iloveumydude: The Hypocracy in Our Politicians

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From: hilalrizvi@gmail.com <hilalrizvi@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 11, 2013 at 12:37 AM

The day of the Jackals

By S Iftikhar Murshed

The politicians of Pakistan are not in the habit of saying anything in a measured and reflective manner. They do not believe in masterly understatements. Their preference is to howl like the jackals infesting the Margalla hills of Islamabad whose psychedelic cacophony disturbs the stillness of the night till the fading stars yield to the encroaching dawn.

The difference is that the voices of politicians reverberate with half-truths and, at times, even outright lies. This was painfully on display in their angry outbursts on the killing of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief, Hakeemullah Mehsud, in a US drone strike on November 1.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was up in arms and, with a rasping voice quivering with emotion, he told an impressive assemblage of media representatives: "Pakistan does not see this strike as an attack on a person – it is an attack on the peace process. Islamabad's efforts have been ambushed...Seven-week behind-the-scene efforts by us, where brick by brick we tried to roll a process for peace in our homeland, and what have you (US) done? You reduced our weeks-long efforts to ashes hours before a delegation of respected ulema was to leave for Miranshah and hand over a formal dialogue invitation to the Taliban."

The minister surely could not have been unaware that Hakeemullah Mehsud had been declared the archenemy of Pakistan and, on November 2, 2009 the government announced a bounty of Rs50 million for information that could lead to his capture or killing. Similar amounts were promised for the elimination of Qari Hussain, the notorious organiser of suicide bomb squads, and Waliur Rehman, the deputy leader of the TTP. Smaller rewards were pledged for the killing of 16 other militants of the outlawed group.

Qari Hussain's life eventually ended in a drone attack on October 7, 2010, while Waliur Rehman met the same fate on May 29 this year. In terms of its November 2009 proclamation, the Pakistan government owes the US a whopping Rs150 million for taking out three of its most wanted terrorists. In addition, precision drone strikes have done the work of the country's security forces by killing several other top TTP commanders including Hakeemullah's predecessor, Baitullah Mehsud (August 5, 2009), Qari Zafar (March 2, 2010), Ilyas Kashmiri (June 3, 2011), and the Al-Qaeda operations chief in Pakistan, Badr Mansoor (February 9, 2012).

Yet all this did not stop Chaudhry Nisar from bleating like a terrified lamb on the forbidding appearance of a ferocious pack of wolves. In desperation he implored the TTP not to exact revenge for Hakeemullah's death because the "innocent people and even Pakistan's government have nothing to do with the drone strike."

Unbelievable though it may sound, he went even further and, without any qualms of conscience, admitted that his government had "demonstrated tolerance in the last seven weeks" on the killing of an army general in Swat, the massacre of worshippers at the All Saints Church in Peshawar, the carnage of civilians at the Qissa Khawani bazaar, and the cold-blooded suicide-bomb assassination of "a minister in Dera Ismail Khan and that too on Eid day."

What more can one say when the government does not have the least hesitation in proclaiming from the rooftops that it has tolerated the merciless extermination of harmless men, women and children? The interior minister could not have forgotten that under Article 9 of the constitution the state is obliged to ensure: "No person shall be deprived of life or liberty, save in accordance with the law."

Yet short of announcing official mourning, he lamented the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud and, in a masterpiece of scatter-brained rhetoric, appealed to the TTP: "Let's not fall prey to the conspiracies of those who have scuttled the peace process." No other country in the world, or, for that matter in history, has been as eager to come to terms with thugs who have ruthlessly killed thousands of its citizens.

Even worse, the slain terrorist has been declared a martyr by the Jamaat-e-Islami. The portly leader of JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, known in diplomatic circles here as 'the Santa Claus of Pakistani politics', explained that anyone – even a dog – killed by the Americans acquires the halo of martyrdom! The same comical cleric, according to WikiLeaks disclosures, had once sought the help of the US ambassador for the furtherance of his political ambitions and, in return, pledged that he would promote Washington's interests in Pakistan.

What those at the helm hope to achieve by this so-called peace process has never been convincingly articulated. In contrast there is blood-curdling clarity on the part of the TTP. They do not harbour any fanciful illusions of peace and will not terminate hostilities till such time as the government caves in to all their demands. There is no flexibility, no give and take, and no possibility of compromise.

In his last interview to international media a few weeks before his death, Hakeemullah Mehsud told the BBC: "Friendship with America is only one of two reasons we have to conduct jihad against Pakistan. The other reason is that Pakistan's system is un-Islamic, and we want that it should be replaced with the Islamic system...We have targeted those who are with the infidels, America, and we will continue to target them."

Hakeemullah may be dead and gone but this does not make the least difference to the TTP agenda. The same objectives – the scrapping of the constitution and its replacement with the outfit's absurd interpretation of Islamic tenets – will be relentlessly pursued by his successor. Till this is achieved, there will be more death and destruction. The Holy Grail of enduring peace will continue to be as elusive as ever.

It is true that the only way to end conflicts, particularly those that have raged for years, is through negotiations. But it is also no less true that if the desired outcome is to be achieved, negotiations must always be conducted from a position of strength. The government, in its desperation to jumpstart the peace process, has demonstrated weakness. This has to change and an opportunity has presented itself with the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud.

The TTP is in disarray and there is credible evidence of simmering tensions among its various factions. The power struggle, despite the selection on Thursday of Mullah Fazlullah as Hakeemullah's successor, is likely to continue and could even turn violent as in the past. For instance, when Baitullah Mehsud was killed, fierce fighting erupted between the Waliur Rehman and Hakeemullah groups.

On August 8, 2009 Pakistani news channels reported incorrectly that Hakeemullah had been killed by Waliur Rehman loyalists in a shootout at a shura that had been convened to appoint Baitullah's replacement. It was only after the intervention of the Haqqani network of Afghanistan that Hakeemullah became the TTP emir. But rivalries within the outfit did not dissipate.

Reports again surfaced on January 14, 2010 that Hakeemullah had been fatally wounded in a drone attack. This was followed by yet another report on January 12 this year sourced to Pakistani intelligence that the TTP chief had died in a predator strike. On both occasions there were indications that information on his whereabouts had been provided to the Americans by rival TTP factions.

It is, therefore, intriguing that the US was able to pinpoint the TTP chief's exact location only after they had captured his deputy, Latifullah Mehsud, in the Logar province from an Afghan government convoy which was escorting him for a prearranged coordination meeting with Afghan intelligence. The purpose of the rendezvous was obvious and all at once it lays bare the foolishness of Pakistan's political leaders who consider the TTP a 'stakeholder' in the future of the country.

Mullah Fazlullah is still in Afghanistan and will not be able to provide effective leadership to the TTP. This is the opportune moment for launching a full-scale military operation in order to further weaken and degrade the outfit. Only then will the government be able to commence negotiations from a position of strength. The starting point is to firmly tell Chaudhry Nisar, Imran Khan and the religious parties to stop bemoaning the death of a terrorist and mass murderer.

The writer is the publisher of Criterion Quarterly.

Email: iftimurshed@gmail.com