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An
Ongoing 'Failure of Imagination'?
AJAI SAHNI
A "failure of imagination", the Panel investigating the September 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks in the US stated, was what kept US officials from
understanding the Al Qaeda threat before the catastrophic events
in New York and Washington.
There is, however, a manifest and abiding danger today, that a future
investigation into terrorist plots that are yet to be accomplished would find
another, even greater, 'failure of imagination', culminating in horrors that may
easily dwarf the events of 9/11.
The 9/11 Panel has been sagacious in noting that the critical element that must
be understood if an adequate response to global terrorism is to be crafted, is
that "we are in the midst of an ideological conflict". The contemporary
assessment of where precisely inimical ideologies are located will be crucial to
the outcome of this conflict - and here, again, there is an evident error in the
dominant American evaluation. It is, of course, the case that
Osama bin Laden has been one of the most articulate representatives
of this ideology, and his Al Qaeda one of its most effective manifestations. But
there are many 'future bin Ladens' waiting in the wings, largely unnoticed, or
systematically and intentionally ignored, by the American establishment, as well
as by much of the world.
Among the most dangerous instances of this neglect occur in Pakistan. The
present US Administration appears to have substantially 'outsourced' the
management of its security interests in this region to what it perceives as a
pliant, even servile, military dictatorship headed by General Pervez Musharraf,
and there is a belief that this regime will bring about the 'enlightened
moderation' that America hopes for in its favoured ally. It is useful,
consequently, to identify where precisely, within this arrangement, the
ideologies of hatred are articulated, what their constituent elements are, and
what relationship the Musharraf regime has with their most visible advocates.
On May 20 this year, a meeting was organised at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan
Occupied Kashmir (PoK) by the Hizb-ul-Mujahiddeen (HM),
the largest terrorist group operating in the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir
(J&K). The meeting commemorated the 'martyrdom' of two of its 'commanders' in
J&K, on May 6, 2004, and was only one of many such routinely organised to
commemorate the rather frequent 'martyrdom' of prominent terrorist cadres in
J&K. The current Pakistani fiction, substantially accepted by the 'international
community', is that the HM is an 'indigenous' Kashmiri group with an agenda
exclusively limited to the 'liberation' of Kashmir. The HM is not a banned
organisation in Pakistan, and operates openly with significant infrastructural,
material and military support from the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The
May 20 meeting was addressed by, among others, Syed Mohammad Yusuf Shah @ Syed
Salahuddin, the 'Supreme Commander' of the Hizb; Shiekh Aqil-ur-Rahman, the
District Chief, Murzaffarabad, of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), one of the largest
'mainstream' political parties in Pakistan, and Javed Iqbal, also of the JI;
Ghulam Rasool Shah @ Abdur Rafiya, Deputy Chief, Jamiat-ul-Mujahiddeen, a
terrorist organisation supposedly 'banned' in Pakistan; and Mohd. Farooq Rahmani,
Convener, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC),
POK, an organisation engaged in a 'peaceful struggle' for the 'liberation' of
J&K.
Significantly, the meeting was held openly in a public ground in an affluent
area in Muzaffarabad, and the benign presence of uniformed police personnel is
visible in the video record
secured by the South Asia Terrorism Portal.
It is not possible, here, to reproduce the full text of their speeches
translated from the Urdu, but their main thrust can be communicated, without
comment, with a few extracts:
Syed Salahuddin, 'Supreme Commander', Hizb-ul-Mujahideen thus states:
"Almighty Allah, by his will and tactics, is bringing the Jihad Movement
of Kashmir on a track that will liberate not only the oppressed people of Jammu
and Kashmir but also crores of Muslims and other minorities in India oppressed
by Brahmin imperialists…
"Islamic history, the Holy Quran, the biographies of the Holy Prophet Mohammed
and his virtuous followers, and the whole of history proves that no Muslim issue
could ever be solved on the negotiating table. Can anyone quote an example and
tell me whether any Muslim issue has been solved in their favour according to
their will on the negotiating table? Disputes have been solved only on the
battlefield. On the table? Yes! We were cheated! Don't go far, ask the
Palestinian people how they were cheated in the Camp David agreement. Afghan
Mujahideen were cheated in the Geneva Agreement. If the Mujahideen
had not tackled the problem through their iman (faith), then today Russia
would have Afghanistan firmly in its claws…
"Most humbly and respectfully, I request the leadership of my base-camp and the
political leadership of the God-gifted state (Pakistan), whether they are in
power or in opposition, in politics or in religion that: "Take not for friends
Unbelievers rather than Believers." Jews and Hindus were neither your friends
earlier nor can they be today...
