The writer is Director News, Express News. He tweets @fahdhusain
fahd.husain@tribune.com.pk
Mullah Fazlullah now lords over his band of brothers and has declared in unequivocal terms that he will wage ferocious war against the state of Pakistan. With his elevation, his group’s stance is clear: No talks, say the TTP. Please talk, beg our leaders. We will teach you a lesson, say the TTP. Please talk, grovels our leadership. We will hit you hard, say the TTP. Please, please talk with us, plead the politicians.
The contrast isn’t shocking. It’s sickening. To see a mighty nuclear-armed state with a massive army falling on its knees in front of this horde makes one’s stomach turn. It seems we have no policy, no vision, no plan and no will. The state is paralysed by inaction, confusion, fear. Or all three.
Since Fazlullah took the reins of the TTP, Pakistani politicians are bending over backwards to appease him and his men. And plan of action? Perish the thought. The craven leadership that we have is keeping the nation in the dark. Perhaps their outrage at the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud has blinded them to their primary responsibility of telling us what they plan to do next.
Talk to Fazlullah? Fine. But how? What do you say to him? Do you travel to Afghanistan to break bread with him? Do you call a fresh APC so that the likes of Munawar Hassan and Maulana Fazlur Rehman brand Hakimullah Mehsud a ‘shaheed’ while the rest of the craven leadership nods silently in agreement? Do you put together the bumbling Taliban apologists in one room yet again so they pass a resolution blocking Nato supplies and initiate another resolution asking for the nation to embrace Fazlullah in our loving embrace? Do you call a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security and ask the military leadership to make peace with the man who has killed a general, and decapitated scores of our soldiers and officers?
What do you do, huh? For now, the answer is — nothing.
So the interior minister stands in parliament and says we will wait. The minister of state for defence says we cannot do much because the Taliban are angry. And the prime minister? Well, he sports a long face and a sour expression and utters inane statements which mean a whole lot of nothing.
And this is our biggest tragedy. In the face of an existential threat, our leadership is flailing in the wind. Could anything be worse? Actually yes, there is. Not only is the leadership dithering, it is in many ways promoting a poisonous pro-TTP narrative which threatens to drown this nation in a sea of confusion. Using the bully pulpit that they have, politicians like Imran Khan, Fazlur Rehman, Munawar Hassan, and even the prime minister and his interior minister are sowing doubts in the minds of a fractured public opinion. All types of characters belonging to the lunatic fringe are hogging the airwaves and spewing venom in favour of the TTP. Suddenly, mainstream discourse is revolving around the necessity for sharia law replacing the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Sanity is under serious threat, as the lava of loathing and hatred bursts forth from under the societal surface. Rhetoric is spiralling out of control, drilling holes in the belly of our society and dredging up blood, puss and filth that fertilises the toxic narrative of our leaders.
The PPP, the ANP and the MQM are cowed in submission. They dare not stand their ground in the face of this avalanche for fear of being swept aside. Imran Khan is leading the charge against sanity, armed with ignorance, naivete and a hunger to gain a foothold in Punjab at the expense of the PML-N. The Sharifs fear his onslaught and are trying to outdo Khan in their outrage. The maulanas smell blood, though they may have bitten off more than they can chew through their bizarre statements. It’s a circus out there.
And meanwhile, Pakistan slips deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2013.
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COMMENTS (31)
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Funny if you replace mullah Fazullah with PA/ISI and Pakistani politicians with Indian politicians, clearly describes the relationship between India and Pakistan. @ Muhammud Nawaz Pakistan Army/ISI fully supports Afgan Taliban by financing, provides weapons, help them regroup. Afgan taliban Agenda-bringing Sharia to afgans is exactly same as TTP. Afgan taliban support TTP infact Mullah Omar approved Mullah fazullah leadership and resolved conflict within TTP.
Are you saying PA/ISI, Afgan Taliban, TTP, RAW, CIA, are all in this grand conspiracy together?
A pain has no existence but a symptom of a particular disease. Taliban are the pain in our * indicating we having a disease of being a slave to the US. Killing pain every time will not kill the disease. So focus on the disease guys. No sanity shown here by Fahd.
