MUSLIM HATE IN PAKISTAN
Pakistan's schisms spill into present
By Zaffar Abbas
BBC Islamabad correspondent
Some had hoped that Pakistan's crackdown on Islamic extremists would herald a period of religious harmony. Officials had dared to believe that the relative peace of cities like Karachi and Quetta - targets of bomb attacks in recent months - was a sign of the campaign's success in eradicating religious extremism. But two bloody attacks in the first week of October have proved them wrong. The deadly incidents in Sialkot and Multan indicate that sectarian violence has come full circle. Extremist groups are once again returning to the Punjab region where they began more than two decades ago. The attacks also reveal that Sunni extremist groups have not been the only ones to survive a recent ban. New groups of Shia extremists sprung into life just as soon as the old ones were stifled by the authorities.
Deep roots
Differences between the majority Sunni and minority Shia Muslims date back to the very earliest days of Islam. They are directly linked to the issue of succession following the death of Prophet Muhammad. The Shia believe that after Prophet Muhammad's death, his son-in-law, Ali, should have been given the reins of administration. They still regard him as the first imam or spiritual leader. The Sunni, however, believe that the appointment of one of the Prophet's companions, Abu Bakr, as the first Caliph was correct. The Sunnis also respect Ali as the fourth Caliph of Islam.
Schism
In AD661, Ali was murdered and his chief opponent, Muawiya, became Caliph. It was the death of Ali that led to the great schism between Sunnis and Shias. Muawiya laid the foundation of family rule in Islam and he was later succeeded by his son, Yazid. But Ali's son Hussein refused to accept his legitimacy, and fighting followed. Hussein and his followers were massacred in battle near Karbala in AD680. The deaths of both Ali and Hussein gave rise to the Shia characteristics of martyrdom and a sense of betrayal. Even today, Shia all over the world commemorate the killing of Hussein with vast processions of mourning in Pakistan and other parts of the Muslim world.
'Messianic faith'
Shia Islam has always been the rigid faith of the poor and oppressed, of those waiting for deliverance. It is seen as a messianic faith - awaiting the coming of the "hidden imam", Allah's messenger, who will reverse their fortunes and herald the reign of divine justice. Today, the Shia make up about 15% of the total worldwide Muslim population. In Pakistan, as in most Islamic countries, the differences between Sunni and Shia were initially confined to academic debate, and violent incidents were extremely rare. However, the situation took a dramatic turn in the early 1980s. The change in the regional environment, and the emergence of a political, albeit violent, Islam, introduced a new phenomenon of sectarianism to Pakistan. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan brought funding from the US and Saudi Arabia for (mostly Sunni) Islamic radical groups to fight against Kabul. The Islamic revolution that ended the monarchy in Shia Iran ushered in a new wave of Shia radicalism in the region. And when the then Pakistani military ruler, General Zia-ul-Haq tried to introduce his own concept of Sunni Islam to the country, a bloody conflict broke out. Radical groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba and Tehrik-e-Jafria have their roots in the policies of those days. Many believe that during this period, Pakistan became the battle ground for a proxy war, a stage on which different countries and organisations belonging to various schools of extremist Islam supported members of their faith and belief. The phenomenon of the Taleban also fuelled this violence, as a number of Sunni extremist groups found both a refuge and a training ground in Afghanistan. The violence continued in different forms even after these countries stepped back. In the last few years, new, more radical groups have emerged, and they target each other with venom. Between the era of General Zia and General Musharraf, successive political governments tried to tackle the problem, but without much success.
Global jihad
The events of 11 September 2001 changed the world - Pakistan dumped the Taleban and, in 2002, President Musharraf launched a major campaign against Islamic extremists, banning several groups. But within weeks many had resurfaced, with new names but the same old intentions. They were again outlawed last year. Yet recent history seems to suggest that declaring radical groups illegal does nothing to solve the problem. In fact, some Sunni extremist groups have been refining their agenda, joining hands with suspected Al-Qa'eda groups in a so-called global jihad. At least two groups have been found to be involved in attacks against other minorities, particularly Christians. And yet another group was found to be involved in the two attacks on President Musharraf's life in December 2003. The group's leader, Amjad Farooqui, was recently killed in a gun-battle with security forces.
Bad year
Senior officials believe the present cycle of violence is partly sectarian, and partly linked to the campaign by the extremist groups to destabilise the government. They say that, having been hit in Karachi and Quetta, the groups have now returned to the Punjab to carry out their activities. Officials say the attack on the Sunni gathering in Multan also suggests that after a series of attacks against Shia mosques, a new group of extremists from within the community may have emerged to avenge the killings. After a brief lull last year, 2004 has particularly been a bad year. Since 1980, more than 4,000 people have been killed in Shia-Sunni violence. And with new and more ferocious groups emerging with an ever wider and more violent agenda, it is nearly impossible to say what form it may take in the coming months and years.
A Report On Rising Intolerance Towards The Religious Minorities Of Pakistan
Prepared by:
RESEARCH & ADVOCACY CELL
CHRISTIAN LIBERATION FRONT PAKISTAN
710 Shadman-I, Lahore, Pakistan
Ph: 0092-42-7560041, Fax: 0092-42-7530204 Email: clf@isb.comsats.net.pk
Pakistan, an Islamic country is situated in South Asia. With ever increasing religious intolerance against the non-Muslim religious minorities, Pakistan remains one of the most glaring examples of religious intolerance in the world.
This is an admitted fact that the religious minorities, especially the Christian community contributed a lot in the making of Pakistan. In the fields of health and education the services of Christian community are meritorious. But the forces which opposed the creation of Pakistan in 1947, are now targeting the minority communities. The government is fully aware of the situation but no steps are taken to stop the discriminative attitude towards the minorities.
In addition to severely limiting freedom of speech and assembly, Blasphemy laws and other discriminatory laws, continue to hang like naked swords on the heads of non-Muslim people i.e. Christians, Hindus, Bheels, Maingwals, Sikhs and the indigenous people (The fourth world). Section 295/C of the Pakistan Penal Code (blasphemy law) imposes death penalty on anyone found to have "by words or visible representation or by an imputation or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiled the name of the Prophet Mohammad of Islam". Similarly any body blamed as blasphemer against Koran would be awarded life imprisonment under section 295/C of the Blasphemy Act.
Before the introduction of this law, no case of blasphemy ever surfaced in Pakistan and no non-Muslim was ever blamed as a blasphemer. But, after the introduction of blasphemy law in 1985, hundreds of non-Muslims, mostly Christians, have either been killed by the Muslim fanatics or made to flee from the country or put in jails where they face inhumane treatment both at the hands of the Muslim Jail authorities and the Muslim inmates. Any voice raised for the repeal of blasphemy laws, is ruthlessly suppressed. On 11 January 2001, as many as 17 people were arrested for participating in an anti "Blasphemy Laws" protest in Karachi. Though three Christian detainees were released six days later, the incident nonetheless demonstrates the methods of punishment and intimidation the government uses to attack the freedom of expression and assembly, particularly in relation to religious issues.
In another case, two Christian young men namely Messrs Amjad and Asif from Jhang were sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2001, under section 295/B of the blasphemy law.
In January this year, eight Christian evangelists including one pastor Rev. Yousaf Masih from the city of Jacobabad were arrested because they were showing a Christian film "WHO IS JESUS" in a Christian locality of Jacobabad.
