I saw such a change in public opinion about the Taliban when it was ruling Swat in 2008. Maulana Fazlullah was ruling the valley and girls were being flogged on even minor suspicions of immorality. The government of Pakistan had given in and power had been conceded in the name of the demand of the people for the Sharia law. But then the Taliban started moving towards Buner and the military felt threatened. One after the other, media anchors started talking about taking action against them. Within months, the local people were brought to the plains of Mardan and Peshawar and the army moved in to wipe out the Taliban and it did so. The rumour factories proclaiming that the Taliban did not exist or were foreigners and that Americans carried out the bombings attributed to them stopped churning out their trash. But after this brief victory, we went back to our anti-American, ant-Indian rhetoric, which implied that the ‘foreign hand’ had to be blamed for the kidnappings for ransom, the throat-slitting of people suspected to be spies and the harshness of the laws of the Taliban in the areas they controlled. The anchors were back to condemning drone attacks in the name of our sovereignty, and the narrative that North Waziristan should not be attacked because the Haqqani network attacked Americans and not Pakistanis, gained currency again.
Once again, I notice a change in the military’s attitude towards militancy. Possibly, the attack on Kamra put General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani’s back up. But it is not clear whether this change will translate into a wholesale elimination of the terror outfit or whether the India-focus of the military will save anti-India outfits like before. I also do not know whether any of these outfits are really in the control of the military now or is it that they have all broken away from their mentors and the genie cannot be put back in the bottle? But what I do know is that the genie was produced by our most powerful decision-makers and they never told our public the truth. Our lack of public support and confusion, and the conspiracy theories which circulate, are all a product of lying, evasiveness, double-dealings and double-speak.
Take the policy on drones. These were allowed by our military and civilian governments since 2004 at least. The public was never told that Pakistan was in an alliance with the US and that it was not merely for money, though of course, money did come in, mainly to the military for services rendered. The people were allowed to criticise their government as heartless mercenaries, whereas the fact was that the al Qaeda philosophy, one which the Taliban also concurred with, blamed our government for being stooges of the West at best and apostates at worst. In short, our decision-makers, too, wanted to fight the militants but they would not say so openly hoping to fool their own people, as well as the Taliban and the Americans. They did fool their people but neither the Taliban nor the Americans. The drones were meant to eliminate the al Qaeda and Taliban leadership and there is some evidence that they did this to some extent. On March 9, Major General Ghayur Mehmood, GOC of the Seventh Infantry Division, said that between 2007 and 2011, there were 164 drone attacks, which killed 964 militants. Among these were 172 foreigners. Indeed, a few months later, Atiyah Abdurrahman (August 22, 2011) and Abu Hafs al-Shari, both second only to Osama bin Laden himself, were killed by drones. But a recent study by Stanford and New York University claimed that of those killed in drone strikes, only two per cent were militants, while the rest were civilians. In short, the evidence is contradictory. But one thing is clear. Our people were never told that any other way to fight militants would probably result in more deaths. The infantry cannot be used as militant leaders would simply run away when foot-soldiers march towards them. Infantry is used against those who stay to fight a pitched battle, not leaders hiding in houses. And even if it is used to fish leaders out, it is a messy affair that can cause deaths of many civilians. Air force jets are an even worse choice as are gunship helicopters since they kill people indiscriminately in a wider radius than drones.
Moreover, since our people were never told what life is like under the Taliban, they know nothing about the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, very little about Maulana Fazlullah’s Swat, and what they have heard of the Taliban rule of Afghanistan, they regard as Western or liberal propaganda. So, our decision-makers missed the opportunity to unite our citizens against militants. Among the missed opportunities was that of using the Americans to fight both their own war and ours too. We never owned the war and it is a wonder that our disciplined rank-and-file did not rebel when the army took its selective actions against the Taliban. But from soldier to general, there was confusion and ambiguity and nobody identified the enemy.
