Taking Pakistan’s extremist mindset head on

Is eradicating Pakistan’s Talibanisation possible by tackling their support systems?

The Peshawar massacre obliterated the future of 132 children, and nine teachers. The attacks shook the entire nation to its core, their magnitude too large and too heinous for them to seem real. It took only a little while for the Taliban to assert their responsibility for what took place at APS that day. And unsurprisingly, it took Taliban apologists even lesser time to reassert excuses, apologia, and even extend their support to the militant group.

“Today just five of us lighted a flying lantern in front of Lal Masjid. I request the city of #Islamabd to come together every day for seven days to light candles and hold a prayer for the brave who fell in Peshawar and let the extremists know that we will #NeverForget our martyrs.”

That is the appeal that broke people out of their grief for Peshawar. Jibran Nasir began what he felt would be a small demonstration in the city of Islamabad. However, his appeal quickly went viral with several people coming to his aid to share his message as far and wide as possible.

Jibran, however, is no idealist. When asked what motivated him to action this time he responds bluntly. “This isn’t motivation, this is frustration. That’s the best way to put it. There is too much frustration and I didn’t want to take it at Korsar market or F-11 markez where the message wouldn’t reach who it was meant for.” Instead Jibran wanted to take the fight to the very source. “I wanted to take out my frustrations on the very institutions that give patronage and security to the Taliban, and their body and their network. And those people should know that we are mad, we are angry, we are upset, and we’ve had enough,” he says as a matter of fact.

The protests which mushroomed from five people into 300-400 people are being seen as a turning point by many. However, Jibran is a little too pragmatic to share that optimism.

“Nahi ji, mazrat ke sath, every day in the history of Pakistan is a turning point for Pakistan. I believe the turning point was when one lone Aitzaz Hussain, a school child, gave his life and protected 100 of students in Hungu. The Peshawar attack last year in the church when so many kids died or when they entered the police academy and killed hundreds of our cadets. That should have been a turning point. These incidents have happened time and again,” he says warily.

The protests which mushroomed from five people into 300-400 people are being seen as a turning point by many. However, Jibran is a little too pragmatic to share that optimism

The fact remains that addressing the elements that promote an extremist mindset and Talibanisation in Pakistan must be curbed. Marvi Sirmed, an activist and a columnist, feels like it’s the need of the hour. “The reason I became a part of these efforts was simple. It might seem as though we have shifted the focus from the tragedy to the Lal Masjid incident but I personally believe they’re both very closely linked.

“Why did Peshawar happen? The answer is because the state has been allowing these people to do as they please and no one has addressed them on a societal level either. If the army is now prepared to deal with them then the politicians must do the same. Unfortunately, all parties, including the newbie change-mongering-party, are all timid right now. They’re going down the same route ‘make a committee and come up with an eight-day plan and so on’ that won’t work,” she says.

For the narrative to change and be completely against the Taliban the civil society will need to work harder with a counter narrative. There is no turning point or watershed moment that will count unless the damaging narrative that’s the cause of the problem is done away with. “We have these elements in the media that keep confusing the nation and keep breaking any counter terrorism narrative. You keep giving them so much of media space that keeps hammering people that have no other source of information. It manufactures consent from the public by badgering them with the same information every ten minutes!” Marvi says.

The media space that is allotted to people like Abdul Aziz is questioned by Usman Qazi, another person who was crucial in helping mobilise people to attend the Lal Masjid protests. “Most TV channels were covering it live but all we got was a ticker. When we grew in numbers and started chanting slogans, unequivocally denouncing Taliban, their covert and overt apologists, the military, the strategic depth doctrine, etc, we started getting more TV time. And then suddenly the coverage was stopped in favour of breaking news like, “Sui Gas thief arrested by FIA in Nazimabad Karachi!” he says with exasperation.

