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"Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong; they are the ones to attain felicity".
(surah Al-Imran,ayat-104)
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User Name: Noman
Full Name: Noman Zafar
User since: 1/Jan/2007
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The propensity to serve its imperial masters is deep rooted, one could even say it is genetic, in the Pakistan Army. This essential nature of our armed forces goes back to its foundation as a colonial army under the British with the old Indian Army serving as cannon fodder in the various imperial wars of the 19th and 20th centuries. Recall the inglorious role of our own regiments in Iraq and Arabia in the early years of the 20th century. This tradition was continued with the complete alignment with US policies, during the Cold War, of our military and political leaders. Our Army is ready to do the dirty work whenever it is called upon, like for example against the PLO in Jordan in 1970. One must stress that this deep sickness is not just of the military but it pervades our English-speaking ruling political class.

These thoughts occurred to me, from afar, looking a the horrible pictures of blindfolded white-bearded old men, in chappals (sandals), being pushed and dragged into Army jeeps in South Waziristan, with captions like "captured terrorists" "Al-Qaeda suspects". Women and children are killed in indiscriminate bombing, our own kith and kin being killed by our so-called defenders who excuse themselves by talking about collateral damage. Helicopter gunships are being used to bomb villages just as the Russians did in Afghanistan, the Israelis do in Palestine and the US in Iraq.

Are these the models that our so-called glorious Army follows in killing its own people? We are very quick at learning the worst aspects of behaviour from our masters. We know that the United States is violating all international norms and is behaving like the barbaric country it is. Do we have to descend to the same level of barbarity? Do we have to be as uncivilised as them? Does not the Army feel disgusted with the way they are treating prisoners, their own countrymen, violating all rules of treatment of prisoners of war? Why is there not a wave of disgust and horror in Pakistan about this? But maybe I should not be surprised. I should not expect better from our Army as it has always been a brutal colonial army whose real purpose of existence has been to suppress its own people. Have they ever defended us? How many lost wars?

Language in the Army and elsewhere in our society always apes the language of the masters. I myself am writing this in the language of the masters. The master's language can be used as a subversive instrument but not by our ruling classes, especially the Army which is still, after nearly 60 years of independence, full of the expressions of the old Indian Army. .Just go to their officer's messes. The same with our civil servants who continue to use the jargon of the colonial era.

Now we are also quickly picking up the language of our new masters. "High value targets, collateral damage, terrorists, Al-Qaeda elements, bad guys." It makes me sick. Continuing on the same theme it is disgusting to see our young people aping the worst current language and dress of the United States. If this is globalisation, God help us.

What evidence has been presented that there were foreign fighters in South Waziristan? Does not the government realise that it is playing with fire, with the awful spectre of civil war by sending in the Army into the traditional tribal areas that do not brook interference? Does not the government understand the Pakhtoon code of hospitality? Traditionally they do not hand over guests. Heavy-handedness will not resolve this. What was required was a more subtle approach. Yes these are backward regions and they need opening up and development but what has the Federal Government done in all these years to bring schools, hospitals and economic development to these remote poor regions? The answer is nothing and you cannot bring modernity or development by force of arms, just like you cannot bring democracy to Iraq by invading the country.




That Pakistan has become a neo-colony of the US is evident to everybody. We do not have sovereignty. Because of the bankrupt policies of our rulers (mind you not the mullahs) we have sold it for a mess of pottage. How can we consider ourselves independent when we have the FBI roaming freely inside the country, arresting people with the help of our forces and sending them illegally without due process to Guantanamo as well as to gulags in Afghanistan and Diego Garcia, where they are tortured? Recently revealed CENTCOM documents reveal that Pasni was used as a major naval and US Marine base in the illegal attack against Afghanistan. We still have bases inside Pakistan and in exchange for not prosecuting A.Q. Khan we have given the US Army the right to operate inside Pakistan. Are we or are we not an occupied country with limited sovereignty?



Who is responsible for this mess? It is very fashionable and easy to blame the religious elements for the malaise of the country. But this is disingenuous, as it is a coalition of the civil services and the Army who have been in power during the major part of the history of the country. It was the Army and our political class which was responsible for our involvement in Afghanistan on the side of the United States which left us the legacy of drugs, the Kalashnikov culture, Al-Qaeda, terrorism, etc. and which left us so bankrupt, economically, culturally and politically that we could not resist pressure from the United States after September 11 and we joined the so-called war against terror, which is another name of the US attempt at global domination. Our leaders bask in the glory of being photographed with murderers like Bush, Wolfowitz and Powell and are proud of being

declared a "major non-NATO ally" just so that they can have new toys like Cobra helicopters for their Army which they can then use to bomb their own people.



