2008: Year of wars and troubles

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq

2008 has ended leaving behind many troubles and challenges—economic slowdowns, financial crises, rising unemployment, social distresses, regional armed conflicts and above all rapidly rising tide of cross-border terrorism.  At the fag end of the year, the world’s most worrisome melting pot remained Indo-Pakistan area as was the case in 2001—military buildups across the boarders and horrifying threats of war including nuclear strikes. From the Kargil misadventure of 1999 to Mumbai Carnage of 2008, both India and Pakistan witnessed many moments of “reconciliation” but each time certain hidden hands, using the ugly weapon of “cross-border terrorism”, damaged the peace efforts. These hidden hands—working simultaneously in both the countries—take dictations from their foreign masters, who arm, support and fund them. It is painful that leadership of both the states has miserably failed to counter these forces which always manage to dismantle normalization process between the two neighbouring but belligerent countries.

The root-cause of trouble in this region is “cross-border terrorism”, which has to be broadly defined to include state terrorism by India in Kashmir and use of force by occupant forces in Afghanistan. The issue of cross-border terrorism in this part of the world cannot be understood in isolation of the Great Game unleashed by imperialist and neo-imperialist forces in the historic perspective. The militant liberation movement in Kashmir and armed struggles by various groups in other states of India cannot be equated or compared with onslaughts of Jihadists in the wake of Talibanization of Afghanistan at the behest of forces that were keen to defeat the erstwhile communist USSR. Both India and Pakistan are victims of shortsightedness of policies they pursued in the aftermath of 9/11 by becoming allies of USA in the ‘war against terrorism’ (sic). They did not protest when the US started killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan in December 2001 by indiscriminate bombings under the pretext of annihilating Al-Qaeda operatives. In Bonn peace talks, the Taliban were kept outside, which was a grave mistake. Leadership of both the countries failed to take any lead in political settlement in the neighbouring Afghanistan. They did not ask UN mediators to marginalize Al-Qaeda by persuading moderate Taliban leaders to take part in the peace process and participate in future political setup. The ouster of Taliban from peace talks and brutal killing of innocent civilians in several villages in Tora Bora and near Gardez in December 2001 by US, sowed permanent seeds of hatred and revenge—this was the beginning of an unabated cross-border terrorism wave which has now turned into an insurmountable tsunami threatening the peace and tranquility of the entire region. 

Two nuclear states are now in a fix—captives in the hand of military hawks. The war-mongers on both sides are pushing things to an extent that paranoia of hate has begun to haunt the masses. Media is making things worse by over-publicizing, publishing and broadcasting irresponsible statements by imprudent politicians. The electronic media is vividly projecting war games and possible scenarios of mass destruction in the event of nuclear attacks. This shows deep penetration of war psychosis in both the countries—a lamentable attitude and nuclear mindset. There are some voices of sanity and peace-lovers across the borders, but they are weak and ineffective before the hawkish elements—agents of military establishments having control over state apparatus and popular media. Forces of terror and obscurantism are creation of those who exploited them for resisting Soviet occupation. They received generous American support, but in 1989, when Russian troops packed their bags and went home, American interest in Afghanistan waned. Once the Central Asian countries had become independent from the former Soviet Union in 1991, America concentrated its attention in the region on Soviet nuclear leftovers, the decommissioning of which it hailed as a great success. When the Taliban took over in 1996, the Americans did not seem overly concerned that the bearded rulers and their Al-Qaeda friends were supporting radical Islamic groups in Central Asia. Was CIA totally oblivious of Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus and their nefarious activities until 9/11? Why did the US government fail to counter their activities when they openly extended their actions into Africa and elsewhere? What lessons did the US learn when its embassies were bombed in Africa by Al Qaeda? What measures were taken to stop them when an Indian plane was hijacked in December 1999 from Katmandu and taken to Kandahar? How did the hijackers, agents of Osama Bin Laden manage to get freed, militants like Maulana Azhar and Ahmed Omar Sheikh from Indian jails? Why did US allow Musharraf for eight years to cheat everybody and keep on supporting the militants?   