Very recently i.e. on April 1, 2001, a Christian Teacher Mr. Parvez Masih of a village in Sialkot district, has been falsely blamed as a blasphemer. His Muslim enemy, due to personal grudge, has implicated him under section 295/C of the Blasphemy Act. Mr. Parvez Masih, has been booked and put in the jail for a crime which he never committed and penalty for the crime is death. The innocent Christian teacher was running a school in his village. A Muslim teacher also established his own school. But the school of Mr. Parvez Masih attracted more students due to his dedication as a teacher. The Muslim fellow with his grudge against the Christian teacher, ultimately implicated him in the case of blasphemy. The poor and innocent man, just because of his Christian faith, is being persecuted in the jail. His old parents and other members of his family are being targeted by the fanatic Muslims of the area. There are twenty other Christian families, which, since April 1st are living in a constant harassment.
Christians have definitely suffered under the blasphemy laws. In 1998, Mr. Ayub Masih, a Christian gentleman was sentenced to death though he was quite innocent. Unable to get Ayub released, Bishop John Joseph, a widely respected non-violent activist for minority rights in Pakistan, committed hirakiri by shooting himself in the head.
The fanatic Islamists don’t show any leniency in cases of blasphemy though such cases mostly are ill-founded. In 1996 Mr. Justice Arif Iqbal Bhatti of the Lahore High court was shot dead by a Muslim Fanatic because he had acquitted three Christian fellows from blasphemy charges.
Last year another Judge of the Lahore High Court Mr. Justice Nazir Akhtar became highly partial on the issue of blasphemy laws. He declared that anybody blamed with blasphemy charges, should be instantly killed on the spot by Muslims as a religious obligation. He further remarked that there was no need of any legal proceedings for a blasphemer. These remarks of the judge were published in the national print media.
This is a height of injustice that there are scores of victims of blasphemy law who are being confined in jails. They are in jails for the last so may years but no court is prepared to dispose off their cases. They are compelled to live under sub-human condition in jails. They suffer the severest kind of persecution. No judge is ready for the trial of those prisoners.
In several cases of blasphemy laws, the accused after untold suffering in jail, have been acquitted by the courts. But no action is ever taken against to Muslim compliments who were responsible for ruining the lives of the innocent accused who were falsely implicated under blasphemy charges.
Like the blasphemy laws, the Hudood Ordinance (The Quranic Laws) require strict adherence to Muslim practices and blatantly discriminate against non-Muslims in a court of law. Women have particularly suffered under these ordinances, as they are frequently and wrongfully charged for sexual misconduct such as adultery. Although most women tried under the ordinance are eventually acquitted, they must then endure the stigma of having been under suspicion. The Koranic Laws (Hudood Ordinances) should not be imposed on non-Muslims, but the irony of the fate is that these laws are now stronger than ever.
Religious minorities are alienated and deprived of equal access to justice in other ways. For instance if a Muslim kills a non Muslim, the perpetrators may compensate the victims family monetarily. If non Muslim kills a Muslim the perpetrator faces prison or the death penalty. The Federal Sharia court (FSC) ensures that all legislative acts and judicial pronouncements including those of the supreme court are compatible with Islamic laws. The structure of Sharia courts is an evidence that the government wants to impose a Taliban Style theocratic rule in Pakistan. No Christian lawyer is allowed to appear in the Federal Shariat Court though this court hears cases of non-Muslim people.
Another area of institutionalized discrimination relates to the electoral system. Pakistan is the only country in the world where the system of Separate Electorates was imposed in 1985, against the will of the minorities. Under this undemocratic system, people cannot vote outside their religious affiliations. So non-Muslims citizens of this Islamic State are severely disenfranchised. The separate electorate system has always been denounced as a scheme of religious apartheid that promoted intolerance and served the purpose divide and rule. In the recently held local bodies election under the devolution plan the minorities boycotted the polls overwhelmingly because they were conducted on the basis of separate electorates.
Though the present military administration especially General Musharaf gave assurance for improving the situation of minorities rights. But owing the vested interests the recent local bodies election under the devolution plan were held on separate electorates basis.
There have also been shocking cases of rape and murder of Christian Women. On their way home from working at a factory eight Christian girls, were gang raped at gunpoint by Muslim Men in May, 2000. In 1998, four Muslim men raped a seven year old girl named Nagina. In February 2001, another Christian minor girl (a school student) named Naira was abducted by an influential Muslim fellow. The culprit is still at large and the girl still remains un recovered because the Muslim Police is favouring the Muslim abductor. In March 2001, a Christian girl named Farhat Javed from Summandri, Distt. Faisalabad, was abducted by Muslim influential people just one day before her marriage.
When a Christian a Hindu women is abducted, she is forced to change her religion. If under coercion she does so her previous marriage under Islamic law becomes null and void. Nobody bothers as to what would become of the children born in the previous wedlock. Many families, because of this forcefull conversion to Islam, have been ruined.
Clearly, non-Muslim religious minorities in Pakistan, are de facto second class citizens. In addition to facing direct discrimination in laws such as the blasphemy law and the Koranic laws, the undemocratic separate Electorates, religious minorities face severe mistreatment from militant members of the Muslim majority.
There is a wide spread social hatred against the non-Muslim people. they are discriminated severely in eating places and restaurants. Even in the era of 21st century, the barber’s shops in Pakistan bear notices which read "Non-Muslims are not provided services" This is all in the notice of the government but no body is prepared to put an end to this kind of social hatred.
The militant wings of the Islamic religious political parties, are also responsible for the rise of religious extremism in Pakistan. Inspired by the Talibans, they are hell bent to create a conflicting situation.
In a religious convention held in the first week of April, at Peshawar under the title of "Deoband Conference" the Muslim fanatics vowed that they would convert Pakistan into a theocratic state like that of Afghanistan. About one million Muslims from all over the world attended this conference.
Another religious convention of the hardline Islamists was held in mid April by Laskar-e-Tayyaba. The 200,000 participants of this conference near Lahore, vowed that they would make Pakistan a complete Muslim state. The Muslim diehard declared that they would promote the culture of beards like that of Talibans of Afghanistan. Through a resolution, the Christian Mission Schools in Pakistan were condemned and it was declared that all such schools were responsible for killing the Islamic spirit of the Muslims. On the other hand plans were made at this convention to open more Muslim religious schools to prepare young boys (child soldiers) to wage holy war (Islamic Term) against the infidels. (All the non-Muslims are infidels according to Islamic teachings). For this purpose, fund raising is done extensively. These organizations are also funded by International Islamic groups.
In 1998, Mr. Nawaz Sharif the then Prime Minister, through the 15th constitutional Amendment, wanted to impose Sharia in the country. But it was CLF, which by lobbying with the senators, failed the move of the government and the sharia bill was blocked from passage in the senate of Pakistan. Had this bill been passed it would have played havoc with the non-Muslims citizens of Pakistan.
All the successive governments due to their vested interests never bothered to improve the situation. It has rather gone from bad to worse. When General Pervez Musharaf grabbed power in October 1999, he declared that he would take measures to improve the conditions of the minority communities of Pakistan. He, in a Human Rights Convention in April 2000, proposed to improve the procedure for the registration of cases under blasphemy laws. but threatened by militant fanatic Islamists, he had to revert his decision.
