Daily Times - VIEW: The execution of an ISI agent –Ishtiaq Ahmed
It must be an embarrassment for SAARC that recently conferred an award on Hamid Mir for conscientious journalism. That the same individual networks with two of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organisations in the world is an interesting case of duplicity
A controversy is raging in Pakistan these days over the events that led to the execution on April 30, 2010 of a former ISI agent, Khalid Khawaja by a hitherto unknown group called the Asian Tigers. He was found dead in Miranshah, North Waziristan on April 30, 2010 — a month after being kidnapped by the Asian Tigers. He had gone there along with the legendary Colonel Imam (Sultan Amir Tarar) and a Pakistani-origin UK journalist Saad Qureshi who was making a documentary on the life of Colonel Imam. Khalid Khawaja’s body was found riddled with bullets. A written note left by the executioners stated that such was the fate of all agents of the US. Khalid Khawaja was a squadron leader in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) before he changed career to become an ISI officer. He was very close to Osama bin Laden. Apparently he was dismissed from the ISI for his outspoken views on jihad and in support of al Qaeda.
Some years ago, I saw him on an international television network, telling the interviewer something like this: ‘You value life, we consider worldly existence a transition so how can you fight with us?’ These were probably not the exact words he used but the message he wanted to convey was precisely what I have said: to deride the secularised western world’s emphasis on the importance of life on this earth while Khalid Khawaja claimed that he subscribed to a weltanschauung that valued life after death. He was of course presenting the jihadist point of view, which has in recent years produced hundreds of suicide bombers who while destroying thousands of lives have themselves put an end to theirs in the hope of milk and honey and doe-eyed damsels awaiting them.
On that occasion I could not help noticing the irony in Khalid Khawaja’s derision of life on earth: he had himself succeeded in growing middle-aged and some white hair in his beard could also be seen. He had not volunteered to become a suicide bomber, but had probably been very successful and satisfied in snuffing out the lives of many others. Now of course he has been executed by some group who found him to have been a CIA agent, a Qadiyani and all that. His wife, however, claims that he is a shaheed (martyr) and therefore already in paradise. I find all such arguments arbitrary and meaningless.
What is at stake is the fundamental question: should one not value life on this earth and give every person an opportunity to live his life in as fulfilling a manner as possible? It is possible that there is some existence even after death but I do not know of any culture where taking life is celebrated. So, the comparison between those who value life and those who value an existence after death is fundamentally a flawed one because of the ‘two states of being’, only one is confirmed and in all cultures when someone dies those who love or care for that person are struck with grief. Khalid Khawaja’s son Osama Khalid has decided to go to court to find out who was responsible for the execution of his father. That is a perfectly understandable response of a son devastated by the death of his father. Nobody would give him the love and affection that his father could. That is why I believe Khalid Khawaja was incontrovertibly in error for making fun of those who value life.
The second question is: who released the tape that shows Hamid Mir allegedly telling a Taliban — most certainly a Punjabi because of the accent — that Khalid Khawaja was an American agent and a Qadiyani? There is little doubt in my mind that the tape is genuine. Hamid Mir is known for his links with the Taliban and al Qaeda. His attempts to deny that he had said all that the people hear him say, makes him appear pathetic.
However, there must be someone willing to betray Hamid Mir, and the question is why? Is it because recently Hamid Mir made some very uncharacteristic statements condemning the genocide in Bangladesh, and that may have earned him the ire of those who think what we did in Bangladesh was justified and therefore Hamid Mir should have kept his mouth shut? Perhaps like Khalid Khawaja even Hamid Mir has become a liability and is therefore expendable.
It would be good if Hamid Mir’s alleged complicity in the murder of Khalid Khawaja is properly investigated. It must be an embarrassment for SAARC that recently conferred an award on Hamid Mir for conscientious journalism. That the same individual networks with two of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organisations in the world — al Qaeda and the Taliban — is an interesting case of duplicity.
Some years ago, I met a young man at a party in Lahore who turned out to be the son of a hero of the 1965 War. I felt obliged to say some words of praise for his father. That brought a smile to the young man’s face. As soon as I moved into another circle at the party, somebody who had overheard me commented with the usual Punjabi flare for abuse that the fellow I was being so nice to was involved in bringing nuclear waste from the West and dumping it in Pakistan. If true, that for me was the most unpatriotic thing to do and the fact that the son of a war hero was making quick bucks out of it showed that we as a nation are for sale or rent rather easily.
When did all this start happening? It is impossible to put a date on it. All I know is that unlike India where a freedom struggle went on for a long time before freedom was granted, we got Pakistan because the British believed Pakistan would be the more reliable ally willing to provide the bases needed to patrol the Persian Gulf and to contain the Soviet Union. All this started some years before we gained independence. That of course was not the jazba (feelings) of the masses who believed that Pakistan will be their liberation from want and hunger.
