Page 2 of
2 RISE OF THE
NEO-TALIBAN 'Pain has
become the remedy' By Syed
Saleem Shahzad
humiliated him in
all manners. When he was released, it was thought
he would be a broken person.
"But now he
is an advocate of jihad against the Pakistani
army, bigger than anybody else. These sorts of
incidents have turned the mujahideen into our
camp. They understand they have been fooled in the
name of jihad in Kashmir," said Sadiq, referring to
Islamabad's de-escalation of
fighting in the Kashmir Valley.
"In 2003,
a gathering in Muredkey [the LeT's Pakistani
headquarters] was an eye-opener to sincere
jihadis. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed [chief of the LeT]
introduced us to one Abdullah, a person wearing a
prayer cap and a small beard. Many among us knew
he was the head of the ISI's Kashmir cell.
"He addressed the gathering and made the
point that the Kashmiri jihad could not achieve
its objectives and that it was a lame duck. He
advised the mujahideen to sit quietly at home
until new circumstances developed. This sort of
advice turned people into our camp, but the real
revolution came because of al-Qaeda," Sadiq said.
"[Senior al-Qaeda leader] Abu Marwan
al-Suri was killed [in May 2006] by the Khasadar
force in Bajaur Agency. This is a force of peons.
Had Marwan been killed by any elite commando force
of the Pakistani army, we would not have been so
saddened, but for a person like him to be killed
by a third-rate force like the Khasadars, it was
bad.
"He was traveling in bus when he was
identified as an Arab and was asked to descend. He
took out his revolver and warned the Khasadars
that he was a mujahid and did not want to kill any
Muslims, so they should let him go. The Khasadars
did not listen to him. You know Arabs, they do not
escape - they fight until their last - but he
tried to flee to avoid fighting Muslims, and was
killed.
"His body was photographed and the
pictures were presented to the Americans with
pride and the people responsible received medals.
Every mujahid felt humiliated. Brother ... our
blood is not so cheap to be played around with by
any third-rate person. Mujahideen were full of
rage. They rose from their hideouts.
"Marwan's body became an inspiration. The
aroma from his blood was a legend in Bajaur and
his graveyard became a holy site. Reaction swept
through Bajaur and in a matter of days the
Khasadars' posts were wiped out and blown up. The
army came to conduct operations, but was defeated.
"Our victories gathered all tribes around
us. You know our biggest commander in Bajaur,
Maulana Faqir Muhammad, was trained by the
Pakistani army to resist the Soviets [in the
1980s] but after September 11 his brother was
detained by the army. He was beaten to death.
"In 2005 the Taliban were limited to South
Waziristan and North Waziristan and in Mohmand
Agency there were only a few dozen of them, but
now we number 18,000, thanks to the operations of
the Pakistani army," Sadiq said, his face full of
emotion.
"You asked me what makes us think
we can establish an Islamic emirate," Sadiq said,
and then recited famous Urdu and Persian poet
Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan, who went under the pen
name of Ghalib: "Pain has crossed its limits and
has become the remedy."
"We have braved all
their tyrannies. They cannot be more tyrannical
than that. We are hardened and they are tired and
now it is our turn and I promise that we will turn
the tables on them soon," Sadiq said.
We
were all tired, and went to bed, but my brain was
racing so much it was a while before sleep came.
The next morning at breakfast we pick up
on the same topic.
"Sadiq, whether it is
right or wrong, don't you think that the new
Taliban plans will create problems within the
Pakistani army?" I asked.
"That does not
matter. This battle cannot stop now. The
mujahideen have been deceived so many times that
now they have decided to fight the Pakistani army
at all costs," Sadiq said, sipping his tea.
After a long pause, he continued, "You
know, the Taliban are blamed for all the problems,
but in actual fact it is America which will never
allow a ceasefire between the Pakistani army and
the mujahideen. The Americans will force the
Pakistani army to fight against us and therefore
this battle will continue," Sadiq said.
"Man, you are fighting against the army
and blaming America," I taunted him.
"I
will tell you why. The Americans know exactly how
near we are to Islamabad and they are aware of
defections in the Pakistani army, and they are
also aware that only one or two defections at the
level of colonel will mean that the mujahideen
will get their hands on some batteries of missiles
which can carry nuclear warheads.
"And
they [Americans] know the moment the mujahideen
get that, the game will turn in favor of the
mujahideen both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and
then nobody will be able to stop our march. So the
Americans want a big battle between the army and
the mujahideen so that the end game will be that
they can step in and destroy Pakistan's nukes
under the pretext that the Pakistani army cannot
protect them from the mujahideen," Sadiq said.
Shortly after breakfast, the Taliban said
goodbye to me. On my way home, as I passed
deserted checkpoints in Bajaur, I cast my mind
back to the origins of the US-led "war on terror",
the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Al-Qaeda carried these out with a
particular aim - to invite the wrath of the
American "cowboys" who would beat up Muslims to
such an extent that a severe backlash would be
generated.
Six years have passed, and we
have had the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq
(maybe Iran in the offing). Yet it might be in the
tribal areas of Pakistan that the real showdown
begins. I can just imagine the dance of jubilation
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri will do on
the news of a fresh grand operation by the
Pakistani army there - it will only breed more
Taliban.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is
Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can
be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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