"The God-gifted Pakistan will emerge as a prosperous Islamic, nuclear and
Islamic country that can listen to the cry for help of the empty-handed,
innocent child Mujahideen, the shamed mothers and sisters in Palestine.
There is no Salahuddin Ayyubi or Nooruddin Zangi in the entire Arab world who
can listen to their cry for help. There is no Mohammad bin Qasim, Tariq bin
Ziyad, and no Salahuddin Ayyubi in the entire Muslim world who can prevent the
blood shed of helpless Muslims, which flows like rivers in the hills of
Afghanistan, in the deserts of Iraq, in the sky high mountains of Kashmir or in
the Chechnyan valley strewn with flowers. There are 56 Muslim countries, 56
organized Muslim forces and all of them have surrendered to the devil's forces.
They are defeated and helpless….
"Dear youth! Allah bless you, Allah has chosen you by his own powerful hand. He
has chosen you for protecting the honour of Islam. Who is there today? Where
have Saddam's 500,000 forces and 80,000 Republican Guards gone? Who is present
today to challenge the imperialist powers? Who is defeating the allied forces in
the deserts of Arab Iraq, and who is breaking the pride of America? Who is
causing trouble in the hills of Afghanistan and for the 750,000 forces of Indian
imperialists in the Kashmir Valley, strewn with flowers? Who is attacking the
Generals in Chechnya? Dear youth! They are none other than the Mujahideen,
the successors of the holy Prophet Mohammed. In this context, Prophet Mohammed
(peace be upon him) said: "To embark on the cause of Allah, whether in night or
day, is the greatest good on earth." These are the Mujahideen who teach a
lesson to all forces of the devil, who will make Allah's religion achieve
eminence and will protect the honour of the oppressed millat (community).
They are the Mujahideen about whom it was said that on judgment day Allah will
weigh all the treasures of the earth and the sky on one side and a day or a
night in the life of the Mujahideen on the other side."
Sheikh Aqil-ur-Rahman of the JI declares:
"The rulers of Islamabad and India as well as those of America, who are
conspiring against jihad should understand that Muslims cannot compromise
with jihad. It is an integral part of our Iman (faith). We do not posses
the same eminence and stature as the five hundred thousand brethren who have
sacrificed their lives for this purpose. But we will also follow their paths and
sacrifice our lives."
Javed Iqbal, also of the JI:
"My brethren! Today, after 9/11, people all over the world are saying that the
situation has changed and the Mujahideen should learn their lesson and
they should stop their activities. My brethren! If we believe in Allah, if we
believe in the Holy Quran, if we are the followers of the Prophet Mohammed
(peace be upon him) and believe in him, then jihad is the destination of
our lives. Jihad is our only path and we have to follow it."
Sheikh Jamil-ur-Rahman, a political Leader in PoK:
"The Hindus can never be our friends. The Holy Quran confirms it. In clear
words, Allah also says that the Jews and Christians too cannot be our friends.
Those who are initiating friendship between India and Pakistan are misguiding
the nation. They are cheating the nation. Friendship with the Hindus is
unnatural, unprincipled and unlawful."
These voices are neither isolated exceptions, nor the most extreme in the
ideological discourse that dominates the Islamist core in Pakistan.
