Pak Tea House » Pakistan » Saving Pakistan from conspiracy theorists and hate mongers
Saving Pakistan from conspiracy theorists and hate mongers
Bilal Qureshi
The terrorist attack on Police Academy in Lahore must have been a wake up call for those who have been arguing that ‘war on terror’ is America’s war. On the contrary, it is a war that is being fought in Pakistan and for a majority of Pakistan, it is heart sinking to realize that men, driven to insanity by different reasons, are blowing themselves up, just to inflict pain on the country.
This unfortunate attack in Lahore could be, and it should be the beginning of a new resolve by the country to not let anyone, either domestic, or foreign to unnecessarily exert pressure on Pakistan. The country belongs to the people who live in Pakistan and it is up to the Pakistani public to decide their future, their alliances and allegiances going forward.
Of course, it is not going to be easy because there are people in the country who link every attack, every incident, everything unfortunate incident to an ‘invisible foreign hand’ and it is time for them to dig their heads out of sand because the water around them is rising, and rising fast. However, it is also important to note that this fight to free the country from the nihilists is not going to be a cake walk. The obstructionists will once again try to create confusion, make irrational and illogical arguments, but it is also a challenge for peace loving people to make the case against terrorism without ifs and buts clearly, logically and in a language that is not abstract for the masses to comprehend because at the end of the day, this battle to defeat hate mongers will only be won if the entire country joins this effort wholeheartedly.
Regretfully, Pakistan, especially if looked through the prism of electronic media in the country is completely perplexed, if not completely lost in confusion due to highly charged, yet totally improper rhetoric. No question that there are voices of reason, but they are being drowned by conspiracy theorists, those who use nationalism and religion, coupled with a non-existent effort by external forces to distract the public from the actual threat. The reality is that Pakistan is at risk because there are negative forces operating in the country that are unwavering in their quest to demoralize the nation.
This unholy effort has to be stopped from deflating national confidence.
The country has suffered more then its share of tragedies. The nation has seen enough pain from being losing half of Pakistan to the current terror wave and miraculously, the country is still intact and people of Pakistan still refuse to give up hope. This spirit of self respect and strong confidence in the federation has to be encouraged at every cost.
Pakistan, with a little support from democratic forces will outlast evil and for every patriotic citizen, the country is worth fighting for, no matter how long it takes or how treacherous the terrain, peaceful Pakistan will eventually emerge, victorious and intact.
Filed under: Pakistan · Tags: America, Bilal, Lahore, Media, Pakistan, peace, Police Academy, qureshi, terror, Terrorism
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I very much agree with you that the spirit of self respect and strong confidence in the federation has to be encouraged at every cost. But bombing your own Patriotic citizen in the tribal region for the sake of few dollars on the so called war on terror won’t help the cause for vitalizing the self respect and spirit of the federation. The country is definitely worth fighting for but we also need to realize the price we are paying for a proxy war fought by the so called democratic forces in routing out evil on our motherland. Our feudal rulers didn’t learn their lessons when we lost half the country in the 1970s and unfortunately we are following the same road again this time though the consequences will be much devastating
The Pakistan security forces were able to inflict a decisive defeat on the terrorists yesterday. This is a very positive development, and sends out a strong signal to the terrorists that they will be dealt with severely.
May Allah(SWT) give strength to all the people in our region so that they can cope with the terrorist menace.
Kher – A decisive defeat? A bunch of guys who charged headlong into the middle of a police training camp near the militerised border with India? I think they didn’t really expect to get away. A decisive defeat would have been to have captured them all and televised their trials.
Some of the conspiracy theorists out there look like they are planted by ‘outside agencies’ to make the rest of the world think Pakistanis are idiots. My favourite was a chap on the Al jazera site stating that the Pakistani Taliban was a western media fiction demonising normal religious groups from the border areas and that India was behind all attacks.
Its not practical for Pakistan to get past the obsfucation and theories and start afresh. Too many groups have interests tied to them in the past or present. You need a different strategy that either co-ops those groups or bypasses them. yes its messy, yes its not fair or any semblance of justice but its the reality of these situations the world over. Ultimately stability wins out over ethics and the like.
Hayes,
As it emerges, 3 of them have been arrested, one of whom was shown too.
A lot of information should be forthcoming, which will throw a lot of light on the reality.
Well, I take it back
Hopefully though thes are actual arrests and not the normal ones that follow any attack in Pakistan that are anounced then quietly forgotten.
American leverage in South Asia
By Barbara Plett
BBC News, Islamabad
In recent days three top American generals have turned their guns on Pakistan, accusing elements of its main intelligence agency, the ISI, of supporting Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.
The unprecedented broadside followed the announcement by the US President Barack Obama of a new strategy for Afghanistan.