Abdul Aziz, the man in question himself, has been forgiven and forgotten as a person of interest it seems. “Aabpara, which is an intelligence hub for our intelligence agencies, they’re sitting under its nose and the state doesn’t dare touch them. Abdul Aziz comes on TV and says he doesn’t believe in Pakistan, asks for leniency for the TTP and Shariah law! The very first time he produced a fatwa against the army he should have been thrown into jail by the state, the state isn’t fulfilling its responsibility, so we’re doing it instead,” he explains.

What was a peaceful protest by unarmed civilians didn’t come without its own perils. “The Lal Masjid goons came out to warn and threaten the protestors but they insisted that they wished to come inside and pray two nawafil for the martyred kids. It was then that police arrived in heavy contingents and dispersed the protestors by pushing them and erecting human barricades,” Usman remembers.

Marvi feels that the police may not have had a choice in the matter. “They weren’t trying to be harsh with us at all. They seemed genuinely frightened of the Lal Masjid goons. But we weren’t going anywhere, even when we kept being threatened about ‘consequences’ by the Lal Masjid admin. Despite coming armed and fully equipped, I don’t feel that the police was equipped to handle the situation. But if the state knows what’s inside why aren’t they doing anything about it, what is it that the police know and fear?” she questions.

The fact remains that addressing the elements that promote an extremist mindset and Talibanisation in Pakistan must be curbed. Marvi Sirmed, an activist and a columnist, feels like it’s the need of the hour

The police continued to focus on the protestors instead of the folks from Lal Masjid threatening them. In an ironic twist, FIR’s were registered against the people doing the peaceful protesting. “We put out a call for Jummah prayer and the ASWJ did a demonstration there right then. What they were doing there and who they were demonstrating against, no one knows. Targeted killings, Shia killings and openly admitting all that they do — yet they are safe and come out with confidence and the police is unable to do anything. But unarmed civilities with candles in their hands are arrested immediately!” she says angrily.

Jibran is not afraid of the FIR business at all. “I don’t preach anything that I don’t practice. If the police is going to come after me I’m not going to run away and hide. A few people called me last night to help me get help from influential folk, but I am going to protest the way the common man would. And the common man does not have the network that I have! I am not going to use any network and I want to be as vulnerable as he and be on his page when I protest.” At the time of writing this piece the tables seemed to have turned on Lal Masjid with the protesters, lead by Jibrain, filing their own FIR against Abdul Aziz under Section 502(ii).

The news is taken with a grain of salt by Marvi who sees the FIR as a symbolic win but not a practical one. “They should have registered hate speech but both hate speech or libel law is too weak. So now we’ve got a ‘qatal ki dhamki’ FIR but that too is weak. Symbolically this is a big deal since the state caved in o civilian pressure. This protest needs to shift in front of the parliament. They are going to go to recess soon because it’s the end of December but instead they should be thinking of dealing with this with immediate effect. The home ministry of all the provinces needs to become active and the civil society needs to keep an eye on the home ministry,” she informs.

For the protests to bear real fruit they would need to be sustained long term. The rape case in India mobilised people because it was their breaking point. Jibran hopes for similar results in Pakistan. “We need a similar mobilisation of civil society, ministry, government, intelligence and what not. I’d want to make a law, and there’s already something in the works to monitor all masjid khutbas. All the men that use the prophet and the Quran to spread hatred, who gave them the right to do this? They are the ones that are conducting actual blasphemy! Why are they not questioned? Why aren’t they blacklisted? All this big funded bodies, why don’t they take responsibility for them?” he questions.

Jibran ends the discussion with a small message for Abdul Aziz. “Sit with me, anywhere anytime for 15 minutes on TV and argue with me and defend this thing. I’ll argue with you in the light of Islam completely, I’ll argue with you on your lines. I’m not scared of you or your people at all,” he says.

“I am trying to create an example for other Pakistanis: stop being bloody afraid. This is my nation, it was created for me, these are my laws, my constitution, and they are meant for my protection and I am supposed to stand for their enforcement. I am not supposed to look anywhere else for that. Neither are any of you,” he smiles.