Jihad and Terrorism .......

[Mazher]

In a case of “wrong or misleading heading”, a survey on suicide-bombing by a Karachi Urdu newspaper has confused the press. It has wrongly concluded that our leading ulema have renounced suicide-bombing. This is what an online academic magazine has concluded: “Clerics from all schools of thought have declared suicide attacks un-Islamic and forbidden them under the Sharia; they said killing a non-Muslim without a legitimate cause was against the Islamic way of life”.

But the truth is that the meaning of what these clerics said is quite different from that which has been attributed to them. For instance, Maulana Amir Hamza of Jamaatud Dawa is quoted as saying that a suicide attack is an act of terrorism and that someone who kills himself to kill others also accounts for the sins of those killed. But he also added (found on website) that “no suicide attack is justified in a country which has Islam as the state religion, ruled by a Muslim ruler and is not under occupation by infidels”. This means that Iraq is excluded from this definition because it is occupied by infidels. In other words, Maulana Hamza would justify suicide bombing in Iraq against the occupying infidel.

This also means that suicide-bombing is not okay in Pakistan — because Islam is the state religion, the country is not occupied by infidels and General Musharraf is a Muslim ruler — but okay in a non-Muslim country like the United Kingdom, for instance. The scholar is clearly worried about Muslim suicide-bombers killing innocent Muslims. But what may become moot at any time is whether even Pakistan can qualify as an Islamic state and whether General Musharraf can be denounced as a bad Muslim for allying with an infidel like the USA.

The second cleric included in the survey is Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, formerly of the JUI, who actually allows suicide-bombing while alluding to Palestine!

Then there is a former minister and Sunni cleric, Dr Mehmood Ahmad Ghazi, who says that suicide-bombing is wrong but he too imposes the condition of the Islamic state, implying that it may be okay to kill innocent people in a non-Muslim state. Dr Anis of Jama’at-e Islami says he can’t be sure if suicide-bombing is wrong, but he too refers to Palestine without noting that Al Fatah condemns suicide-bombing while Hamas actually does it.

Our morose-looking Barelvi mufti, Munibur Rehman, says nothing new, as expected, but also maintains that suicide bombing in an Islamic state is not legitimate. This implies that one may suicide-bomb innocent non-Muslims and even target a non-Muslim state with impunity. Thank God, the shia scholar, Allama Qamber Abbas Naqvi, says that even a non-Muslim can’t be killed in this manner.

Therefore a re-reading of the views of these gentlemen leads to the conclusion that they have outlawed suicide-bombing only in very specific conditions and not generally at all.

In fact our clerics have confirmed that Al Qaeda, which began the trend on 9/11, can go on doing it. It is not clear if killing the Shias in Iraq is wrong because the ulema did not explain if they thought Iraq was being ruled by Muslims. It is quite possible that they may eventually disqualify Iraq as an Islamic state because the Americans are in occupation there. All of them cunningly ducked the question whether Al Qaeda’s killing of the Shias of Iraq — and the killing of innocent Sunnis by thugs like Muqtada al Sadr — was okay.

Tragically, they all allowed suicide, expressly forbidden by the Quran, under the condition of jihad. They also abstained from explaining what jihad was: war initiated by the Islamic state or by private parties posing as pious entities pursuing amr and nahi? In short, was jihad an ‘official’ function or a private one? They also did not adjudicate the global trend of dubbing private jihad as terrorism. Can the Muslims pursue private wars in the face of international law that recognises legitimate war only when it is conducted by a state?

What were the clerics driving at? If they wanted to outlaw suicide-bombing in Pakistan, why did they refer to Palestine where suicide-bombing is done to kill innocent people as legitimate collateral damage? The survey is the most hair-brained piece of work done by a publication whose rightwing religious views are well known. The problem really is that we are killing ourselves through suicide-bombers and the bombers are treated as martyrs on the videocassettes they leave behind.

The clerics should have touched on the trend of killing the Shias through suicide-bombing. The truth is that most of the casualties of suicide-bombing in Pakistan have been innocent men, women and children of the Shia community. Why weren’t the clerics interested in outlawing the fatwas of apostatisation (takfir)? It is the fatwa of takfir under which the Shias and at times the Barelvis are killed. The suicide boy who killed Allama Hasan Turabi last year said on film that he was going to Paradise for his deed!