In 1974, through a constitutional amendment, the government of Pakistan declared the Ahmedi community as non-Muslim minority. So the practice of Ahmedi faith is severely restricted by law. Their religious freedom is restricted and they are facing lots of hardships.
According to the constitution of Pakistan the President and the Prime Minister of Pakistan must be Muslims who through their oath have to declare their Muslim faith and to preserve the Islamic ideology of the country.
Teaching of Islamiat (Islamic studies) in compulsory in the school and colleges of the country for the Muslim students. While students of other faiths are not required to study Islam they are not provided with parallel opportunities to study their own faiths. the Muslim teachers compel the non Muslim students to complete courses of Islamic Studies.
Many Christian and Ahmedi students report that they face discrimination in applying to government educational institutions due to their religious affiliations. They are supposed to reflect their religion on their application forms.
The low caste Hindu community is a highly marginalized group. They, under economic compulsions, are involved in bonded labour. They are backward and their human rights are not recognized. They are often labelled as agents of India aid thus looked down upon.
The other religious minorities i.e. Sikhs, Bhais, Budhists and indiginous groups face hardships on religious grounds in Pakistan.
The prevailing scenario foretells that if measures are not taken and activities of the hard liners are not checked, Pakistan would turn into a religious apartheid state where non-Muslim will remain slaves of the Muslim majority. This is a question of life and death for the 14 million people of the minorities of Pakistan.
Christian Liberation Front Pakistan (CLF), which is a leading human rights organization of the minorities, has been struggling for the repeal of discriminatory laws. The mission of CLF, as is significant from its nomenclature, is to work for the liberation of the oppressed minorities from their social subjugation, religious discrimination and economic deprivation.
CLF since its inception in 1985, has been highlighting the issues of non-Muslim minorities at national and international level through research, lobbying, advocacy and awareness.
We provide legal and other assistance to the victims of blasphemy and other discriminatory laws and to their families. Owing to their backwardness and marginalization, the religious minorities of Pakistan are voiceless people and CLF speaks for them who cannot speak for themselves.
Washington Report, September/October 2005, page 33
The Subcontinent
Reacting to the charge that Muslims are “the terrorists,” Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, in a July 21 televised address to the nation, strongly rejected the accusation, saying that a handful of “misguided” youth do not represent the world’s over one billion Muslims. He also denied that the four men reportedly responsible for the July 7 London bombings were trained in Pakistan, pointing to the fact that three of the four were born and brought up in England, and hardly spent any time in Pakistan, and that the fourth was not even of Asian heritage.
Urging the British government to dig deeply to identify the causes producing such angry men in the U.K. and elsewhere, Musharraf also acknowledged the unrest in his own country. He traced it back “26 years,” when Pakistan joined with the United States in throwing the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan and bringing about the eventual collapse of its government. “In the process,” said Musharraf, “U.S. military and economic aid poured in to train and produce the Afghan refugees into a fighting force of Mujahedeen.”
The Pakistani leader expressed deep regret that, when the task was completed, “the U.S. folded its bags and walked away,” leaving behind a country (Afghanistan) that was engulfed in civil war. “Pakistan,” Musharraf added, “inherited a drug and Kalashnikov culture” from its northern neighbor that produced the angry Taliban religious zealots emerging from the madrassas. “We are, therefore, in the forefront of the war against terrorism,” he added, reminding the world that “no country has done more” than Pakistan to curb al-Qaeda.
Musharraf warned that his government will not tolerate any kind of extremism that spreads sectarian hatreds or acts of violence. Advocating his favorite recipe of “enlightened moderation,” he emphasized that “Islam abhors extremism,” and promised to do everything in his means to establish a tolerant and peaceful society in Pakistan.
In another televised speech 10 days later addressing foreign journalists and Pakistani elites, President Musharraf came down hard on the organizations and religious leaders running the country’s more than 12,000 madrassas, or religious schools. “All [1,400] foreign students must leave the country forthwith,” he decreed, and ordered that all madrassas be properly registered with the government by Dec 31, 2005. The process will require all religious institutions to describe their management structures and provide financial statements indicating the source of their funding, along with lists of staffs and enrolled students, curriculum, etc. According to Minister for Religious Affairs Ejaz ul Haq, a similar law was introduced in 2003 but was never implemented.
Musharraf’s order expelling all foreign students from the madrassas has drawn sharp criticism from various circles, including the chief of the ruling Muslim League party, Chaudhri Shujaat, who already has met with President Musharraf on the subject. Fears are being expressed that the order could strain relations with several Muslim countries, whose students may instead attend madrassas in India.
The North West Frontier Province’s (state) government, controlled by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal (MMA) conglomerate of religious parties, has passed the Hisbah Act establishing a Taliban-type parallel judicial system. The Act proposes strict shariah laws to be enforced and adjudicated by the Hisbah courts, and imposes severe restrictions on individual freedom, especially with regard to women. Under the new law, the principal duty of the mohtasib—the official who holds everyone accountable—is observance of the five daily prayers, separation of unrelated males and females, and to discourage singing and dancing. The NWFP’s opposition Pakistan People’s Party called it an “obscurantist pipedream” that attempts to “Talibanize” Pakistan.
In response to a request by President Musharraf‘s central government in Islamabad that Pakistan’s Supreme Court reveiw the Act to determine if it violates the provisions of the country’s constitution, the court issued a summary judgment in early August declaring that parts of the Act are in violation of the constitution, and asking the NWFP governor not to sign it into law.
As part of the government’s privatization process, Islamabad handed over management and ownership control of the Pakistan Telecommunications System to the highest bidder, from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ironically, this change coincided with a rupture in the undersea cable line that connects Pakistan’s telecommunications system with the rest of the world. Because technicians had to come from Singapore to fix it, it took almost two weeks to repair the line. Having already suffered a loss of over $30 million, Pakistan now faces the possible loss of several foreign customers. A second, alternate safety cable had been suggested in the past, but Pakistani managers never agreed to it. As a result, Pakistan’s telecommunications sector is at great risk.
Enough is enough
M V KAMATH
It is now close to six decades since the great Indian sub-continent was partitioned and Pakistan brought into existence, on the dubious principle that provinces with a Muslim majority constitute a State on their own. The two-nation theory propagated by Mohammad Ali Jinnah now stands debunked, especially following the break-up of the old Pakistan and the setting up of Bangladesh as a separate State, on the equally dubious grounds of linguistic incompatibility.
The setting up of Bangladesh stuck at the very roots of the two-nation theory. It also demolished Pakistan's pretence that the Muslim majority State of Jammu & Kashmir belonged to it by natural right. In pursuance of that illusion, Pakistan has waged three wars against India and has lost all three. Having failed to annex Jammu & Kashmir by force, Pakistan, since the early 1990s has taken resource to war by other means, unleashing terrorism not only in Jammu & Kashmir but also in India, but to no effect. All that the terrorists have succeeded in achieving is to kill innocent women and children.
The latest outrage was perpetrated in Delhi on the eve of Diwali. In practical terms it has had no effect. Apart from the grief felt by the families of those killed and wounded, Delhi's citizens have shown extraordinary fortitude in the face of dire circumstances. If by now Pakistan has not realised that not war, not terrorism, nor subtle pressure brought to bear on Delhi would ever get it Jammu & Kashmir.
