Jaag Punjabi jaag

[Hyde]

Jaag Punjabi jaag​

By Aamer Ahmed Khan
July 03, 2010

It was a priceless line, coming from one of the most powerful politicians in the Punjab. Speaking to BBC’s ‘Newshour’ in the aftermath of Data Darbar’s bombing, Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif said he thinks the term Punjabi Taliban is: “an insult to the Punjabis, because we never say Pukhtun Taliban, Sindhi Taliban or Baloch Taliban.” He went on to say that it was a term coined by Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik and that he condemned him for it.

Does he really believe that? Can you really believe that he actually thinks this? His statement brought back an odd memory from a couple of years ago. It was a private conversation so I cannot name the lady, who is a close personal friend of Shahbaz Sharif. “Aamer”, she said, “I cannot really understand people who think Shahbaz Sharif is an ordinary person. He comes from an extremely conservative, deeply religious background and is heir to a financial and political empire. Yet, at the risk of losing all that, he took on his entire family to marry a woman who is the most controversial female author in the country’s history. You think any ordinary man can do that?” I did not disagree with her and murmured something to the effect that I am keen to see his personal radicalism creep into his political life. But his statement about Punjabi Taliban is evidence that we are unlikely to see that happen. Admittedly, Mr Sharif carries a heavy burden dating back to his party’s birth. The Muslim League that he heads today sprang from the womb of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, an amalgam of several religious groupings and secular political non-entities that were all ideologically dominated by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI).

The original political base that his party commanded in its battles against Benazir Bhutto’s PPP rested mostly in the conservative trading and merchant class, transporters, petty bureaucracy and a conservative urban financial elite spawned by General Zia’s long, dark years.

Many believe that had it not been for the former JI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed’s infatuation with turning it into a people-based populist party, the Jamaat would still have been holding the Muslim League’s ideological reins. The Muslim League’s organic link to religious conservatism may have weakened after the death of Mian Sharif, more popularly known as ‘Abbaji’. But it is proving to be a stubbornly tough umbilical cord to sever.

A clean break in this umbilical connection is exactly what the country needs to break free. It is important because Punjab matters. It may be unpalatable for the smaller provinces, but Punjab alone has the numbers and the political power to stand up to radical Islam. And until something really dramatic happens, the Sharifs alone can fire up the province to say no to uncounted mass murderers or mini-Osamas running amok.

When the Sharifs returned to power in 1997 with their legendary heavy mandate, many analysts and columnists flirted with the idea that they could be the vanguard of a moderately religious if not secular, urban middle-class political wave that would sweep aside sectarianism which, in the pre-9/11 world, was the major religious scourge known to Pakistan. The Taliban at the time were busy fighting for Kabul.

Of course these flirtations came to a sorry end when Nawaz Sharif started toying with the idea of becoming Amirul Muslimeen. But they were revived again when the brothers returned from exile, sworn to wresting Pakistan’s political control away from the military. Nawaz Sharif was the born-again democrat and Mr Principles. Many felt that between his new-found relationship with Benazir Bhutto, his commitment to charter of democracy and his hatred for military rulers, he, along with his brother, have finally acquired the vision to lead Pakistan out of the muck that repeated military rule had led it into.

Sadly, that vision is nowhere in sight. The Pakistani state has used radical Islam as a weapon of war for over a quarter of a century. It now needs to swing completely the other way. And that cannot happen for as long as the likes of Shahbaz Sharif continue to believe that it is Rehman Malik, and not the Punjabi Taliban, that is tearing Pakistan apart.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2010.

 

[SMC]

Punjabi Taliban has nothing to do with ethnicity for me. It's about where they are located - in Pakistan's heartland.

 

[Awesome]

Punjabi Taliban has nothing to do with ethnicity for me. It's about where they are located - in Pakistan's heartland.

Exactly. Sharifs should focus on the issue of Taliban and play less politics. Admittedly their opponents are using politics of terrorism libel to hurt their political standing, but they should do their duty as servants of the Punjabi population and fix the problem of continuous bombings.

The mean phrase of "Punjabi Taliban" is not hurting Punjab, but the monthly bombings are. Quoting Habib Jalib helped him during the long march, but it won't work every time.

