Dr. Tariq Rahman
The Post Taliban Era
As I write the Taliban rule over Afghanistan has come to an end. The World has shown a shocking indifference to the plight of the Afghans and there who fought with the Taliban. All of them were not decision-makers, indeed not even members, of the Al-Qaeda Organisation yet they have been hunted down like animals, killed in ulter violation of the rules of combat and even their women and childern have been blown to shreds or left to freeze in the cold. What effect will all this have on the world?
Firsts, it makes the hawks say that the ‘peaceniks’ were wrong and that they supported the infamous Taliban. Well, those of us who support peace and oppose wars because of the sufferings they cause need not despair. We were never supporters of the Taliban. We supported the principle that no country should wage war on another country even if it is home to terrorists. There are many people in America who will interpret this to be an unsympathetic statement. They will think this is a way of justifying terrorism and not caring about the American dead. However, it is precisely because a true humanitarian feels for the American dead that he or she also feels for the Afghan dead (the collateral damage) and those who will die in the internecine fighting to come in Afghanistan should there be no peace even now. It is precisely because one values human life and dignity everywhere that one opts for the lesser evil which would have been no war but a long and possibly less direct way of dealing with terrorism. In short, I am saying that state terrorism to defeat terrorism is wrong. Instead, the U.N.O should try other ways of dealing with terrorists after a case against them has been proved in an international court of law. Moreover the country which faces terrorism must examine its policies to find out precisely why it is disliked so much that people are willing to die and kill to change these policies or at least to protest against them. I know the hawks governing countries do not change policies. If this remain a dream as is peace--so be it . One should rather die dreaming of peace and upholding humanitarian principles than live in the knowledge that one is upholding the tradition of might in right. We might live in a world dominated by the U.S.A. We might see the end of our dream of a strong U.N.O and the begning of an era of civilization but we live secure in the knowledge that we are on the side of civilized principles.
It is not clear what the effect of this on Pakistan might be. There is an optimistic scenario and a pessimistic one. Let us look at the optimistic one first. It goes like this. Pakistan’s policy of supporting the Taliban was illadvised. Their influence had spread to Pakistan and parts of N.W.F.P and Baluchistan had begun to be Talibanized i.e., The writ of the state did not run in all domains and the people had started to adopt Islamic laws as interpreted by the Taliban instead of Pakistani laws. With the Taliban down and out this trend will be reversed. Moreover, a large number of young men and sectarian killers who had fought with the Taliban have been killed and imprisoned. This means that the religious parties, especially the Jihadi groups, have become weaker. If the state clamps down on the religious extremists Pakistan will have a chance of becoming a moderate Muslim democracy. As for Afghanistan it may develop into a unified modern state and become peaceful for a change.
The pessimistic scenario is that the Taliban will smuggle themselves into the porous borders of the N.W.F.P and Baluchistan. They will hide themselves in the Deobandi seminaries they came from. They will also go and join the Jihadi groups operating in Kashmir. The state will not be able to clamp down on the madrassas as it will be impossible to separate Pashto-speaking Afghan from Pashto-speaking Pakistanis. Moverover, it will not clamp down on the Jihadis operating in Kashmir. As such, in time, the trend of Talibinization will continue. Moreover, if there is another act of terrorism in the U.S.A there is a possibility that America blames a Pakistani group with (or without) cause. If this happen Pakistan will be in danger from both India and America or a combination of both. Even if the Government of Pakistan pragmatically chooses to hand over the leader of the terrorist organization, is there any guarentee that the leader will wait to be captured alive? For that matter, would it be possible to capture him without a battle? For all we know Mulla Omar just did not have the power to capture Osama Bin laden and his loyal Arab troops. In any case, if this happen Pakistan will suffer much harm. As for Afghanistan rival groups will keep fighting and there will be more suffering in that unfortunate country.
Out of these two scenarios let us hope the optimistic one proves correct. There are indications that the state is trying to register foreigners and change the syllabi of madrassas. This might help to locate the Arabs but not the Pashtuns unless, of course, the administration of madrassas cooperates fully. As for the syllabi, the state may not be able to introduce the modern subjects. A new syllabus does not mean people will study it. Moreover, our books of Urdu and Social studies are fully as full of narrow-minded, chauvinist and aggrressive ideas as the madrassa texts are supposed to be.Indeed the state uses Islam to support its own militaristic and nationalistic policies whereas the madrassas use medieval textbooks which precede nationalism. So, if it is a question of changing syllabi, we shall have to change all syllabi and not only madrassa ones. Even then, as I just said, the madrassas may not teach the new texts. They are examined by their own independent boards so they can simply ignore the new texts even if they are introduced. What is more workable is the elimination of the texts which are meant to make madrassa students refute the thinking of other sub-sects and modern philosophies. These are in Urdu and not in Arabic. They are meant to refute the ideas of rival sects (hence they promote sectarianism) and modern ideas (socialism, capitalism, democracy, womens’ rights, modernity etc). whenever the Arabic texts are merely memorized, these texts are actually read and internalized. They are the ones the mullas use in sermons and they shape their anti-modern, sectarian, anti-liberal world view. However, I doubt if the state can persuade the madrassas to abandon them. To use force would be both immoral and tactically wrong. The madrassas will merely go underground and breed more terrorists fighting against the Pakistani state. That should never be allowed to happen. The best policy, as I have always advocated, is to invest so much on education that madrassas lose their appeal even for the very poor. This is a long term policy but it will work much better than any stick and carrot short-term methods.
The other policy which the Pakistani state should change is the Kashmir one. Pakistan should support the indigenous movement for self-determination in Kashmir. It is, of course, the right of all oppressed people everywhere to seek independence or some other satisfying political change. However, the state should not not allow the Jihadi elements to pursue a foreign policy of their own with or without the connivance of the state. This is a dangerous policy which can bring Pakistan in conflict with India and war is the last thing any country can afford. Of course, if India is wise, it can get rid of the Kashmir issue by inviting self-determination under the auspices of the U.N.O. That will be in India’s interest too but, unfortunately, the hawks who control foreign policy do not see beyond their noses almost everywhere in the world.
Yet another policy which Pakistan should change is towards Afghanistan. It is true that the Afghan leadership is very annoyed with Pakistan but, fortunately, the head of Government will be a Pashtoon. As Pakistan has many link with the Pashtuns, it may not be very impossible to seek reconciliation along new lines. After all, Afghanistan needs Pakistan. Their goods can reach the sea only through Pakistan. The trade and blackmarketing network are very strong and active and Afghanistan would be foolish to alienate Pakistan too much. Thus, if Pakistan plays its cards right by not dabbling too much in Afghnistan’s politics, we could get at least a comfortable working relationship. This will enable us to send the Afghan refugees back and establish normal relations. However, if the Afghans keep fighting the best thing for Pakistan would be to stay completely neutral and help on humanitarians grounds only.
In short, if Pakistan takes pro-peace and pro-people decisions securing the long-term interests of the people of Pakistan, the present crisis could bring in the much needed peace and stability Pakistan has always needed. This, then, is the optimistic scenario. But why does the heart return to the pessimistic one?