Why The Pakistani Taliban/Extremist Organizations gain support/sympathizers

[Hassan_Ishtiaq]

Please watch the video:

VBS News - Taliban in Pakistan - YouTube






















































Simple: Where the government, Army and secular parties have failed the people (which they have done on a numerous occasions), the Taliban and extremist militant organizations have taken advantage of the situations by filling in the vacuum and gaining support of the people.

 

[Last Hope]

Just a small question.

That's you, isn't it?
Then listen up, that was a poor show and work.
Next time be creative and sane.

 

[Free Soul]

Simple: Where the government, Army and secular parties have failed the people (which they have done on a numerous occasions), the Taliban and extremist militant organizations have taken advantage of the situations by filling in the vacuum and gaining support of the people.

I would agree and add that each and every one of us have failed ourselves. it’s not as simple as just army and so called secular parties are the reason for all this upheaval, they kept their eyes closed on many ghastly activities and deserve the criticism, but let’s not get distracted. I do not wish to go though all how media is putting spins on news, going for the soft targets like Army, it is so popular to bad mouth Army these days, it’s in Vogue these days.

In my opinion it’s finding excuses and justifying religious bigots, finding reasons behind thousands of people getting beheaded on camera. It fulfils their sadistic blood thirsty hunger.

Cheap general public consumption Material.

 

[Hassan_Ishtiaq]

I would agree and add that each and every one of us have failed ourselves. it’s not as simple as just army and so called secular parties are the reason for all this upheaval, they kept their eyes closed on many ghastly activities and deserve the criticism, but let’s not get distracted. I do not wish to go though all how media is putting spins on news, going for the soft targets like Army, it is so popular to bad mouth Army these days, it’s in Vogue these days.

In my opinion it’s finding excuses and justifying religious bigots, finding reasons behind thousands of people getting beheaded on camera. It fulfils their sadistic blood thirsty hunger.

Cheap general public consumption Material.

of course i'm not trying to show the so called religious factions in a good light, they are equally responsible, but my point is that the Pakistani establishment is losing the war for hearts and minds due to its incompetence and failed policy, towing the line of nato and such. How is it that Taliban is able to aid the people whom the government has let down? The masses are made to believe that india is funding and aiding the Taliban in brainwashing the tribal's into joining the Taliban cause and all of that other nonsense, when in fact this is nothing but a scapegoat to hide their own corruption and incompetence.

When floods happened in august 2010 JuD's people were one of the first ones providing food and shelter to the people who were left homeless, and today mos of the reconstruction is coming from religious factions like JuD and even Taliban, as was shown in the video.

 

[niaz]

This only part of the story. This does not really explain why many members of the middle classes including many Brits of Pakistani origin join extremist organizations.

Besides, what about the likes of Dr Afia Siddiqui. You can’t say that she came from a deprived background?

 

[Free Soul]

of course i'm not trying to show the so called religious factions in a good light, they are equally responsible, but my point is that the Pakistani establishment is losing the war for hearts and minds due to its incompetence and failed policy, towing the line of nato and such. How is it that Taliban is able to aid the people whom the government has let down? The masses are made to believe that india is funding and aiding the Taliban in brainwashing the tribal's into joining the Taliban cause and all of that other nonsense, when in fact this is nothing but a scapegoat to hide their own corruption and incompetence.

When floods happened in august 2010 JuD's people were one of the first ones providing food and shelter to the people who were left homeless, and today mos of the reconstruction is coming from religious factions like JuD and even Taliban, as was shown in the video.

I would agree with you my friend, just one thing i do not agree with is that Taliban have helped in reconstruction. No sir they have butchered innocent people, they didn’t spare local Imams of mosques, local imams were beheaded in front of stunned and zombyfied crowd of people.

I have a lot of respect for our Mainstream Political Religious Parties, i do not agree with them on everything but i would never disgrace them and their good work, by saying that Taliban have been doing good for people too.

For me Pakistani Taliban represent the lowest of the low, they don’t qualify to be called humans.

From a distance, reading papers and hearing tales people started idealizing Taliban, Arrived the Taliban thus arrived the inhuman most barbaric the filthiest treatment and practices ever.

Haroon ur Rasheed went to Swat - he tells a story of a village.

Local authorities were nonexistent, police was either murdered or ran away, 'no law' was the 'law'. The Taliban arrived in a Village they were greeted by the local Imam, they were given food. the Imam at the time of prayers stood for prayers, he and the whole jamat (praying people) were stopped, told that their prayers are incorrect and haram, the Imam was snubbed and harassed first. the so called proper way of offering prayers was shown by them animals. When the Imam saw one of those Taliban laying mines in the village and adjoining road, the Imam said you have already killed and scared the authority away from here why we need these mines in Village we have got our women and children here. No answer was given - but what wasn’t said isn’t important - what was done is!

the imam was grabbed smacked, the villagers were rounded up, and a very slow and merciless chopping off the head was carried out with an aid of a raged knife.

Imams living in villages they are mostly local – living with their young children – think what was going through his mind at the time when he was being put down to get his head chopped off? Surely he couldn’t think of anything while his head was being severed off because at that time his body was violently scuffing the earth and soil.

We make sure even our animals are not slaughtered in this manner.

Taliban have never helped anyone, NEVER. They have blown up mosques, schools, collages, hospitals, they beheaded people, they blew up funerals. They are sub human even sub animal.

Shame is that there is no punishment fit enough for their atrocities. I am not an animal nor a beast who would behead even a Taliban for his heinous crimes.

So people may idealize Taliban all they like. It’s not for me.

