Taliban within us

Being a Taliban is not about a way of life, it is a state of mind and many of us Pakistanis are prone to suffer from this condition at least once in his/her life time. The way I see it, we are all Taliban but the degree of extremism varies from person to person. Whether we like to be called it or not, in a way, we are all moderate Taliban.

To my untrained eye, I see so many Talibans around me and it scares the hell out of me. Maybe, I am being paranoid here but just writing about them gives me goosebumps.

The below list is not complete and nor it is compiled according to any particular ranking. Psychologists need to understand this ‘state of mind’ and put a label on each for our easier understanding and comprehension.

• People who resort to violence, they are Talibans of the 1st degree, no doubt.
• People advocating holding ‘peace’ talks with Talibans come next.
• People venting their anger on America, they come next on my list.
• People who claim that their religions is the only true religion and that they are the best for ever and ever; yeah, you too buddy, you’re next on my list.
• People, who say that it is their primary duty to spread religion on the four corners of the world, are also included therein.
• Then there are others who want a revolution (in the real sense) in Pakistan.
• Some others have a problem with young men and women mingling around. These people are pretty high on my shit list.
• Last but not the least, there are people who have this unstoppable urge to cast stones at stray dogs and cats mating in the streets. I label them as ‘looney Talibans’.
  

From the above noted irrational behavior it can be safely assumed that Talibanisation can take any form of shape ranging from pure militancy to utter hypocrisy. It can exist under the roof of any high mansion or hide under the thin shelter of any poor man’s hut.

I am sure this piece of mine will not go down easily with many people and some may declare it as an outright war against religion but we need to recognize that these are not healthy behaviors and we cannot go on fighting this war against extremism indefinitely.

Here I would like to add from a recent article by journalist Thomas L. Friedman who points out that ‘in places like Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan or Pakistan have violent religious extremist movements fighting with state security services. … And while the regimes in these countries are committed to crushing their extremists, they rarely take on their extremist ideas by offering progressive alternatives. And when these extremists aim elsewhere … these regimes are indifferent. That is why there is no true war of ideas inside these countries — just a war.’ Mr. Freidman further adds that ‘these states are not promoting an inclusive and tolerant interpretation of Islam that could be the foundation of people power.’

Textiles from Swat valley: A strategy to make ROZ’s work

The idea of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ's) was proposed by Mr. Obama in March 2009 to provide duty-free access for Pakistani textiles and apparel produced in certain remote areas bordering Afghanistan. At that time Pakistan's textile industry strongly opposed this idea because of the security situation and also because major export products were not included. No work has been done on ROZ's so far but now with the success of army operation in Swat, there is a good chance to bring about employment opportunities to the poor people who are most affected by terrorism.

Here is how it can be done:

Textile is a labor intensive business and by setting up small scale stitching units in Swat will help employ the poorest of the people especially the women. Yet another way to make this work is linking these stitching units with local schools where vocational training is provided to the children. In this way, the stitching units will be ensured a trained labor force. Also, by providing one time meals at schools, the female workforce will have an additional incentive to send their children to school.

Role of USAID:

USAID can play a very important role of facilitator, implementer and monitor in setting of ROZ's in Pakistan. As a facilitator, it can encourage joint ventures between US textile importers and Pakistani's textile manufacturers. As an implementer, USAID can offer ready-made projects to the joint venture companies. Also, by ensuring a registered workforce will speed up setting up of ROZ's. As a monitor, USAID can monitor and verify exports from ROZ's and also ensure that ROZ's are working according to the laws of International Labor Organization (ILO).

Marketing strategy:

Swat valley is now world famous as it was here that the march of Taliban was halted. Now a brand can be developed by the name "Textiles from Swat valley" and a marketing campaign can be devised for consumers who will buy these products knowing that their money will go to the people who are directly affected by terrorism.

This strategy can very well enhance ties between America and Pakistan and if successful, it can also be replicated in Afghanistan.

Lessons taught by the Taliban

Besides suicide-bombing-made-easy, there are actually a lot of lessons Pakistani society needs to learn from the ongoing insurgency of the Taliban. The whole Taliban debacle has certainly opened up Pakistani society just a wee bit. People have now started talking on issues which were previously considered taboo. People now do tend to analyze religious clerics and what they stand for. The Pakistani society did stand up for the murdered Christians of Gojra and showed their rejection to the politics of hate. But we still have far to go before we can claim Pakistan as a religiously tolerant society and following lessons should be learned:

Why do we have such fiery religious clerics?