Can any body tell how and to whom fight since TTP is neither a single entity nor it has cncentration at a single area like LTTE had in Jaffna? If missiles and bombs are to dropped at all the suspected terrorists in different part of your country, who will take the responsibility for colateral damages...are you people ready to face the music like Sri Lanka who has weeded out the terrorism but is now being targeted for human rights violation.Situation is more complicated in Pakistan.Can the author suggest anything?
IK bashing us 'in' these days. These all so called writers never provide solution and just kept criticizing. Imagine cost of having 200k army stuck in waziristan for next 5 years and with hostile neighbours like India, Iran and Afghanistan...we are doomed then
I cannot agree more with the analysis of Fahad but I cannot agree less with his pessimistic conclusion. It is true that our leadership, both in Government and Opposition, has shown an outstanding capacity for blindness and dumbness by hoping against the hope that Taliban are capable of a negotiated settlement even on elevation of Maulvi Fazlullah as TTP chief, but situation can still change for the better. Remember, there was a time our Government had signed peace with the TTP in Swat. Then Maulvi Fazlullah performed in Swat so well that the same Government had to send troops to rid Swat of the Taliban. Just imagine for a moment Maulvi Fazlullah doing a repeat performance in the entire areas controlled by Taliban! What to say of Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan even the stones will have to change their mind. Please do not underestimate the genius and potential of Maulvi Fazalullah. To those who have asked for a practical solution, I would say if a lethal cancer spreads in a body organ the solution is a surgical operation, not a pious hope.
I partially agree with Mr. Fahad's assessment about the "theory of talks" with the TTP. He has attempted to convincingly narrate the apathy of the Government and monstrous ideology of the TTP, especially under Mullah Radio (Fazalullah-the Terrorist in Chief) on the objectivity of talks. He has missed an over-riding factor in this whole situation i.e., the external support to the TTP. TTP is mainly a proxy of the RAW and Afghan Intelligence, nurtured under the US umbrella via Afghanistan. I wish he had factored in this side of the prevalent turbulent situation on our Western borders and inside Pakistan. People need to understand the strategy and grand design of Pakistan's adversaries. Our strategy and game plan must be to neutralize and fail our adversaries' designs for which we must first identify the traps laid and the will to get out of it, regardless of the price. The government must carefully evolve a convincing counter-narrative against TTP's ideologically based and a misleading narrative to accrue public support. Such a narrative has to be followed by practical steps to demonstrate sincerity in government's resolve to find solution to our security challenges by evolving our very own indigenous policies. Thereafter, whether we resolve our internal conflicts with guns or talks the public will support these measures for being indigenous and not because of foreign dictates. Muhammad Nawaz Lahore
@Shakir Lakhani Speak fro ourself I want sharia law.
Pakistan was founded on an ocean of innocent blood. Over the years, your nation's hands have become indelibly stained with yet more innocent blood. People of Pakistan, specifically the Muslim people, this is your design and now it is your destiny to be humbled and destroyed for your collective sins. God have mercy on your filthy miserable souls.
As long as we are to defend both geographical and ideological boundaries, menace like Talibans will prevail in one way or other. To get rid of Talibans, we need to dismantle ideological boundary for good.
@Fahd, You are right. But sometimes it seems to me that there MAY BE a method behind this madness. Fazllulah is in Afghanistan and can be taken out by a US drone anytime should the Pak army wish so. By weakening the TTP leadership Pakistan may be sending a message to TTP. The Ch. Nisar utterings may be only for domestic consumption. Let us hope for the best.
Too many cliches in this author's writing style. He seems to be an admirer of Thomas Friedman's writing style, but doesn't quite get there.
As long as we have ideological frontiers in our national polity, chances of diffusing divide in public opinion and achieving consensus against 'em are rare. Ghost of ideological frontier long pampered and promoted through curriculum, media and religious parties, is now deep seeded and part of our collective wisdom/vision, there least hope any one would dare to touch this ghost now a Frankenstein as a layman won't even love get rid of this mirage.
@ Vakil: majority of Pakistanis do not want Sharia, just look at the number of votes polled by the religious parties (not more than 10-15 percent). Pakistanis know what the TTP's version of Islam means, they have seen what the Taliban did in Afghanistan. If, God forbid, the TTP does manage to seize power in Pakistan, it will mean the end of the country.