Ishtiaq Ahmed is a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and the South Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore. He is also Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University. He has published extensively on South Asian politics. At ISAS, he is currently working on a book, Is Pakistan a Garrison State? He can be reached at isasia@nus.edu.sg
It must be an embarrassment for SAARC that recently conferred an award on Hamid Mir for conscientious journalism. That the same individual networks with two of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organisations in the world is an interesting case of duplicity
A controversy is raging in Pakistan these days over the events that led to the execution on April 30, 2010 of a former ISI agent, Khalid Khawaja by a hitherto unknown group called the Asian Tigers. He was found dead in Miranshah, North Waziristan on April 30, 2010 — a month after being kidnapped by the Asian Tigers. He had gone there along with the legendary Colonel Imam (Sultan Amir Tarar) and a Pakistani-origin UK journalist Saad Qureshi who was making a documentary on the life of Colonel Imam. Khalid Khawaja’s body was found riddled with bullets. A written note left by the executioners stated that such was the fate of all agents of the US. Khalid Khawaja was a squadron leader in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) before he changed career to become an ISI officer. He was very close to Osama bin Laden. Apparently he was dismissed from the ISI for his outspoken views on jihad and in support of al Qaeda.
Some years ago, I saw him on an international television network, telling the interviewer something like this: ‘You value life, we consider worldly existence a transition so how can you fight with us?’ These were probably not the exact words he used but the message he wanted to convey was precisely what I have said: to deride the secularised western world’s emphasis on the importance of life on this earth while Khalid Khawaja claimed that he subscribed to a weltanschauung that valued life after death. He was of course presenting the jihadist point of view, which has in recent years produced hundreds of suicide bombers who while destroying thousands of lives have themselves put an end to theirs in the hope of milk and honey and doe-eyed damsels awaiting them.
On that occasion I could not help noticing the irony in Khalid Khawaja’s derision of life on earth: he had himself succeeded in growing middle-aged and some white hair in his beard could also be seen. He had not volunteered to become a suicide bomber, but had probably been very successful and satisfied in snuffing out the lives of many others. Now of course he has been executed by some group who found him to have been a CIA agent, a Qadiyani and all that. His wife, however, claims that he is a shaheed (martyr) and therefore already in paradise. I find all such arguments arbitrary and meaningless.
What is at stake is the fundamental question: should one not value life on this earth and give every person an opportunity to live his life in as fulfilling a manner as possible? It is possible that there is some existence even after death but I do not know of any culture where taking life is celebrated. So, the comparison between those who value life and those who value an existence after death is fundamentally a flawed one because of the ‘two states of being’, only one is confirmed and in all cultures when someone dies those who love or care for that person are struck with grief. Khalid Khawaja’s son Osama Khalid has decided to go to court to find out who was responsible for the execution of his father. That is a perfectly understandable response of a son devastated by the death of his father. Nobody would give him the love and affection that his father could. That is why I believe Khalid Khawaja was incontrovertibly in error for making fun of those who value life.
The second question is: who released the tape that shows Hamid Mir allegedly telling a Taliban — most certainly a Punjabi because of the accent — that Khalid Khawaja was an American agent and a Qadiyani? There is little doubt in my mind that the tape is genuine. Hamid Mir is known for his links with the Taliban and al Qaeda. His attempts to deny that he had said all that the people hear him say, makes him appear pathetic.
However, there must be someone willing to betray Hamid Mir, and the question is why? Is it because recently Hamid Mir made some very uncharacteristic statements condemning the genocide in Bangladesh, and that may have earned him the ire of those who think what we did in Bangladesh was justified and therefore Hamid Mir should have kept his mouth shut? Perhaps like Khalid Khawaja even Hamid Mir has become a liability and is therefore expendable.
It would be good if Hamid Mir’s alleged complicity in the murder of Khalid Khawaja is properly investigated. It must be an embarrassment for SAARC that recently conferred an award on Hamid Mir for conscientious journalism. That the same individual networks with two of the most bloodthirsty terrorist organisations in the world — al Qaeda and the Taliban — is an interesting case of duplicity.
Some years ago, I met a young man at a party in Lahore who turned out to be the son of a hero of the 1965 War. I felt obliged to say some words of praise for his father. That brought a smile to the young man’s face. As soon as I moved into another circle at the party, somebody who had overheard me commented with the usual Punjabi flare for abuse that the fellow I was being so nice to was involved in bringing nuclear waste from the West and dumping it in Pakistan. If true, that for me was the most unpatriotic thing to do and the fact that the son of a war hero was making quick bucks out of it showed that we as a nation are for sale or rent rather easily.
When did all this start happening? It is impossible to put a date on it. All I know is that unlike India where a freedom struggle went on for a long time before freedom was granted, we got Pakistan because the British believed Pakistan would be the more reliable ally willing to provide the bases needed to patrol the Persian Gulf and to contain the Soviet Union. All this started some years before we gained independence. That of course was not the jazba (feelings) of the masses who believed that Pakistan will be their liberation from want and hunger.
Ishtiaq Ahmed is a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) and the South Asian Studies Programme at the National University of Singapore. He is also Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University. He has published extensively on South Asian politics. At ISAS, he is currently working on a book, Is Pakistan a Garrison State? He can be reached at isasia@nus.edu.sg