Our people were also never told that there were 413 incidents of terrorism in Pakistan before the first drone strike on June 18, 2004. Thus, the reasoning given by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, among others, that all terrorism is because of drone strikes is simply not true. But, since we have made the drones unacceptable to our people by our mendacity, what is to be done? Most of our anti-drone lobby knows nothing about infantry battles and how many people die in them, so they give no answers. If Pakistan uses its own infantry, the number of soldiers and civilian casualties will be in thousands and such civil wars are terrible for a country. In any case, the Taliban will hide among the villagers and no infantry can fight its own people without causing serious rebellions and outrage. Some would prefer negotiating with the militants. Well, the militants broke all the peace deals that were negotiated earlier, so where does that leave us? A heartless answer would be to withdraw from the tribal areas and be content with whatever is left of Pakistan. Personally, being concerned more with people than land, I would have recommended this option, though the nationalists would not hear of it despite the fact that the Emirate of Waziristan is not really Pakistan. But the reason why I consider this a bad solution is that I do not think we can build a Wall of China like wall to keep the militants out of what is left of Pakistan. That is just not practical. Thus, we will have an ever-expanding Taliban state with all the kidnappings and the occasional raids to keep it going. Moreover, and this is what really bothers me, with what conscience can we leave girls like Malala to be whipped, kept as captives in homes and killed if they want to study in the new state we will allow to be created? What right do we have to prevent 250,000 children from receiving polio vaccinations? And we, who condemn the violation of our sovereignty loudly when drone strikes are secretly allowed by our highest authorities, why do we never condemn the states that have been formed in our tribal areas? We have not done so because our elite has confused us, bewildered us and has filled us with so much hatred for foreigners that we cannot see that we are committing collective suicide. Just how many Malalas will it take for us to wake up?
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2012.
COMMENTS (32)
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@Rehana Rahman...Retarding the native kids by teaching them in an alien hegemonic language/Urdu if is tantamount to be educated one/s, then we Balochs, Sindhis, Pathans and Punjabis living in this federation would love be 'uneducated'... As far as your amusing logic of quoting the witnesses including of media is concerned, anyone having slightest notion of ground realities knows well enough that who controls the whole public and private media..!
@Nur and BSPP,your argument is so rediculous!,Howcome using people as their shield in the war front or using small children and ignorant masses as suicide bombers equal to wanting this war to finish and people to live peacefully and how condemning the attack on poor children like Malala whose only fault was demanding education??????Do you mean to say that the liberals who are writing about Malala or demanding the army and the government to fight are equal to the terrorists themselves and Nur do you think all the doctors who treated Malala,the government and many other political leaders including IK,the army chief,the eye witnesses who saw this brutal act happening in front of them.The three girls and their poor families,its not just one media but all the media of Pakistan and what to say about thousands of ordinary people of Pakistan leaving not more than 00.1 percent of people like you are all been sold to west and are their tools of propaganda????Then WHY not you and other such people are sold to Taliban? Its such a shameful thing that we are left with no tolerance for each other!!
If THEOCRATIC Mullas use kids (of ratee/red Maseet) as humans shield or to launch suicidal attacks on the one hand...while on the other hand so do the shrewd LIBERAL/SECULAR Mullas do by using MALALA sort of innocent sitting ducks for their vested interests... Both hyenas and vultures have A COMMON AGENDA of LOOT and RULE even by using kids as tissue papers... So this tug of war among exploiters is not the cup of tea of Sindhi, Baloch, Pathan and Punjabi nationalists of this federation..!
@Afzaal Khan: "How about stop using a 15 year old as political point? "
How about stopping murder of people 15 or whatever age?
@Noor: Please explain why you think the Taliban attack on Malala and the other injured girls was a "planned event"! Also, it is curious why you would characterize the Pakistani outrage at this criminal attack as "propaganda"!
I strongly condemn the attack on th einnocent girl.
However, Wasn't this a planned event?
I don't find an airlift for any other victim of terrorism from a remote location to Saidu Sharif type city, do we have so much airlift capacity in the country?
Even no senior official would get such promotion on National & International media, unless there were some vested interests of international forces, who can use media for their propaganda gains.
For a dead nation?? Even a 1000 Malala's wont make a difference.
I can't tell you how many Malalas it will take. It does seem like one will not be enough.
Please allow me to disagree with the topic and contents of this article. The matter, as shown or presented, is not what is truth. Malala, like so many others in past, is another victim to the brainwashing/changing public opinion strategies of those who have forced people to change the name of "Mujahideens" to "Talibans" or "Terrorists".
Attack on Malala, by all means, is condemned; but the way it is being propagated is what was required out of it and we the puppets are reacting like we were supposed to.
I can quote and debate on other excerpts of article, but let us think and use our own brains to what's happening around us.
No hard feelings for Dr. Tariq as he expressed what he felt and that is his right.
I'll leave you all with that.
