Attack on Ahmadis ´ a reminder of the religious violence in Pakistan:
On May 28th, terrorists attached two Ahmadi community mosques in Lahore, Pakistan second largest city, and ended up mowing down nearly a 100 Ahmedis, members of a sect that was officially declared to be non-Muslim in the mid 1970s. Religious leaders in Pakistan accuse Ahmadis of defying Islam basic tenet that Muhammad is the final prophet. Ahmadis argue that their leader was the savior rather than a prophet. While this endless debate continues inside Pakistan, it took an ugly turn on May 28th that shook up the whole nation. The gun battle, which lasted several hours, reminded the people of Lahore of similar attacks in 2009 on the visiting Sri Lankan Cricket team and a police training school in Munawan. It also revived memories around the country of frequent assaults on the minority Shia sect, reported to be between 15-20 percent of the population. For years, Shia Muslims have borne the brunt of suicide bombings and targeted killings at the hands of radical Sunni groups with links to Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabian, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia.
Roots and actors of the violence:
At the centre of the current frenzy are Sunni outfits such as Lashkare Jhangvi, Sipahe Sahaba Pakistan, Jaishe Mohammad, and Lashkare Taiba. They simply outnumber the ranks of the Shia militant groups – Tehrike Jafria Pakistan and Siphahe Mohammad. Additionally these groups serve as a cover for organized crime and have been found involved in many bank robberies across the country. These groups have been battling each other for decades, as foot soldiers in the vicious proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran that began in the immediate aftermath of the Iranian revolution in January 1979. Concerned that Iran revolutionary message would inspire Shias and weaken Sunni dominance, the Saudis, whose Wahabi brand of Islam is virulently anti-Shia, funded and equipped Sunni militias tasked with intimidating and eliminating prominent Shias.
The Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in December of 1979 extended the theatre of Saudi-Iranian interests to Afghanistan, and provided Pakistan military ruler, General Ziaul Haq, with a golden opportunity to secure international legitimacy for his illegal rule (he deposed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and seized power in a coup in July 1977). With active support from the CIA and the Saudi intelligence, Zia not only turned Pakistan into the launching pad for the anti-Russian jihad in Afghanistan, he also tasked his security establishment with finding ways to turn the tide of Jihad on India for the liberation of Kashmir. What logically emerged from this policy were organizations such as Harkatul Mujahideen, Al-Badr, Hezbul Mujahideen, Jaishe Mohammad, and Lashkare Taiba, to name a few. All were supposed to bleed India, and thus weaken its hold over the disputed region, two-thirds of which is under New Delhi control. But while these radical organizations played as Pakistan unofficial pawns, and were often trained and funded by Pakistani intelligence, they became a source of religious radicalization, particularly in rural Pakistan, where they went to recruit young men to join the struggle.
Musharraf loose guard damaged Pakistan:
Following President George W. Bush declaration of a ¿war on terror– in September 2001, and his insistence that Pakistan must pick a side, the country latest military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, the ‘failed hero’ of Kargil and now an absconder from the Pakistani courts, a bold army-led attack on Indian-occupied Kashmir, changed gear. He banned most of these organizations in January 2002 to appease both Washington and India. The half-hearted ban did little to contain the damage; in fact, it probably accelerated it as the rank and file of these rabidly anti-Shia organizations, mostly headquartered in Southern Punjab, found a home in the loosely governed tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, known as FATA, which Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban had chosen as their new home following their retreat from Afghanistan in December. Dozens of Pakistani tribesmen with a history of fighting in Afghanistan joined the Taliban in solidarity, and eventually formed their own movement, Tehrike Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, founded in December 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud and currently led by Hakimullah Mehsud.
As a consequence al Qaeda, on the run from US forces in Afghanistan, and militants from southern Punjab, on the run following Musharraf ban, found hosts and facilitators in FATA, a semi-autonomous region spread over roughly 27,000 square kilometers that is not under the jurisdiction of Pakistan constitution. The unintended consequence of Musharraf ban was to turn FATA into an un-policed melting pot of violent Islamists of various shades.
The militant-army clash:
The turning point for the Pakistan army came in 2004, when, after a military-militant showdown in South Waziristan, extremists operating in FATA began attacking the military and its information network. First came the target killings, a technique that had proved to be so effective in Iraq and it was followed by attacks on army convoys. Pakistan security establishment was slow to come around, but gradually General Kayani, who was then head of the ISI and is now Pakistan chief of army staff, overhauled the ISI, putting some officers out to pasture and transferring others. The Pakistan army advance in to South Waziristan in October of last year invited an al Qaeda-led reaction, forcing local and foreign militants out in mainland Pakistan. In 2009 militants staged 87 suicide bombings across Pakistan, killing over 3000 people, to avenge deaths and capture of fellow fighters. (To put this in perspective, until 2002 Pakistan had only suffered one single suicide attack, on the Egyptian embassy). Most of the violence had a direct or indirect connection to North and South Waziristan, which border Afghanistan most volatile eastern provinces of Paktia, Khost, Paktika, and Helman. One of the most wanted Afghan insurgents, Jalaluddin Haqqani, and his son Siraj operate in and around the Waziristan.
The nightmare of Pakistani Taliban to continue:
The failed attack on Time Square has brought this sordid state of affairs to the attention of Americans. The Pakistani Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, is a ferocious group that has been terrorizing Pakistanis since its inception, with weekly attacks in major cities. The nexus between jihadists based in Waziristan – inspired by al Qaeda and mentored by Haqqani and the Pakistani Taliban – and militants from outside the regions today extends beyond the physical boundaries of Pakistan tribal areas and draws foot-soldiers from all over the world. While the militants operating in the Pakistan-Afghan border regions may number a few thousand, their creeping ideological appeal represents the biggest threat not only to Pakistan but to all countries targeted by jihadis, and perhaps most of all to America.
The fear in the region would continue as the American presence in Pakistan next door Afghanistan carries on with its old policies to tackle the terror on ground. Many terms in the policy documents have been changed but the big question remains if the policy is shifted or not?
Even if the Pakistani Army starts its operation in the North Waziristan, the battle against terrorists and extremists is far from over!