Mr Obama cited as its cornerstone the need to destroy militant safe havens in the Pakistani tribal belt along the Afghan border, something he knows can’t be achieved without complete cooperation from the country’s army and intelligence.
To win, or compel, such support, the president and his generals have offered a mixture of incentives and warnings: for example, an increase in civilian aid alongside a warning that there’s no “blank cheque” for the military if it doesn’t perform.
The charges against the ISI seem to be part of the latter. They are not new, but have never before been made so publicly.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said elements of the ISI maintain links with militants on Pakistan’s borders with both Afghanistan and India.
General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, spoke of cases “in the fairly recent past” where the ISI appeared to have warned militants that their positions had been discovered.
Collusion charge
According to the New York Times, Pakistani support to Taleban commanders extends to “money, military supplies and strategic planning guidance”.
Last year Washington’s suspicions were such that it scaled down intelligence sharing with the ISI, especially after accusing it of involvement in the July bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul.
The charge of collusion is rigorously denied by Pakistani officials.
They insist top levels of the army and intelligence agencies were purged of ideological officers after 2001, when the government dropped its open support for the Taleban and fell in with what the US called its War on Terror.
They point out that Pakistan has lost more soldiers in fighting the Taleban and al-Qaeda on the Afghan border than all of the Nato forces combined; and that American officials acknowledge the ISI has captured more al-Qaeda operatives than any other intelligence agency.
Within the security establishment there is a belief that the ISI is being used as a scapegoat for coalition failures in Afghanistan.
However, few independent Pakistani analysts doubt the intelligence agency maintains links with Islamist militants, especially the Afghan Taleban who have sanctuary in the border region.
“The army will operate against militant groups that it defines as anti-Pakistan,” says one informed observer who spoke off-the-record.
“But it will not go after those groups that have a purely Afghan agenda, like the Afghan Taleban. Not at least until the United States listens to what the army regards as Pakistan’s legitimate regional concerns.”
Strategic depth?
There are mixed views here about what those concerns are.
“ No state can be successfully pressured into acts it considers suicidal ”
Ahmed Rashid and Barnett Rubin Foreign Affairs magazine
Some believe the military has never given up its policy of “strategic depth”: the belief that in order to defend itself against its traditional enemy, India, to the east, it needs a pro-Pakistan government (like the Taleban) in Afghanistan, to the west.
Others say it wants a “neutral” Afghanistan.
But Kabul is not neutral as far as the army is concerned.
Its government is full of factions hostile to Islamabad and closely allied with India, Pakistan’s great regional rival. And India is expanding its influence in the country.
This is all the more troubling because Pakistan’s worried about its borders.
Afghanistan has never recognised the boundary drawn by the British, known as the Durrand Line. And the dispute with India over the Himalayan region of Kashmir continues.
In such circumstances, the Taleban are an asset, not an adversary for the ISI, says the observer.
“The Pakistan army knows that it and the Taleban have Pashtun support on both sides of the Durand line. This gives it leverage, and means it can signal to the United States that it will not be abandoned in any Afghan deal.”
Prior to his election, Mr Obama recognised that Pakistani peace with India was key to stability in Afghanistan.
Since his inauguration, however, he has dropped any suggestion of an initiative on Kashmir in the face of Indian objections.
Now, he hopes a mixture of carrot and stick will force a rethink of Pakistan’s security calculation.
But for Pakistan’s security establishment, its concerns – the presence of India in Afghanistan, Kabul’s refusal to recognise the border, the festering Kashmir dispute – are strategic threats far greater than those posed by Islamist militants.
“The concept of pressuring Pakistan is flawed,” Ahmed Rashid and Barnett Rubin have written in the Foreign Affairs magazine. “No state can be successfully pressured into acts it considers suicidal.”
Ultimately America’s leverage is limited: in pushing too much, it may lose even the limited cooperation it has.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/03/30 00:03:06 GMT
It is time to take this bull of Islamic fundamentalism by the horns. Time is running out!
I’m sure our *leaders* will get more checks in sympathy.
The *leaders* and our Generals will take a cut and disburse a few lac rupee for each dead policeman.
“It is time to take this bull of Islamic fundamentalism by the horns. Time is running out!”
Ms. Zeenat. I am afraid man on the street sympathises with and relates to what you call ‘Islamic Fundamentalist’ and not with your line of thinking. The war in Pakistan today is being waged by the hopeless and oppressed against the ruling classes. Who wants to blow himself up but the hopeless! Just ask yourself this question: In the past sixty years what have the middle and rich classes of Pakistan done for the uplift of poor and lower middle classes? Where are the ‘long marches’ against hunger, poverty and disease? Now that people have taken up arms against the ruling classes we are talking about ‘taking bull by the horn’. I am afraid ‘time has already run out’. No ‘ivory tower’ is safe anymore.
pma,
can u grade the threats that pakistan face.say indiscriminate westernisation,american drone attacks,indian influence in afghanistan,indian atrocities in kashmir,attacks on isi and army from pakistan civil society and the islamisation and talibinisation or any other threats that u see …can u please rank them in an order..
