Ways of the Taliban By Malik Haroon Rashid and Sikander

It is strange to find majority of Pakistanis sympathizing with the Taliban and their strange ideology. In judging Taliban, their critical faculties always fail them. Let alone the illiterate countryside, the city dwellers too, who live far away from the theater of war, tend to take a romantic view of these militants and nourish views and opinions totally divorced from reality. For example: it is stated that Taliban are holy worriers of Islam and Pakistani government and its military is waging a proxy war against them at the behest of America; Pakistani government in the name of War on Terror is doing the dirty work of killing its own citizens; and that it should stop fighting Taliban and its army leave the war zone of Pakistan “Wild West” to the militants ; Suicide bombings and the horrific acts of beheadings of captives are no work of the Muslims and so Taliban cant do it. When it comes to Taliban targeting Pakistani security forces or their acts of sabotage and terrorism against government infrastructure, even the one’s for public utility like girl’s schools, bridges, electricity installations, the force of twisted logic again absolves the Taliban of these insane acts. Shadow of blame then falls on foreign secret agencies or on the government which itself orchestrates these acts to show it target of domestic terrorism to win foreign aid. Some political parties of Pakistan are known to retain a soft corner for the Taliban and talk of negotiating with them.
Most of Pakistanis unfortunately don’t see the real face of the Taliban and always come up with such bizarre conspiracy theories, a make believe world of fallacious ideas and arguments, to implicate the government in the wave of terrorism and suicide bombing. Now the time has finally arrived to disburden ourselves of these false notions. The fact must now be admitted that it is not foreign hostile powers but our own Pakistani Taliban who are destabilizing Pakistan and are very much behind today’s terrible mess of suicide bombings, terrorism, and internal displacement of people.

The Taliban own a perverted Ideology based on rural, tribal Pashtoon culture mixed with a version of Islam of their own choosing, running counter to present day modern world and its way of life. The Taliban don’t feel themselves handicapped by modern concepts of international boundaries, international relations and rules of diplomacy. Their concept of Pan Islamic fraternity militates against the concept of nation state. It is Pakistani Taliban who cross Pak Afghan border and launch raids on the Allied troops, putting Pakistan government in worst embarrassment which denies such cross border attacks from its soil or it comes with the excuse that the boarder is too porous to govern. Taliban’s rash acts of evicting foreign troops out of Afghanistan using Pakistan as base take the country to the brink of disaster and international isolation. Pakistan is then suspected for being in secret liaison with the Taliban or lacking the will to take on the militants. Pakistan’s position as a sovereign nation further stands undermined as American Predator drones violate Pakistani air space with impunity and Pakistan does nothing except registering a verbal protest. But still the Taliban don’t realize Pakistan predicament and the price it has to pay for their adventures.
For the Taliban lines of right and wrong have been clearly drawn, there is no ambiguity or confusion on any point. Crossing Durand and engaging foreign troops in combat is Jihad and so of greater consequence than Pakistan’s geo political problems. For Taliban, all their acts have their justification and sanction in Islam. A Talib, if argued with, by citing Quran and Hadis will justify, for example, the attempt of blowing up Kohat tunnel, Marriott hotel , beheading of army personals or of “ American spies”, the destruction of government or public infrastructure. People in the West might wonder why Taliban blow up the girls schools and not those for boys. But there is method in the madness. Girls’ school according to Taliban teach girls promiscuity, same goes for vaccinations of the infants, a conspiracy of West to inflict the Muslim children with deadly diseases. In the name of Taliban the forces of destruction and obscurantalism have been let loose all over the tribal areas and Pakistan proper. Even a Pathan’s traditional fascination for Islam has been worked up and exploited by the Taliban for the deadly purpose of raising up a cadre of deadlier suicide bombers who are every ready to blow them up at the commands. In the hands of Taliban human life has been rendered very cheap.

In their misplaced pursuit of bringing back the purity of Islam the Taliban are rolling back all progress man has achieved so far and taking us back to the Stone Ages. For the Taliban time has stood still. Thousands of years of human progress in science, technology and the great advances in the world of ideas haven’t affected them at all. There are a few signs of modern world around a Talib gaining his acceptance like telephone or loudspeaker of mosque but the rest of the world is for him a totally unintelligible, alien world whose working he cant understand.. He makes a rapid selection, few aspects of modern life are accepted and the rest is dubbed as un Islamic and hence fit to be obliterated and annihilated. Strange irony is this all goes on in the name of Islam, a religion which has the ability to adjust itself according to modern times. But the Taliban’s version of Islam makes no allowance for the forces of modernity and present Islam as incompatible with progress. Now the question is how we reclaim back our lands and Islam, both held in bondage by the Taliban and quell this insurgency laying waste our county?
Recently there is emerging a thinking in Britain and the US that Taliban cant be defeated militarily and there is need to have them engaged in dialogue for finding permanent peace. This line of reasoning in naïve and doesn’t take into account main reasons of Taliban insurgency and militancy. Pakistani government already tried with various fruitless peace accords with the Taliban. The Taliban used the accords only to regroup and launch cross boarder attacks on Afghan soil with renewed vigor. The vacuum created by the withdrawal of army was filled by the Taliban and gave them more strength to enforce their writ in the areas under their control. The authority of Pakistanis government was further eroded by these accords.
.No peace accord would convince the Taliban to lay down their weapons in Pakistan or in Afghanistan or stop them from continuing attacks on NATO troops. The presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan fuels the passions of Taliban and provides them main impetus and thrust. This is not an ordinary gorilla war for the Taliban but Jihad, an important article of faith and so non negotiable. Taliban Jihad will continue and so will America’s was on terror.
But Taliban movement may not keep the momentum over time, at least in Pakistan. They are loosing sympathies of the tribes on whom they relied mainly for support and sanctuaries. Bold efforts of Salarzai tribes in Bajaur in driving the Taliban out of their area have exploded the myth of Taliban’s invincibility , the elders from Bajaur Agency’s are now not in favour of dialogue with the Taliban. Tribes in Dara Adam Khel are up in arms against them. This pretty much sums up the mood in rest of NWFP. Realization is dawning now in worst hit areas that Taliban are basically trouble makers and their presence invites further trouble. In addition people are getting fed up with the Taliban’s tyrannical rule stifling human nature, forcing people to live unnatural lives.
The blood soaked Taliban movement, with its tradition of gory acts of public beheading, suicide bombings and acts of terrorism, abductions, intimidation and vandalism is rapidly unmasking the Taliban in NWFP and swinging public opinion against them . Rest of Pakistan must realize that it is one thing to sing praises of Taliban from a distance but quite another to taste them closer at hand.