Musharraf’s
War against His Allies
By Jehangir Khattak
Orlando, Florida
While
Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf
is filling his country’s jails with pro-democracy
protestors, unarmed lawyers, judges, human rights
activists and secular-minded citizens against
his unconstitutional imposition of emergency,
the black-turbaned heavily armed bands of Taliban
are taking control of abandoned government buildings
in the Swat Valley. The scenic valley of high
mountains, lakes and green meadows spread over
an area of almost 684 square miles is located
about 200 miles away from Musharraf’s seat
of power, Islamabad. Musharraf might sell his
action to the West in the name of the war on terror,
but the reality on ground seems to be different
– instead of increasing his ability to fight
terror, his latest highly unpopular decision has
further isolated him and reduced his own ability
to fight the growing challenge to state authority
from the Taliban in areas bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistani Taliban, with active support from their
cohorts from across the border in Afghanistan,
have been extending their control over an increasing
number of areas in Swat ever since the Pakistani
government launched a military operation last
month. The presence of over 3,000 paramilitary
troops, and now Pakistan Army, in the region has
failed to stop the advancing bands of Taliban.
In recent weeks, the state has lost its writ over
much of the valley. Taliban control six of the
eight sub-districts of Swat where the entire government
machinery, including the poorly armed police,
have abandoned their posts and melted away in
the local population for fear of Taliban brutality
who have beheaded at least four policemen and
more than half a dozen paramilitary troops in
recent days. The capture of these mountainous
towns has turned out to be rewarding for the Taliban
as they are seizing weapons and vital supplies
from the largely demoralized retreating Pakistani
police and in some cases paramilitary forces.
The Swat valley comprises of eight sub-districts
which are controlled by a pretty extensive government
machinery. Out of the eight sub-districts, Taliban
are now in control of six, including Kabal, Matta,
Khawazakhela, Charbagh, Maydan, Kalam and Shangla
district headquarter of Alpuri. The militants
are believed to have seized government buildings
and other assets in the captured towns and appointed
their own officials to run the day-to-day affairs.
There are reports of large-scale displacement
of local population who have fled their homes
and hamlets and in some cases traded their allegiance
to Taliban for their exit from populated areas.
The residents fear that they remain at the receiving
end as the government gunships pound their villages
and towns whenever they get the word about the
presence of the militants, thus a trade off of
allegiance for Taliban’s exit from their
areas saves them from government action.
Amazingly, while Musharraf has effectively put
off air dozens of private radio and television
channels, the notorious FM radio of 32-year old
militant commander Maulvi Fazlullah has been blaring
the news of Taliban’s victories against
the Pakistani military in the valley even after
the imposition of emergency. The most dangerous
aspect of the whole episode is the reports of
the presence of foreigners in Swat.
With Pakistan government’s virtual surrender
or limited action, to say the least, in the mountains
where it needs to assert control to stop the advances
of Taliban and Al-Qaeda with millions of dollars
in Western assistance, the alienation of the secular
and democratic forces by General Musharraf is
nothing short of a suicide as he is limiting his
own options and is forced to release terrorists
in lieu of ceasefires in the mountains and arrest
the secularists and the democratic forces in the
cities. The government released 24 militants,
including a criminal who was sentenced to 24 years
in prison in exchange for the release of over
250 Pakistan Army troops who had surrendered to
Taliban nine weeks earlier.
The solution to Pakistan’s ongoing crisis
doesn’t lie in imposition of a judiciary
and press-specific emergency and taking away people’s
fundamental democratic rights. In fact the state
of emergency is going to be the biggest hurdle
in tackling the Taliban and Al Qaeda challenge.
Musharraf’s reasons for proclamation of
the extreme step also seems to be self-defeating
and are unlikely to convince his international
supporters that what he is doing is aimed at improving
his ability to fight terrorism. In his charge-sheet
at the time of proclaiming emergency, Musharraf
pointed accusing fingers at the country’s
increasingly assertive judiciary at least on eight
occasions and only two times at the threat of
terrorism. He accused the Supreme Court judges
of thwarting government anti-terror drive by releasing
terrorists. Surprisingly, he reappointed two of
the Supreme Court judges whom he accused of having
released the terrorists. Musharraf’s actions
have convinced many in Pakistan that these are
in no way aimed at war on terror. Rather these
are aimed at perpetuating his rule. He considered
the removed Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhary and his colleagues as the biggest
threat to his rule as they were to decide an important
case on Musharraf’s eligibility to run for
presidency while in military uniform. The general
expectation was that the apex court decision would
come against Musharraf.
The Pakistani General might feel elated that he
has secured his position in power. But the fact
remains that he has clipped his own wings. Instead
of using the state machinery to trace, arrest
and eliminate the terrorists and liberate the
Pakistani territory lost to militants in the country’s
north, he now has no choice but to use it against
his own erstwhile supporters in the war against
terror.
For any meaningful political change in Pakistan,
the West, particularly the US, must not agree
to anything short of restoration of suspended
judges, appointment of a caretaker government
of national consensus, appointment of an independent
election commission, release of all political
leaders and workers, and removal of Draconian
curbs on the country’s budding media.
The world must not wait for a total institutional
meltdown in Pakistan and build pressure on Musharraf
to embrace his people and not to alienate them
as fights in every street of Pakistan is not war
on terror. In reality it may be a war of terror,
producing more extremists.
(The writer is a Pakistani journalist based in
US and can be reached at mjehangir@aol.com)
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