The style has changed, but Pakistan’s aim remains the same
Pakistan has had a mixed month. The Hurriyet visit and the Advani pronouncements were the high points, both of which left the Pak Establishment chuckling with barely concealed glee. But then the dream began to sour. Pakistan is now getting caught in its web of lies and deception. What is worse, there is a growing acknowledgement that Pakistan has been two-timing its chief benefactor and protector, the USA. Clearly, a case of terrorism outstretch.
The Umer Hayat and Son arrests in California, with the young man accused of having been trained in a Harkat ul Mujahedeen camp near Rawalpindi, the real centre of power in Pakistan, created a stir in USA. Photographs of President Bush and other prominent Americans were used for target practice in the camp. It seems that Hamid Hayat was also trained at an al Qaeda facility in Pakistan where there were hundreds of people from all over the world. The new policy seems to be to train Pakistani-Americans in Pakistan for jehadi action in the USA as part of Pakistan’s contribution to globalisation.
The lesser embarrassment was the disclosures made by a grateful Yasin Malik about Sheikh Rashid’s jehadi munificence during his visit to Pakistan. A terrorist in the Cabinet? someone asked the Srinagar-based Kashmiri leader Hashim Quereshi recently. Only one? he is believed to have remarked sarcastically or words to that effect.
Revelations in the Los Angeles Times (June 19) were even more damaging. Camps supposedly wound down, have really scattered all over into hundreds of smaller, hard to detect camps, replacing the earlier large and visible camps. It is no news here in India when the LA Times says that the ISI has worked closely with these groups for its campaign in Kashmir and to protect its interests in Afghanistan. The jehadi-intelligence network is so intricate that the LA Times quotes Bruce Hoffman, from the Rand Corporation and an expert on counter-terrorism to say that “There is tremendous overlap, and that is the problem, between bin Laden and Al Qaeda, the Pakistani authorities and the Kashmiri groups.”
Syed Saleem Shahzad recently interviewed Khalid Khwaja, a former ISI official dismissed by Gen Zia ul Haque but also known to have been close to former ISI chief Hamid Gul and Osama bin Laden. In his report in the Asia Times on June 22, Shahzad quotes Khwaja. “In fact, Pakistan has never been sincere with Kashmiris. It was a selfish military strategic manoeuvre to bleed India. Whatever was done, it was for ‘Pakistanism’. Meaning to impose Pakistan’s strategic agenda in the region. We just used religion and jehad. It was a ploy to engage Indian forces in Kashmir and keep their financial resources squeezed.” Mir Waiz Omar Farooq, are you listening?
Hussain Haqqani warns that from Pakistan’s point of view the jehad was simply on hold, the major Kashmiri jehadi groups retain their infrastructure and could be pressed in to service whenever required. The Taliban continue to shelter in Pakistan. Afghan and US officials periodically complain that Pakistan’s border areas are still being used by the Taliban for shelter and training but Pakistan routinely dismisses such complaints. The Daily Times of Pakistan also quotes the Newsweek reporting the existence of Al Qaeda safe havens in South Waziristan. And there have been several reports of Pakistan’s less than enthusiastic participation in the campaign against these terrorists.
Pakistan in longer just a nursery for terrorism; it is now the nerve centre and university for international jehadi terrorism. Pakistani or Pakistani origin visitors to USA are now closely examined for rope burns, unusual bruises and scars, which might indicate that they had spent some time in an Islamic militant training camp.
The casual visitor to Pakistan will notice that the usual signs of jehadi fervour seem to have disappeared. Posters exhorting true believers to jehad, fund collection boxes at street corners and incendiary cassettes have disappeared. But the more astute observers say that this is illusory. The jehadis are still there, splintered into smaller groups and asked to keep their heads down. It is only the style that has changed and the rhetoric has cooled. The aim remains the same.
Pakistan says no deal on electric power without progress on Kashmir; no trade deal without progress on Kashmir; no MFN without progress on Kashmir; no transit treaty without progress on Kashmir. It bitterly opposes India’s candidature for UNSC and has launched a worldwide campaign; PTV continues its daily diatribe. Meanwhile, killings in the Valley continue. So, what has changed? Just that the smiles that broadened but vanished the moment Manmohan Singh mentioned Gilgit and Baltistan. The Hurriyet caboodle visited Pakistan and did not utter a word about the Northern Areas or speak about the oppression of the Shias there. Or rather, did not dare.
Till recently, Musharraf would grandstand and say that there was a difference between terrorism and freedom fighters. The trouble is that if Pakistan wants to participate in this international campaign against terrorism, or wants to control its sectarian Mafia, it has to eliminate domestic terrorism. But this cannot be done till Kashmir is acquired. Till then, retention of facilities for asymmetric warfare remains Pakistan’s prime strategy. The problem is that thousands of idle jehadis are a danger to Pakistan. And over time Islamic militant groups such as the Kashmiri jehadi groups and sectarian militia have overlapping memberships. Thus one cannot be eliminated without the other. Threats from missiles and F-16s to India are quantifiable, those from a jehadi mindset are not.
Musharraf has impressed the gullible with his “Enlightened Moderation” and “Sustainable Democracy” whereas his regime remains one of Convoluted Legitimacy. He is no Metternich and his loud proclamation of the Hurriyet as the true representatives of the Kashmiri people has set alarm bells ringing in New Delhi.
We say that there was a breach of trust when the Pakistanis let the Hurriyet visit Pakistan. But are we not the ones who facilitated this by giving them passports which the Pakistanis then ignored, adding insult to injury? And how can we say there has been a breach of trust and then be ready to talk about Siachen.
In the Northern Areas of J&K, inhabitants are routinely locked up if they challenge accession to Pakistan. In India, fellows have murdered IAF personnel in the Valley and roam around free. But we do nothing. They loudly proclaim that they had crossed over the LOC several times to get arms and ammunition; they talk to the likes of Syed Salahuddin and agree that the armed struggle must continue. But we say nothing.
If the Pakistanis can go around parading the Hurriyet, surely we also have a right to hear the grievances of those in Gilgit, Skardu, and Diamer and there are plenty of those. Only then can a composite picture be formed. The self-appointed representatives of the Valley alone cannot be allowed to hijack or sabotage the peace process. Until such time we get to hear the representatives of the Northern Areas of J&K, we should get all those on the Indian side from Jammu, Laddakh, from Doda, from Rajouri and Poonch or wherever, for a conference on the problems of the state. But first of all, we should be restoring our own elected representatives to their rightful status as the true representatives of the people of the state. We must seize the high ground.
Source : hindustan times 29th June 2005
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