Between the devil and deep blue sea
The militants fighting the army in the tribal areas and the extremists operating from the urban centres are two sides of the same coin. Both are motivated by the same ideal: the establishment of Khilafat in the Muslim world – followed by an ultimatum to the rest of the world to accept their ideology or be prepared for annihilation. National states confined within geographical boundaries are, according to them, a violation of the teachings of Islam. They have to be tolerated as long as they can be used as springboards to launch attacks on those contented to live under ‘un-Islamic’ regimes. This is what Brig (retd) Ali and four army officers tried to achieve under the guidance of the Hizbut Tahrir (HuT). The task given to them by the HuT, which ironically calls itself a ‘nonviolent’ organisation, was to eliminate the civilian and military leadership in an air attack to clear the way for establishing Khilafat in Pakistan. As a report published in the media reveals, attempt to seduce the army officers were being made by HuT since at least 2003. One of the officers sentenced was charged with acquiring classified information regarding the locations of operational bases for the United States inside Pakistan, seeking sensitive details about the army operation in the Malakand Division and about the deployment of troops to different operational areas. One wonders if they were not trying to find out where the nuke stockpiles were located.
What surprises one is that while many servicemen who agreed to violate their oath paid the price for the crime, none of the HuT instigators was prosecuted as required under law. This strengthens the perception that a soft corner persists in sections of the establishment for extremists playing possum. A number of leaders in some of the mainstream political parties also share the sentiment. This explains why banned outfits continue to collect funds, hold rallies and indulge in hate speech after changing their names. They spread venomous propaganda against the Shias, the Ahmadis and other religious minorities. They attack democracy calling it a system against the teachings of Islam and advocate turning the state into some kind of theocracy. They claim that Pakistan is specifically meant for their particular sect while declaring the rest as non-Muslims. They spread xenophobia, oppose tolerance and spread hatred.
The establishment has to realise that it cannot hope to win the war against militancy unless it acts against the extremists spewing venom and calling for revenge. As long as they are allowed to produce malcontents filled with malevolence against everyone different from them, the militants will have no shortage of volunteers.