A former 'Prime Minister' of Pakistan occupied Kashmir Sardar Mohammad Abdul Gayyum was recently reported as saying that 'an independent Kashmir is not possible in the next one hundred years' if ever. Obviously that truth has not sunk in among the policymakers in Islamabad.
The question naturally arises: how long is Pakistan going to support mindless terrorism, even knowing fully way after the experience of six decades, that it can never capture Jammu & Kashmir whether by force, terrorism or other means?
For 60 long years India has patiently put up with Pakistani bestiality. During these years Pakistan depended on the undeclared support largely of Britain and the United States, and so could get away with murder and mayhem. But hasn't the time now come for India to declare that enough is enough? And that should there be another repetition of Delhi, Pakistan may have to pay a grievous price? It is claimed that following the Delhi outrage, India has taken a tough line towards Pakistan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is reported to have protested in unequivocal terms with Pakistan President Musharraf. Even the UN Security Council has now been moved to pass a strong resolution stressing 'the importance of bringing the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of violence to justice', its finger indubitably pointed towards Pakistan. Who else would be guilty of perpetrating, organising, financing and sponsoring anti-India terrorism but Pakistan, though Bangladesh is not too far behind?
The Security Council's Delhi-specific directive may not have identified Pakistan by name as the sponsor of terrorism, but when the directive calls on UN member-States 'to cooperate actively with the Indian authorities in this regard', Islamabad surely was the target.
Pakistan has long attempted to rationalise terrorist attacks on India as the work of god-fearing 'freedom fighters'. The attack on Delhi's market places has torn down that mask. And this has now been at last seen through by the Security Council which in its latest resolution has affirmed that 'terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security', adding that 'any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of motivation, wherever, whenever and by whosoever committed'.
In the circumstances Pakistan does not have a leg to stand on. True, Musharraf has been quick to condemn the Delhi marketplace attacks and offered to cooperate fully with Indian investigations but does he have to be told that his regime has all along been known to give shelter to terrorists such as Dawood Ibrahim, Maulana Massod Azhar, Hafeez Saeed, Syed Salahuddin and others akin?
Unfortunately, the UN Security Council does nothing more than pass resolutions. Why doesn't it take action against Pakistan? If the United States, fully supported by Britain, can wage war against Iraq falsely implicating that Iraq was engaged in producing weapons of mass destruction, without the Security Council's backing, surely Washington can take stern and positive action against Pakistan on solid grounds? No one found any evidence of Iraq engaged in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. But there is plenty of evidence to show that Pakistan is harbouring terrorists. Isn't that sufficient ground for the US to wage war against Pakistan? What is Washington waiting for? Another 9/11?
It must be stated in clear terms that American hands are not much cleaner either. It was the United States that encouraged jihadi elements in Pakistan and in other Islamic countries to create havoc in Afghanistan to oust the Soviet-backed government in Kabul. Washington can't pretend to be innocent on this score. Those very jihadi elements that it once actively supported are now engaged in spreading death and destruction in India. If the United States has not learnt this, it has learnt nothing. India must now tell the United States specifically, and the UN Security Council in general, that it has had enough of Pakistan-sponsored jihadis and would feel free to teach Pakistan a lesson that it will never forget. It is not enough for Delhi to talk tough. It must in future resort to action as suits its needs. If it has to be war, let it be. But the world should not be left in any doubt that India means business.
Pakistan's official excuse is that it has nothing to do with jihadis, hate-spouting madrassahs and violence-prone fundamentalists. No one takes its word as truth. Either Musharraf is a liar or he is unable to control the jihadis in either case India now has the right to take suitable action against its neighbour. According to information available, over 50,000 innocent citizens have so far been killed by jihadis in the last decade, but Pakistan insists that it is not accountable for these bloody murders. It is time it is called to account. It is primarily the task of Islamabad's patron, the United States. If it is unwilling to take the necessary step, then it is time for the Security Council to do the needful. Its latest resolution is fairly unambiguous. But what is necessary is immediate and meaningful action. India's patience is wearing thin. And it must let it be known in clear terms in places that matter. Like the White House.
(The author is a veteran journalist and chief of the Prasar Bharati.)
Christian leaders urge Pakistan president to repeal blasphemy law
PAKISTAN 15 November, 2005
The Christian community has called a protest strike on 17 November in the wake of violence and destruction of churches and Christian places in Sangla Hill. The public security forces are under fire for their alleged inefficiency.
Lahore (AsiaNews) – Christian religious leaders in Pakistan today wrote an open letter to the president, Pervez Musharraf, to call for justice, proper investigations and above all an assurance that “Christians in Pakistan are citizens like the rest”. The letter follows recent events in Sangla Hill.
On 10 November, an angry mob of around 2,000 people vandalised and set fire to three churches, a nuns’ convent, two Catholic schools, the homes of a protestant pastor and a parish priest, a girls’ hotel and the homes of some Christians, all in the village of Sangla Hill in Nankana district in Punjab. The attacks were sparked by a presumed case of blasphemy. The leaders called “once more” for the laws to be repealed, saying that their shortcomings have been revealed “yet again”.
We reproduce the text of their letter in full:
We religious leaders of the Christian churches condemn this massive attack and we demand a high-level judicial inquiry and exemplary punishment to all the culprits responsible for this deliberate outrage.
The concerned police officers should be immediately suspended until the findings of the judicial inquiry are concluded.
The ferocity of the attacks has left us stunned. What provoked such heinous sacrileges? It was a baseless rumour that Yusaf Masih, a local Christian, had set the Quran on fire.
The fact of the matter is that Yusaf was playing a game with two Muslims who lost a large sum of money. They asked him to return the money back and when he refused, they turned round and accused him of burning the Quran, the letter stated.
On investigation it revealed that a few pages of Quranic verses were lying in a tin box and these were burned by someone and Yusaf was accused. But this allegation has yet to be proved.
Tension built up over the alleged blasphemy on Friday evening, when certain maulvis (Muslim clerics) began to incite the people on the mosque loudspeakers.
The parish Priest, Fr Samson Dilawar, informed the police on Friday night, twelve hours before the attack. They sent a token force of a few policemen.
But the next morning, at the moment of the attack, there were hardly any policemen on guard duty. They only came in force three hours later after the crowd had dispersed.
The role of the law enforcing agencies in this case needs to be thoroughly investigated because they have deliberately neglected their duty, even after being warned.
The sentiments of the Christian community are profoundly shocked and hurt by these heinous acts of desecration on their sacred places of worship.
We strongly condemn these attacks as acts of terrorism against a weak and defenseless religious minority.
These are not the work of an emotional mob but well trained militants who came from outside armed with sophisticated incendiary powders that produce high-density heat. The ceiling fans and roof girders melted from the intense heat.
The incident sharply reveals the ineffectiveness of the new rules of the Blasphemy law. And once again we call for a total repeal of this Law.
Our people feel very much afraid and insecure and only strong affirmative action on the part of your government will reassure them about the truth of your of repeated statement that “Christians are equal citizens of this country”.
To register our deep dismay and sadness at the wanton desecration of our three churches and Sisters’ convent and schools, we intend to close all our educational institutions on Thursday, November 17, 2005.
If no action is taken, this will be followed by others forms of protest.
Signed by
Mgr Lawrence John Saldanha, Archbishop of Catholic Archbishop of Lahore and President Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Reverend Alexander J. Malik, Moderator, Church of Pakistan,
Victor Azariah, National Council of Churches in Pakistan,
Col. Gulzar Patras, Territorial Commander, Salvation Army.