“Kabul is not neutral……Its government is full of factions hostile to Islamabad and closely allied with India, Pakistan’s great regional rival. And India is expanding its influence in the country. This is all the more troubling because Pakistan’s worried about its borders. Afghanistan has never recognised the boundary drawn by the British, known as the Durrand Line. And the dispute with India over the Himalayan region of Kashmir continues. The Pakistan knows that it and the Taleban have Pashtun support on both sides of the Durand line. This gives it leverage, and means it can signal to the United States that it will not be abandoned in any Afghan deal. Prior to his election, Mr Obama recognised that Pakistani peace with India was key to stability in Afghanistan. Since his inauguration, however, he has dropped any suggestion of an initiative on Kashmir in the face of Indian objections. Pakistan’s security concerns — the presence of India in Afghanistan, Kabul’s refusal to recognise the border, the festering Kashmir dispute — are strategic threats far greater than those posed by Islamist militants. The concept of pressuring Pakistan is flawed. Ultimately America’s leverage is limited: in pushing too much, it may lose even the limited cooperation it has.”
@lal
http://pakistaniat.com/2009/03/28/poll-pakistan-threats/
Just in case you haven’t seen this before, be prepared for the surprise of your life.
@PMA
I agree with your assertion that the man on the street still does not see extremism as a threat to Pakistan. For them all the terrorists are either Indian agents or freedom fighters.
What is the way forward then?
hey thanks bono,i was almost going to comment that the chai served by raza and ylh is sweet,but majority in pak may be thinking lyk pma.thanks for correcting me.the chai is still sweet
PMA sb,
There is a way out. Bury the Kashmir dispute and accept LOC as the frontier and armed support to jihadis without compromising your moral support to the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination. Once you do that India may have little incentive to meddle around in A’stan.
As far as the A’stan-NWFP border is considered, unfortunately there is little that India can do about it. But at least with India neutralised as a mischiefmonger, there is little that A’stan can do to change the borders.
Regards
@Majumdar
I have told you before also, keep your advice to yourself. Look at your own country it has more violence and murders than Pakistan. Kahsmir, the whole of it, should be freed from Indian hands.
Majumdar: Kashmir dispute must be resolved to the satisfaction of Kashmiris, not India or Pakistan. If Kashmiris refuse to accept the ‘line’ or the Indian occupation of the valley then the dispute will go on to live for ever. Look at the case of Punjab. Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims of Punjab, all have accepted the 1947 ‘line’. Kashmiris have not.
Indian aspirations to be a supper power will not be realised until she is able to take Pakistan, let me rephrase, Muslims of South Asia along. The key to Muslim cooperation in South Asia is the fair and equitable sharing of political power. Gandhi and Nehru missed that point. Unfortunately so have their successors. Kashmir is one issue begging to be resolved.
About your second point. Indian involvement in Afghanistan is just another step in Indian ladder of supper power aspiration. Pakistan and its army just happen to be an inconvenient hurdle in her way.
@Majumdar
This is unlikely to be a useful place to discuss giving up our sovereign right to assist a war-torn nation knit itself together.
An objective analysis of the practical ways in which India has been supportive would go a long way in dispelling suspicion, but there are those who prefer not to be confused by facts, who prefer to remain suspicious. You will never convince them, irrespective of the logic you use, or the facts that you deploy.
PMA sb,
If Kashmiris refuse to accept the ‘line’ or the Indian occupation of the valley then the dispute will go on to live for ever.
The question is what are the Kashmiris or Pakistanis going to do about it. If the Pakistanis refuse to accept the status quo but decide that it is not worth mortaging their own future about it, then Pakistan has a chance of surviving and fighting for Kashmir another day, peacefully or otherwise. But if Pakistan decides that Kashmiri cause is worth converting their own country into an armed training camp, they have to be prepared for the consequences.
There has been a jihad against India in Kashmir and elsewhere sponsored by Pakistan for the last 20 years. What has been the consequence? India has in spite of all this difficulty actually shown the fastest growth ever in its history while Pakistan has gone thru a rather rough patch. When the jihad started Pakistan’s per capita income was prolly 30-40% higher than India’s. Now India is possibly at par or maybe even a tad ahead.
Indian aspirations to be a super power will not be realised
India is billions of miles away from being a superpower, Kashmir or no Kashmir. India will remain a desperately poor and undeveloped country for at least another couple of decades.
she is able to take Pakistan, let me rephrase, Muslims of South Asia along.
India needs to take only her own Muslims along. The other South Asian Muslims have already found their own Promised Land and I am sure they can look after themselves.