 

[OrionHunter]

Had Musharraf refused to join America in its so called war on terror, things would not have come to such a pass. The TTP turned their attention towards the Pakistani Establishment primarily because of its alliance with the U.S. Their hatred towards America which Pakistan was allied to in their WOT coupled with the inability of Pakistan to stop drone strikes which were responsible for killing hundreds of their fighters was the raison d'être for the TTP to turn their attention toward the Pakistani state.

Musharraf's decision of joining America in the WOT was surprising to say the least. This was a war being fought by the U.S. and for the U.S to secure America's national interests - NOT Pakistan's. Didn't Musharraf realize that he was playing into the hands of the U.S? He agreed to join the WOT for dollars - to fight not Pakistan's war but America's!! And there lies a decision that has resulted in the pogrom being played out on a daily basis in Pakistan by the TTP and its sister organizations.

Some say the Musharraf had no choice as Bush warned him that Pakistan would be 'bombed back to the stone age'. I think that's plain balderdash and the ravings of a megalomaniac like Bush. And Mush fell for the trap, which is a pity. That one decision of his to join America's WOT has changed the course of Pakistan's history!

Had Musharraf stuck to his guns and not folded under US pressure to join the WOT (America's war) things would never have come to such a pass. But that's history and cannot be changed. However, looking ahead, the situation does seem bleak unless and until Pakistan produces a statesman who can turn things around.

Hopefully, after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and termination of drone strikes, the TTP would have no reason then to attack the Pakistani state since America's WOT in Afghanistan with Pakistan as an ally would have been mostly over. However, it would be interesting to see what happens by end 2014, when there could be a tectonic shift in the geopolitics of the region.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

@Orian
we were sitting on a volcano to explode one day Orion. Musharraf gave these extremists the reason to declare a whole sale cull of all Pakistanis.
in the past they only killed the minority sects. we all talk about partial reasons that led to radicalization.
the seeds go beyond the 70-80s Afghan war and Saudi funding of certain sectarian groups in Pakistan. WoT decision was just an excuse. the terrorists would have used some other occasion.

the Taliban were already planning their campaign to Talibanize Pakistan and their sympathizers were already tenderizing the Pakistani population by targeting the weakest members of the society.

even if we had stayed out of American war, we would have had to accommodate the inflow of the Afghans fleeing the conflict. And that would have brought in everything including the fleeing Taliban and Al Qaeda leadership. maybe we would have had delayed the chaos of today by 10 or 15 years but it was bound to happen.
the uprising in Swat and the audacity of Red Mosque occupants didnt happen overnight due to our WoT partnership. things were already simmering under the surface.

 

[kalu_miah]

If I may comment on internal Pakistani or Afghan matters, an extremist and intolerant doctrine was unleashed in this region and it has now been taken up by the lawless criminal elements as a useful tool to gain power and fill the vacuum left by the governing system.

Unless the governing system improves and is able to fill the vacuum, the problem will remain. But the root of this problem is the dysfunctional Armed forces control of politics in Pakistan. Politics must be made independent of armed forces, otherwise another Imran Khan cult of personality will not solve the basic problem. A democratic system with peaceful transfer of power after election is the challenge, where the system takes precedence over individual candidates.

I have little experience with situation on the ground in Pakistan, so the above is just guess work on my part from bits and pieces of news I get on the web.

 

[livingdead]

I think musharraf realized the state will soon be challenged by these guys. If not prodded by americans he would have done it himself. The only other way was to unlease them in kashmir, which was getting increasingly difficult.

And no, people like Bush do not bluff, they are sure they are right and they will do whatever they think is right.
Also musharraf was dictator, and he needed legitimacy from US.

Musharaf had very little space for maneuvre, but he managed it well.

 

[Karachiite]

Pakistanis are very emotional when it comes to religion and the extremists have easily used religion as a tool to gain sympathisers. In madrassahs, mosques etc. you got extremists blabbering about infidels being evil and must be destroyed. This is what happens when a society is overtly religious and uneducated. Most Pakistanis still put religion ahead of their country which is very sad.

 

[niaz]

Pakistanis are very emotional when it comes to religion and the extremists have easily used religion as a tool to gain sympathisers. In madrassahs, mosques etc. you got extremists blabbering about infidels being evil and must be destroyed. This is what happens when a society is overtly religious and uneducated. Most Pakistanis still put religion ahead of their country which is very sad.

I agree 100%. Don’t know why ever since Pakistan was created, very minor things create great danger to Islam and my compatriots, being the ‘Thakedars’ of Islam the world over, are ready to commit murder for it.

Take example of Asia bibi, the poor illiterate Christian women from a small village in Punjab who may or may not have committed blasphemy. While her case is still being tried in the courts; a courageous man Salman Taseer, who was the Governor and believed that Asia bibi was innocent , was gunned down by his own guard for speaking out against the Blasphemy laws. Hundreds of lawyers including retired judges are volunteering to defend him and murderer Qadri has been made a ‘hero’ of Islam.

And for what? Being sole judge and jury as well as executioner without any trial!! Qadri's supporters are not poor folks but well educated middle class who think with their backside instead of their brains when their feelings for Islam are being exploited.

No my dear friends; poverty and deprivation thru neglect of Gov’t may have contributed to it, but this is not the root cause of spread of extremism in Pakistan. IMO root cause is deliberate exploitation of religious passions by the Deobandi and Wahhabi forces to counter the rise of Khomeini in Shia Iran and later thru Saudi and US & CIA backing to find volunteers to fight US war against Russia in Afghanistan. Of course all of this had complete support of the Pak Gov't under the bigot zia.

Subsequent use of these extremist forces by ISI in Kashmir and to carve out so called Strategic Depth in Afghanistan, has created a monster that is no longer under control. Musharraf’s action may have hastened the event but as Hon Irfan Baloch noted in his post, retrogressive Wahhabi /Deobandi forces were already on march in Pakistan much before Musharraf came on the scene.