Above all, our clerics have failed to rise to the level of common humanity by not condemning (barring the Shia scholar) suicide-bombing that kills innocent non-Muslims in non-Muslim states. The faith they pretend to profess believes in justice no matter how tough the circumstances. The Prophet (PBUH) did not exempt himself from humanity when he was besieged and endangered by his non-Muslim enemies. *

Love-hating the Americans

Another funny survey done by an American university has found that 86 percent of Pakistanis believe that terrorist attacks on civilians are never justified, while only 46 percent of Americans hold the same view. As many as 24 percent of the Americans say that such attacks are “sometimes justified”. At the same time, public opinion surveys in the United States and Europe show that nearly half of Westerners associate Islam with violence and Muslims with terrorism. There is more surprise in store. More than 20 surveys in Muslim countries find that even those who support terrorist attacks and Osama Bin Laden approve of the specific American actions in their own countries. Seventy percent of Bin Laden supporters in Indonesia and 79 percent in Pakistan said they thought more favourably of the United States as a result of American humanitarian assistance in their countries.

What should the world make of this? Already the Muslims love to hate America but love to live there above all other countries; and will happily vacate their own countries if invited to settle in America. With this kind of internal split when they live in the West their cleft personality sticks out a mile. This refers to only those Muslims who have stopped integrating in the West as expats. Other religious groups have no problem living in the West. Sympathy for Osama bin Laden is a part of this strange psychological bisection, even though the terrorist has clearly inflicted more suffering on Muslims than on the Christians and Jews he had targeted. *

[Mazher]

The victims of ‘Great game’
Pir Khalid

The South Waziristan Agency, where Wana operation is being conducted, has a very volatile history. The people of South Waziristan offered the British a tough time during their rule in India. Whether it was Mullah Powinda or Faqir of Ipi movement, the people proved that they would resist dictation. The current operation in South Waziristan refreshes these memories albeit for a cause which is controversial and lacking consensus among the tribes.


Before dwelling on the current conflict raging in South Waziristan., it is necessary to know the administrative structure, problems, people and topographical character of the tribal areas. The administrative structure devised by the British for tribal areas remains under the shade of draconian law; Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR) empower the administration to apprehend any person and seal property (movable and unmovable) for unspecified period of time of any tribe guilty of non-cooperation. Conflict resolution and crises management is done through Jirga system. The Jirga consists mostly of maliks (endowed by the British on the basis of loyalty to government). The malik enjoys immense powers as he is the chief communicator between the government and tribe. The Jirga system is working though many discrepancies have crept in it. Both the FCR and Jirga system are the bedrock of the administrative system of tribal areas.


The topographical character of the tribal areas is that it is mostly inhospitable mountainous area having no reproductive value with exception of small cultivatable areas. The tribal areas have however, immense strategic significance. The entire tribal belt was declared as buffer zone by the British and its significance was well utilized during the Afghan jihad when Pakistan emerged as a frontline state. The people of tribal region contributed with lives and money during the Afghan jihad. There are several Jihadis who participated actively during the Afghan jihad and later on fought beside Taliban against the United States.


The people of tribal areas are divided into several tribes, clans and sub clans. They are immensely religious, simple and constantly involved in intra tribal clashes. Though traditionally lover of weapons but it was during the Afghan jihad that all types of sophisticated weaponry flooded the tribal areas. All the features of pathoon wali code are present among the tribes. The people of tribal areas are very hard-working and large number of them has immigrated to Middle East for labour. The wealth of Middle East has changed the fortune of many families. A large number of tribal people are present in the metropolitan city of Karachi.


The problems of the people of the tribal areas are manifold, government negligence to these areas being the main reason. The infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, telephone facilities are poor and in many parts are non-existent at all. Similarly literacy is at lowest ebb and the phenomenon of ghost school is rampant. Corruption is visible in whatever government activity going on in the tribal areas. The political administration has no checks and scrutiny. These areas have been deliberately been kept underdeveloped so that the “great game” to be played here goes on smoothly.


