Ranting Hafiz Saeed Unrebuked by Pakistan

By Nalin S Kohli

Our hearts go out to the little victims and their teachers of the Peshawar incident. India has mourned, many a time, for its own innocents suffering at the hands of terrorists. The entire region feels for the parents mourning the loss of their beloved ones. Such atrocity by terrorists seeking to justify their barbaric acts of murder in the name of religion is condemned across boundaries. The cry for justice and action against terrorists is a unified one.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly confirmed a telephonic conversation with Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to condemn the incident and offer any assistance from India. Schools across India observed two minutes of silence to express solidarity, as did Parliament.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval while visiting the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi to offer condolences summed up the national mood when he stated that "Never in my life, I have seen or heard that people can be so inhuman," and added, "They can descend to such low level, target children in school... it has shocked and stunned our entire nation."

Numerous television panelists from Pakistan publicly appreciated Prime Minister Modi's gesture and the mood across India for their solidarity with the people of Pakistan in this moment of grief. Given the response of the Indian Prime Minister and its citizens, commentators wondered whether a thaw in the relations between the two nations could now be expected.

However, within hours the pubic rant by 26/11 master-mind Hafiz Saeed across television channels in Pakistan blaming India for the Peshwar incident and seeking revenge provided a typically conflicting and jarring note. Even former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf joined the extreme bandwagon by claiming the perpetrators of the crime were those trained by India! And to top it, another 26/11 accused, LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was granted bail by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court.

Unfortunately, the question of normalization of relations with Pakistan cannot ignore realities within Pakistan where several conflicting centres of power co-exist. In a country where democracy isn't firmly established, the army has emerged as the permanent pillar of stability. This in itself weakens democratic forces resulting in perpetual instability through power politics. Add to this the role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) together with the so-called "non-state actors", an inventive term for terrorists and extremists, and Pakistan becomes internally combustible.

This volatility is exacerbated when another incongruous distinction is made between 'good and bad terrorists'. While the Pakistan army is engaged in a bloody battle against terrorists in areas on its western borders, astoundingly on its eastern borders, terrorists like Hafiz Saeed freely roam and rant against India at will!

These contradictions are evident globally as well. Osama bin Laden was living less than a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad. It finally took US navy seals to swoop down in a pre-dawn raid and kill their most-wanted terrorist.

As a counter-measure, the Pakistani establishment has followed a core strategy of deflecting attention from these contradictions through a stringent anti-India stance primarily fixated on Jammu and Kashmir and devoid of any deliverables. Punishment for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack seems distant (if at all). Dawood Ibrahim, among India's list of most-wanted criminals, has been living in Pakistan for decades, while Hafiz Saeed appears on television at will.

All such issues raise pertinent questions on whether the civilian government there can deliver on what it promises. Which is what makes "meaningful dialogue" with Pakistan somewhat unsure, even if talks are to be resumed.

Within Pakistan, this is the time for the establishment and civil society to take action against such forces head on and without duplicity. It would be a firm step forward. To feed a fictional narrative that Indian agencies were involved in the Peshawar massacre, in order to fan the frenzy and deflect attention from their own systemic failures, will only drive them farther from the truth and from what urgently needs to be done. This may well be that historic moment when the Pakistani establishment can seriously seize the opportunity to consider constructive and empowering decisions in the path ahead.

While India and Pakistan are not yet friends, it does not mean that we can't be friends in the future. In the meanwhile, given the fact that terrorists like Hafiz Saeed remain free with impunity within Pakistan, perhaps Noam Chomsky would serve well for serious thought - "Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it."

Pakistan: Barbarity of the Peshawar massacre

By Lal Khan

The massacre of 141 people including 132 children by the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban at the Peshawar Army Public School yesterday was probably the most heinous barbarity ever seen even in Pakistan, which has been victim to this scourge for decades now. Hardly a day passes without suicide attacks, terrorist bombing or target killings in this tragic country.