Archbishop of Canterbury calls for Pakistan blasphemy review
-26/11/05
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan
Williams, has called on President Musharraf of Pakistan to review the country’s
controversial blasphemy law. The Archbishop is in Pakistan to visit
quake-stricken zones in the north, to meet with church leaders, and to promote
inter-faith understanding.
The appeal from the spiritual head of the world’s 77 million Anglicans comes a
few days after the
violence perpetrated against the Christian community of Sangla Hill.
On 12 November 2005, a crowd of 2,000 angry Muslims vandalized and then set fire
to three churches, a convent, two Catholic schools, the homes of a pastor and a
parish priest and a hostel for girls, as well as the homes of some local
residents.
The rioting was the result of hard-liners alleging that Yousaf Masih, a
Christian, burned copies of the Qur’an on 11 November 2005.
But neighbours say that he is an innocent illiterate caught up in a local
argument about money which has spawned a potent urban myth.
In Pakistan the blasphemy law hands down the death penalty for apostasy or for
desecrating the Qur’an, together with severe penalties for other more minor
offences.
Dr Williams has been careful to develop mutually respectful dialogue with Muslim
leaders in Pakistan. In a lecture to Islamic scholars in Islamabad earlier in
the week he sought to correct popular misunderstandings of Christianity, such as
the idea that it worships three gods.
The Archbishop has also said on his visit that “Islam and Christianity are part
of the same story that is told differently.” He added that that Christianity is
not a Western religion, but one with its founding roots in Asia.
Turning to blasphemy, Dr Williams questioned “a law whose penalty is so severe
and whose practice gives so many loopholes [as] to allow people to indulge in
arbitrary violence by appealing to blasphemy.”
He called on the Pakistani government to review the law, and to ensure justice
and fair treatment for Christians and other minorities alongside the Muslim
majority.
In trying to reduce the support base of militant Islamists, President Musharraf
is known to be in a quandary over this issue. He has condemned the violence
against Christian communities.
However he has also been keen to be seen denouncing the alleged desecration of
the Qur’an, in spite of the lack of evidence for it.
Meanwhile Christian and other minority leaders say that the police and the
military are not doing enough to stamp out communal violence and abuse.
The Christian presence in the Islamic State: By Nadeem Zia, France
The Islamic republic of Pakistan appeared on the world map on August 14, 1947. The struggle for independence started much earlier than official partition. The population of the country is about 148 million. The minorities form approximately 3% of the total population and the Christians constitute 1.8% of the total population. The purpose is to explore the opportunities and challenges that are faced by the minority Christians in the context of the majority Muslims with whom they have to interact in Pakistan.
The Religion of the Majority
To understand the opportunities and difficulties of the Christian minorities in Pakistan, it is essential to know about the religion of the majority. In order to understand the religion of the majority one has to familiarize oneself with the belief, worship, practice and their application in daily life. The kind of religion that has developed in subcontinent is intolerant and intransigent. Dr. Kamran Ahmed writes in the interpretation, “there is no room for doubt, no chance of multiplicity of truth-claims, no freedom for Muslims to convert to other religions and there is a very strong sense of duty to fight in the name of religion. Thus the doctrinal apparatus of formal Islam that has developed here is against the spirit of pluralism.” Although the Sufi tradition was quite tolerant but intolerance overpowered this tradition. In this context the Christian minority has availed itself of some opportunities and has encountered some difficulties as well.
Education
One area or field in which the Christians can interact with the Muslim brethren and sisters is the Christian school. The Christian schools, especially catholic schools, run by the nuns are considered the best educational institutes in the country, where moral, social, spiritual and religious values are imparted in the daily discharge of duties. They cater to the integral development of the students. During their entire stay in the school, the parents and students experience something of the Christian religion such as love, goodness, peace, concern, tolerance, honesty, hard work, discipline, responsibility and punctuality. They too in return influence them and they try to change their attitudes.
This is a place of dialogue where teachers meet from time to time not only to discuss the progress of the students, but also to interchange ideas on social and cultural affairs. This gives them an opportunity to meet other parents and exchange ideas. Thus schools become a place for a dialogue of life.
Another positive attitude that is furnished by the schools is active participation of all the parents towards the welfare of the weak and the needy. The people offer financial help to schools. This experience is also another way of dialogue of life.
Difficulties
In general the life of the minority Christians is a little hard. It contains some elements of violence, corruption, and revenge. It is therefore, very natural that this aspect operates in the schools as well. Since Christian schools cannot accommodate all the students of the area, at the time of admission, there comes a lot of pressure, threats, bribes, donations and recommendations. If none-of these work, then the heads of the school and even teachers become the victims of revenge in different forms.
Another difficulty, which is faced by our people, is the school Syllabi. The textbooks used in schools are politically and ideologically influenced and only provide a limited and one-sided viewpoint. This leads to student intolerance and prejudice. The remedy to this problem could be the introduction of universal and global issues in the textbooks and the contents of the course. The textbooks could be made more universal than local. The private sector is more open to this, but the Government policies encourage and foster the introduction of ideology.
Health
The Christian Hospitals too have played a crucial role in building up positive and good relationships with all the people. In these hospitals, the real dialogue of life takes place when the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff go beyond their role playing. The service of healing without consideration of caste, creed, and race and gender distinction creates an impact on the people. The dignity and self-esteem of the patient is hereby maintained. These hospitals are also models and examples of good care, discipline, good service and hygiene.
These Christian hospitals have also provided opportunities for training of nurses. Nurses trained in these Christian hospitals, are much respected and have more chances of jobs in any good hospital in the country as well as abroad.
One of the main difficulties faced by our Christian students is that the administration of many hospitals has been given to Muslim Doctors. As a result the number of admissions of the Christian students in these hospitals is very limited and it is much more difficult for them to get admission in Government run hospitals and nursing schools. Sometimes, the interaction between the Christian nurses and the Muslim doctors leads to a marriage, which creates a lot of social and religious problems.
Faith Education
The early Missionaries in general and those in Pakistan in particular made many conversions to Christianity in the subcontinent. The converts were mostly from the lower class or the scheduled class. Being originally from low class Hindu and Muslim background, their attitude towards life and people were very passive and submissive and without self-esteem. Conversions did not change their attitude. Most Christians are sanitation workers in Pakistan. And they are looked down by people of the majority and those holding high offices.
The Muslim community in the subcontinent has always been a ruling class. They have not forgotten their role as rulers and therefore they carry this complex in normal life. On the other hand, the majority of Christians has always experienced discrimination. The Christians have never, in the history of the sub-continent, played any key role at the Government level. Even illiterate and uneducated Muslims consider themselves superior to the educated Christian.
The janitors and those who work in the houses of Muslims are humiliated, maltreated and degraded in many ways and forms. The women and young girls who go to different houses for laundry and cleaning are many times raped and sometime forcefully converted to Islam. Many times when there is no other reason to fire them, the owner will simply accuse them of theft, knowing that there is no one to back them. Therefore, it has become imperative that these people have to be conscientized and restored to dignity and self-esteem. Inter-faith dialogue has to begin after addressing these issues.