All Muslims say that Islam is a religion of peace yet we continue to see the system producing successive militant clerics. These clerics blame all our troubles to be caused either by America or Israel or India, yet they never bother to address issues which are all around them and can be solved just by taking a small initiative. Our society should look into the system which is producing such hatred. There is now a strong need that we start looking at our religion from a fresh perspective.

Can there be a moderate Taliban?

Can there be such a thing as a moderate Taliban? I certainly don't think so. Taliban follow a very rigid religious philosophy according to which they have right to eradicate social evils by taking matters into their own hand. They consider it their rightful duty to prevent girls being sent out to schools, shaving of beards, etc. Those who advocate talking to ‘moderate' Taliban should know that these moderate Taliban will always make life miserable for the people by enforcing their own brand of Islam. If moderate Taliban are let loose, we will continue to see baton-charging-burqa-brigades and morally-right-mullahs.

Education for the people

It seems that the Taliban were following a very well thought out strategy by blowing up schools in Swat and other adjacent areas. Around 100 schools, mostly girls' schools, have been blown up. This strategy shows that the Taliban wanted to keep the masses, especially women, illiterate. By keeping the poor illiterate and by allowing no commercial activity, the Taliban wanted to induct more and more deprived people to their ‘noble' cause.

Justice to the poor

Pakistanis took really serious note of the Taliban issue when government announced enforcement of Sharia Bill in Swat. The Sharia Bill called for speedy justice handed down by the Qazis (religious judges). The Taliban, through this Bill, wanted to get hold of civil administration in Swat by exploiting the corruption and inability of the conventional courts. They had very wisely realized that their movement will get strong support if they start dispensing justice quickly.

As Pakistanis, it is very important for us to take serious note of these lessons as taught to us by Taliban so that we may never again face such an insurgency.

Human rights abuses in Swat: is it a balanced view?

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for an independent investigation on reports of extra-judicial killings by Pakistan army. HRCP Chairperson Asma Jehangir said that the commission had documented accounts of mass graves found in the Swat valley and reports of suspected Taliban militants being thrown out of helicopters and of relatives of suspected terrorists being dragged in public. The army spokesperson, Major General Athar Abbas, on the other hand, has said that his outfit is ready for a full-scale investigation in the presence of independent journalists who would be provided full security.

Now the question which burns in my mind is whether HRCP is really taking a balanced view here? In order to analyze HRCP's stance we should consider that the army operation was called an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis who were disgusted with Taliban's utter disregard to the value of human life and were fed up a series of suicide attacks on civilians. We should also consider numerous Taliban propaganda videos showing army personnel literally being slaughtered using blunt knives.

From my point of view, it does seem that the army had been carrying that grudge for a long time and went in all guns blazing when they got the opportunity. Now I ask myself, was the army wrong in doing whatever it did?

I know that whatever happened in Swat is against basic human rights but is the other option of trying Taliban under a civilian court is even remotely feasible? They will simply be out on bail for lack of evidence and go back to their militant ways.

We should also consider the past beatings, public floggings, beheadings and other numerous other human rights violations committed by the Taliban. Did HRCP consider its duty done just by condemning those heinous crimes against humanity?

Lastly, the role of HRCP acting only as a ‘watchdog' in situations like these also comes to my mind. Is it their only duty to stand on the line and cry foul in such a deep rooted insurgency situation?

I hope if I have made the readers catch my drift as I certainly don't have any answers to these tangled questions. I would request readers to give their comments on this issue.

Textile Policy 2009-14: hard work still ahead

The first ever Textile Policy 2009-14 was announced by the Federal Minister of Textile Industry Rana Farooq Saeed Khan on Wednesday. The policy sets an ambitious target of achieving $ 25 billion over the next 5 years as compared to exports of $ 9.6 billion achieved during last fiscal year.

The policy is really a broad based document which encompasses areas like technology up gradation, infrastructure development, skill development, etc. and addresses rationalization of fiscal measures for the ailing textile industry along with removal of regulatory bottlenecks.
The government has for the first time, addressed all sub sectors of this industry separately with special emphasis on the value added sectors.

The policy provides many measures to address the falling trend of textile exports, but the most notable are as under:

Tiered drawback scheme with maximum benefit to the value added sub sectors.