The main reason cited for this atrocity by the spokesman of the perpetrators and the official analysts is the ongoing operation in North Waziristan by the Pakistan army to wipe out the Taliban and eliminate their strongholds. However, just days before this operation started the main commanders and masterminds of these terrorist outfits had left the region to Afghanistan and other areas that were not targeted in the operation plans. This fact, conceded by the military spokesmen, speaks volumes about the penetration of these reactionary forces into the structures of the state and the sensitive decision-making institutions.

But the roots of this prevalent Islamic terrorism lie in the historical and the strategic character of the state and the reactionary nature of the Pakistan’s ruling classes that rely on these Islamic forces to perpetuate their exploitative and repressive rule. It’s not an accident that most terrorists go scot-free from the courts for even for the most bestial of crimes and murderous brutality. Those convicted are rarely prosecuted. There have been innumerable incidents when officers and personnel have been arrested and charged with some of the worst acts of terrorist killing and violence. Most of the judiciary, especially at the middle level, is comprised of personnel that are in fact followers of these religious Jihadi doctrines. A police guard who assassinated Salman Taseer, the serving governor of Punjab, was garlanded and showered in flower petals by the lawyers at his court appearance and is yet to be prosecuted for the crime.

Mohammad Hafiz Saeed, the leader of Lashkar a Tayyaba has a bounty of $10 on his head, however he freely appears in Pakistani television on a regular basis.The most nauseating and defeatist argument of the dominating intelligentsia and the media specialists of the political elite is to create a distinction between the so-called moderate and extremist Muslims. However, experience has shown that the ‘moderates’ can become ‘extremists’ and extremists in connivance with the state hypocritically start posing as ‘moderates’ in a quick succession. For example, one of the leaders of the former Lashkar a Tayyaba that is at the top of the list of the terrorist organisations compiled by the Western agencies, has a bounty of ten million dollars offered by the CIA, yet he is on television shows and addresses public meetings frequently without any fear, with high level security covertly provided by the ISI. He is also wanted for masterminding the Bombay massacre, and such is his influence in the state establishment that the Pakistani regimes can put the peace process with India at stake just to protect this individual.

This example shows the power of those hidden by the state and the rogue agencies which are answerable to none. Even the US imperialists have compromised with this status quo in their own impotence, due to the failure of their invasion in Afghanistan and defeat of their policies in the region. On the other hand, a widespread movement of the Islamic preaching called ‘The Tableegi Jamaat’ that has millions of followers is portrayed by the media as a ‘moderate’ organisation. In a recent book ‘Pakistan: A New History’, Ian Talbot has revealed that this religious outfit was responsible for the Madrid and London train bombings that killed and maimed dozens of innocent people. It has its annual congregation every November in Raiwind near Lahore, which is attended by more than half a million people. Those attending this congregation include judges, military and civilian bureaucrats, politicians, journalists, most wanted Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and others at the helm of the affairs of the state and society.

In the heart of Islamabad is located the Lal Masjid (The Red mosque) and the notorious Jamia Hafza, a women’s seminary that breeds and trains Islamic fundamentalist vigilantes and terrorists. In 2006, during the Musharraf regime, these female vigilantes roamed around Islamabad with sticks and clubs to destroy video shops and private houses accused of being adulterous by these cleansers of society. They harassed, humiliated and even perpetrated violent acts against women who did not wear veils or used nail polish, etc.

The police and the state forces turned a blind eye to these acts of vigilantism and stayed aloof. However, when these vigilantes attacked a Chinese massage parlour, under the severe pressure of the Chinese government the Pakistani regime had to act. But this operation proved too damaging for Musharraf. The seminary and the basement of the mosque had huge stocks of advanced weaponry and explosives. A severe battle ensued in which dozens of military commandos and terrorists were killed. The right wing elements in the judiciary, state and politics are still trying to prosecute Musharraf in spite of him being a former president and Chief of the army. The top cleric of those institutions has been released scot-free by the judiciary and the Mosque and the seminary fully restored under his command. After the gruesome killing of the school students in Peshawar he refused to condemn the brutality and is often on the airwaves preaching violent jihad and the venomous hatred of religious prejudice. But even the other moderates and Mullahs of other varieties that are hypocritically condemning this act of terror are otherwise mostly giving provocative and reactionary sermons instigating especially the petit bourgeois youth to commit reactionary acts of social despotim.