On terrorism issues Fahad Hussain, Nadeem f Paracha, Cyril, Saroop and many alike write more or less same thing in their columns..Negativity, hopelessness, IK bashing and no solution at all.. they all want army to just go on attack in North Waziristan..did army operation in Swat restricted the terrorism in Pakistan..did operation in agencies stopped the spiral of the terrorism in the country..these writers should know that Terrorism policies are not being made on drawing rooms..folks the reality is much different
@Vakil:
Thanks Sir, for coming out with something positive in the present atmosphere of all pervasive despondency and gloom. It would of course be great if Sharia is established soon as our way of life and justice.
I really admire your optimism, and hope what you dream of becomes a reality some day. My only worry is that not many of us will survive to cherish that dream.
"Suddenly, mainstream discourse is revolving around the necessity for sharia law replacing the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan." More than six decades after its birth, the country doesn't know yet why it was born and how it can survive. A country that is facing existential threat more than ever in its short span of life under mostly military rule and is still steeped in inaction like Hamlet will rue the days soon! The situation can't be put better or more forcefully.
I agree there is lot of talks but no action.Okay, we are gonna fight with terrorists then why are we not fighting.Or we are gonna talk with them then why are we not initiating talks.the more we wait the more time enemies have to plan on us and the more the confusion prevails and the more lives we lose and after all those arguments and fights we are nowhere.I think the courage to take action and do work is missing from government all it worries about is how can it survive one more day.This is govt. for the sake of govt. not to solve problems.
every column is like this
Enough of commentary on others.....Please give solutions...
Fair Enough that Pakistan should deal with these terrorists stringently, but they need to develop credibility also...If they continue to take dictation from America then don't you think their credibility will be questioned again...
but imran khan is good looking and charismatic , you know! just like the best cricketer in the world - shahid afridi..!
and that is enough for pakistanis.
LOL.
Cannot agree with you more. You have hit the bull's eye as regard our problems.
Excellent. But please stop informing us each time that we are a nuclear power.
What are we going to do? Throw it on these lovelies and singe their beards?
If the majority of Pakistanis want the "Sharia" system (as opposed to what they see as the "Infidel System of the Western Style") then what is wrong with that? I agree that those wanting the former are NOT employing the "right means" for achieving the same (esp as done by the likes of the TTP) but the fact is that (as supported by a large number of people in various ways) the wave of Sharia and its system is definitely on its way in Pakistan.... and only the "reactionaries" (or as some would like to put it - the "yuppies" grown up in the shadows of the Western-imposed system) can stop it or are trying their best to. The fact of life is that nations go through a lot of churn and turn... trying one system and then another until they finally settle on one that suits them in actuality. Pakistan that way is a very YOUNG NATION... and now most people are yearning for an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT system from one that they feel has been imposed upon them by their (unjust) ex-colonial masters. So what is the problem in trying something completely different (as proposed by the TTP) ??? What is the worst that will happen... the TTP and their acolytes (and I don't need to name them) will be discredited after a few years/decades to Kingdom Come.... and Pakistan's people will once again try something still different..... and most importantly it will GROW UP ... if that mean that things should get WORSE before they get better, then WHY NOT??? After all, didn't the "great" America not go through a CIVIL WAR before it emerged (a hundred years later) as a so-called "super-power" ???
every time only criticism.would you also give some solutions(viable), for a change??
I truly admire the sanity, wisdom and courage of people like Fahd Husain, Ayaz Amir and Babar Sattar in a sea of insanity and total madness. Regretably, I do not think they can turn the tide. I have no idea what can.
Fahd well said, words spoken from the heart but is anyone listening? Sadly, no and Fahd is aware of this emptiness, hopeless situation waiting for the next seismic shift that keeps dragging us deeper and deeper into the abyss of Jahalat.
We are mighty?? Might comes from having large powerful economy, industries, education system, coherent national unity and most importantly having diplomatic standing in the international community derived from previously stated factors. We have none of the above. Producing nuclear weapons with stolen technology does not make a country mighty. We wish.
So succinct and true. Lament of sanity and reason in a crowd of philistines.
A sane voice. Thanks for this, you are spot on.