Chamelions: Pakistani Politicians and the Taliban
The
suicide blast in Peshawar on April 19 that claimed 23 lives was a little
different, in the sense that instead of targeting the ANP, as usual, the suicide
bomber chose a Jamaat-e-Islami demonstration to detonate himself.
The Naib
Amir of the Jamaat, Sirajul Haq, was quick to blame the government that had
failed to protect people's lives while another leader of the Jamaat, Hafiz
Hashmat, accused Blackwater. Not a word was uttered by any of the Jamaat's
leaders about the Taliban, who are usually blamed for such incidents. Last year,
when the Swat videos shook the entire country, the Jamaat's did not condemn the
Taliban. -- Farooq
Sulehria
By Farooq
Sulehria
6 May 2010
The suicide blast in Peshawar on
April 19 that claimed 23 lives was a little different, in the sense that instead
of targeting the ANP, as usual, the suicide bomber chose a Jamaat-e-Islami
demonstration to detonate himself.
The Naib Amir of the Jamaat,
Sirajul Haq, was quick to blame the government that had failed to protect
people's lives while another leader of the Jamaat, Hafiz Hashmat, accused
Blackwater. Not a word was uttered by any of the Jamaat's leaders about the
Taliban, who are usually blamed for such incidents. Last year, when the Swat
videos shook the entire country, the Jamaat's did not condemn the Taliban.
Similarly, the PML-N is either
devious when it comes to the Taliban, or subtly supportive of them. Shahbaz
Sharif faced the wrath of the media when he said on March 14 that the PML-N had
refused to accept dictation given by external forces. "If this is the stance of
the Taliban, then they should not carry out terrorism in Punjab."
On the contrary, the PPP has
been pretty vocal in condemning the Taliban. However, this was not the case back
in 1996, when Kabul was captured by the Taliban, as the Jamaat termed it a
US-sponsored plot to divide Afghanistan along ethnic and linguistic lines.
In May 1996, Qazi Husain Ahmad
spent ten days shuttling between Gulbadin Hekmatyar and Ahmad Shah Masood in a
last-ditch bid to stitch an alliance to fend off the Taliban. A month before the
Hikmatyar-Masood government was routed in September 1996, the Jamaat had
announced a decision to open its office in Kabul. Its aversion to Kabul's
incoming masters owed to its long-standing support for Hekmatyar.
Meanwhile, Hekmatyar's support
for Saddam Hussein had annoyed the Saudis. Perhaps Mansoora (the Jamaat's
headquarters in Lahore) had not noticed this change in the Saudi mood. To
further illustrate the Jamaat's troubled relationship with the Taliban, it is
relevant to mention then-interior minister Naseerullah Babar's remark that the
Taliban conquest of Kabul was "only a change of guard" from the Jamaat-e-Islami
to the Jamiatul Ulama-e-Islam.
Nawaz Sharif was equally
frustrated over the Taliban's victory. He termed Benazir Bhutto's Afghan policy
a disaster which had "turned friends into enemies." However, in a few months'
time, after he became prime minister in early 1997, his government was quick to
recognise the Taliban government. The Taliban would find it hard to believe
Shahbaz Sharif's claim that his party did not take any "external
dictation."
To escape the Kargil imbroglio,
Nawaz Sharif met Bill Clinton on July 4, 1999. Only Nawaz Sharif can tell if
Clinton had dictated anything to him on the Taliban or not. On July 6,
Washington imposed curbs on the Taliban. The US sanctions got an extra bite
when, in mid-August, the Nawaz Sharif government announced restrictions on the
Transit Trade Agreement. In early October, Nawaz Sharif travelled to Dubai to
brief the Gulf states on his plan to withdraw support for the Taliban and push
for Osama bin Laden's extradition. According to the Reuters report, "Sharif said
he insisted that the Taliban stop all activities in Pakistan, hand over Osama
bin Laden, or ask him to leave Afghanistan, and shut down all training
camps."
Nawaz Sharif was ousted before
he could persuade the Taliban to do this. Mullah Omar declared Sharif's removal
Pakistan's internal matter, a move that came "in reaction to certain moves by
foreign powers against the Pakistani nation."
As for the PPP, Naseerullah
Babar declared on the Taliban's takeover of Kabul that "the rise of the Taliban
is of great advantage to Pakistan. This is the first time there is a government
which has no links with India, or anybody else." And Benazir Bhutto, only 39
days away from her dismissal by Farooq Leghari, called it a "welcome
development."
Source: The News,
Islamabad
Farooq Sulehria is a freelance contributor.
Email: mfsulehria@hotmail .com
9:22 PM
Sultan Shahin
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