The above questions and their answers will unveil the tragic happening of 9/11. George Bush and Dick Cheney had already planned, much before 9/11, invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. They supported Musharraf et al for implementation of their agenda. Now Barak Obama, even before occupying the Oval Office, is also talking of controlling Afghanistan through increased military presence.  What is the significance of Afghanistan in the new Great Game?  The answer is simple. The hidden agenda of US and its allies in Afghanistan and elsewhere is to promote drug trade, religious fundamentalism and mass acceptance of their policies of fascism for self-interests and economic benefits. India and Pakistan fail to realise that they are being sucked into a death trap by these forces. Certain forces in both the countries are waging continuous proxy war, funding and arming extremists within each other’s territory. This dangerous game is engineered and controlled by CIA that forced Hamid Karzai to give free hand to Indian agents on Pakistan’s western borders. It is an open secret that CIA operatives with the help of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) have been funding the insurgency in Baluchistan. At the same time, these CIA agents are promoting a number of militant groups in Pakistan to help Maoists and other dissidents in India. The linkage behind troubles in both the countries is the same—US Central Intelligence Agency. Both the Indian and Pakistani governments are conveniently playing in the hands of their common enemy and ironically they are relying on US support.  For this occasion, Mir Taqi Mir, the great poet, very aptly said, Mir kai sada hain bemar huai jis kay sabab, usi attar kai londay se dawa latain hain (What a simple soul is Mir that he seeks prescription from the person who is cause of his illness). 

One wonders how easily our rulers are ignoring the obvious tentacles of the dirty game plan of the neo-colonial forces in this region. The main aim behind the bizarre scheme, prepared by neo-colonialists, is to push the armed forces of Pakistan to the wall using India as conduit, get the control of nuclear arsenals and use bogey of “Islamic terrorism” for the containment of China. George W. Bush Jr., now lame-duck President, before leaving the Oval, wants to ensure that the new man taking his place should have no option but to remain engaged in wars in various parts of the world. Ruthless bombing on the innocent civilians of Gaza on December 27, 2008 is evident of these nefarious intentions. One does hope that Indian and Pakistani leadership will understand this great conspiracy. It is high time Chinese, Indian and Pakistani leaders unite against the forces of neo-colonialism and foil their ‘Great Game’ plan. They must understand that “cross-border terrorism” is a ploy in the hands of US and its allies. It is the 21st century equivalent of the 19th century British gobbledygook.

American Late Neo-colonialism, as explained by Dr. Sachithanandam Sathananthan in his Great Game Continues, is using cross-border terrorism as political cover for intervening and, where necessary, invading resource-rich and strategic countries to overthrow nationalist leaders, install puppet regimes and savage the countries’ wealth. And of course the US is by far the most powerful terrorist force. This is the reality of “cross-border terrorism” and “war on terrorism”. The forces of obscurantism and imperialism appear to be real enemies, but in fact they are ‘friends-in-arms’ and their hidden agenda is to snatch away from the world, its peace and tranquility. The great challenge before the forces of peace is to get united for stemming the rising tide of terrorism, communalism, religious bigotry and obscurantism, which is designed, funded and controlled by neo-colonialist forces.

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The writers, historians, researchers and authors of numerous books, are visiting professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).     

 

Benazir Bhutto: Legacy of struggle

December 27, 2008 marked the first death anniversary of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the great visionary leader, who resisted with great courage the agenda of neo-colonial forces—pushing Pakistan to a theocratic State incapable of progressing towards an egalitarian and democratic polity. In recognition of her great services, she was awarded posthumously the prestigious UN Human Rights Award on December 10, 2008. The UN Human Rights Award is given every five years. This year’s award is special as it coincides with 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul Haq

Professor Amin Mughal, a doyen of progressive humanistic thinking and great scholar, in his remarkable paper, After Benazir Bhutto: Some reflections, read at a meet organised by Campaign against Martial Law, Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, London on 15 January 2008, commented, “I confess, in the least uncharitable terms, that I was never fond of Benazir Bhutto. In fact, I was inimical to her politics. In death, however, she has redeemed herself. In the imagination of the masses she has acquired a mystical significance that is destined to be a never-ending source of inspiration in their struggles ahead. Most authentic martyrs in history were reluctant to die. All of them were, however, prepared to accept death. Benazir went further. Her detractors have accused her of being foolhardy. That is not true. She only embraced what she had in the last days of her life come to perceive to be her destiny. Hers was an act of courage steeled in deliberation and schooled in the imagination. It matters who killed her, but what matters more is that she knew she would be gunned down. Had she escaped death that day, the suicide bombers would have done her in sooner than later. Yet, she decided to take the risk. Again, it matters whether she died of the gun wound or was later levered down into death. But what matters more is that she was there, facing a possible killer. She did not flinch”.  This is perhaps the best tribute to martyr Benazir Bhutto we have read so far.

