ZARDARI ABONDANMENT OF RECONCILIATION POLICY
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RISE OF FAKE TALIBAN PHENOMENON
By Hussain Khan, Tokyo
Why articles like ��SWAT Massacre By Pak Army�� are published in foreign countries? Why books have also appeared against Pakistan army by a leftist and secularist writer like Aaisha Siddiqua, who is now a DAWN columnist? Why Jamaat-e-Islami was opposed to army action against Taliban? Why the army action in Swat is regarded as the basic cause of about three million displaced and homeless persons in Pakistan living in charity camps? Why some people have started questioning the role of Pak army?
As a patriotic Pakistani, everyone loves and respects its army. But, unfortunately, our sacred army was and still is being misused by our secular governments, both by Musharraf and Zardari regimes, to kill Islam-loving people, giving them the name of ��militants��. I do not think Lal Mosque students were militants. But Musharraf used Pak army to kill those innocent students of religion and preferred to reject all successful negotiations conducted by his own Ministers and other renowned religious leaders. Maulana Sufi Mohammad tried to subdue militants through Swat Agreement. But President Zardari was not ready to accept it until he was forced by the unanimous vote of the Parliament to sign it.
In his Tokyo speech, he emphasized on reconciliation policy towards Taliban and vehemently spoke about its importance. In his speech, he referred to a last book of Benazir Bhutto that was published a few days before her death. He informed the audience that she had advocated reconciliation with the militants. He regarded it as the last sacred will of his beloved wife for himself to act accordingly.
But as the days of his visit to Washington came nearer, he started changing his mind from conviction to expediency. He had a conviction in the last sacred will of his late wife. But the expediency demand was to act against it. He was a man who could defy agreement with Nawaz Sharif that they were not like Quran or Hadith that could not be changed or altered. Similarly the last sacred will of his wife was also not like Quran and Hadith that cannot be defied.
He had to visit US soon after signing the Swat Agreement. It was openly opposed publicly by all Obama Administration officials and even by President Obama himself. Zardari had neither the courage nor the guts to face such an opposition for the best interests of Pakistan. Expediency demanded to surrender to such an American pressure instead of trying to face it. Pakistan was opposing American Drone attacks. Learning from the bitter experience of Musharraf, and by the repeated failure of the Pak army campaigns against militants, the provincial ANP government had twice acted upon the reconciliation policy advocated by Zardari��s wife. Best interests of Pakistan would have served better, had Zardari the courage and the guts to persuade his American masters on the efficacy of reconciliation policy. A person who became President by some accident does not have political deftness to act in the interest of the country. For such a person, most important consideration is how to continue in power? This objective cannot be achieved without enlisting the full-fledged support of the US Administration. Therefore his own self-interest to remain in power demanded a policy of surrender to American pressure rather than facing it or trying to persuade anything against it. His wife strongly pleaded the reconciliation policy but he was not a man to advocate any policy of his own conviction to his American masters. That Agreement was a black spot on his political career and on his future prospects to remain in power under the blessing of the United States. He was not bold enough like Musharraf, who could defend his action of negotiations and agreements with Taliban after the death of over 1500 Pak army Jawans at the hands of the Taliban. Therefore, just before visiting Washington, Zardari decided to break the Swat agreement within a week or two after his signing it under the pressure of Pakistan parliament. Anything can be done by the rulers in Pakistan by dishonestly putting the blame on the other side. Army operation against that Agreement in Swat was started just a day or two before Zardari��s scheduled meeting with Obama. Zardari had to show Obama that he can kill more Pakistanis than Musharraf. He has thus proved that he deserves more American dollars. He also wanted the assurance from Obama administration that his government will not by overthrown by the Generals, who are usually on the payroll of CIA in all pro-American governments in the world.
A drama was prepared that provincial government had to demand military action to keep Zardari immune of breaking the Swat Agreement. Two days before the beginning of 1st military action in Lower Dir, provincial government had taken Maulana Sufi Mohammad in confidence to vacate Taliban from Bunir. He went from Swat to Bunir with the delegation of provincial government Ministers and other officials to Bunir and was successful in negotiating with the Bunir Taliban to vacate the city. They vacated it. This policy should have continued. Had this reconciliation policy allowed to continue, no opportunity would have been available for the Raw agents and the fake criminal Taliban to come into the picture.
But the self-interest of Zardari demanded to go against such a reconciliation policy. The very next day, after Maulana Sufi Mohammad got the Taliban out of Bunir, ��Pak army was ordered to start anti-Taliban war from Lower Dir and then next in Bunir after 2,3 days. A son of Maulana Sufi was also killed by Pak army. Target was the peace-maker Maulana Sufi himself. Allah saved him from Pak army attack. His services to save Pakistan from fake Taliban were paid back by trying to kill him or his children.
This is the story how Zardari abandonment of reconciliation policy gave rise to the fake Taliban phenomenon in Pakistan. It makes clear how the sacred Pak army is used for serving the self-interests of Zardari at the cost of 3 million displaced, homeless refugees and destruction of Pakistan��s peace and prosperity.