@BM. Those merciless lunatics who compare the attack on Malala with the drones need to re-examine whether they fall in the category of 'human beings'. How can one be so insensitive to the cause of girls education,bombing of schools,lashing in the name of Religion,attacks on school children and yet be called a 'human being'? This girl has jolted the landscape of Pakistan and her bravery has won accolades from around the world.Malala is a phenomena whose effects have been felt by all the civilised world and yet some of her own countrymen cannot see or are cowardly blind to the fallout of this attack.Just because some want to post comments on articles, they write without even understanding what is being said or implied.Yes,the drones have killed hundreds of wanted militants,both local and foreign.They have done what tanks or artillery could not.There has been collateral damage but that is understandably because these beasts use civilians (children and women) as human shields.Do you have any knowledge of what those people who live in the areas dominated by Talibans feel about drone attacks? Talk to these Pakhtun students studying in Islamabad,Lahore and Karachi.They think that these attacks have taken out some of the most wanted terrorists.In any case, the point here is: 'How many more Malala's?'. If we can shake the cowardice in us,dispel that feeling that this war can be won only through verbal attacks and come out openly against the militantswhatever hue and creed they may profess, then we may yet see the day of a liberal,tolerant and peaceful 'land of the pure'.Let not history write our epitaph as: 'the only Man among them was Malala'_My angel! my prayers and my struggle will always be with you.The Lord of all religions look after you.
Whoa! An overhwhelmingly pro-Drone article. Unusual but worthy of encouraging.
@BM:
{thousands of innocents who are killed with each strike} That's news to me. I thought the total killings (even if all innocents) hasn't crossed a couple of thousands compared to tens of thousand of civilians intentionally butchered by these barbarians.
By the way if liberals are exploiting militant struck Malala, whats stopping you from exploiting drone struck Malala's. Maybe you can try asking Taliban permission to visit drone attack sites to collect evidence of child deaths. Believe me I will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in condemning those deaths as well.
Sympathies for Malala, the fourteen year old peace icon, has been pitched against drone attacks by a section of pakistan. That shows creeping talibanisation only.
Thank you for this informative article. It is very painful to see the amount of pain, violence and death caused by both the Taliban as well as the drones. Therefore, a lot of people are inclined to condemn both the drones and the Taliban BUT there is a crucial distinction between these two things: the drones are meant to minimize the number of deaths that will result from fighting the militants and is a horrible but still relatively less destructive form of warfare. The militants aka Taliban, have been killing, maiming, and destroying before any drone attacks and will continue after all drone attacks are stopped. They are our enemy as much, maybe even more, than they are America's enemy. We can not afford to let them continue their destruction without any attempts to destroy this cancer. How do we do it? Maybe American intervention is not suitable to win support for this war from our public, but then the question is can we win this battle with the militants without any foreign support? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, they say. The question that we Pakistanis, unfortunately, have not answered yet is whether we consider the Taliban our enemies or the Americans? If we decide Americans are the enemy then let's go ahead and support the Taliban all we want, but rest assured if we do that we can say goodbye to all development, security, human rights and peace for all our citizens under the Taliban and their goals of violently destroying any nation or entity, which refuses to follow their code.
How about stop using a 15 year old as political point?
Nothing is going to change. It will be business as usual. Watch and see.
@BM: AND how any MORE Pakistanis (over the near 40,000 killed and twice that number maimed/injured) have to be butchered by the TTP/Haqqannis/Militants for you TALIBAN APOLOGISTS to quit spewing out your usual FOREIGN HAND CRAP! And as for your ignorant comment about "the thousands of innocents who are killed with each (Drone) strike", please provide some credible reference for your fantasy (conspiracy bloggers will not be accepted)! Lets do some math now, some 300 drone strikes since 2004 times "thousands" killed by each (thousands means more than one so lets say two) gives us a total of 600,000 killed by drone strikes so far BY YOUR ACCOUNT! WOW, Ya think someone might have noticed!!!
Thanks Doc for a fair balanced and brave analysis of the situation. You are right about the role of our deep state in nurturing these fanatic terrorists. Not only they have been used as strategic assets against India, Afghanistan and NATO forces, they have been used successfully against the elected secular and nationalist leaders. I don't think it would be Malala or any Pakistani civilian but the world pressure that would finally force the army to do its job.
@LionOfPunjab: Earlier I heard about AGAR-MAGAR brigade; what is TORU brigade. Please explain this to ignorants like me.
Dear Dr Tariq Rahman, An excellent op-ed piece! However, you have criticized PTI and his leader, this is blasphemy!! Do you know how much it is going to hurt the Toru brigade who go out in "garmi" to the jalsas? Please, show some mercy and empathy!
It is Qadiani propaganda that Malala was attacked by Taliban. The Qadiyanis have been certified as not Muslims.
Dear sir,
Though i cannot think of anything what you have not mentioned in this article, there are some points still missing here: The whole industry of Mullahs of all sects of Pakistan. Why can't they all come united openly and say NO to such attacks as on Malala. It is this religious fervor in the first place that gives room to such idealogies to flourish in the first place. Why can't we ask these people of faith to come up and detest such monsters openly? I am perplexed over the indifference of these figures who were at forefronts in the creation of this whole school of Talibans.
