UNHOLY ALLIANCE

There’s a jungle, it is divided into two parts by a pond of water. A rabbit desperately wants to cross the pond to go to the other side. There is a big six feet problem, a monster of an alligator (gator), who rules the pond. Gator asks the rabbit what troubles you buddy. Rabbit says, I want to cross the pond but I am afraid you will try to kill me. Oh, who told you such rubbish replied the gator. I am nothing but friendly and kind. Come with me and I will take you across. Reluctantly the rabbit hops onto the back of the gator and entered into a journey of “unholy alliance”. Half way into the journey, the gator says to the rabbit, see I am not monster, you just relax soon we will be on the other side. When the journey was about to be over the gator flipped tossing the rabbit into the pond and then the rest is as they say history.

Pakistan too is on a journey with its ally the United States, this journey is on a ship. There’s a storm in the sea causing damage to the ship and soon the ship will sink. Should Pakistan jump into the sea? Maybe Pakistan too like Jonah (pbuh) will survive the storm. The other choice is to remain on the ship; unfortunately the half life of the ship is not long. But the choice is not really for Pakistan to make, since Uncle Sam happens to be the skipper of the ship and without his consent no one can leave the ship. Such is the quagmire where Pakistan finds itself today. It’s more than just a catch-22. Most of the scenes we are witnessing today in the length and breadth of the country are result of our own decision making. Ironically they are also reminiscent of similar events that took place in Latin American countries throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Fate has a cruel sense of humor, that too in the form of Negroponte, John, the newly appointed US Deputy Secretary of State and former intelligence czar. Suffice is to say that he was the bird under whose eye view, Honduras, Panama, and Mexico witnessed scenes of carnage. The bird was recently in Pakistan too. According to Noam Chomsky, “In the Regan-Bush administration, he was ambassador of Honduras, running the world’s largest CIA station, not because of the grand role of Honduras in world affairs but because Honduras was the primary US base for the international terrorist war for which Washington was condemned by the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council. There was virtually no reaction to the appointment of a leading international terrorist to the top counterterrorism position in the world.”

What happened in Lal Masjid is now well known but unknown are the answers to tough questions. The situation that is emerging in the after math of Lal Masjid is very bleak, and grim. Since Musharaf came to power the country is being divided into two distinct segments. The elite-liberal Left and the religious Right. Religious right is a very broad term but at the moment the mantra that emerges from the western media and to a certain extent our own media make the spectrum of the Right wide enough to accommodate all the unwanted. Fundamentalist, traditionalist, anti-west, anti-American foreign policy, pro-Taliban, all are unwanted. They are all not required now; some of them were indeed required to balance the equation when it was imperative to fight the Red Army. The freedom fighters backed by CIA, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan were called terrorist by Soviet Union. Today they are called terrorist by CIA, Pakistan amongst others. Better yet, they also have a name Al-Qaeda, and other Aliases too. Who is a terrorist? How do you define terrorism? Were the militants inside Lal Masjid terrorist? Is killing our own people by our own army terrorism? Can we label all those whom we trained for the last two decades before 9/11 in guerilla warfare terrorist just because we don’t need them anymore? Were the mujaheedins fighting in Kashmir terrorist? Was the Indian army involved in state terrorism? Is Hamas a terrorist organization, if so then why is Fatah’s history of violence suddenly ignored? What about the holocaust in making of Palestinians courtesy of the great wall that Israel is building? Killing millions in the Jewish holocaust is terrorism but killing at least 3 million in Vietnam War is not? Taliban are terrorists now, but they were surely our beloved in another timeline. Killing thousands of people as collateral damage is fine, but when the killer is on the wrong side of the fence he is a terrorist. Before the American independence war British too labeled George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and others as terrorist, with time they became founders of a nation and were called patriots.

There is no place for the religious right in this country so it seems the establishment has decided. Unfiltered content is being shoved into our minds daily by some private television channels, magazines, radio channels, shady non profit organizations, celebrities. The inner will of the nation is being changed by hook or by crook. Albert Einstein once said "The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses." Pakistan is not Turkey which can be changed in few years from a fundamentally religious country to a secular country. Turkish nation was totally different from Pakistani nation. Turks, were very well educated, culturally and historically well versed, had built Ottoman Empire to reflect their past glory. Lastly Ata Turk with all his evil was in fact a Military Commander who did fight British at Gallipoli with true brilliance. He was not like Musharaf who could not handle Kargil and blamed the Prime Minister for the mishandling of the War. Pakistan is a different country; Pakistanis are very loosely tied to each other as a nation only on the fine thread of religion. There is no nationalism in Pakistan like there is in Turkey, or even India. If this thread of religion is broken and people are split into being for or against religion then it will have disastrous consequences for the country. The message that is being sent to the people is, it’s ok to have massage parlors, dance places, fashion shows, music concerts but it’s totally unacceptable if there are few mosques in Islamabad. What a bad impression it might make to our beloved friends visiting from western world. When foreigners come to Islamabad they should be catered to by five or six star luxury hotels, where exquisite wine and alcohol should mesmerize them. One phone call should arrange for them expensive mistresses. Were those mosques the only illegitimate buildings in the country, and why did the government not do anything about it for many years. Our religious text taught in school books was changes over night. Madares had to register with government and they have to teach “worldly education” also to the students. Why did the government not start by educating our dumb, intellectually zero parliament? The infiltration of propaganda and mass deception is too much to write in few lines. Capitalism has completely taken the Pakistani nation hostage. Books depicting similar events in every details have been written on countries which got the same treatment, Iran, Panama, Vietnam, Chile, Mexico are just few examples.

The government is planning another military operation in Waziristan and Swat area. For operations like the one in Waziristan Pyrrhus of Epirus is quoted to have said “one more such victory and we have had it”. Reports are also coming in that the peace treaty with the local Taliban (a pathetic term used to describe any local resident who is against the government) is broken and three division (bigger than a brigade in normal circumstances) troops are being sent there. All are signs that much violence and chaos is in store in coming days. Only tears will not be shed but blood too will be shed and it will be our own blood and blood is equally real. Our own people are radicalized by our government’s wrong policies. Our Army is being forced to fight against our own people. The situation in Pakistan can be termed “me against my brother” (was also name of a book written by Scott Patterson on Civil War in different African countries).

There is no easy way out for Pakistan. First part of the puzzle is to get rid of this regime which is headed by Gen. Musharaf who is fast becoming a brutal dictator. This is not an easy solution West at the moment is in chorus with the General. But the good thing about the law of nature is that all things good or evil deeds come to an end. The ship will float for a while but eventually it will sink. Should we sink with the ship? Or should we jump in the sea, if we can that is? Can we disobey Uncle Sam? Or should we continue the unholy alliance? And are we willing to bear the cost of this alliance. Remember that most massacres and civil wars took place within few days and few hours. Tragically it took a long time to bury the dead.

Talha Mujaddidi