Stop Swat Operation From Becoming Lal Masjid Operation
By Dr. Hassan Isfahani • Jun 2nd, 2009 • Category: Politics, Worth A Second Look • 30 CommentsLack of vision, media frenzy, hasty decisions, ill planning, blurd objectives and unclear distinctions had led to the debacle of the Lal Masjid operation in 2007 and it backfired with a long strings of suicide attacks in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The failure of Nizam-e-Adl regulation in Swat due to the violations from the Taliban side has triggered a popular military operation in the Malakand Agency. Still, the Pakistan Army is enjoying the full backing of the people and the media, but they need to complete this operation as soon as possible and the delay and the suspension would only wear out this support, resulting in much more worst reactions than the Lal Masjid.
Some days ago , prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s address to the nation in which he vowed not to bow down before the militants and General Kayani’s reiteration in the Corps Commanders’ conference that the army was capable of handling the national crisis and will fight for the writ of the government had provided a new hope to the feared nation, who were shocked at the advances of Taliban to the Buner and Shangla.
One could only hope that the Army completes it’s mission in the presence of such idiots as our political leaders, who prefer to be on personal visits to the UK and USA and Dubai and who instead of going to the internally displaced people, are enjoying stay in the luxurious hotels delivering incoherent speeches having no impact and no meaning. We need to form an independent and constant strategy to combat the Talibanization and terrorism. Any strategy just for the sake of appeasing the almighty dollar is not going to work.
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Dr Hassan Isphani,
Please stop cursing yourself; this is a bad habit that most of Pakistanis are indulging in.
Please mind it that the people at the helm of the affairs are not idiots- as you say. If they are idiots— who elected them? Only idiots can elect— idiots.
Some how this has also become a norm, a practice in our society to use this sort of cliché in Pakistan that: Every body is corrupt in Pakistan. Every body is liar. When we say every body is corrupt or liar– you are also included in that—– ‘every body. Are we all corrupt or a liar?? But cursing one self certainly promotes defeatist mentality.
This nation is in need of encouragement; so that it stands up to the challenges that it is facing. If we look around the entire world seems to be conspiring against us. They are all out to break us; tear us apart. They would like to see us perished, deplete so that they can annex us as a subjugated lot; like menials.
You have got an ability to write; let this ability be used for the betterment
of this nation. Let us use our abilities to generate better dreams for better and successful life. Let us be the givers of big dreams; because no body travels beyond dreams. Bigger dreams –bigger leap forward.
Regards
this is a very well written post. I also think that the civilian government should take initiative and put an end to the misery of beautiful swati people who have now become refugees in thier own country.
The first thing is that the operation in swat was taken in great haste as Zardari was in America and was done to please Obama and his administration who were insisting on such a operation. To force millions of people out of their homes and live in extreme heat, poverty and lack of medication in camps.
Even there is opposition from Punjab and Sindh against putting up these people in those places. So in Sindh there are no IDP camps because of opposition from MQM.
I
this shows that there was no preparation for launching such a large scale operation against militants in the Malakand division.
No body in govt level is daring to ask kiyani that he is maintaining writ of govt through this forceful attack on locals of swat.Displacing 3.4 million mainly due to aerial attacks and blind shelling to civilian areas are said to be mandatory steps for controlling the writ of govt? If we justify such attacks on our people through all weak logics it means India is right in Kashmir and whatever Russians did to chechniyans was all correct and justified for maintaining the writ of respective govts.Those people who are justifying this deadly war game are either living in safe places with their families or depend on military establishment for their luxurious lfe styles.No normal human can justify such humility of locals through the hands of its own govt and army as we are witnessing these days.
Those who consider war as solution of all problems must read these words that are essence of human experience gained in war culture.
Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace. ~Charles Sumner
If we do not end war - war will end us. Everybody says that, millions of people believe it, and nobody does anything. ~H.G. Wells,
A great war leaves the country with three armies - an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves. ~German Proverb
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
You are not going to get peace with millions of armed men. The chariot of peace cannot advance over a road littered with cannon. ~David Lloyd George.
The tragedy of war is that it uses man’s best to do man’s worst. ~Henry Fosdick
Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country. ~Bertrand Russell, attributed
They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason. ~Ernest Hemingway
Hassan,
These kind of wars are not finished quickly, they take time and people will have to understand that.
Quickfix solution will only turn things bad.
Nazia,
India is not using ariel power and shelling in Kashmir to kill militants who are coming into country from their base camps.
The army is fighting these people face to face on ground. India has developed the skill for fighting these kinds of war talks to the insurgency that is present for such a long time and people are still pushing brainwashed youths into India to kill and die.
The comparison is not a proper one. I am not sure about the Russians, what they did.
Nazia, I think you are being harsh here in your comparison of Russian with Pakistan Army. I know that you are not a Taliban apologist, but operation like these tend to get tupsy turvy, but I believe that things are going in right direction though somwhat bumpily.
Goods news for you guys,
A Pakistani court on Tuesday freed outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and his close aide Col (retired) Nazir Ahmed.
This shows that Pakistan is not willing to change and support people like these.