During the late 1970s and 80s the Zia dictatorship imposed Islamic laws and made it compulsory for the government employees to pray five times a day. All national days were infested with Islamic scriptures. This Islamisation of Pakistan the Zia and the ISI under supervision of the CIA and the Saudi intelligence agencies carried out the recruitment of religious fanatics in the infamous Dollar Jihad at the behest of US imperialists. This was to advance the counter revolutionary insurgency against the left wing government in Afghanistan. That process of Islamisation of the state and society started by the vicious Zia dictatorship continued under the subsequent democratic regimes of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. However, the CIA to finance the Afghan Jihad initiated the business of heroin production and drug smuggling that continued after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops and the decline of US interests in the region. This trade has now become a mammoth black economy that is more that twice Pakistan’s formal economy. Heroin also finances the terrorist outfits that are now attacking the US forces in Afghanistan and interests elsewhere. They have become Frankenstein’s monsters not just for the imperialists but also for their local ISI mentors. The terrorist acts that get huge investments for their operational executions also are a source of massive profits in this business of crime and plunder. They also create conflicts between various factions of these terrorist outfits which, apart from their internecine wars, also have to compete for the most brutal and vicious acts of violence in order to enhance and market their ‘terror’ commodity in areas where the rule of state law is dying as its authorities collapse. The state’s operations against some sections of these Islamic terrorists - while avoiding or protecting others whom they use in their proxy wars with other competing states in the region - complicate this whole war on terror. Those friend-turned-foe terrorist outfits are more dangerous for the state as they have been trained by it and are well aware of its strategic and logistic plans and whereabouts.

The condemnation by Narendra Modi reeks of a cynical hypocrisy. He is a product of Hindu fundamentalism and his whole politics and support base amongst the Indian petit bourgeoisie and primitive sections of society is based on this very religious and narrow national chauvinism. John Kerry and David Cameron’s condemnations are equally duplicitous. These imperialist powers were the ones that engineered and fabricated this modern Islamic fundamentalism. They still use them directly and inversely wherever they need these fundamentalists for their vested interests.

Is this not also true of Pakistan’s ruling political elite and the parties that are part of the status quo and exponents of this regressive and rotten capitalism in Pakistan? The failure of Pakistan’s ruling classes to complete any of the tasks of the capitalist revolution and the continuum of this degenerating and decaying system under their corrupt rule is the actual root cause of this terrorism. This barbarism can also be defined by Trotsky’s dictum that it is the distilled essence of capitalism to a large extent. The black economy that actually runs Pakistan has penetrated not only the state but also politics and these mafiosi bosses have to a certain extent taken over sections of this country’s ruling class. Hence the all-parties’ conference has come out only with the formation of yet another ‘committee’ to devise a strategy to combat terrorism. This would be hilarious were the reality of yesterday’s event not so tragic.

2013 election poster of Ali WazirNone of the basic structures, venom spewing mullahs, masterminds in moderate postures and breeding seminaries will be touched by this state. Nor can they be. A malaise has set in society due to the prevailing dark clouds of reaction. The social, ethical, moral and cultural values have further rotted with an asphyxiating atmosphere in society. Still there is a silver lining on the horizon. There have been several movements of the workers and the youth, from the gas and oil workers to the nurses and doctors’ struggles. In Waziristan itself there has been a victorious struggle of ordinary masses led by a Marxist comrade Ali Wazir, which shows that in the most arduous of the situations struggles can be fought and won. Within the existing capitalist system Pakistan is doomed. Not even minimal reforms can be actually implemented not to mention eliminating terrorism. This Islamic fundamentalist menace has become a tumour in the socio-politico body of this country. It can only be lanced with the revolutionary surgery of a socialist transformation.