• Full refund of past R&D Claims.
• The availability of export refinance at 5%.
• Priority in gas and electricity load management.
• Relief on existing long term loans.
• Zero rating of exports.
• Tax free import of machinery.

Although the textile policy is a very comprehensive one and covers almost all the relevant areas of the textile industry like skills development, market support, zero rating of exports, incentives for employment of women and disabled persons, etc. but the government will have to devise a proper SOP framework in order to implement and monitor policies which are contained in the policy. It is really advisable that the government should consider a fast and transparent procedure for the disbursement of funds allocated for various programs. By breaking the overall target of $ 25 billion into intermediate yearly targets will also help the industry in monitoring its own progress. Only timely government decisions will make this policy meaningful and any delay in framework formulation will make this policy ineffective.

Textile Policy 2009-14 is certainly a welcome initiative taken by the government. This policy seeks to revive the ailing textile sector through some key immediate measures and sets a vision for transforming the present textile industry into a new era. The policy looks at the industry from almost every perspective and identifies key areas where investment can bring about fruitful results.

Now that the policy has been unveiled, hard work follows. The government now needs to set its priorities and bring about a framework which will give practical meaning to this policy. Needless to say that this framework should be formulated ASAP, keeping in view that it should be transparent, works fast and should be meaningful to the industry.

By presenting this policy, the government has also recognized that only textile sector can be an engine for rapid growth for Pakistan's economy. If this policy is properly implemented and if due market access is provided, Pakistan's textile industry certainly has the capacity to bring about rapid progress and prosperity which may not be limited to industrial areas only and which may easily spill into the remote areas where progress is really needed.

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=76139

Pakistan: “Schools out” for legislators

ISLAMABAD, Aug 5: The federal cabinet decided on Wednesday to do away with the condition of bachelor’s degree for candidates for the Senate and the national and provincial assemblies, in line with the Supreme Court judgment of April 21 last year. Briefing reporters after a cabinet meeting, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said Pakistan was the only country to have such a condition in a democratic dispensation. (Dawn news)

Now why do legislators need education in Pakistan, as it is certainly an exercise of futility for them and when this exercise spans atleast 14 years, it would certainly seems like a life imprisonment for them. Why would they need education when they can surely confirm parliament seats for their next generations by having this law done away? Do they need to be taught manners which education teaches us? They certainly don’t need it. Why would they need education when their entire world revolves around their huge mansion, their shiny SUV’s and their endless police escorts? Why would their children need education when they are surely to follow in their fathers’ footsteps? What good does education brings when they only have to nod at their party bosses? What good would it do to a legislator by reading this article? We ordinary Pakistanis need ask this first from ourselves and then from our esteemed legislators.

What a great rationale has been given by our Information Minister that as the whole world doesn’t have that condition, therefore Pakistan should follow suit. Do I need to remind the honorable minister that our literacy rate is one of the poorest in the world and by throwing away this a law he is spelling doom for our country? Would he even care about that?

If the same rationale is followed then why do we need education afterall? Why do we need to throw away 20 odd years of life after this exercise in futility? If I can become a legislator without having one why can’t I become a doctor or a lawyer without it?

Maybe we need more of such legislators who first hailed the enforcement of Sharia in Swat and within one week turned around and applauded the army operation. Maybe we need more of same kind who termed killing and burial of women in Balochistan as their ‘custom’. Maybe it would do good for all of us if we just let Taliban blowup all the schools allover Pakistan?

Maybe I should immediately take my child off his school and enlist him in a political party as he certainly don’t need the bloody education and I certainly don’t have the spare money to go through his laborious exercise in futility which in the end would do him no good.

Pakistani Textiles: Condition Red!

The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) recently released the export figures for the month of May. These numbers paint a very grim picture for the largest industrial and employment generating sector of Pakistan and for the economy as a whole.

For the 11 months of the current fiscal year (Jul-May 2009), the textile sectors’ exports decreased by US$ 931 million, a fall of 9.6% compared to the same period last year. Almost all the sub-sectors are in red now especially the made-up sectors i.e. the bedlinen and the garments, which declined by US$ 184 million (10%) and US$ 331 million (11%) respectively. Only two sub-sectors i.e. towels and raw cotton, are showing a marginal increase. Towel exports increased by US$ 16 million (3%) while raw cotton exports surged by US$ 18 million (28%) during the 11 months of current fiscal year. It is worthwhile to mention here that increase in export of raw cotton is not a matter to rejoice because raw cotton is a commodity which sells very cheap and saps the down-stream value-added industry of valuable raw material.