BRILLIANT piece, a real eye opener. Truly, the powers that be have fooled the masses. What kind of future will The Land of The Pure choose now?
I respect a man who's not afraid to stand up for the truth and confront us (the world) with it. Dr. Rahman accurately described the propaganda of Islamic extremists who I have had the displeasure of coming in contact with in YouTube. They spread all kinds of wild conspiracy theories, to not only confuse the public as to what is true and what isn't, but also to invent a moral equivalency between American drone strikes and the Taliban attacks. What I find even more frustrating are the handful of Americans who for whatever reason, don't like their own country, and repeat the same propaganda of Al-Qaeda, Taliban and other extremists. It's not only disrespectful to Americans, it's disrespectful to Pakistanis as well. Thank you, Dr. Rahman for your insightful article.
Dear Dr Tariq Rahman,
Thanks for writing this powerful condemnation of the processes of dehumanization under way in Pakistan since a long time. Malala Yousafzai symbolizes the spirit of resistance and defiance to such madness. I hope it proves to be the catalyst needed to galvanize all good people to protest and organize to defeat the encroaching fascism in the name of fanatical Islam.
May the Almighty – in His infinite Grace and Mercy – restore Malala and her injured compatriots to full and wholesome health. These brave girls are a model of exemplary courage that ought to be displayed by the people of Pakistan if they want to save the situation. With due and utmost respect to Malala, her companions, and their respective families the incident is yet another manifestation of the fathomless ugliness that accompanies a downhill slide of Pakistan; a slide that now seems unstoppable.
Notwithstanding many political differences one may have with the MQM leader Altaf Hussain his unequivocal condemnation of the Taliban mentality is to be admired. No other leader has shown the same spirit of unambiguous expression. We have heard a lot of mumbo-jumbo which is simple beating around the bush.
Pakistan is a failing state and the meltdown has picked up in speed. The Objectives Resolution of 1949 laid the foundations on which successive leaders, both politicians and military generals, have aided and abetted in the creation of a most perverted and base misinterpretation of religion. The Lord Chief Justice, who does not miss an opportunity to take suo moto notice of everything trivial that fits with his agenda, has turned a blind eye to the situation. The armed forces have a constitutional obligation to defend the country from external and internal aggression. The abysmal record of this institution on the external front is now well matched by its inaction on the internal front. The parliament, packed with countless corrupt people, is busy trying to cobble a constitutional amendment that would forgive the many actions of the mafia that has stolen the wealth of the nation and siphoned it off outside of Pakistan.
Wake up Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Where are you General Kayani? And stop this nonsense Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, and Imran Khan. The dam has burst.
Stanford report on drone attacks is based on a small sample of opinions collected from people residing outside the conflict zone and there are question marks on the group assigned to collect the sample. More importantly, the report does not provide alternatives to drone attacks on how to deal with terrorists taken refuge in an area which is not in control of Pakistan government.
Salutation sir excellent article. There's still hope for Pakistan
The American withdrawal from Afg is seen by the majority of Pakistanis as the light at the end of the tunnnel - it is, but that is the light of the train rushing straight for you! Once the Americans withdraw, the Taliban would then be able to focus their 'energies' on Pakistan - without any distractions. That's when the fun would really begin - it would make the Swat and Buner episodes seem like a walk in the park. Siding with the Taliban who are bent upon returning Pakistan to the middle ages is no longer an option. The enemy is not America or Israel or even India - it lies within Pakistan!
Dr. Sahib, You point well taken. There is nothing that disturbs me more than the death of an innocent civilian. Having said this what are the other alternatives available? You have answered that question "deployment of infantry." Sir! it is already there and have lost many of its finest soldiers. That leaves only one and only one alternative, i.e., drone strikes. Yes! there will be collateral damage. But if one gives asylum to criminals, they should be ready to pay the price. Assault on little Malala has certainly awakened the the national conscience and I hope it may stay like this. My heart goes to the Yousfzai family and my humble prayers are with the little angel named Malala. May she live a long and prosperous life free of bigotry, and intolerance. We have failed to inculcate this virtue in our kids and we must own the responsibility.
How many Drone-struck Malalas will it take for our liberals to stop blabbering pro-American opinions and editorials? Why has there been no outcry in the media about the thousands of innocents who are killed with each strike. If the drones are meant to tackle with the militants, why haven't they been able to mitigate the problem for the past 6 years? Why is it that the militants get stronger and stronger with each drone strike?