In an address at Jamia Qadsia in Lahore, on July 9, 2004, Hafiz Mohammad
Saeed, founder of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and its terrorist arm, the supposedly
'banned' Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
states:
"Islam was spread and propagated in the world through jihad. Jihad
strengthens the relation between Islam and the Muslims and reinforces their
Iman (Faith). In the past too, through jihad, infidels were defeated
in the world and infidelity crushed. Islam achieved eminence and even today,
jihad will lead to similar results by the will of Allah…
Earlier, on June 7, 2004, Saeed had written in Jasrat:
"The US thought that it would keep jihad limited to Afghanistan and
extend its agenda of usurping the natural resources of the Muslim world to
Central Asia. But jihad's wave spread all over the world. The US wants to
control this wave. Jihad is the biggest threat to the US interest. There
is nothing like al-Qaeda. It is the figment of the US' imagination. The US has
concocted an outfit like al-Qaeda to massacre the Muslims all over the world. It
has concocted false stories related to al-Qaeda with the help of the foreign
media…
"America is bleeding these days. It has become a threat to peace. When a wounded
animal becomes a threat to one's life, it is shot dead. It is time to gun down
the US. The US is the enemy of our religious culture, jihad, curriculum,
the two-nation theory, the people of tribal areas and Kashmir."
What is articulated by these eminences grises of the jehadi terror finds
constant echoes in the Urdu media.
In Jasarat, on June 12, 2004, Javed Kasuri, 'Deputy Supreme Commander' of
the HM states: "The US, Israel and India feel threatened by those who sit on a
mat and recite the Quran in madrassahs. Jihadis are the only force
that can challenge US imperialism. The entire west is Islam's enemy… To save
Islam, all the Muslim sects will have to unite and wage jihad against the west."
Conspiracy theories and denial abound in this discourse. In the Nawai Waqt
of May 26, 2004, Dr. Asrar Ahmad, a 'well known Islamic scholar', writes:
"The US has invaded Iraq at Israel's behest. The US wants to make greater Israel
by subjugating Iraq. Sharon had stated some time ago, that Iraq is part of
Israel. The Iraq war is not the game of oil but securing a stable future for
Israel. The 9/11 investigations have been stopped because it was masterminded by
Israel and the US cannot take any action against the Jews. Europe will go to war
against the US and Israel because a crusade is on the card that will be fought
between the Jews and the Christians. The Europe will try to conquer the US and
Israel to make the world a Catholic colony.'
On June 23, in an interview in Takbeer, Ahmad takes the thesis further:
"9/11 was not bin Laden's brainchild but of the US, Israel and the Jews. It was
masterminded to provide the US an excuse to destroy Afghanistan. In fact, the US
wants to make Afghanistan another home for the Jews. It will facilitate Jews'
settlement in Afghanistan…
"The UN's agenda is to promote obscenity, incest and free-sex culture in the
name of 'gender-empowerment'. The UN wants Musharraf to legalize prostitution,
gay and lesbian marriage in Pakistan…"
Ludicrous as these statements may seem to Western sensibilities, they form a
substantial component of Islamist 'scholarship' in Pakistan.
Worse still, as has been repeatedly noted in the past, the extremist Islamist
discourse on jehad, and shahadat (martyrdom) and the 'global
conspiracy' against and threat to Islam is not the province of mullahs
and militants alone, and has penetrated every aspect of the Pakistani educational system - and not, as is
widely believed, just the extremist madrassahs.
It is useful to note that the examples drawn up in this Assessment are a small
selection of statements and writings in the past less than three months. A
comprehensive archive of extremist discourse in this vein for the entire period
since 9/11 would fill volumes, and would include innumerable statements by
elements proximate to, or directly connected with, the Musharraf regime.
Some of these dangers have been acknowledged, for the pre-9/11 period under its
review, by the 9/11 Panel. One writer notes that a cursory key word search of
the Panel's report recovers "more than 200 references to Pakistan, many of them
damning. There are less than 100 references to Iran and Iraq combined."
Nevertheless, ignorance persists at unacceptable levels. The international Press
and diplomatic community, largely located in protected and affluent enclaves,
with their attention fixed firmly on the relatively moderate and westernized
English language media, remain substantially uncomprehending of these dangerous
undercurrents. Worse, denial remains integral to the mindset of many Western -
and particularly US - observers. A mention of the 'dominant ideology of
Pakistan' to a senior US diplomat posted in that country, for instance, drew a
sharp response rejecting the idea that any such 'dominant ideology' could
actually be identified. Such denial also characterizes the mainstream political
discourse on the issue in India today, and constitutes a danger even greater
than the direct threat of contemporary terrorism, creating vast spaces for the
continuous consolidation of ideas that will breed much worse in the years to
come.
Courtesy:
South Asia Terrorism Portal
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