Implications of the above figures can be felt far and wide in our economy. Couple of months back there was an article in the largest English daily which claimed that more than 300 textiles units have so far been closed rendering more than 700,000 people unemployed. But as there are no updated official figures on employment the figures would actually be much higher than what is claimed.

It is really alarming to know that despite this grim picture, the government has yet take single step to stem the faltering textile sector or the economy. The anticipated trade and textile policies are yet to be unveiled despite news that it is being given final touches for the past couple of months now. In any case, seeing the performance of this government in the past year, it can be claimed with certainty that these policies will not contain anything radical and so we should not be too optimistic. The ineffectiveness of this government can be gauged from the fact that the only demand put forward by the industry was a duty-free import status from USA and EU considering the tight financial conditions in Pakistan, even this demand has not been taken up properly despite Pakistan being a key ally in war against terror.

Only the government alone is not to be blamed for this whole scenario and the industry should be criticized here also. The industry is still running without any sense of direction or vision despite Pakistan being a cotton rich country. The industry has only managed survived on subsidies and doles handed down by the successive governments in the past. The industry has concentrated on taking only without giving anything back to Pakistan.

Pakistan: A Secular State??

My God, you maybe thinking, this guy has really lost it now, what does he wants? What nonsense he keeps on writing? First he was teaching us about our Islam, and then he was spreading rubbish about beards and now, this? This is too much, you must be saying, this guy is a public nuisance and ought to be locked up pronto before our children read this. Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and he is now claiming it as a secular state? Blasphemy, you may shout out aloud, who the hell he thinks he is? Amrikan agent, saala!

This is indeed an alien idea to many of us but the point of writing the above paragraph is that I know what people think about this subject and no doubt many will find it outright appalling but, yes, I will write about it and shall try to give my arguments as to what we stand to lose if we do consider Pakistan as a secular state for arguments’ sake. And no, I am not an American agent as I feel brother Hussain Obama’s recession right in my pocket and the traffic on my blog suggests that I have yet to make a single cent for what I have written. So now we can get down to business.

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State…. You will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”

[Aug 11, 1947, Quaid-e-Azam M. A.Jinnah’s address to the First Constituent Assembly]

Oh well, so the great Quaid said this, so what? Can’t he be wrong for once? Was he not a lawyer and a politician first? Maybe he was just playing to the masses; you have a right to think that. But let’s go through the various arguments given against Pakistan being a secular state.

Pakistan was created in the name of Allah as a separate nation for the Muslims, is one of the point that is often raised. By declaring Pakistan secular (Naouzobillah) will lead to nudity and obscenity in the streets as it will drive our children away from Islam, is yet another argument. This will halt propagation of Islam in the world, as Muslims it is our primary duty to spread Islam in the four corners of the world, is often said. There may be hundreds of other arguments but just to keep this essay short and readable, I will try to give my point of view.

Yes indeed, Pakistan was created to safeguard the rights of Muslims in the subcontinent but we must also realize the Muslims were coexisting with all other religions in united India for centuries but did this coexistence made our forefathers lose the faith in Islam? We should also remember that Mr. Jinnah started the Pakistan movement only after he realized that the rights of a Muslims minority in India will be at stake in the face of growing Hindu nationalism in a united India and soon after the creation of Pakistan he gave the speech in the assembly. Otherwise he could have simply told the minorities in Pakistan to leave. We should also consider that by claiming Pakistan as an Islamic state are we not taking away the rights of so many minorities living in our country and giving the same message which the Hindus gave us before creation of Pakistan? We should know that Pakistan was indeed a liberal country till Zia’s regime. Lastly, we should consider our religion is not so weak that it will not stand the test of time.

Young generation will lose their way if we allow the virus of secularism into our ranks, is a very weak argument. Unfortunately, our generation has been trumpeting our version of Islam for so long now and has this propaganda made us any better a society? I have a serious doubt. Instead, we should put some trust our younger generation as I see in them better humans and better Muslims than us. Morality is already at its lowest, I think, can it go down any further?