There is no doubt that there are many educated Christians and many educated Muslims who are working for the harmony and mutual understanding of both faiths, peace and tolerance. But this is confined only to the intellectual circle, whereas the majority of the people are uneducated. We are not denying the great impact of the dialogue maintained at this level, but this does not fill the gap, which lies between the common people of two religions.
Common people are always involved in the dialogue of life in their daily routine work. At the level of ordinary life people are quite open to extend a helping hand to their neighbors. This dialogue operates at the level of exchanging food at the time of feasts and other celebrations; borrowing foodstuff, requesting favors from children to perform petty jobs. The children of the same street become friends and maintain this friendship even after they are grown up.
Another need that requires careful attention for people of both religions is to reconsider and reevaluate the concept of sacred and profane. The notion of sacredness plays an important role in the lives of Muslims. In the name of religion, one goes against the sacredness of life. It can create chaos and people can unintentionally hurt the religious and sacred feelings of their brothers and sisters. To deal harshly with such cases, there exists a law in the penal code of Pakistan known as "The Blasphemy Law." 29SC.
Popular Devotions
The common people usually follow popular devotions. It provides spiritual, psychological and social satis6dion to the people of both religions at the national Marian shrine at Mariamabad one can meet Muslims as well as Christians paying their homage to Mary. On the other hand, Christians go to the shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya or Bhaga Sher at Multan and Data Darbar at Lahore. Many people return to Mariamabad every year to thank God for the favors received. Most of the time, Muslim women visit the shrine in order to ask for the favors of a child. The Holy Quran mentions Jesus, Mary and other prophets as worthy of reverence.
Social, Legal and Political System
The religion has been the cause of discriminatory laws in the country. It is the society, which interprets it for its own benefits. The subcontinent had experienced caste system; feudal system in India and Pakistan, and some elements of the colonial mentality is still prevalent.
On the other hand, the poor are humiliated, discriminated against, degraded and punished even for a minor fault. Because of this experience, the social, cultural, moral, and religious values of both the groups differ from each other. To fill this need we need to provide education to the poor to help them begin the upward mobility. And avail them of the economic progress.
The Process of Islamization and the legal and political system are a threat to the Christians. The most serious and deeply felt threat is that they are not included in the main stream. Thus they are considered “second-class citizens”, and this means that they are deprived of many basic rights. The blasphemy laws, quota system for admission in different professional institutes, and family and marriage problems are some of the instances of discrimination. This is against the wishes of the founder of Pakistan, the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who in the charter of the rights on 11th August 1947 said: “we are all citizens and equal citizens of the state. You may belong to any religion or caste and creed that have nothing to do with the business of the State. You will no doubt; agree with me that the first duty of the Government is to maintain law and order, so that the life property and the religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected”.
As Pakistan is considered an ideological state based on religion, all non-Muslims are treated as religious minorities. It is the government’s obligation to protect all the rights and interests of the non-Muslims. We have already entered into the third Millennium. We earnestly wish that the world may become the place of peace for all who are discriminated, suppressed and oppressed. It is believed that Christianity is a religion of Law and Islam is the religion of peace - law and peace brings harmony. And harmony means bringing a faith dialogue. A human being has to develop himself into a man of hope, faith and love. And “Love alone can heal the world”.
Nadeem ZIA
Paris Arch-Diocese
28/08/2006
Airstrike that killed 80 sparks anger at U.S.
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Eighty people died when missiles fired by Pakistani helicopters destroyed a religious school on the Afghan border Monday that the military said was a front for an al-Qaida training camp, prompting strong protests against the country's president and the United States.
Islamic leaders and al-Qaida-linked militants called for nationwide demonstrations today to condemn what they said was an American assault on Pakistani soil. The army said those who died were militants, but furious villagers and religious leaders said the pre-dawn missile barrage killed innocent students and teachers at the school, known as a madrassa.
U.S. and Pakistani military officials denied American involvement and rejected claims that children and women died in the strike that flattened the building in Chingai.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been under pressure to rein in militant groups, particularly along the porous Pakistan-Afghan frontier, where Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding.
Among those killed in Monday's attack was Liaquat Hussain, a cleric who had sheltered militants in the past and was believed associated with al-Zawahri. The raid was launched after the madrassa's leaders, headed by Hussain, rejected government warnings to stop using the school as a training camp for terrorists, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.
Militant groups in Bajur are believed to ferry fighters, weapons and supplies to Afghanistan to target U.S. forces there. The raid threatens efforts by Musharraf to persuade deeply conservative tribespeople to back his government over pro-Taliban and al-Qaida fighters. The planned signing of a peace deal between tribal leaders and the military was canceled Monday in response to the airstrike.
Protests were held from Peshawar to Karachi in the south, the largest taking place in Chingai and the Bajur district's main town of Khar, where 2,000 tribesmen and shopkeepers chanted "Death to Musharraf! Death to Bush!"
Pakistan's gleaming surgical
instruments, export tarnished by child labor
Thursday, December 7, 2006
SIALKOT, Pakistan
The ceaseless sound of tapping metal echoes through these muddy, garbage-strewn alleys where thousands of workers in crumbling brick hovels churn out one of Pakistan's most successful exports — surgical instruments.
Home to more than 2,000 instrument makers, this city is one of the world's top producers of high-precision scalpels, forceps and retractors, almost all of which are bound for emergency rooms in the United States and other rich countries, where they help to save lives.
Yet, most patients a world away are unaware that the gleam of these spotless tools are often tarnished by the toil of child workers slogging away in dank workshops clouded with metal dust and earning just a few dollars (euros) a month.
That is starting to change, thanks to a United Nations-backed industry initiative to put child laborers back in school.
While the program underlines Pakistan's growing determination to tackle one of its biggest social scourges, it highlights how difficult eradicating child labor can be in a country where per capita income is only US$736 (€553.51) a year.
"I like to work," says 12-year-old Kabir Qadeer, who has done odd jobs at a dental instrument maker for the past year-and-a-half for 1,100 rupees (US$18; €13) a month. "I had no interest in school and quit. So my mother told me to get a job."
Today, Qadeer is back at school — albeit for only two hours a day after his seven-hour shift — under a program sponsored by the U.N. International Labor Organization and the Surgical Instrument Manufacturers Association of Pakistan, or SIMAP.
Launched in 2000, the program is modeled after a similar initiative that has won international acclaim for reducing child labor in Sialkot's booming soccer ball and sports equipment industry, which supply companies like Nike and Adidas.
When the program wraps up its second phase on Dec. 31, it will have taken more than 2,600 of an estimated 5,000 child laborers out of the surgical tool industry.
The next phase, through 2008, will target the remainder.
"We felt it was our responsibility to do something," said Syed Waseem Abbas, senior vice chairman of SIMAP, and chief executive of Professional Hospital Furnishers.
No children are employed by SIMAP's 2,300 members, according to the ILO.
The problem, however, lies with subcontractors that do as much as 70 percent of the finished product for bigger companies in town. There are 2,000 of these tiny workshops, sometimes employing only a couple of people each and often operating below the radar of monitors. Precision work on heavy equipment such as lathes is not usually done by children, but they are routinely employed in jobs such as cleaning and sorting.
Nike's recent clash with its Sialkot supplier of hand-stitched soccer balls shows how child labor often slips through the cracks. Last month, Nike canceled orders from Saga Sports after accusing the company of farming out work to subcontractors that used underaged workers.