What has happened to the consciousness of our people? There is not much condemnation inside Pakistan against the assassination of Sheikh Yassin by the Israelis. Our newspapers carry mild editorials and even the National Assembly dare not pass a strong resolution of condemnation. Where is the so-called "civil society" protesting on the streets, writing, etc. against the violation of our sovereignty? Where are the protests of human rights groups about the prisoners taken in Wana? Are they being interrogated, tortured, by US special agents in Peshawar? Why are there not protests against US occupation of Iraq, against the presence of US troops in Pakistan? Why are these and other issues like Waziristan and Israel left in the hands of the religious parties? The so-called liberal forces in Pakistan have no chance if they do not take up these issues that touch the very core of our independence. Otherwise the people of Pakistan will quite rightly consider us as stooges of imperialism.



Faheem Hussain is a Pakistani physicist. Raman – this retired RAW agent - perhaps did not know Akbar Bugti; I did. This grand old man could have aspired for and obtained any office he wanted in Pakistan. He had the personality and the charisma that makes great leaders in a Muslim country. But he often made fun of his faith and became the darling of non-Muslims. Ethnic chauvinism never made a great leader in any Muslim country. But the way Mr Raman and India have adopted him as their hero, they will make sure he would go down in history not as a Baluch hero but as a traitor to Islam. Would you shut up Raman? We are grieving.
 Reply:   I read the crap by Faheem Huss
Replied by(Noman) Replied on (30/Aug/2006)
I read the crap by Faheem Hussain,he is well equipped with prejudice but has no knowledge of the way military systems are designed or operated.
I read the crap by Faheem Hussain,he is well equipped with prejudice but has no knowledge of the way military systems are designed or operated.

Coming back to the death of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, it is a loss when one knows what he could have done and what he could have been. One is bound to be sad because he made the wrong decision in the end. In a role of rebel and a war lord, he was uncomfortable, and he knew that he would die an unnatural death, which is never pretty except in folklore. The question now is: will he become a hero in folklore or an example to all the others who court or glorify death for untenable objectives. The jury is still out but I know one thing. Pakistanis as nation will learn nothing; we will keep parroting lies and absurdities and miss the point every time.

I resigned from the Pakistan Army in 1979 in protest against the execution of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The two sons of Bhutto Shaheed were resolved to popularise and protect his legacy. But they did not know what it was. They are both dead now. Benazir made a complete volte face and has since become the collaborator of the very same forces who overthrew and executed he father. She is proud of being supported by America and has since come to see General Musharraf (and the MQM in so doing) as an ally to break the power of the Mullahs. Akbar Bugti comes no where near Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is hard to identify his legacy. Secessionism needs no heroes; it needs foreign support - money and weapons. He did not have to embrace 'shahadat' to get those. India surely sees an opportunity in his death to reinvigorate the insurrection in Balochistan. It will try harder; that might shake Pakistan enough to help its people overthrow the entire corrupt system that sustains ruffians and thugs in power. I believe that India will miscalculate as it sees an opportunity to destabilise or even invade Pakistan.

My prediction is based on the dynamics of the situation produced by the policies of India and America and the inability of Pakistan's establishment - political as well as military - to produce a state level coherent response. We have already seen the total bankruptcy of the political establishment; no political party has shown ability to empathise with the majority. The PPP (Benazir) and PML (N) are completely out of touch; it is the minority - the religious parties and the MQM - who are leading the war of statements. The ruling PML can neither find a credible spokesman nor a coherent statement. If there was any proof necessary that the political apparatus of the country is totally discrepant, the death of Akbar Bugti has provided it. Senseless violence may continue in Balochistan and it may spread to parts of Sindh. That is why I feel that India is likely to miscalculate that it has another opportunity. But India would find that the Muslims of South Asia (like Hizbullah in Lebanon) are more formidable as opponents than the generals or politician led corrupt states. The state would unravel before India sees an opportunity. Everything will fall in place after that. The main character of the story is India, not Akbar Bugti. Those who have responsibility of dealing with the fallout from Akbar Bugti’s death should keep that in focus.

Brigadier (R) Usman Khalid

Director London Institute of South Asia
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