 

[sparklingway]

 

[SMC]

Well he's a politician, what can one expect him to do other then just talk and play politics and never do actual work. That's exactly what he's doing ATM.

 

[Awesome]

Well he's a politician, what can one expect him to do other then just talk and play politics and never do actual work. That's exactly what he's doing ATM.

To be honest, Shahbaz Sharif has done good (or better) work than most CMs of Punjab.

But those were mostly economical/developmental challenges. Now this is different. They have a violent enemy to take down. The only way they can beat the perception that the Sharifs may be in cahoots with that enemy, is by beating the enemy.

 

[sparklingway]

Well he's a politician, what can one expect him to do other then just talk and play politics and never do actual work. That's exactly what he's doing ATM.

Don't talk about the issue, blame a specified group of people, pass an all encompassing statement --> Typical elitist urban upper middle class yammering.

No personal hard feelings, but sorry I've frankly had it with such words.

 

[Awesome]

Don't talk about the issue, blame a specified group of people, pass an all encompassing statement --> Typical elitist urban upper middle class yammering.

No personal hard feelings, but sorry I've frankly had it with such words.

He can't be let off the hook so easily. I truly believe, he is one of the few actually popular leaders in Pakistan, at least in his region.

One shouldn't ask Punjabi's to wake up. They are being slaughtered - thats enough of a wake up call.

I think with Punjab we're doing the same screw up we did with Swat. Pussy footing around the issue of operation

No op in Punjab without ?solid? proof: Gilani - Pakistan - World - The Times of India

What evidence does the PM need? There are known Taliban camps in Punjab, know extremist madrassas.

Even the Mullahs are blaming the government for being too tame with the terrorists.

‘Punjab government protecting terrorists’: Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[sparklingway]

He can't be let off the hook so easily. I truly believe, he is one of the few actually popular leaders in Pakistan, at least in his region.

I wasn't referring to the issue altogether, rather I was pissed off at the usual elitist I'm-apolitical-politics-sucks-I-hate-politics yammering that everybody seems to have in stock all the time.

One shouldn't ask Punjabi's to wake up. They are being slaughtered - thats enough of a wake up call.

Apologistic defence still continues. Case in point being "drones lead to suicide bombings", "lal masjid was done to get US praise", "swat was peaceful, US aid was needed". These are common perceptions, even amongst those who have been indirectly affected by attacks. The delusion continues.

I think with Punjab we're doing the same screw up we did with Swat. Pussy footing around the issue of operation

Punjab issue is spread across, many cities, many villages and highly scattered. We'll need a bunch of very strong, continuous and perfect intelligence to eliminate the maximum. They'll spread fast and hence it has to be quick in order to eliminate/nab the maximum at one time otherwise we'll loose track of many.

What evidence does the PM need? There are known Taliban camps in Punjab, know extremist madrassas.

There needs to be an across the board consensus before targeting people known to have been cultivated some time back. You might want to give the military a clean chit here (apologists dare I say?) but it isn't clear as to what the military brass and ISI think about the whole issue.

Even the Mullahs are blaming the government for being too tame with the terrorists.

You know that it was populists bullshit, that's all. We know this mullah crowd and they're pure hypocrites and opportunists. They're saying you're being too timid and next week they'll be crying why armed soldiers raided a madrassah even if they recovered a tank from the building. Pure populist rhetoric (like the military does manytimes )

 

[Awesome]

No official word on this, but I get the feeling the military wants or feels that it needs to go into Punjab for an operation. But politics is getting into the way.

The general perception is that large cities would be flattened during the operation. Valid or not, but this is being played up.

Anyway, the funny thing is we don't know who's call it is to finally press on with a Punjab operation. The army has remained subservient to the civilians for the most part despite some verbal spats. The PPP and PML-N are more interested in seeing how they can extract the maximum political mileage out of a bad situation.

But nonetheless there are certainly some players pushing for an operation

DAWN.COM | Front Page | Terrorists? trainers based in Punjab: Mian Iftikhar

We have informed Shahbaz Sharif about the movement of militants to Punjab and he is ready to take action against them: Mian Iftikhar Hussain.