This has happened after your own Attorney general has said that there are proofs of JuD and Al-Queda are linked.
What a great nation.
Read the complete article below.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=ecb9d665-fd48-4983-9423-d01627b461fb&Headline=Mumbai+attack+mastermind+Hafiz+Saeed+released+in+Pakistan
Goods news for you guys,
A Pakistani court on Tuesday freed outlawed Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and his close aide Col (retired) Nazir Ahmed.
This shows that Pakistan is not willing to change and support people like these.
This has happened after your own Attorney general has said that there are proofs of JuD and Al-Queda are linked.
What a great nation.
Read the complete article below.
hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=ecb9d665-fd48-4983-9423-d01627b461fb&Headline=Mumbai+attack+mastermind+Hafiz+Saeed+released+in+Pakistan
Hi Nazia,
India doesnot use even helicopter gunships on Kahsmiri Militants who are infiltrated by LET and JUD(freedom fighters according to you).We donot use them against Naxalites and even ULFA and other 30 odd seperatist groups operating in India.
One thing i can say about some People blogging here. They show the same cowardice as taliban, covering their faces and their names and identity.
I am an Indian and iam allowed to post by Blog owner Ghazala Khan.
Johanne,speak free
I know very well that Indian never used forceful combat mission against insurgents but I am just comparing the atrocities of armies on civilians in search of insurgents.We usually use such aggressive tactics as our army wants to utilize its arms and ammunition as per US desire and they have weak intelligence network that should play an important role in countering these local terrorists.Secondly our army heads also prefer more collateral damage then loss of army men and its equipment because they are not accountable to people’s representatives.In India things are little bit of different , you dont get arms on free basis and your army is also accountable to your parliament.But you cant deny the prolonged brutal army actions on Kashmiris as disturbances are still out of control of India’s govt and they never thought of retrieving army back to barracks from civil area.The latest data given below clearly shows that India also wants to use power of gun for local kashmiris instead of power of good governance.
Voilence Update
From Jan. 1989 to April 30, 2009
Total Killings * 92,812
Custodial Killings 6,955
Civilians Arrested 116,136
Structures Arsoned/Destroyed 105,704
Women Widowed 22,689
Children Orphaned 107,243
Women gang-raped / Molested 9,864
latest update for april 2009
Total Killings * 31
Men 26
Women 4
Children 1
Custodial Killings 1
Tortured/Critically Injured 218
Civilians Arrested 68
Structures Arsoned/Destroyed 11
Disappeared 2
Women Widowed 2
Children Orphaned 7
Women gang-raped / Molested 9
shut up call to .4,5 and 11
Johann
dont generalize all Pakistani in same manner as you think of some veiled characters.here naughty Indians do come like that and you know my stamina too that I am the most cursed Pakistani of TPS on critical topics so all kinds exists on both side.Point is just to stay firm and stable on your belief and vision and give others space too for releasing their anger and grudge on touchy issues.
Nazia,
The atrocities that you are talking about are done because of the things that few local people do. You cant look at a person and say that he supports militants or not, sometimes you have to be harsh to get things moving for you.
Johann,
Not everyone is allowed to speak on TPS, I used to post my comments under my original identity earlier but TPS blocked it so now I have to use this name for posting my comments.
Speak free
this data is linked mostly with Indian army and it the proof of its correction that India cant pull out its army from this valley for last 20 years. Two year back I have read an article from foreign journalists that how Indian army has wiped out young blood of Kashmiris and here percentage of you men from 18 to 30 years is almost rare as compared to old one.So I want to say that India is still unable to win the heart of kashmiri people and here the controllers are arms and power rather than democratic norms.
Maria
I am really very harsh on this strong actions that have created a biggest humanitarian disaster on our soil.There is no clear difference of Russians and Pakistani army on technical basis if you try to read the actions of Russians army for their war 2 in checyna.They had same background of atrocities and violation of govt writs by some die hards groups.The only difference I found is the attitude of army after attack as Pakistani army is showing more sympathies to local as compare to Russians who were non muslims.This is just like that I come to your home, slap you on your face, destroy the sanctity of your home in search of my stolen things or thieves and at the end , I make lot of apologies to you by giving you bouquet of flowers as friendly gestures for my deadly wrong judgment.
Nazia,
I guess there is some mistake here. Indian army has not flushed out the young generation of Kashmiri people but the militant groups have done that.
Regarding the time period for Indian army to do that, Nazia you have a long way to go about in this kind of warfare. The war on Taliban that your army is fighting is not going to end in few weeks or months, it is going to last for years.
Also I dont have to tell you that your army was not even able to get control of the entire country, regions of FATA and NWFP and some other were not under army control they are and were controlled by the tribal people over there.
Also the India would have been successful if militants that operate from Pakistan would have stopped recruiting and sending people in India for fighting proxy war. If that would have happened then India would have won this war long back and Kashmir would have been able to prosper and people over there would have led a peaceful life.
Ask the militant groups like JuD and LeT and JeM to stop recruiting and sending militants to India and we would be able to leave peacefully.
13 16 17……………..again shut up