Regards
@PMA, I think you mean super power, not supper power. Anyway, my country has a long way to go before turning into a superpower, but whether or not she does, Pakistan is simply irrelevant.
It is like saying that the US can not really be a superpower unless it takes the Cubans along. Or something like that. Anyway, good relations with Pakistan would be excellent, but strained relations would not bring the country to a grinding halt.
“fair and equitable sharing of power” is a very vague term . what do you mean by that?
hey,by some queer luck,if we had omar abdullah as pm,it would have stopped this kashmir nonsense from some of them.though i know that azgar and pma,would not even be happy if we declare srinagar our capital..but just think of a young charismatic nationalistic kashmiri muslim as the pm of india
SV,
Anyway, my country has a long way to go before turning into a superpower, but whether or not she does, Pakistan is simply irrelevant.
Thanks for echoing my thought. And I hope our Paki friends will not think that all Injuns think that their shyte tastes like halwa.
Regards
>>>>>>>>
I have told you before also, keep your advice to yourself. Look at your own country it has more violence and murders than Pakistan. Kahsmir, the whole of it, should be freed from Indian hands.
>>>>>>>>
Clearly that doesn’t include Bangladesh in that tally, but really to the outside world it looks like Pakistan is doing its best to catch up with India!
@SV
I find your remark derogatory in the extreme. Cuba is certainly not the comparison to be used.
Cuba is a tiny country in comparison to the United States. Cuba has far less military capability. Cuba has a bankrupt economy, and its people keep fleeing the country as best as they can. Cuban leadership is confined to a small handful of people who pass power around themselves, without involving the people. Cuba is commonly seen in its neighbourhood as a trouble-making violence exporting pain in the neck. Cubans are to be found all over the world fighting other people’s battles.
I don’t see how you can use Cuba as a comparison.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of condescending language that gets us into trouble everywhere. If you were being funny, that is of course quite different.
Shohojatri,
I am sorry if I offended you, but I think i made a valid comparison. Perhaps Russia-Ukraine would be better?
Also, Shohojatri, please read the points you raised about Cuba. You could very easily replace ‘Cuba’ with ‘Pakistan’ and you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. It is bankrupt, has traditionally been run by a small group of people and is seen in the neighbourhood as a trouble making, violence exporting pain in the neck.
No I’m not trying to be funny, but perhaps you were ? In which case your sarcasm was too subtle.
@SV
I hope you are not pulling my leg. I can get very violent with funny people.
I would prefer Colombia. It has mountains. It has a seacoast. It has a problem with violent highland criminals who are involved in the drug trade. It has an Army which is fighting its own people most of the time. Its Army fights occasional wars with its neighbours over pieces of territory that the rest of the world has forgotten. Its generals have lots of medals and lots of land and lots of factories. It has a two-party democracy with other smaller parties which hardly matter. It has charismatic female politicians….I could go on.
If you are genuinely well-intentioned, please have the goodness to change your insulting analogy to something seemly, as I have suggested. Russia-Ukraine indeed! Ukraine is a flat land with a nuclear burn on it. No mountains, no deserts, no sea-coast, no Indus River, no 3000 year old civilisation, nothing in common at all.
And NEVER question my seriousness.
Just what is going on here? Does this list have no moderator? Are you people drunk, or on drugs, or both? What has all this rubbish got to do with “Saving Pakistan from Conspiracy Theorists and Hate Mongers”?
Shohojatri, from your name, you sound like a Bengali. If you are, please stop playing the fool immediately, and get off this forum, you are giving every one of us a bad name.
well bono.
it is a routine here…if u go through some of the old posts and read now,it is quite funny to see the discussions jumping from one topic next.everyone,it seems,starts from the last sentence of the previous comment
i will start something lyk,how can this give bengalis a bad name,after all bengalis are known to be cracks.then next guy will tell there is a new drug for schitzophrenia in the market which is good for delusion….
anyways ,raza doesnt moderate too much.that is the best part of this forum.
This forum is full of Americans and Indians spewing venom against Pakistan and giving us advice. These are the people who want to destroy Paksitan and rule over it. You will fail Kafirs and will be destroyed utterly.
No israelis ?
SV, are you an Israeli? Damn you if you are. Save your house from the Hamas rockets that are falling on your head.
Shalom.
@SV
Aha, I have found you out. You are a humourist. So you are cracking jokes at expense of non-humourist. But you do not understand that you are opposed by greater humourist. Otherwise on a thread titled ‘Saving Pakistan from Conspiracy Theorists and Hate Mongers’, he would not write:
“This forum is full of Americans and Indians spewing venom against Pakistan and giving us advice. These are the people who want to destroy Paksitan and rule over it. You will fail Kafirs and will be destroyed utterly.”
SV, kindly admit defeat to humour guru and go to sleep.