 Pakistani Dictator kills innocent Muslims to please American Masters | |
Pakistani Dictator Kills innocent Muslims to please
American Masters
| By: ABDULLAH MALIK
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| Published: July 19, 2007
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There is absolutely no doubt that the Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharaf has secured an unprecedented place in history. Some would remember him as the West's accomplice in the War on Afghanistan, others would remember him for strengthening and promoting secular forces in Pakistan, still others would remember him as a leader who abandoned Pakistan's 60 year claim on Kashmir and who virtually rolled back Pakistan's nuclear program. But after Tuesday's massacre at Islamabad's Red Mosque Musharaf has joined the elite club of modern history's most ruthless dictators joining ranks with the likes of Islam Karimov, the butcher of Andijan and Ariel Sharon, the butcher of Beruit and would be remembered by all in history as the butcher of the Red Mosque.
With orders of "shoot to kill" any media person found in the proximity of the Red Mosque, the Pakistan Forces stormed the compound of the Mosque and the Hafsa Seminary, pounding the mosque with heavy shelling, indiscriminately killing men, women and children. With journalists barred from hospitals as well, with Islamabad rocking with sounds of heavy explosions, the people of Islamabad, especially the residents of G-6 where the mosque and the seminary is situated, felt for the first time, the daily agony faced by the residents of Fallujah in Iraq and Ramallah in Palestine.
Shock and awe, is how one can describe the state of mind of the masses in Pakistan. They still cannot believe the hard truth that Musharaf could kill more than 1500 people in the heart of the country's federal capital and destroy the largest seminary in Pakistan just to save his neck. On the other hand a debate has gripped the media as to the real motives behind the operation, no one from the intelligentsia in Pakistan, is prepared to buy the innocent argument of "establishing the writ of the State" as a justification for the brutal butchery which took place at the Red Mosque.
From the very start of the Lal Masjid-Hafsa crisis, when the government provoked the Ghazi brothers by demolishing seven mosques in Islamabad to the bloodbath which the world witnessed on 10th July, the whole episode seems to be orchestred by Musharaf and his henchmen to achieve certain objectives.
Throughout the six months of the crisis, when the government intentionally kept a blind eye to the activities of the Lal Masjid students, a vicious media campaign was launched against the administration of the Red Mosque; through this campaign the media openly attacked the idea of political Islam and using the Lal Masjid issue the media and secular forces openly attacked and demonized Islamic laws and the call for implementation of shariah in Pakistan. Protests and rallies were organized by secular forces and human rights groups condemning the Lal Masjid administration and certain shariah practices. Through this vicious campaign, musharaf aimed at subduing and confusing the strengthening public opinion in Pakistan for the implementation of shariah law in the country. Moreover using the issue Musharaf has successfully attempted at dividing the Pakistani society in to "moderates" and "extremists" creating an intense intellectual clash between the two. "Moderates" are those people, who are opposed to the use of force for implementation of shariah but who are not necessarily opposed to the idea of shariah rule in the country. This group while condemning the use of force by the Lal Masjid Administration and not condemning the government's neo-colonial anti Islamic agenda has failed to realize that it is indirectly endorsing the government's anti-Islamic policies. The "Extremists" on the other hand are the ones who are shocked at the massacre of innocent Muslims and see it as an extension of the current regime's "fight against terror" which they perceive as a war on Islam.
Politically Musharaf has used the issue to dilute the pressure exerted on his regime by the secular forces and to thwart their efforts of building an anti-musharaf campaign. The Hafsa crisis was aggravated by the government at a time when the Supreme Court hearing the petition of Chief Justice of Pakistan challenging his suspension, dismissed as "scandalous" the documentary evidence which formed the basis of a reference against him. A move, which under normal circumstances would have been cashed on by the secular forces to further dent Musharaf's popularity.
The operation against the Hafsa crisis also came at a time when Musharaf's image as the West's stalwart in the region was being questioned in the Western power circles. The pat on the back from US President Bush, US deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, US under secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs Richard Boucher, British Premier Gordon Brown and Australian minister for foreign affairs Alexander Downer has surely enhanced Musharaf's popularity as the West's "go to boy". The achievement is significant in the backdrop of PPP's chairperson Benazir Bhutto's "appease the West campaign", which she has been running for quite some time now, to convince Western power brokers of her loyalty and commitment to secure Western interests in Pakistan.
In his address to the nation, while attempting to justify his murderous onslaught on the inhabitants of the Lal Masjid and Hafsa Seminary, Musharaf vowed to continue his policy of "crush the militants and extremists". Musharaf was very selective about the words he used, and categorized the "extremists" with the hardcore militants. In other words, Musharaf vowed to crush by force, not just those who are carrying out and helping the insurgency in Afghanistan against Western occupiers but also every group and individual who doesnot fulfill his definition of being "moderate". In other words Musharaf sent a strong message to Islamists in Pakistan that he will not tolerate political Islam and any dissenting voice would be crushed with brutal force and that the operation against Hafsa Seminary is an example of how he intends to deal with the Islamists. Through this, Musharaf wants to bully the Islamists and force them to go in the hiding or disassociate themselves from political Islam and the legitimate demand of implementation of Islamic laws in Pakistan. With the Islamists on the run or on the backfoot, no one would be able to respond to the vicious campaign launched by the Musharaf regime to malign Islam.
But perhaps the most dangerous of all the objectives which the Musharaf regime has aimed to achieve through the Lal Masjid Operation, is the American objective of weakening the State of Pakistan to make it vulnerable to foreign enemies. No one in his right mind would believe that Musharaf did not expect a strong backlash from militants in response to the massacre at the Lal Masjid. Infact troops had already been deployed in the Swat valley before the government went on with its plan in Islamabad. Knowing the mentality of the militants, Musharaf provoked them and invited them to an open battle plunging Pakistan in to civil strife and anarchy. Attacks on security personnel has become a daily routine since Musharaf's slaughter in Islamabad, causalities include foot soldiers, high ranking officials and civilians alike. Also the peace deal with the North Waziristan Militants has been scrapped. Using the opportunity, America has stepped up pressure on Musharaf to start a massive operation against "extremists and militants", with Defense Secretary Robert Gates going as far as linking the insurgency in Iraq to North Western Pakistan. Through this America aspires to weaken the strongest Muslim army in the world by plunging it in to a hell like situation similar to Iraq and Afghanistan where her own troops are getting a bashing they have never witnessed before. Also America aims to protect the neck of its soldiers in Afghanistan by the putting the neck of Pakistani troops on the line and shifting the War from Afghanistan in to Western Pakistan. The collateral damage and the spill out of the operation in the North Western Pakistan to the rest of Pakistan, would serve to create political, economic and social instability in Pakistan thus weakening it internally.
It is a hard time for the Ummah and Muslims in Pakistan. The exponential increase in instability in Pakistan has resulted in the escalated feelings of desperation and frustration in the masses. With a faction of the "popular" leadership siding with Musharaf, and the other staying numb, the tension and frustration in the Pakistani society is tangible. Could this be the turning point in Pakistan's history? Could this be the "wake up call", the thrust the Muslims of Pakistan needed, to enthusiastically join the global movement to reestablish the Islamic Caliphate? With chaos rampant in the country, with no hope from the tried and tested leadership, with Islamic sentiments and the desire to live according to Islam on the rise and with the ever mounting pile of problems, the patience of the Muslims of Pakistan is running out and the possibility of a radical restructuring of the Pakistani society via the Caliphate seems more closer than ever.
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07-19-2007, 04:52 PM
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