International outcry about surgical instruments is quiet, by contrast, partly because Sialkot's medical goods are resold countless times by international wholesalers.
Sometimes equipment made here is even stamped "made in Germany" at the request of middlemen worried about Pakistan's image — further obscuring their origin.
Sialkot's roots in surgical instruments stretch back centuries to the Punjabi swordsmiths of the Mogul empire. But it got its modern boost during World War II, when British colonial authorities called on the city's craftsmen for badly needed medical supplies.
Nowadays, the city pumps out 100 million instruments a year, and the United States and Germany are its biggest markets. International buyers may pay Sialkot suppliers US$2 (€1.5) for forceps that eventually fetch upward of US$60 (€45) when sold to a hospital, Abbas said.
The gap is part of the problem, say some labor rights activists.
Fairer trade would give Sialkot companies a bigger slice of the final sale and allow them to raise pay and improve working conditions of their employees.
"The solution lies in purchasers promoting fair trade, rather than a simple 'we won't buy child labor.' This only makes the poor poorer," says Mahmood Bhutta, a doctor in Britain who has written on surgical instrument labor and is trying to set up a fair-trade supplier.
But many poor Pakistani families rely on incomes from their children to get by. UNICEF, the UN's child agency, estimates there are 3.6 million working boys and girls under age 14 in Pakistan, mostly engaged in carpet weaving, brick making, agriculture and deep sea fishing.
"The problem with our country is that we accept child labor as a way of life," said Fazila Gulrez, spokeswoman for the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. "There's not a single economic sector in Pakistan where children are not employed."
Twelve-year-old Qadeer is among those apparently satisfied with the status quo.
Gathering half-finished dental probes from the grit-covered factory floor, he says he can't wait to turn 15 so he can graduate to the grinders, lathes and other machines reserved for his elders. His boss, who started work at 14, has promised 100 rupees (US$1.60; €1.2) a day then.
Pakistan's crisis deepens
Declan Walsh in Islamabad
Friday July 6, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The sense of crisis gripping Pakistan swelled today as a bloody mosque siege stretched into its fourth day, suspected militants targeted President Pervez Musharraf's plane and a suicide bomber killed six soldiers near the Afghan border.
Gunfire rang out in a congested district of Rawalpindi in the morning, shortly after a plane carrying Gen Musharraf took off. The aircraft was not hit and police traced the shots to a nearby house where they found a rifle and an anti-aircraft gun on the roof.
Security officials described it as a failed assassination attempt but the main military spokesman, Major General Waheed Arshad, said that only the AK-47 rifle had been discharged, suggesting the president was in only limited danger.
Gen Musharraf's plane landed safely in western Baluchistan province, where recent floods killed 200 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The military leader has already survived two assassination attempts, a fact that has burnished his reputation as a warrior against militancy amongst western allies.
The degree to which extremism has taken root during Gen Musharraf's eight-year rule of Pakistan was clear in nearby Islamabad, however, where his troops continued their siege of the Red Mosque complex.
Bursts of heavy gunfire coupled with deafening explosions erupted from the mosque throughout the day, interspersed with loudhailer appeals from officers calling on the militants inside to give themselves up.
An estimated 400-500 students were inside the mosque, 60 of them heavily armed with automatic weapons, grenades and petrol bombs, according to the interior minister. The remainder are said to be mostly children, about half of them girls. Their leader, the radical cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi, declared he would rather die than surrender.
"We can be martyred but we will not court arrest," he said in a defiant interview with a local television station. "We are more determined now."
The minister of state for information, Tariq Azim, dismissed the talk of martyrdom as a bluff, noting that Ghazi's brother Abdul Aziz had already been captured trying to flee the mosque under the disguise of a burka.
Ghazi denied he was forcing students as young as five to remain inside the bullet-marked mosque, but worried parents waiting outside told a different story.
At lunchtime his militants opened fired on a group of relatives as they approached the mosque, shooting one man in the foot. He limped back to army lines and was sent to hospital.
"They say they are Islamic but they go outside in a burka," raged Babar Khan, who was waiting for his two teenage cousins. "Meanwhile poor children are going to die."
The siege has traumatized Islamabad, a carefully planned and often lethargic city where residents like to joke about the dullness of life. The Red Mosque is in the heart of G-6, a tree-lined neighbourhood popular with Pakistani bureaucrats and foreign diplomats.
Since Tuesday G-6 has been cut off from the outside world by barbed wire and troops with orders to shoot on sight. Residents have been roused from sleep by barrages of gunfire and explosion. "It's been absolutely terrifying," said one.
An indefinite curfew was briefly lifted today to allow residents to seek food or escape to a safer sector.
The rise of violent extremism was also highlighted in Dir, a remote town in North West Frontier province, where a suicide bomber flung himself at an army convoy. Six soldiers were killed and three injured, Reuters reported.
Urban Pakistanis split on militants
As violence intensifies once again in the tribal areas, polls reveal divisions among the middle class on whether a military response is the best answer to extremism.
By Shahan Mufti
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor from the October 31, 2007 edition
Reporter Shahan Mufti discusses how the Pakistani middle class is affected by the ongoing struggle between the army and militants.
Islamabad, Pakistan - The suicide bombing a few kilometers away from the Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Tuesday afternoon left at least seven dead and dozens wounded. It also reinforced fears that Pakistan's more rapidly modernizing major cities and towns may now feel the fight that the Pakistani Army has lately taken to the militants in its remote tribal areas.
Despite the increasing violence, many educated urban-dwellers – part of a growing middle class of moderate, educated Pakistanis – find themselves stuck in the middle of a war that they are still reluctant to embrace as their own. The public's lack of ownership for the conflict has led to an emerging dialogue here as to whether meeting the Taliban threat with conventional military attacks will do more to incite violence than to quell it.
There is also a growing perception among educated Pakistanis that it is America's failure in Afghanistan that has pushed Pakistan into the global war on terrorism and has emboldened extremes on both sides in the process.
A poll released Wednesday by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland found that less than half of urban Pakistanis favor sending the Pakistani Army to the Northwestern tribal areas to "pursue and capture Al-Qaeda fighters." Only 48 percent want the Pakistani Army to act against "Taliban insurgents who have crossed over from Afghanistan." [Editor's note: The above data was embargoed until early Wednesday morning.]
Yet even as a majority expresses disenchantment with the military's involvement in politics, many people still acknowledge that Pakistan depends upon that same Army to prevent retrograde religious militants from making deeper inroads into the country from their bases in the tribal territories and the more remote sections of the North West Frontier Province.
The bombing comes after intense battles in the Swat District in the Frontier Province this week, which has left more than 100 security personnel and militants dead. Once a thriving mountainous tourist town with some of the best skiing in the country, Swat and surrounding areas have, in recent weeks, become a bloody battleground.
An army of some 5,000 militants, led by Maulana Fazlullah, a local cleric notorious for his illegal radio channel on which he preaches jihad against the American-backed state, have also taken security officials hostage. Some were decapitated and their heads paraded through the streets. Pakistanis had heard of such gruesome violence in the far-flung, autonomous tribal regions, but never in "settled areas" like Swat, which are under state jurisdiction.
"People are viewing the Army's fight against terrorism as an extension of America's agenda in the region," says Khalid Rahman of the Institute for Policy Studies in Islamabad. "And the government also seems to be using this as a chance to secure its own place" at a time when its own popularity is plummeting.
