Nawas Sharif: show leadership on Punjabi Taliban
(The Frontier Post, May 18)
By Jan Assakzai
By Jan Assakzai
Though Punjabi Taliban have not taken over cities or captured any area as yet, they operate from Madrasas and compounds. According to media reports, police recently have traced a spate of armed robberies and kidnappings of minority religious sect-the Ahmedis-in Faisalabad to members of Jamaat ud Dawa, the group previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba that was blamed for the devastating 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India. Three Ahmedis were also shot dead, in what was likely to be the work of the same group.
Punjab has never needed PML N Leader Nawas Sharif more — the "maverick" version of years gone by, that is. The man who stood up to a mighty dictator: Gen Pervez Musharraf. The man who understood, through hard way, the inherent evil of imposing dictates by these military dictators upon the people. The Nawas Sharif who stood up to strident voices, understanding that a country’s judiciary must never be browbeaten, weakened and made subservient to a dictator.
But his province has succumb to another such an inherent evil, the dominance of Punjabi Taliban-a group of people who want to impose their views on the rest of the world and if one dares to disagree, they many not even hesitate to react violently; they are prepared to bring down elected governments: see the example of their Pakhtun Taliban brothers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Punjab really needs a leader of the kind Nawas Sharif used to be. The kind of man who once signed charter of Democracy - a sensible set of reforms for the nation’s constitutional future. The man who decided to go nuclear.
Here's how Nawas Sharif once gracefully silenced a political opponent’s diatribe while referring to Swat situation; he said: Taliban are “now threatening to get out of Swat and take other areas into their custody. So we’ve got to avoid that situation.” (USA Today).
That was 2009, as Nawas Sharif was campaigning to restore judiciary. Today, Nawas Sharif is desperately trying to hang onto power base in Punjab — so desperately that he is willing to look the other way as Punjabi Taliban is openly hobnobbing with Pakistan’s Pakhtun Taliban, Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Though Punjabi Taliban have not taken over cities or captured any area as yet, they operate from Madrasas and compounds. According to media reports, police recently have traced a spate of armed robberies and kidnappings of minority religious sect-the Ahmedis-in Faisalabad to members of Jamaat ud Dawa, the group previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba that was blamed for the devastating 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India. Three Ahmedis were also shot dead, in what was likely to be the work of the same group.
Jamaat ud Dawa is focused against India and was not previously known for violence inside Pakistan. The United Nations labelled Jamaat ud Dawa a terrorist group in the wake of the Mumbai attack. In March, Jamaat ud Dawa held a public rally in Lahore, marching down the Mall Road, to protest against India "stealing" water from rivers that flow from its territory into Pakistan.
The recent admission in U.S. federal court by an American citizen, David Headley, that he scouted targets for the Mumbai attacks raised the profile of Lashkar-e-Taiba, with which he was affiliated.
A recent Pentagon report found that Lashkar-e-Taiba was active in the insurgency in Afghanistan. Another banned group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, whose orientation is anti-India, was operating openly from Bahawalpur, another town in Punjab, and had expanded to a new site on the outskirts of town. There are reports that a splinter group of banned Punjabi outfits has also joined other Taliban in North Waziristan.
Sheikh Waqas Akram, an opposition member of parliament from Jhang, which is the headquarters of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, likened the situation in Punjab to the Swat valley, where official inaction led to the area being held by Taliban in 2008.
Law and order is the responsibility of the Punjab government. However, some critic believe that Nawas Sharif can not irk army’s opposition: these groups have a use for Pakistan’s security agencies as proxy in contest with India, if Punjab government even reluctantly decides to a crack down on these outfits, how this will go down with security agencies.
Nawas Sharif's assessment about these agencies was: “Unfortunately Pakistan is a country where no so-called political government is free to exercise its writ because the military leadership keeps breathing down its neck. In such an uneasy environment it is difficult for a political government to out rightly cut the military to size unless all the political forces join their hands together. ISI is doing nothing today but politics...Yes, the charter of duties of the ISI has to be redefined if we are to safeguard the country from both internal and external enemies. (The Indian Express, June 26, 2003). That was the time when Nawas Sharif was sent in exile to Saudi Arabia by military government of Gen. Musharraf.
Nawas Sharif’s problem now, on the other hand, is that he draws political support from the right wing political parties. He and his brother, Shabaz Sharif-Chief Minister of Punjab- has been accused of accommodating extremist groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba, a banned sectarian group blamed for the killing of hundreds of Shias in the country.
He is in complete agreement with his right-wing demagogue brother Shabas Sharif who has never been afraid to make hay out of popular fears. In March, Shahbaz Sharif, provoked an outcry when he appealed in a speech to the Taliban to spare his province from violence because PML-N’s ideal are the same as of Taliban’s.
Rather than sticking to his principles, his vast knowledge of the complicated nature of Talibanisation, Nawas Sharif appears content to step into the swill with Shahbas Sharif. What a contrast Nawas Sharif presents to the a politician who stood up for conducting nuclear explosion, challenged dictatorship of Gen Pervez Musharraf, and ambivalence of President Zardari on the issue of judges’ restoration, pricked by his conscience, lamented being on the wrong side. Naws Sharif, a politician known for principle and courage, seems headed in the other direction.