#PeshawarAttack - How much real is the anxiety the day after?

For too long, the work the government, its agencies and political leadership should have undertaken and finished to confront and control terrorism had been cut out; that the urgency that it should be done was to be dictated by the blood spilt in the classrooms of Peshawar Army Public School is nothing but rank national failure. What a price the nation had to pay. How frivolous were the inhibitions which had held back national consensus for a unified action against the modern-day Herods the Great; indeed very frivolous. No wonder then it hasn't taken the political leaders across the board more than a day to turn the page on their ego-centric perennial squabblings and join hands against terrorists. No beef with those who paint the unanimity arrived at the Governor's House on the day after as the Pakistani nation's inherent strength to rise to the occasion. But who is to be blamed for the continuing lack of will and action against monsters who kept spilling innocent blood wherever they wanted, and when caught were not punished? We will watch as the joint declaration issued at the end of a multi-party conference (MPC) chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif plays out. Given the enormity of the terrorists' barbaric act the Peshawar declaration cannot be allowed to be another déjà vu. 

In the wake of the school carnage quite a few important developments have taken place. One, the MPC has formed a committee, headed by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, to work out a national plan for counter-terrorism within a week, which will be then discussed with all stakeholders, including the armed forces, before implementation. Though we set no great store by 'committees' set up from time to time, but given the gravity of the situation, we trust this time it would be different from the routine. And also that the timeline would be hermitically observed, particularly when debates and discussions of "good" Taliban and "bad" Taliban and if they are fighting for the glory of Islam have lapsed. Two, with a complete agreement of the MPC participants the government has lifted the nearly decade-old moratorium on executions following courts verdicts. This was long overdue, and the law-enforcement and security agencies had been asking for it, but as much for the pressure exerted by the European Union and various rights groups as for a lack of clarity on the part of the government of the day, executions were not carried out, with the result that, as of now, there are no less than eight thousand convicts on death row. Death penalty is an essential part of the Pakistan Penal Code and should not have been placed under moratorium, especially of the convicted terrorists. From now on those convicted of terrorism-related offences would be sent to the gallows. How adversely the moratorium impacted counter-terrorism actions the classic case is that of the convict who while in prison had succeeded in breaking the same prison. But that said it would be pertinent to point out that all those convicted by anti-terrorism courts may not be the ones who were involved in the kind of terrorism the lifted moratorium is expected to counter. 

At the same time Imran Khan's change of heart reflected from his decision to wrap up his 126-day long sit-in is no doubt a good omen for the nation's renewed pledge to win the war against terrorists. But one should not forget that his 'dharna' did cause a lot of national loss, the most grievously hurting being inability of the government to receive Chinese President Xi. All that he wanted to achieve was, and is, possible through peaceful means. In politics, past of a leader is more important than his future and it lives with him throughout. Good that he is convinced of what the Peshawar Corps Commander told him about the dangers lurking on the horizon: But isn't it crassly weird that he didn't know of it before? Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this was the instant visit of army chief General Raheel Sharif to Kabul with an undeniable proof that the attack on the Peshawar Army Public School was organised and conducted by the Kunar-based Mullah Fazlullah. Even when quite a few other terrorist outfits, some on their own and some as proxies, are presently engaged in the countrywide terrorism in Pakistan the most active is the Mullah Fazlullah's group. The ball is now in the court of new Afghan government, and they have to play it. And there are also quite a few others in Pakistan who wonder how come Mulla Fazlullah has survived the otherwise ubiquitous presence of American drones and the Coalition troops' fire. 

