Taliban’s attack on school a wake-up call for Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — It has been three weeks since terrorists stormed a school here and slaughtered at least 148 people, nearly all of whom were children. The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for the massacre, saying it was in retaliation for army action in the Taliban stronghold of Waziristan.
Pakistan reacted with revulsion to the school attack. There was almost unanimous consensus among political parties and civic groups that this act broke the patience of the nation. Pakistanis are demanding, in a loud and clear voice, that the government tackle the menace of religious terrorism.
Although most of the country is united in this demand, the conduct of religious political parties has been anything but reassuring. Most of these parties condemned the massacre, but claimed it was a reaction to what the Pakistani army has been doing to the Taliban and their families in Waziristan. They are speaking from both sides of their mouths.
Pakistani religious parties have a checkered history. They opposed the creation of Pakistan on religious grounds. Since the creation of the country in 1947, they have been trying to turn Pakistan into a theocracy where power will shift to the mosques rather than rest with state institutions.
And while they do not talk openly about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, controlling these weapons fits with their dream of global dominance.
Whether the Pakistani Taliban function in concert with other terrorists is open to conjecture. Although its sympathies are with terrorist outfits such as Islamic State, it is not part of a global network.
Some prejudiced people blame the teachings of Islam for the terrorist activities of some Muslims. An occasional beheading of a Western man by ISIS aside, most religious violence has been directed against Muslims themselves. In the Taliban’s narrow and self-serving interpretation of Islam, anyone who does not subscribe to its version is not a Muslim.
The seeds of militancy and terrorism in Pakistan were sown during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan starting in 1979. Pakistan was pushed into becoming a front-line state during the decade long conflict.
American and Western foreign aid flowed into the country. So did Arab petrodollars and the puritanical Wahhabi version of Islam.
Thousands of religious schools sprang up in border areas of Pakistan, where poor boys were indoctrinated in virulent Wahhabi Islam and sent to fight the Soviet infidels across the border in Afghanistan.
The United States and Saudi Arabia promoted this culture of religious intolerance. The Soviets were eventually forced out of Afghanistan, but the culture stayed.
The lure of fighting a religious war brought thousands of young men from around the world — including the United States — to Pakistan. After the war, many of these young men, who were not wanted in their countries of birth, married and settled in tribal areas of Pakistan. A second generation of foreigners is working with the Pakistani Taliban to wreck havoc on the country.
The toll on Pakistan has been enormous. Since 2001, close to 50,000 people — including more than 15,000 army personnel — have been killed by terrorists in Pakistan. The economic losses have been substantial.
Why haven’t Pakistani governments tackled this menace? They fear religious parties that have twisted government intentions as anti-Islamic.
For many years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has urged Pakistan to clean up sanctuaries in Waziristan, from which Afghan Taliban fighters attacked NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan. Because of its appeasement of the Pakistani Taliban and its long-term interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan did not follow through.
It has taken the massacre of innocent schoolchildren to wake Pakistanis up.
Dr. S. Amjad Hussain is a retired Toledo surgeon whose column appears every other week in The Blade.
Contact him at: aghaji@bex.net
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — It has been three weeks since terrorists stormed a school here and slaughtered at least 148 people, nearly all of whom were children. The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for the massacre, saying it was in retaliation for army action in the Taliban stronghold of Waziristan.
Pakistan reacted with revulsion to the school attack. There was almost unanimous consensus among political parties and civic groups that this act broke the patience of the nation. Pakistanis are demanding, in a loud and clear voice, that the government tackle the menace of religious terrorism.
Although most of the country is united in this demand, the conduct of religious political parties has been anything but reassuring. Most of these parties condemned the massacre, but claimed it was a reaction to what the Pakistani army has been doing to the Taliban and their families in Waziristan. They are speaking from both sides of their mouths.
Pakistani religious parties have a checkered history. They opposed the creation of Pakistan on religious grounds. Since the creation of the country in 1947, they have been trying to turn Pakistan into a theocracy where power will shift to the mosques rather than rest with state institutions.
And while they do not talk openly about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, controlling these weapons fits with their dream of global dominance.
Whether the Pakistani Taliban function in concert with other terrorists is open to conjecture. Although its sympathies are with terrorist outfits such as Islamic State, it is not part of a global network.
Some prejudiced people blame the teachings of Islam for the terrorist activities of some Muslims. An occasional beheading of a Western man by ISIS aside, most religious violence has been directed against Muslims themselves. In the Taliban’s narrow and self-serving interpretation of Islam, anyone who does not subscribe to its version is not a Muslim.
The seeds of militancy and terrorism in Pakistan were sown during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan starting in 1979. Pakistan was pushed into becoming a front-line state during the decade long conflict.
American and Western foreign aid flowed into the country. So did Arab petrodollars and the puritanical Wahhabi version of Islam.
Thousands of religious schools sprang up in border areas of Pakistan, where poor boys were indoctrinated in virulent Wahhabi Islam and sent to fight the Soviet infidels across the border in Afghanistan.
The United States and Saudi Arabia promoted this culture of religious intolerance. The Soviets were eventually forced out of Afghanistan, but the culture stayed.
The lure of fighting a religious war brought thousands of young men from around the world — including the United States — to Pakistan. After the war, many of these young men, who were not wanted in their countries of birth, married and settled in tribal areas of Pakistan. A second generation of foreigners is working with the Pakistani Taliban to wreck havoc on the country.
The toll on Pakistan has been enormous. Since 2001, close to 50,000 people — including more than 15,000 army personnel — have been killed by terrorists in Pakistan. The economic losses have been substantial.
Why haven’t Pakistani governments tackled this menace? They fear religious parties that have twisted government intentions as anti-Islamic.
For many years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has urged Pakistan to clean up sanctuaries in Waziristan, from which Afghan Taliban fighters attacked NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan. Because of its appeasement of the Pakistani Taliban and its long-term interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan did not follow through.
It has taken the massacre of innocent schoolchildren to wake Pakistanis up.
Dr. S. Amjad Hussain is a retired Toledo surgeon whose column appears every other week in The Blade.
Contact him at: aghaji@bex.net
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