And for this he expects to be treated as statesman?.
Punjab has never needed PML N Leader Nawas Sharif more — the "maverick" version of years gone by, that is. The man who stood up to a mighty dictator: Gen Pervez Musharraf. The man who understood, through hard way, the inherent evil of imposing dictates by these military dictators upon the people. The Nawas Sharif who stood up to strident voices, understanding that a country’s judiciary must never be browbeaten, weakened and made subservient to a dictator.
But his province has succumb to another such an inherent evil, the dominance of Punjabi Taliban-a group of people who want to impose their views on the rest of the world and if one dares to disagree, they many not even hesitate to react violently; they are prepared to bring down elected governments: see the example of their Pakhtun Taliban brothers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Punjab really needs a leader of the kind Nawas Sharif used to be. The kind of man who once signed charter of Democracy - a sensible set of reforms for the nation’s constitutional future. The man who decided to go nuclear.
Here's how Nawas Sharif once gracefully silenced a political opponent’s diatribe while referring to Swat situation; he said: Taliban are “now threatening to get out of Swat and take other areas into their custody. So we’ve got to avoid that situation.” (USA Today).
That was 2009, as Nawas Sharif was campaigning to restore judiciary. Today, Nawas Sharif is desperately trying to hang onto power base in Punjab — so desperately that he is willing to look the other way as Punjabi Taliban is openly hobnobbing with Pakistan’s Pakhtun Taliban, Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Though Punjabi Taliban have not taken over cities or captured any area as yet, they operate from Madrasas and compounds. According to media reports, police recently have traced a spate of armed robberies and kidnappings of minority religious sect-the Ahmedis-in Faisalabad to members of Jamaat ud Dawa, the group previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba that was blamed for the devastating 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India. Three Ahmedis were also shot dead, in what was likely to be the work of the same group.
Jamaat ud Dawa is focused against India and was not previously known for violence inside Pakistan. The United Nations labelled Jamaat ud Dawa a terrorist group in the wake of the Mumbai attack. In March, Jamaat ud Dawa held a public rally in Lahore, marching down the Mall Road, to protest against India "stealing" water from rivers that flow from its territory into Pakistan.
The recent admission in U.S. federal court by an American citizen, David Headley, that he scouted targets for the Mumbai attacks raised the profile of Lashkar-e-Taiba, with which he was affiliated.
A recent Pentagon report found that Lashkar-e-Taiba was active in the insurgency in Afghanistan. Another banned group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, whose orientation is anti-India, was operating openly from Bahawalpur, another town in Punjab, and had expanded to a new site on the outskirts of town. There are reports that a splinter group of banned Punjabi outfits has also joined other Taliban in North Waziristan.
Sheikh Waqas Akram, an opposition member of parliament from Jhang, which is the headquarters of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, likened the situation in Punjab to the Swat valley, where official inaction led to the area being held by Taliban in 2008.
Law and order is the responsibility of the Punjab government. However, some critic believe that Nawas Sharif can not irk army’s opposition: these groups have a use for Pakistan’s security agencies as proxy in contest with India, if Punjab government even reluctantly decides to a crack down on these outfits, how this will go down with security agencies.
Nawas Sharif's assessment about these agencies was: “Unfortunately Pakistan is a country where no so-called political government is free to exercise its writ because the military leadership keeps breathing down its neck. In such an uneasy environment it is difficult for a political government to out rightly cut the military to size unless all the political forces join their hands together. ISI is doing nothing today but politics...Yes, the charter of duties of the ISI has to be redefined if we are to safeguard the country from both internal and external enemies. (The Indian Express, June 26, 2003). That was the time when Nawas Sharif was sent in exile to Saudi Arabia by military government of Gen. Musharraf.
Nawas Sharif’s problem now, on the other hand, is that he draws political support from the right wing political parties. He and his brother, Shabaz Sharif-Chief Minister of Punjab- has been accused of accommodating extremist groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba, a banned sectarian group blamed for the killing of hundreds of Shias in the country.
He is in complete agreement with his right-wing demagogue brother Shabas Sharif who has never been afraid to make hay out of popular fears. In March, Shahbaz Sharif, provoked an outcry when he appealed in a speech to the Taliban to spare his province from violence because PML-N’s ideal are the same as of Taliban’s.
Rather than sticking to his principles, his vast knowledge of the complicated nature of Talibanisation, Nawas Sharif appears content to step into the swill with Shahbas Sharif. What a contrast Nawas Sharif presents to the a politician who stood up for conducting nuclear explosion, challenged dictatorship of Gen Pervez Musharraf, and ambivalence of President Zardari on the issue of judges’ restoration, pricked by his conscience, lamented being on the wrong side. Naws Sharif, a politician known for principle and courage, seems headed in the other direction.
And for this he expects to be treated as statesman?.
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