Despite their apprehensions, many still say that historic negligence of the North West Frontier and tribal areas lies at the root of the problem.
"The people in these regions have never really developed faith in the system," says Asha Amirali, a political activist with the People's Rights Movement of Pakistan, an Islamabad-based social justice advocacy group. "They have lost faith in the politicians, and the judicial system at the grass roots is still impotent and disconnected from the rest of the country."
Even though Ms. Amirali, and many like her, fear what has been termed "talibanization," they also think the country is at a critical juncture, where it can be free from Army rule after eight years under President Pervez Musharraf.
The events in Swat have a haunting resonance to the confrontation in July between religious militants and security forces that resulted in the deaths of nearly 200 people at Islamabad's Red Mosque. But things were slightly different a few months ago. Then, prominent secular civil society leaders, academics, and activists had decried the militants' flaunting of the law and many in Pakistan had backed the state to take on the holdouts in the mosque compound. When the state finally did act, it left behind rumors of mass graves full of children and hostages.
"The way it was handled, it just created more hate and violence in the country," says Khurram Jamali, an investment fund manager in Karachi. Few felt much safer in the aftermath; major cities began witnessing their first suicide bombings. Mr. Fazlullah, the leader of the militant group in Swat, publicly decried the Army's operation then. Now, Mr. Jamali says, people might think twice before taking a stance. "At some level, I want the Army to act," he admits. "But I am also worried about where the battle will appear next if the violence continues."
Attacks on Khyber trucking threaten US supply line
By KATHY GANNON
May 20, 2008
KHYBER AGENCY, Pakistan (AP) — Thieves, feuding tribesmen and Taliban militants are creating chaos along the main Pakistan-Afghanistan highway, threatening a vital supply line for U.S. and NATO forces.
Abductions and arson attacks on the hundreds of cargo trucks plying the switchback road through the Khyber Pass have become commonplace this year. Many of the trucks carry fuel and other material for foreign troops based in Afghanistan.
U.S. and NATO officials play down their losses in these arid mountains of northwestern Pakistan — even though the local arms bazaar offers U.S.-made assault rifles and Beretta pistols, and the alliance is negotiating to open routes through other countries.
The most high-profile victim of the lawlessness has been Tariq Azizuddin, Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan. The 56-year-old was snatched from his Mercedes limousine three months ago while driving toward the border. He wasn't freed until Saturday. Pakistan's government denied it was part of a prisoner swap last week with militants.
A senior government official said Azizuddin's kidnapping was carried out by one of dozens of criminal gangs operating in the region, who then sold the ambassador to the Taliban. The official agreed to discuss the case only if not identified, citing the sensitivity of the efforts that led to the envoy's release.
"The security is absolutely becoming precarious and this poses a threat for U.S. and NATO supplies, but it is also a source of concern for Pakistan," said Mehmood Shah, former security chief for the region. "It's a complex mix (of factors), but it is getting more dangerous."
Regular trade is also being disrupted by the raids on trucks traveling what is a vital lifeline for impoverished Afghanistan, but there is disagreement about how serious the problem is.
Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, who heads an association of Pakistani customs agents helping traders move goods through the customs post at Torkham, claimed the average number of trucks has dropped to 250 a day from 500 early this year, before violence escalated.
However, Abdul Ghani, a commander of Afghan border guards, said there had been only a "small drop" in the number of trucks crossing. He had no numbers.
Fuel tankers, in particular, have become a target for militants seeking to disrupt supplies to NATO and the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan.
In April, a bomb strapped to a truck carrying 11,440 gallons of fuel exploded as the vehicle sat near the Torkham customs post waiting to cross from Khyber. In March, a bomb attack destroyed some 40 tankers in a parking lot. Dozens of people were injured by the raging fires.
Most material for foreign troops in Afghanistan arrives by ship at the Pakistani port of Karachi in unmarked shipping containers and is loaded on South Asia's colorfully decorated "jingle" trucks to be driven to destinations like Bagram Air Base, north of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
NATO and U.S. officials won't say whether the trucks carry weapons and ammunition in addition to food, fuel and other supplies. They suggest that theft — not a disruption campaign by militant groups — is the main problem behind the raids on trucking.
The coalition has "no indication of a pattern by the enemy to attack our supplies," said a coalition spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green.
Yet NATO is seeking to reduce its dependence on the Khyber route by negotiating with Russia and other nations to allow it to truck in "non-lethal" supplies to Afghanistan through Central Asia.
"It's always good to have alternatives," spokesman James Appathurai said at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "One route for supplies is not necessarily the best way forward."
In Khyber, a mountainous enclave that abuts the main northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, U.S. weapons and other supplies — boots, camouflage uniforms and rucksacks — are offered openly for sale.
Saifur Rahman Zalmay, a weapons dealer of 30 years, hawks U.S.-made assault rifles and pistols. For a new Beretta, he demands $10,000. New and used M-16s rifles are a few thousand dollars less — far more than Western armies pay.
Zalmay claimed some of the second-hand rifles were sold to arms dealers by Mullah Ismail, a Taliban commander killed in April in Pakistan. Ismail led a June 2005 ambush of U.S. commandos in eastern Afghanistan and shot down a Chinook helicopter sent to rescue them. Sixteen American special forces soldiers died on the chopper.
Shah, the former regional security chief, said local tribes are paid a government stipend to secure the route for regular trade as well as military supplies. But the authority of tribal elders in Khyber has been weakening, as it is all along the frontier.
Ikramullah Khan Afridi, a tribal leader, blamed that trend on the proliferation of radical clerics who are sympathetic to the Taliban and have established parallel administrations and their own militias.
"The traditional mechanism of controlling the area through the jirga (council of elders) of the tribal area has been weakened while the mullahs are taking the law into their own hands," Afridi said. "Now they are out of control."
Rivalry between extremists has also spawned violence, such as a May 1 suicide bombing that wounded dozens of people near Bara, one of Khyber's main towns. It targeted the headquarters of an Islamic fundamentalist group calling itself Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The group accused Taliban militants from nearby Waziristan of sending the bomber.
Khyber was once regarded as one of the safest of Pakistan's seven semiautonomous tribal regions on the rugged frontier. It was one of the few that foreigners, including diplomats and aid workers, were allowed to venture into, although only to travel to Afghanistan.
The deteriorating security comes despite a relative lull in violence in other parts of Pakistan's frontier regions in recent months. The Pakistani government that came to power in February elections is using tribal intermediaries to try to forge peace with militants, most notably in South and North Waziristan, where the Taliban and al-Qaida are strongest.
Maulvi Abdul Rahman, a Taliban leader, claimed the militants have strong enough ties with influential clerics in Khyber to scuttle any peace talks.
Washington is skeptical that the government's strategy will work anyway. Taking a longer view, it is planning to spend millions of dollars upgrading Pakistan's Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force of tribesmen that is struggling to provide security in the region, including along the crossborder highway.
"They would be the force that should protect U.S. and NATO supplies to Afghanistan," said Pakistan's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. The U.S. training program will start in the last half of this year, he said.
But Zalmay, the gun dealer, is skeptical the Frontier Corps can stop either thieves or the Taliban.
"The Frontier Corps does zero," he said.
Associated Press writers Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Fisnik Abrashi in Kabul and Paul Ames in Brussels contributed to this report.