The current conflict: - In the current conflict the government is accusing certain elements of giving sanctuaries and protection to foreign elements linked to Al-Qaeda and demand surrender from its protector and the foreign elements. A series of Jirga were held for this purpose along with operation carried out by Pakistan army together with paramilitary forces in the area. The protectors are resisting pressure (military as well as persuasion) to surrender. On the other hand the government under United States pressure wants the foreign elements to be apprehended and flushed out of the area. This controversy is prolonging and becoming complex as dirty politics is being played which has no moral boundaries.


The Yargul Khel tribe — a sub clan of Zilli Khel tribe — are bearing the brunt of FCR and literally its property and lives have come under siege due to these draconian laws. The problem that is inhibiting the conflict from resolving has its roots in intra-clan dispute. The Yargul Khel tribe are traditionally the holders of maliki and there are two kin contesting this coveted position since long. One of them Nek Mohammed is accused by the administration of harbouring terrorist or Al-Qaeda elements.

The present Malik of Yargul Khel tribe (having already a grudge with him) has refused cooperation to the administration. The Al-Qaeda elements with all its sophistication have manipulated this clannish clash to their advantage. It means that intra clannish dispute has assumed the cloak of international politics played in the name of jihad and terrorism. When such forces are at work the traditional avenue of conflict resolution like Jirga system and FCR will fail.

As the people of South Waziristan agency are religious so the ranks of Al-Qaeda have swelled. Moreover, as said before, the government have neglected these areas for long so that militancy and extremism have ideal place to breed. Many youths who have had no purpose until now have one due to Al-Qaeda.

The current conflict will engulf the entire belt of the tribal regions. The truth is that Waziristan is making headlines once again. They were once bombed by the British during the Faqir of Ipi uprising. This time another imperialist and mastermind of ‘war on terrorism’ may repeat history. However, it is unfortunate that many people would lose lives and property in a conflict of which they have the least sophistication to understand.

[Mazher]

Jihad against terrorism

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day National Youth Convention in Islamabad on Monday, President Musharraf rightly stressed the need to enlist the help of the youth in securing the future of Pakistan and persuading them to wage the real jihad -- the jihad against the forces of extremism.

The link between youth and extremism is a serious issue. It is only by brainwashing impressionable, vulnerable minds that the merchants of death and destruction turn young people into cannon fodder. The violence that is being committed in the name of Islam needs to be rejected and eliminated at all costs. With the extremist elements on an apparent rampage, President Musharraf's statement that these elements "are destroying the enlightened face of Islam and Pakistan" has hit the nail on the head.

The youth of Pakistan, whether they live in the cities or in far-flung areas, must know, and be told, that terrorism has no religion. The government can use the madrassahs to propagate and reinforce this message. Of course, a crackdown must be launched against institutions that preach hatred and intolerance against other religions and sects and have been found to be involved in terrorist activities. The president acknowledged that "some madaris are involved in extremism and terrorism." But madrassahs of repute can be used in this mission to separate the name of Islam from terrorism and extremism. For this, the government needs to keep a close watch on their curricula, something that many of these institutions have refused to allow.

The need to rid the country of terrorist elements couldn't have been more pressing than it is today. And since it is the youth that is being (mis)used by the terrorists for their nefarious schemes, the government and the civil society need to collectively strive to reverse this scenario by plugging all openings and avenues through which the youth fall into the clutches of the terrorists.

This can be done by generating greater employment opportunities for young people. This is an important issue, as studies have shown that unemployed, frustrated youth are more likely to fall prey to terrorist elements.

Another way of closing the doors that lead to extremism and terrorism is by overcoming the dearth of adequate opportunities for entertainment. Their energies can be channelled through the provision of more options for positive entertainment.

Greater educational opportunities are yet another way of achieving this goal. Education obviously breeds enlightenment and tolerance, provided it is of a kind that develops a citizenry that is allowed to think and question, rather than brainwashed rote-learners who are easy to incite to violence against "others".

Last, but certainly not least, we need more openness in society -- an environment where the sensitive issues and queries of the youth are not brushed aside but are addressed and discussed in an atmosphere of honesty and fair play. The media can play a positive role in this and help in creating an enlightened society in which the youth contribute positively towards the progress and development of the country. This is what will reduce the risk that they will fall prey to the influence of intolerance, fanaticism and terrorism.