are in no mood to mend their ways. The people of Pakistan will only know when the the country will collapse like in 1971
".........That militants once backed by their own military are intent on killing anyone who disagrees with them..." Your (and by that I mean Pakistanis) heroes of yesterday have become the monsters of today. Unless you acknowledge it, you will make the same mistakes again. As long as they created mayhem and killed Hindus (children included) in Kashmir, you cheered. Now you cry. "He who digs a grave for others..." sounds apt in this regard.
@Sheikh Gabbar:
" Sir I recently saw a interview of Sheikh Rashid, who apparently knows the Pakistani middle class by its beat, went on to say that this is plot by India to raise a international hue and cry and now the Indian media is shamelessly promoting this story to bring ill repute to Pakistan"
Sub consciously India is treated as enemy by Pakistanis even by those too who do not buy the conspiracy theories. This reflects in the wording "India media SHAMELESSLY promoting story to disrepute Pakistan. Don't you think one has a right to oppose the the blame imposed on him. What is the shame in it. A stable and prosperous Pakistan is better in Indian interest for trade and commerce . To us betterment of economy stands on the highest priority.
Pakistanis, or at least the educated lot, know very well all that the writer has so brilliantly explained. The problem is they lack the courage to accept their failures. That is why they have even mutilated their own history. What the country needs is a morally and ethically courageous strong leader who could put them on the right path. May Allah save Malala and give her long life. She could be such a leader.
We really are our own worst enemy.
It really makes one wonder how such folks, seemingly decent and educated, could absorb and spout such prejudiced, delusional paranoid and deranged conspiracies and ideologies. But it is what it is, and quite prevalent among Pakistanis of all ages. Its like a sport or hobby. And its an incredible uphill task to reason with them on everything, be it sectarianism, Baloch separatism, failed historic wars, current economic failures, religious role and laws, etc.
Even direct victims of terrorism repeat the same script, which probably makes the many terrorists we've produced feel somewhat slighted with their lunacy.
Not surprising there's little progress, and unlikely ever will be improvement without some honesty, accountability, and basic level of mental sanity allowing for critical thinking and reasoning, within ourselves. I do not see it happening any time soon.
Worse is the feeling that the "educated" appear to be in a permanent contest to see who can spin the best/latest conspiracy theory! If blaming others for Pakistan's ills was an Olympic sport, then Pakistan would be a podium finisher every time!
very true. we are foolish nation on earth who can be fooled so easily by any one at any-time.
You wrote it without mincing a single word but I can assure you that "they" (I say they because I no longer want to associate myself with that country) would not comprehend any of what you said. They are brainwashed in every sense of the word. I know because I was one of them, and took me seven difficult years to snap out it.
Let's name names. The "smart" people you talk about include some of Pakistan's "best" diplomats and public figures -- Maleeha Lodhi, Zafar Hilaly, Aslam Beg, Shahzad Chaudhury, Munir Akram, A.Q.Khan, Ejaz Haider etc. Sadly, even a liberal, open-minded newspaper like ET publishes some of their columns -- as it should. But who is to tell them that their minds have been warped by doctored history of half a century?
Hmm, cant wait to see Pakistani reaction to this article, OR should I say Pakistani denial to this article. Every human being, every society, every country should introspect from time to time and fix the issues on the way, but unfortunately the word "introspection" in Pakistan has no meaning attached to it. Of all the problems that the author has highlighted the most dangerous one is - Brainwashing of students through state sponsored textbooks. Secondly the TRP hungry biased media. In the beginning I used get irked with this constant denial by Pakistanis but now I just get amused by it, in fact at times I find it hilariously funny.
Spot on, You missed out the "Kashmiri's own uprising" in 1988/89 with Pakistan as a silent observer.
Pakistan has lost the ability of introspection and lack the spine to call a spade a spade.
very thoughtful.
A succinct summary of malaise. but who cares for a failed state.
Must have been hard living among such childish and deluded. Thanks for trying to explain what problems we really face and why we are in this terrible situation. Wish we had the same insight as you have about our pathetic society. We do tend to complicate pretty straight forward issues. Do forgive us....
Very well put.
Many Pakistanis twist logic into a pretzel in order to justify this but deny that. Acceptance is said to be the necessary first step needed to change one's fortune and Pakistan is not even close to passing that preliminary stage.
I think that the only reason young Malala's misfortune resonated with so many Pakistanis is because it is hard to assign conspiratorial motives to a 14-year old girl. Even so, some have tried.
Pakistanis need to decide who their real enemy is and it is not the one that they have always been indoctrinated to believe.
Every Pakistani needs to read this, before it's too late
Spot on article. There are simple 3As "AAA" for development. Analyze, Acknowledge and Act. Unless you identify your weakness and have courage to accept it, you cannot act to improve yourself.
