One and the Same

By Adnan Gill

Just as the Pakistani Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad’s rhetoric is becoming unbearable for anyone’s comfort, so is the drumbeat from none other than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Both are equally belligerent with their rhetoric; both believe in their narrow interpretation of good and evil; and worst both believe in enforcing their vision at the barrel of gun. Before the civilized gentry runs to Hillary’s defense they may want to remind themselves of Hillary’s wild side too. Just last year, when Senator Obama and Senator Clinton were trampling over each other to secure the Jewish vote, the presidential hopeful Clinton threatened, "In the next 10 years, during which [Iran] might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.". Obviously, Secretary Clinton is convinced in America’s responsibility to police the world with a big stick. If that takes obliterating a nation, so be it.

Similarly, Mullah Sufi is convinced in setting the world straight, according to his perverted interpretation of Islam. He believes, he is ordained by a higher authority to set the humanity straight. If it takes flogging minors, blowing girls’ schools or slitting throats of government officials; so be it.

Ideologically, Hillary and Sufi are as far apart as it gets. One is the self-professed guarantor of the freedoms afforded under the democracy, while the other is the self-appointed enforcer of the code-of-conduct foreordained by God. However, upon a closer look, Hillary and Sufi are as similar as peas in pod.

Conspicuously, the similarities don’t end at their disposition to back their ideologies with the deadly force. Both are doing their best to generate hysteria, Pakistan is about to fall in the clutches of the dreaded Taliban. Secretary Clinton opened the salvo, nuclear-armed Pakistan “poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world.” On queue, Western media too went into wild frenzy; sky is falling, sky is falling!

Not to be left behind, Defense Secretary, Robert Gates rang the alarm bells as hard as he could. He did his best to jolt the slumbering Pakistani leadership into defensive positions, “My hope is that there will be an increasing recognition on the part of the Pakistani government that the Taliban in Pakistan are in fact an existential threat to the democratic government of that country.” He pleaded, “…it is important that they not only recognize it, but take the appropriate actions to deal with it.” But what good would be hysteria without the deeply worried Numero Uno, President Obama. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, told reporters, "The news over the past several days is very disturbing."

Ladies and gentlemen, better say your prayers; because Taliban are only 60 miles from running over the Pakistani capital. Half a million strong Pakistani military is no match to 400 to 500 heavily armed Taliban who have already captured the strategically important district of Buner. Once their flag is planted on Islamabad, it will be the beginning of Armageddon. Islamabad is littered with nuclear tipped ICBMs. The captured nukes will rain down on every city on earth. We need to do something right now to stop these savages in their tracks, or life as we know will cease to exist!

Yet, there is eerie silence from all quarters that could save the humanity. Either it’s a classic case of deer caught in headlights, or there is something seriously amiss. For the last few years, Mullah Sufi had been spewing venom through an illegal FM radio transmitter. Let alone, blowing it to smithereens, courtesy of a HARM missile strike, no one has even bothered to even jam its signal. For whatever reason(s) Pakistani military hasn’t taken the transmitter out, the question is why CIA hasn’t? It’s not like CIA is shy of launching deadly missile strikes deep inside the Pakistani territory. Then what has kept it from taking out easily triangulated source of vicious propaganda?

Oddly, President Zardari (allegedly an American puppet), who called the Taliban murderers of his wife, signed surrender to them. Zardari’s capitulation legalized ANP’s cowardly surrender of the Sawat Valley to Mullah Sufi. If the surrender wasn’t embarrassing enough for the secular ANP, its passionate defense of the despicable deeds of the monotheist Taliban, only deepens the mystery.

The plot thickens; considering the alleged Taliban who took over the district of Buner, are said to be Afghan Tajiks. According to a The News report, a Buner refugee claimed, “I can swear on Holy Quran that those who have captured our village are Afghan nationals. You people sitting in Islamabad cannot imagine what sort of hell they have unleashed on us after advancing from Swat to our areas.” His shocking claim was corroborated by many others who also reported similar stories. Another refugee asked, “For God sake, why don’t you people listen to our cries as we have been invaded by the Afghan Tajiks, not Pakistanis. Our families and honour are in danger.”

The puzzle becomes even more complex. On one hand, alarm bells are going off over the Pakistani peace treaty with the TNSM; on the other hand, there had been deafening silence when similar deals were reached in Afghanistan. American stooge, President Karzai disclosed that he requested the Saudis to help him in striking a peace treaty with the Taliban. Karzai said, "For the last two years, I've sent letters to the king of Saudi Arabia, and I've sent messages, and I requested from him as the leader of the Islamic world, for the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and for reconciliation in Afghanistan ... he should help us." Strangely, sky didn’t fall when the NATO allies also struck secret deals with the Taliban; e.g. when British troops conceded Musa Qala to the Taliban.

However, the peculiarity of mystery doesn’t lay in peace deals with the Taliban; it lays in the inaction of all parties deeply involved in the conflict. How hard could it be to quash Mullah Sufi and his Tajik mercenaries (dubbed as Taliban) within a week or two? It’s not like Mullah Sufi stays cloaked like the Taliban leader, Mullah Omer. With a huge fanfare, Mullah Sufi boldly moves around in broad daylight and remains readily available on the phone for interviews. Still, why nobody has taken him out should be a matter of more than mere curiosity. Conspicuous dormancy of the military powers, along with the hysteria emanating from the West should raise the question, who is pulling wool over our eyes? Even more importantly, why they are blindsiding us?