The fact that militants would be shifting from one place to the other was well known while the Operations were being done in the west.

Operation against terrorists to be launched in Punjab

Suggesting that the military ops would probably start off in Lahore - not South Punjab. Makes sense, all the bombings occur in Lahore but the initial word was we're going after the South?

Pakistan: The crisis of Punjab | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian

Sums it up nicely:

No one in Pakistan, let alone Nawaz Sharif, who hopes one day to return to national power, can tolerate a policy of accommodating jihadis, or keep them as backroom allies in the mistaken belief that this is the best way of containing them. After the last two attacks, his brother Shahbaz cannot claim to have the situation under control in the Punjab. It is not and it needs a concerted police and intelligence operation (the army, too, needs to get off the fence) against all jihadis to settle the point of who runs the country's most populous province.

 

[sparklingway]

No official word on this, but I get the feeling the military wants or feels that it needs to go into Punjab for an operation. But politics is getting into the way.

I don't think so. Either they're being neutral here but there still is the feeling that they might give India an impression that they've cracked down on JuD, something they do not want to do (not giving a free leash either). You're giving 'em a clean chit here.

The general perception is that large cities would be flattened during the operation. Valid or not, but this is being played up.

Don't think so. All of 'em have big centres, isolated. There will be high collateral damage though. Also huge numbers are roaming across cities and freelancing which is troublesome

Anyway, the funny thing is we don't know who's call it is to finally press on with a Punjab operation. The army has remained subservient to the civilians for the most part despite some verbal spats. The PPP and PML-N are more interested in seeing how they can extract the maximum political mileage out of a bad situation.

I don't think that the first thought here is gaining political mileage but rather not committing political suicide. It's more than losing the support of SSP in Jhang and a couple of constituencies.

Armed operations are a no seller. The majority of the populace doesn't give a crap about operations in the tribal areas, but they seemed to notice the one is Swat as it was more mainstream should I say. Armed assaults on centres in South Punjab is as mainstream as it gets. People don't buy this and you might label it just as being subservient to political demands instead of national security demands but a wide ranging armed operation must be supported by public opinion.

The media is all go-for-the-operation mood now. Tomorrow when the launch it you'll be hearing round the clock interviews with people in the streets stating that it's Amrika ki saazish, every news show will have Hameed Gul, Imran Khan and Fazl ur Rehman on the lines and it will be a highly negative portrayal of the operation. You know it, I know it. They're selling a "government is not doing it's job" card here and tomorrow they'll sell the "subservient to US and extra use of force on innocents" card. However strong the media's consensus be on the war on terror, I'm a 150% sure, that the wider coverage will be negative.

Suggesting that the military ops would probably start off in Lahore - not South Punjab. Makes sense, all the bombings occur in Lahore but the initial word was we're going after the South?

Outskirts of Lahore are pretty pregnant for an operation.

Also, notice all the media and the mullah crowd is after the PML-N, especially Rana Sanaullah stating that he's the head patron. Nobody has the courage to name Sipah e Sahaba and their leaders. Nobody has the courage to name the famous militants. What a shame !

 

[SEAL]

There should be operation clean up in Karachi and South Punjab involving police and agencies.
Karachi Bhata khoors who kill 30,30 people in a single day are no different from Talibans.

 

[Spring Onion]

Shahbaz Sharif need to wake up smell the coffee and ask the federal govt to start an operation against terrorists of LeJ and others in Punjab.

Despite all the criticism of ANP by many stalwarts of Punjab, atleast the party had sided with center and had a consensus over operation against militants in Frontier .

Wake up PML-N

 

[Devil Soul]

As stated above by some one i don't think Army will get involve in Punjab, the best option is to keep an eye on these guys thru enhancing and upgrading the skills of intelligence and other security agencies. Punjab is a total different terrain compared to other areas where operation is going on.

 

[Ghareeb_Da_Baal]

Aamir Ahmed khan now writes for E.Trib? I know him pretty well but havent seen him in a while. The last time I saw him, I had to carry him to my house as he was drunk like a skunk. He is a genius but messed up quite a bit. Never heard a person disrespect the Prophet ( s.a w) like he did.

Just wanted to comment about him after reading his name on the article.