The act of great courage demonstrated by Shaheed (martyr) Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto praised by Amin Mughal and many others has changed the entire political scene of Pakistan for the worst. For resisting the agenda of forces of obscurantism—working on the dictates of neo-colonial masters—she lost her life. Her removal from the political scene paved the way for the United States to get rid of General Musharraf—a toady no more useful—and installation of elected elements more keen and willing to both toe and implement their agenda. A very few analysts and scholars have tried to view her assassination from this perspective. In her last book, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy & the West, she “tried to trace the roots, causes, and potential solutions to the crisis within the Muslim world and the crisis between the Muslim World and the West”. Benazir, in this remarkable work has unveiled the agenda of neo-colonialists and the obscurantist. She has quoted extensively from Al Qur’an to prove that Islam is a religion of peace, but it has been brutally abused by a handful of extremists through out the Muslim history to create chaos and disorder. She traced the factors behind the militant Islam and exposed the colonial and neo-colonial forces behind it. These views must have hit hard and annoyed the forces that want to keep the Muslim World in dark ages for their nefarious designs.  They used their proxy—Islamic militants—to get rid of her.   

In the wake of her brutal and ruthless assassination—still shrouded in mystery—there was great euphoria among Pakistani liberals over the presumed ‘return to democracy’. Dr. Sachithanandam Sathananthan, a Visiting Research Scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University School of International Studies, in his paper, The Great Game Continues, noted with concern that “they are yet to discover ‘Late Neo-colonialism’.  He argues that removal of Benazir and thereafter, easily maneuvered victory for Asif Ali Zardari in the presidential election “brought to a high point the tortuous process of regime change in Pakistan. Anyone who has followed the ‘colour revolutions’ that installed pro-American rulers in Georgia (Rose Revolution, 2003), Ukraine (Orange Revolution, 2004) and Kyrgyzstan (Tulip Revolution, 2005) could surely not have missed the tell tale signs”.

The theory propounded by Dr. Sachithanandam gets credence in the wake of events taking place after the assassination of Benazir and culminating in the Mumbai carnage.   It is rightly highlighted by Dr. Sachithanandam that “the earliest foreboding surfaced in the backroom manoeuvres by United States (US) and British intelligence services to engineer panic about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. It was a repeat of the duplicitous hysteria they generated over non-existent weapons of mass destruction that Iraq allegedly possessed. A carefully worded article, co-authored by former State Department officials Richard L. Armitage and Kara L. Bue, signalled the shift in US policy. After formally acknowledging then President Pervez Musharraf’s many achievements, the authors continued: ‘much remains to be accomplished, particularly in terms of democratization. Pakistan must…eliminate the home-grown jihadists…And…it must prove itself a reliable partner on technology transfer and nuclear non-proliferation.’ And the denouement: ‘We believe General Musharraf…deserves our attention and support, no matter how frustrated we become at the pace of political change and the failure to eliminate Taliban fighters on the Afghan border.’ Translation: Musharraf has to go”.

It was ‘Washington’s renewed interest’ in Zardari and Rehman Malik and not Benazir that forced Musharraf—once a close friend of Bush—to offer firm opposition to US Late Neo-colonialism to ravage Pakistan. According to Dr. Sachithanandam, “politically challenged Pakistani liberals — a motley crowd that includes members of human rights and civil liberties organisations, journalists, analysts, lawyers and assorted professionals — are utterly incapable of comprehending the geo-strategic context in which Musharraf maneuvered to defend Pakistan’s interest”. So they slandered him an ‘American puppet’, alleging he caved in to US pressure and withdrew support to the Afghan Taliban regime in the wake of 9/11 although in fact “he removed one excuse for the Bush Administration to ‘bomb Pakistan into stone age’, as a senior State Department official had threatened”.