By showing a gun trotting and a myopic version of Islam has not helped our cause to propagate Islam in the west. We have made enemies rather than friends this way, should we not consider revising our strategy and show a more humane approach? Would we not inspire others if we show our society to be better?

Again, I quote the great Mr. Jinnah to end my lengthy essay:

"Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic state to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims-Hindus, Christians and Parsis – but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan."
[Feb. 1948, Quaid-e-Azam M. A. Jinnah’s broadcast address to the people of the United States of America]

Indeed, we the Muslims of Pakistan, have a lot of soul searching to do to separate facts from fiction. May Allah have mercy on our souls.

Sanctity of Beard

It pains me when I see very respectable Muslim brothers with long flowing beards, park their huge shining SUV’s right in the middle of the road because they are in a hurry to offer Juma prayers. It pains me when I see such people breaking traffic signals in Ramazan because they are in a hurry to break fast or in a rush to offer Maghrib prayers. I feel pained when I see a noble looking man with a great white beard breaking a queue so that he can be the first one in line. I see respectable man sporting a beard sending his son to Iqra School to become a Hafiz, yet he never had the time to read the Quran. I see another endorsing potato chips as halal and asking four million rupees, three shalwar suits and a pair of shoes for the ad (that’s what someone from the ad agency told me). I can go on and on here as the list is very long but I see………hypocrisy!

Big deal, you may say, we are Pakistanis and that makes us natural hypocrites but why is my anger specifically directed towards men with beards? Now that, is a very valid question and I will try to explain.

It is indeed very unfortunate that a very ‘weak’ Muslim like me needs to explain this but do these people realize that when they decide to keep a beard they are representing something sacred? Do these people know that by keeping a beard they are under obligation to God that their words and actions which should be inline with the teachings of Islam? Do they forget their obligation to humanity is first and foremost? Does their Islam absolve them of their duties to their society? Are they setting an example for other to follow?

So why can’t a “good Muslim” be a “good person” first, I ask? Unfortunately, Muslim scholars, thinkers and philosophers over the ages have only stressed upon our obligations to Allah while understating or altogether neglecting obligations to humanity. Only a few reformers like Abdus Sattar Edhi and Dr. Zakir Naik really stress that in order to be a good Muslim one has to be a good human first. As usual, these thinkers have often been labeled as non-believers by “enlightened ones”, for speaking something unconventional.

Do we really need some divine signal to make us realize that parking cars properly should also be considered as a Sawab? Or, that patience is virtue cherished by Islam? Or, that by stopping on a red light we are following yet another teaching of Islam; discipline?

Lets not embarrass ourselves anymore……lets think !!!!

Help the people of Swat

The silent majority who called for decisive action against the Taliban now must realize that they now have the responsibility to help all those who fled the fighting and are now living in desperate conditions in different refugee camps.

By helping generously through cash and kind we must show our solidarity to our brothers and sisters from Swat , Dir and Buner. We should not let these people think that all their sacrifice has gone in vain.

As in the past, the governments support to these deportees will either come very late or may not come at all, therefore, the civil society and the NGO’s must do all they can from their own initiative.

Also, the civil pressure on authorities should be continued till Pakistan Army finishes what it has set out to do. We must show our support to our army for taking on these savages.

Policy making at a snail’s pace

Dawn: Monday, 04 May, 2009

WE, the stakeholders of Pakistans textile industry, are amazed by the inactivity shown in the policymaking process. We have been told several times that the eagerly-awaited textile policy is now ready but it will be announced some time in June, as it is being given ‘final touches’.

We have been pointing out that textiles exporters were facing difficulties for a couple of years now, and textile exports were showing a downward trend even before July 2008.

Now a recent news report emphasises that about 700,000 jobs have been lost and more than 300 textile units have been closed over the past two years. The report also pointed out that some local industrialists are shifting their units to China due to numerous tax incentives and superior access to world markets.

It may be pointed out here that China has increased rebates on exports of textile products several times since August 2008 due to the global financial crisis. The Chinese government is also providing free land for creating factory premises and there is no condition of paying income tax by the investors.

Now as global recession is starting to bottom out and major retailers rebuild their stocks, China’s textile exports surged 82 per cent in March from February, according to Chinas National Development and Reform Commission.

Beijing has also stockpiled a huge inventory of domestic cotton and has benefited from low prices of cotton in the international market. Experts also point out that 83 per cent of Chinas huge trade surplus since 2001 is entirely contributed by its textile industry.