Oh yes Pakistan invented the taliban and the US was just an innocent bystander. America bankrolled them armed them to their teeth and when their job was finished let them loose on afghanistan. Spoken like a true westerner blaming everyone but themselves. What else are the people to think when India is given nuclear deals and we get a white guy playing some cricket. Let me ask you this aren't children and civilians just like Malala being killed everyday by these drone strikes.
Pakistani anger is always temporary, so I expect in a couple of weeks people would have forgotten all about this. The government does nothing and so do we.
Because Pakistan and Iran are the only Muslim countries capable of standing up to Israeli hegemony in the region.
What a brilliant article on in depth situation of Pakistan. Only God can save them!!
I propose a different scenario that Pakistan’s is undergoing social engineering, where two different sects of Islam are fighting for the majority. It is almost skirting the eugenics. All the violence more or less is result of proxy war between these two groups. End of the day Muslims are killing Muslims and violence at the place of worship i.e. Mosque is justified and not feared. This is what has happened during all eras of Islam right from its inception, hence justified and acceptable. Power was always gained through the sword. People of one sect consider themselves to be superior to everyone else. Once you accept this hypothesis or scenario than it makes sense to either kill members of the other sect or get rid of the minority. Minority is getting squeezed either by targeted killing or the charge of Blasphemy or forced conversion plus minus migration. The solution is to plug the flow of petrodollar and initiate intersect or interreligious dialogue by the NGO’s. Poor law and order, high unemployment and anger towards establishment for failure of basic services are not helping the government to contain this monster.
Pakistan should read up how India handled the volatile mixture of religious sentiments combined with violence. The major see of change that Indira Gandhi did was to give her blessing to the doctrine that religious places are not above the law and order. Prior to this extremist always assumed that Police or Army would not enter the religious place of worship. Hence it was alright to shelter extremists and hoards weapons. In some cases extremist, by force, took over the place of worship. Pakistan is facing same dilemma that religious group or worship places are assuming that they are above the law and order. Politicians are also pandering to this philosophy as they are afraid that such an action may cost them vote and hence not agreeing to go to N. Waziristan. Musharraf administration did attack red mosque but it was done to appease Chinese but at the end it did bring positive result that Islamabad has fewer attacks.
Pakistan can be peaceful and prosperous if current administration makes this sea of change and declare that no religious place or group is (a) above the law and order and (b) all religious and charity groups and place of worship has to file annual income tax to claim tax exemption status. This has to be followed by full scale search for weapons by law enforcement and audit of funds by an IT department. Within thirty days Peace can return to Pakistan.
Very well written, to the point and in a simple and plain language highlights the root cause of Pakistan's pathetic situation. Our system of education produces and has produced bigots whose thinking could be best described as "mind of a bigot is like the pupil of an eye, the more light you pour on it the more it contracts."
Absolutely correct and on the mark!
100% agreed with writer.
100% correct my friend. I left Pakistan to work in Hong Kong 11 years ago. It was after being away from Pakistan and cut-off from my fellow country men that I realized how infected I had been by these crazy ideas. I recommend spend time away from our country men.
Absolutley right on the mark, Chris! Thank you. If you are a casual reader of this paper, you might have read our brilliant Saroop Ijaz, among others, who had been harping on this mental block our people had been suffering from for far too long. Hope to read more from you!
Yipee... every one is quoting us. Now we are on reuters..
BRILLIANT.
Very timely and spot on. I am myself shocked and disgusted by the number of educated and seemingly sensible Pakistanis believing in conspiracy theories and suffering from some kind of collective paranoia.
Oh!So beautifully written...hats off to you my fiend....
"But instead of looking at what is right in front of them — the military’s support for jihadist groups since the 1980s has now gotten out of control and threatens the state — Pakistanis have been encouraged to blame others". The author to an extent is right. May be a handful of Pakistanis are in denial but I am astonished to read the quoted sentence. Probably, the author was too young then or have not read about how in the eighties Pakistan and USA collaborated to oust the Soviet forces from Afghanistan, how the Arab fighters were encouraged to come to Pakistan, become jehadis and trained by CIA. After the USA achieved its objective and became the only super power, it left Pakistan in the lurch to face the consequences of breeding ideologically motivated Mujahideen. So when the author blames the Pakistanis for being in denial, he should also admit that the USA was equally responsible for the quagmire Pakistan is in. Even now, the entire leadership is operating from safe-havens in Afghanistan, under the control of ISAF. So Chris, when Pakistanis blame others, all is not ill founded.
Very True, why Fazul Rehman supporting Taliban becuase most of taliban are Wahbi
Sir I recently saw a interview of Sheikh Rashid, who apparently knows the Pakistani middle class by its beat, went on to say that this is plot by India to raise a international hue and cry and now the Indian media is shamelessly promoting this story to bring ill repute to Pakistan. As if Pakistan's name has not been sullied already by him and cohorts