In view of above, it is understandable why Benazir decided to join hands with Musharraf to resist US Late Neo-colonialism. American discomfort with Musharraf’s government was palpable by late 2003, after he dodged committing Pakistani troops to prop up the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. When he offered to cooperate under the auspices of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), naïve Pakistani media and analysts lunged for his jugular, condemning him once again for succumbing to US demands. But in fact he nimbly sidestepped American demands: he calculated that diverse ideological stances of the 57 Muslim member-counties would not allow the OIC to jointly initiate such controversial action and therefore Pakistan’s participation could not arise, which proved correct.

Benazir was fully aware of the fact that Bush Administration had been becoming increasingly hostile to Musharraf’s determination to prioritise Pakistan’s interests when steering the ship of the state through the choppy waters of the unfolding New Great Game, in which the West — led by the US — has been manoeuvring to contain growing Russian and Chinese influences in Central and West Asia. She decided to work with Musharraf, precisely for resisting this agenda of Pakistan-hostile forces. She became the prime target of these forces and was hence eliminated. Since then events show and prove that under the “chosen” leadership, Pakistan would side with enemies of US and Britain in the New Great Game. Benazir became victim of this Great Game in which her own party stalwarts betrayed her.  Hers has been a legacy of continuous struggle. We need to continue her legacy of resisting the ongoing Great Game of US Late Neo-colonialism —controlling of South Asian region through the bogey of Islamic militants and Hindu extremism with ultimate aim of containing China and getting hold of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals.

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The writers, researchers, historians and authors of numerous books, are visiting professors at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Email: ikram@huzaimaikram.com

Ramifications of Mumbai carnage

Huzaima Bukhari & Dr. Ikramul haq

 

Three-day carnage in Mumbai—blatant acts of terrorism at various places from November 27-29, 2008—targeting common people and leading hotels jolted the entire India and world at large. This raised some important questions about the future of democracy, ‘war on terrorism’ (sic) and survival of modern day societies. Human societies secured freedom from political, economic and socio-religion shackles that have bound men for many centuries after a strenuous and protracted struggle during the last century. The US policy of aggression in the wake of 9/11 has created serious apprehensions of losing freedom by these societies by every passing day. Terrorism like fascism is a self-destructive ideology. It spreads like fire of jungle.  If humanity wants to fight terrorism, it will have to understand the factors behind this ghastly phenomenon. Use of brutal and ill-directed force will be self-defeating exercise in futility. Violence breeds violence as hatred breeds hatred. What happened in Mumbai exposes the shallowness of the approach of ‘big democracy’ becoming part of so-called ‘war on terrorism’—a tool in the hands of neo-colonialists to earn billions by selling arms, make sure the developing countries do not join hands against them and keep growing economies under their control. 

 

Fighting the agenda of neo-colonialist is the need of the hour. Uniting against neo-colonialism is the only way to counter terrorism. Use of force and denial of peoples’ legitimate rights on the contrary is bound to provoke more terrorist acts around the world. The violent incidents in India, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Spain, London, Ireland, Iraq, Palestine and elsewhere are self-evident. The doctrine of right of pre-emptive strikes, which India is thinking on the dictates of neo-colonial forces, is only a short-term solution. In the long-term, the governments of the world will have to sit down and chalk out a comprehensive strategy to ensure that miscreants, funded by neo-colonialists, are dealt with a strong hand without disturbing the peace and tranquility of individual societies and the world as a whole. The most important question faced by humanity is whether we are afraid of freedom or want to preserve it for our future generations. All the terrorist attacks constitute a strike against freedom but at the same time are reflective of callous attitude of those who claim to be self-appointed guardians of free world, human rights, faith and freedom. In a unipolar world, after the debacle of communist oligarchy, the responsibility of western democracies has increased manifold to assure the common people of the world that absolute power in their hands does not mean high-handedness towards others.

 

There are certain forces having vested interest to push the mankind back towards the dark ages when inalienable fundamental rights were denied by the authoritarian rulers. There are debates inside the USA and elsewhere pinpointing the erosion of civil liberties on a massive scale in the name of defending the Frontiers of Freedom. Terrorism surfaced as a reaction towards growing “fascism” on the part of certain States—handling of Palestinians and Kashmiris are cases in point—. Thus it has to be understood in proper perspective. The analysis of character structure of a man is at the core of understanding the rising phenomena of fascism, fanaticism, fundamentalism and terrorism [which includes state terrorism]. Lack of rationalism on the part of the powerful to be fair towards the powerless has converted our world into a place full of misery, destruction and unhappiness. The frustration of the powerless gets its vent in ghastly acts of terrorism and destruction. If we want to change this situation drastically, a balance has to be struck between the powerful and the powerless. If a large segment of the world lives in a state of powerlessness, the powerful will always remain the target of hatred and attack. The powerful want to transform the world as a machine where all others act as a cog while he has the master control. The cogs have their own way to develop malfunctioning to deprive the master from its absolute control.