India, on the other hand, has also announced several incentive packages, including increased subsidies, interest rate cuts, moratorium on repayment of term loans and several other incentives. It is now looking for exploring alternative markets like Japan, South Africa and Latin America to counter demand contraction in key export markets like the US and Europe.

The situation for Pakistans textile industry is very unique indeed. On the one hand, we are hit by job cuts and mill closures because of lack of export orders and, on the other hand, the price of raw cotton has jumped by about 33 per cent since December 2008, thus making the upstream value-added sectors totally uncompetitive.

The government inaction in the current situation can be gauged from the fact that the pending research and development claims, since June 2008, have still not been fully settled despite repeated assurances from the authorities.

It is indeed very inspiring to see countries several times our size acting in tandem with market conditions and macro-managing their economies effectively while our policymakers take years to give final touches to their policies.

We must realise that economies shine not because of their sheer size; they shine because of a constant check on their pulse and by policymakers’ quick economic management decisions.

Misconceptions about Pakistan’s textile industry

I would like to highlight several misconceptions on Pakistan’s textile industry through this letter. Many times I come across well educated gentlemen who point out that textile industry is always asking for concessions and is a burden on our economy. This view is totally incorrect. Our textile industry is a major foreign revenue earner, largest employment generator and the highest tax payer segment in our economy. It is the only manufacturing sector that makes the country proud by introducing its products to leading companies all around the world.

It is true indeed that the industry does asks for certain concessions from time to time but the fact of the matter is that textiles is a labor intensive sector and wherever in the world there is textile industry it is always always protected directly or indirectly because its employment generating nature. The idea behind free trade is to concentrate industries where they have natural advantage thus making products economical for all but unfortunately our successive governments have been going against this theory and have tried and failed repeatedly to make other industries parallel to textiles. Although it is very important for Pakistan to diversity its product base but to do this on the cost of an industry which has a natural advantage makes no sense.

I am sure that all stakeholders would agree with me when I say that textile industry is ready to play its role in the economic uplift of the country in this dire time of need. All we want is to get GSP+ facility from EU and a proper FTA with USA for our products. If these two treaties are penned properly, we are more than sure that our textile exports would double to touch US$ 20 billion in next 4-5 years thus eliminating the need of begging for financial aid from anyone or putting any burden on our economy.

All we want from our government is to provide a level playing field vis-à-vis our global competitors and if this is provided we are sure that the textile industry will lead Pakistan out of these dark times.

Taliban Exploit Class Rifts to Gain Ground in Pakistan

I could not agree more with Jane Perlez and Pir Zubair Shah’s article published on April 16, 2009, as I had came to the same conclusion after reading the complete text of ‘Nizam-e-Adl regulation 2009’ which seems like a well thought-off scheme by the Taliban to hit a soft spot on public’s imagination i.e., to provide swift justice to masses. Pakistan’s civil society in general and the judiciary in particular should take notice that the onus of this regulation is on a simple fact that justice has been delayed too long. I sincerely hope that Pakistan’s judiciary should read between the lines of this regulation and realize that there is a strong need for judicial reforms otherwise the Taliban’s scheme of playing to the masses will definitely take hold once public realizes that the Qazi courts are disposing cases much faster than our conventional judicial system.

The politicians, especially the provincial government of NWFP, who came to power on a secular vote, are first to be blamed for this. All the major political parties, except one, have been completely myopic as they have no idea that they have signed their own execution order. The PPP led government is only paying lip service by giving the message to the west that “if we go, you go”, while trying to get support from the ignorant masses for what it has done. The main opposition party, PML-N has their own agenda which, in my humble opinion, would be unknown even to them. The army has been stretched to its limits because of tension with India and the ongoing fighting in FATA. Impression is given from the media that general public is content with the fact that peace will come to their doors through this deal. The ‘silent middle class’ remains confused and silent as ever. Only a few are speaking out against this and they may also be deemed ‘infidels’ by these militants.

While the west, especially Americans are constantly urging us to “do more”, yet they are unwilling to open their market for a country which has barely a total of US$ 20 billion in exports.
As a thinking Muslim, I do not agree with Taliban’s philosophy. I am not prepared to be taught Islam by some illiterate militant and fearing the worst for my children, I have decided to take up the only weapon I know how to use; my pen or rather my keyboard !