In the aftermath of Nov 1 drone attack which killed Pakistani Taliban’s leader Hakimullah Mehsud, the ongoing discussion in the country whether Mehsud was a terrorist or martyr has taken an ugly turn. Leaders of at least two major religious parties have openly declared, without any ifs and buts, that Mehsud was a martyr and denounced the Pakistani military personnel sacrificing their lives fighting terrorists were ‘merely dead people’. Pakistan military spokesman has condemned Jamat-e-Islami’s (JI) supermo’s statement on this issue as an insult to martyrs’ families and demanded an unconditional apology while questioning the wisdom of such an outburst in favour of the Taliban.
Though we standby by military spokesman’s demand on JI’s leader, but shouldn’t we be asking military who has nurtured these terrorists and their apologists who now intend to bite the feeding hand? Military romance with religious parties since America’s war against Soviet Union in the ‘80s is the backbone of present day widespread extremism in the country. The seeds of hatred and sectarianism planted by the then military dictator Zia-ul-Haq have now become strong trees; no way these could be touched by anyone unless military revises its strategy to accept what world has been telling us for years — a terrorist is a terrorist whether fighting with us inside the country, or fighting on our behalf in Afghanistan or Kashmir.
Unless military and religious parties come out of this hypocrisy, nothing will change and general public will take the military spokesman’s uneasiness with JI leader as an ‘in-house’ affair.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