 

This authoritarian thinking on the part of the powerful “democracy” and mechanism adopted e.g. imposing economic blockades was certainly the most irrational action to counter mass movement for independence in the Kashmir valley. The oppressed and powerless have their peculiar ways of reacting, which by no means can be expected to be according to the norms of internationally agreed principles. Their destructive tendencies (suicide bombings and terrorist attacks) are symptomatic of a sick world order. Our world is fast emerging as an authoritarian global State reminiscent of fascist systems of the last century practices in Germany and Italy where the dominant role of authority in social and political structure rests with the dictators. The revival of dictatorial State orders in the name of security needs is a step towards fascist systems.

 

The likely threat of military attack by India on Pakistan as post-Mumbai reaction using the pretext of State-patronage of extremists (sic) will create fear and uncertainty in the region and panic amongst masses. The main aim behind the bizarre scheme, prepared by neo-colonialists, is to push the armed forces of Pakistan to the wall using India as conduit, get the control of nuclear arsenals and use bogey of “Islamic terrorism” for the containment of China. George W. Bush Jr., now lame-duck President, before leaving the Oval, wants to ensure that the new man taking his place should have no option but to remain engaged in wars in various parts of the world. One hopes that Indian and Pakistani leadership will understand this great conspiracy. It is the time Chinese, Indian and Pakistani leaders unite against the forces of neo-colonialism and foil their ‘Great Game’ plan.

 

Dr. Sachithanandam Sathananthan in his ‘Great Game continues’ has remarkably summed up that “The ‘war on terror’ and ‘promoting democracy’ are the 21st century equivalents of the 19th century British gobbledygook. American Late Neo-colonialism purveys them as moral justification and uses as political cover for intervening and, where necessary, invading resource-rich and strategic countries to overthrow nationalist leaders, install puppet regimes and savage the countries’ wealth. And of course the US is by far the most powerful terrorist force”.   This is the reality of ‘war on terrorism’. The forces of obscurantism and imperialism appear to be enemies, but in fact they are ‘friends-in-arms’ and their hidden agenda is to snatch away from the world, its peace and tranquility. Thus Bush camp is no different from that of Bin Laden or Taliban or RSS-BJP-VHP- Bajrang Dal.

Today the humanity at large is facing the most difficult time at this critical juncture of history. The brinkmanship on the part of USA and its allies can lead the world to yet another horrible World War. The sane people in India and Pakistan should resist all the extremist forces that are involved in destabilizing the entire region at the command of their foreign masters. Both the governments should expose these elements and pray tributes to Karkare and other brave ATS men who had shown the courage to arrest Praggya Singh, Raj Kumar Purohit, the ugly faces behind terrorism and communal killings.

 

Let us hope that the forces of peace and sanity get united to stem the rising tide of terrorism, communalism and obscurantism, which is designed, funded and controlled by neo-colonialist forces pointed out by Dr. Sachithanandam Sathananthan, a Visiting Research Scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University School of International Studies. These forces are the worst enemy of humanity. They are bent upon to create fasad [Quranic term for chaos, disorder and turmoil] on this beautiful planet. The holy Quran clearly warns humanity about these so-called “reformers” who in the name of God and reformism create the worst kind of disorder [fasad] on the earth [Al-Quran 2-11]. The meaning of this ayat is:

 

“When they are asked not to spread fasad [disorder] in society, they retort audaciously:

 

“We do not spread fasad, rather we are the Musleheen [reformers]”.

 

Beware! They are the Mufsideen [Destructionists, those who spread disorder and chaos]”.

 

It is high time that masses all over the globe understand and reject the agenda of war-mongers and their hired defenders of faith (sic). They are the worst enemy of humanity. The hidden agenda of neo-colonialists can only be frustrated if people of the world unite against the Mufsideen, who in the name of religion, want to create disorder but their real aim is subjugate and control the world for economic exploitation.

 

The writers, tax advisers, are visiting professors at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).