Pakistan: Talking amongst themselves

Lal Khan

As this petty squabbling goes on in the palatial luxury of the state’s palaces, the merciless campaign of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks by the Taliban goes on unabated, killing and maiming innocent, ordinary people

It is rather surprising that the Taliban did not include Shahbaz Sharif or Rana Sanaullah, along with Imran Khan, in the list that would represent them in the ‘peace talks’ with the government. Although Imran Khan appreciated the gesture he could not go ahead to bat for the Taliban knowing well the futility of these peace talks that he has been peddling as a political rhetoric in a situation where the present state and system are so convolutedly involved in this game of changing loyalties and shared vested interests coming into conflict so intermittently. Imran’s inclusion in the Taliban committee was an embarrassment for his liberal petit bourgeois supporters, tarnishing his image of a moderniser. One outcome of this has been the unmasking of all grey smog, vagueness and confusion surrounding Imran and his ideological bearings, enabling more people to become aware of his real political/ideological grooming by Islamic bigots, mainly from the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The much-hyped talks have begun in the full glare of numerous television shows, as if a miracle is about to occur. The government committee came out with the notion that the ‘talks’ would be held within the four corners of the constitution while the representatives of the Taliban call it a precondition in the talks that were supposed to be unconditional. In reality, the constitution of the committees in itself is a façade as the members of both so-called committees are from the religious right and ideologically belong to a tendency that has never gotten more than five percent votes, even in state-doctored election results. It is as if a reactionary minority section of the ruling elite’s representatives are talking amongst themselves, all in agreement with the implementation of sharia. The only difference is the interpretation and the version of it. And there are so many. The Jamaat-e-Islami, JUI and other mainstream religious parties have proclaimed the constitution to be in accordance with sharia and are demanding its full implementation. The other more hardcore sections are echoing the Taliban’s much harsher version to be implemented with the enthronement of Mullah Omer as amir-ul-momineen and Mullah Fazlullah as khalifa of the new Islamic Emirate of Pakistan. As this petty squabbling goes on in the palatial luxury of the state’s palaces, the merciless campaign of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks by the Taliban goes on unabated, killing and maiming innocent, ordinary people. This in itself is proof of the spuriousness and deceptive nature of these peace talks. This farcical exercise is even acknowledged by the serious strategists of imperialism and capitalism. In its latest issue, The Economist wrote with cynical scorn, “Pakistan suffers such relentless violence that any peace effort may seem worth a try...Nominees on both sides lack authority. The Taliban put forward rigid religious types yet none of them was a TTP member...Just possibly negotiations could start, though it remains unclear over what...But Pakistan’s chronic failing is precisely the state’s weak writ. Ceding more space to extremists would invite more violence not less...If talks go ahead, a breakdown remains a more likely conclusion than a breakthrough.” Most participants in these talks, despite their duplicitous statements of the talks ‘progressing positively’, are fully aware of the futility of this gimmickry. Abusing free airtime, these right wing fundamentalists are putting forward their own obscurantist agendas and building their political and personal clout. Some of these ‘negotiators’ are accused of heinous crimes against women. The burqa escape fame mullah of Lal Masjid, a protégé of vicious dictator Ziaul Haq, instigated brutal violence and psychological terror in Islamabad with his women vigilante brigades enforcing their sharia through venomous pogroms against women. The huge cache of armoury recovered from Lal Mosque after the operation spoke volumes about the intent and the extreme reactionary mindset of this creed of despotic clergy. If all these reactionary committeemen are to decide the lifestyle of society and impose draconian laws on the personal and private life of individuals, it is tantamount to pushing back society to pre-medieval times of ignorance and barbarity.

The continuum of terrorist attacks during the talks has shattered the fabricated myth, so much in vogue with the media, the state agencies and political elite that the Taliban are a united, centralised and organised whole. These terrorist outfits, warlords and fundamentalist sects continually split, change loyalties and become friends or adversaries. All this is taking place in pursuit of criminal activities and the massive amounts of black money, which runs in billions of dollars and has attained a size twice that of Pakistan’s formal economy. These groups also have links with global and regional imperialist powers that finance, buy and use them for their own vested interests in this region. In a recent television interview, one of Pakistan’s most shrewd politicians Maulana Fazlur Rehman spilled the beans when he said, “The key to the fate of these talks lies in the GHQ” of the Pakistan army. He also asserted that he thought preparations were being made for a major operation by sections of the military’s top brass.

The US imperialists manufactured the dollar jihad in the late 1970s. It was the CIA’s biggest covert operation ever. The intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia recruited these religious fanatics and gave logistical support to this counterrevolutionary insurgency against Afghanistan’s Saur revolution of 1978. Heroin production and criminal networks were set up to finance this jihad. This created a parallel economy, which has grown at a rate of nine percent per year. Around this massive black economy these Islamic outfits have developed vested interests that come into conflict more than often. This rogue economy has created rogue warlords and fanatic vigilantes that are now being termed Taliban.

Such is the complexity of this internecine conflict that it has turned into a war of attrition that is out of control of the mentors of these fundamentalist groupings. It is next to impossible to tame or unite these Frankenstein monsters by the present rotting system. Neither is capitalism in any position to develop these areas, industrialise them and create jobs for the youth. So, if the Taliban access to easy earnings through terrorist activities ceases, how will they survive? The bosses of these terrorist groups use this muscle power to blackmail, extort and indulge in crime with huge turnovers. Without the elimination of the economic infrastructure of jihad or terrorism, it is only a deception and delusion of ending this conflagration through ‘peace talks’ or a military operation. Pakistan’s existence depends on this economic cycle set in motion by black money and corruption. How can a state and a system deeply tangled and indulging in this orgy of blood and money ever eradicate it?