The PML-N finally faces the moment of truth for nurturing the banned sectarian terrorist outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In Monday's parliamentary debate on Shia massacres in Quetta and Karachi, all fingers were pointed at the party legislators, who could offer little defence except to deny allegations of an electoral deal with the LJ, and accuse the Interior Minister of adopting an irresponsible attitude.
Q League's Waqas Akram cited first-hand experience to prove a connection between the Punjab government and LJ, narrating "a small but shameful act" on the part of the government/police in his Jhang hometown where he was prevented from getting removed an objectionable picture and flags of the proscribed sectarian organisation. "If you can't remove a flag and one picture from a board, you can't fight a war against terrorism," he said. Indeed, not.
The Nawaz League has been fraternising with these elements for a long time, even including them in a previous pre-'99 Punjab cabinet. The party though is not alone to blame. Notably, General Musharraf, a self-styled promoter of 'enlightened moderation', also used sectarian leaders for his purposes. During the 2002 elections, he put several restrictions on political parties' candidates. And yet he allowed the then Sipah-e-Sahaba chief Azam Tariq (assassinated later), then in prison for alleged involvement in terrorism cases, not only to stand in the election and win a National Assembly seat, he also sought that man's vote for the election of Mir Zafarullah Jamali as prime minister. There is evidence of the PPP reaching out, too, to sectarian leaders to improve its electoral fortunes in Punjab.
A few days ago, the ISPR spokesperson said that "there is no reason to think about Army's involvement with LJ... There is no way the Army can afford this." He felt it necessary to offer the explanation, apparently, because of some recent press reports which pointed to such 'involvement'. According to one report, the Army sought the intervention of LJ chief, Malik Ishaque, for negotiations with perpetrators of 2008 attack on the GHQ. Another more glaring is the case of LJ operational commander in Quetta, Usman Saifullah Kurd, who was detained in a high security military facility and still managed to escape. Which gives rise to the suspicion that the powers-that-be have been casting a blind eye to the sectarian agenda of these violent men as long as they could serve some other purposes.
Kurd, as the name suggests, is not from Punjab but Balochistan, where a PPP-led government ruled until the Alamdar Road massacre. Clearly, it did nothing to do its own duty of protecting the lives of the Hazaras. A few days ago, while lashing out at Punjab and saying that the central headquarter of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is in Punjab, Interior Minister Rehman Malik added that "their sub-headquarters are in Karachi." He also indirectly acknowledged the presence of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba in Karachi as he claimed arresting a number of terrorists belonging to these sectarian organisations. In other words, sectarian terrorists are present everywhere and can strike with or without Punjab government acting against them.
These violent sectarian outfits are not the outcome of an organic development; they are a product of Zia military dictatorship's conscious decision to lend mercenary services to the Gulf kingdoms in their power games for regional influence. They focused their attention on setting up seminaries in Punjab where young minds were indoctrinated with sectarian hatreds focused on Iran. Their first victim was the Iranian consul general in Lahore. Loads of petrodollars have gone into this destructive endeavour, turning sectarian seminaries into a hugely profitable business. To quote just one example, verifiable from WikiLeaks, some 100 million dollars are sent annually from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Deobandi and Ahl-e-Hadith clerics in south Punjab alone. Little wonder then if south Punjab is also a Punjabi Taliban stronghold. The result is a horrific loss of 19,000 Pakistani lives. Those killed include several leaders of sectarian organisations. Yet the attraction of money is so strong that it wouldn't deter them from staying in the risky business and going on killing in the name of faith. When the Musharraf government, as part of its anti-extremism campaign, tried to institute the audit of all madrassahs accounts, it had to make a hasty retreat in the face of fierce resistance. The flow of this blood money can, and must, be stopped at the source.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday Rehman Malik said, "people ask 'is Lashkar-e-Jhangvi a monster or a superpower against which we could do nothing?'" He, of course, was trying to hurl a taunt at the Punjab government. But in truth, it has grown into a huge monster which cannot be overpowered easily. It requires a joint effort. Even if it tries hard enough, the Nawaz League cannot do it on its own nor can the People's Party, or whosoever wins the upcoming election. As for the police and civilian agencies, they lack both the ability and the motivation to act in the absence of a political will. Following last month's carnage in Quetta, Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi, while expressing disappointment at civilian agencies' failure to prevent the second attack, said that "the [intelligence] agents are either too scared to go after the terror mongers or too clueless to even know who they are dealing with." Everyone knows who they are. It is hardly surprising if the civilian agencies are scared considering that the governments in his own province, Punjab and Sindh are yet to show a strong resolve to go after people like Kurd who, evidence suggests, has had contacts with the powers-that-be.
The police and intelligence people will act decisively if they know they have the backing of the political leadership and the support of the Army and its various intelligence agencies. Instead of pointing fingers at one another, all must join hands to crush the demon of violent extremism. Political parties need not wait until the next government is formed. They must take a decision now, letting the caretakers to continue the operations till a new elected government takes over.
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