#PeshawarAttack - Psychological Effects - Helplessness and unavoidable shockwave

Ayesha Fakhar

Psychological rehabilitation is important

The history of humans is a history of intergroup conflict, whether it is between tribes, city–states, kingdoms, or nations. Brutality, ruthlessness, violence in the name of religion or any other political agenda creates not only havoc among the masses in any society but is rather an act of cowardice. Determining what drives people to terrorism is no easy task. Terrorists aren’t likely to volunteer as experimental subjects, and examining their activities from afar can lead to erroneous conclusions. The Peshawar attack is a clear depiction of inhumane barbarism and raises the significant question: “Are we humans?” The answer is, however, simple. We are indeed humans but with hardened hearts and minds paralysed completely possessing a barbaric approach, struggling consistently and continuously for power and control over one group or the other.

Terrorist attacks in our country and threats or realities of war are frightening experiences for all Pakistanis. Terrorists particularly hope to elicit a violent response that will assist them in mobilising their own people. A terrorist group is the apex of a pyramid of supporters and sympathisers. The base of the pyramid is composed of all those who sympathise with the terrorists’ cause even though they may disagree with the violent means that they use. War and terrorism are man perpetrated acts of violence that vary along a number of dimensions such as the diversity of the war-related traumatic stressors, the zone of impact (single site or multiple sites), frequency and duration of exposure (single or multiple events) and their effects on family, social and community infrastructure as well as life sustaining variables such as access to food, water, shelter, and protection from disease.

The loss is immense and hard to envisage but children and teachers who survived this violent attack need support in a systematic way. A set of emotions encircle them day and night and makes it impossible for them to live ordinary lives

The Peshawar school attack is presumably the deadliest terrorist attack ever to occur in Pakistan. The loss is immense and hard to envisage but children and teachers who survived this violent attack need support in a systematic way. A set of emotions encircle them day and night and makes it impossible for them to live ordinary lives. The degrees to which people are affected vary, depending on personal circumstances. Individuals who have suffered a personal loss from, or had first hand exposure to, terrorist acts or military actions will be much more vulnerable and in this case children who survived the attack are susceptible to many negative symptoms. Fear, anxiety, loss of control, helplessness, anger, loss of stability, isolation and confusion accompanied with nightmares, flashbacks, hyper-vigilance and hyper-arousal symptoms are usually seen in survivors of any gigantic calamity, leading to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in many cases.

Terror interrupts routines. It is unsettling and individuals feel insecure when their usual schedules and activities are disrupted, increasing their level of stress and need for reassurance. In countries like Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan, it is not uncommon for individuals to witness deaths and destruction from terrorism or war tactics. Seeing death in front of one’s eyes at an early age, especially if it is of a close one, can be traumatic. Major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation and PTSD are commonly envisioned among these individuals. War and terrorism related traumas vary enormously in their intensity, from exposure to brutal death and witnessing of explosive-violent acts, to the derivative effects of war such as displacement, relocation, sickness, loss of loved ones, and starvation.

Terror interrupts routines. It is unsettling and individuals feel insecure when their usual schedules and activities are disrupted, increasing their level of stress and need for reassurance

Among those individuals exposed to war-related stress for a longer period, it is generally estimated that the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptomatology varies from 10 to 90 percent, manifested by anxiety disorders and other psychiatric morbidities including depression, disruptive behaviours, and somatic symptoms. Apart from this, emotional responses vary in nature and severity from individual to individual. Fear is the predominant reaction — fear for the safety of loved ones as well as fear for their own safety. The worries are based on the real images of terrorist attacks or war scenes. Lack of control can be overwhelming and confusing. These feelings are experienced by most people in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Anger is an added response and expressed by individuals who have either witnessed a traumatic event or have been a victim. Children may direct anger toward classmates and parents because they can’t express their anger toward terrorists or entities responsible for mass destruction.

As can be seen in the Peshawar school attack, psychological effects of war and terrorism on individuals depend on a range of factors, depending on the pre-war scenario, atrocities to which an individual is subjected during the war, and post-war conditions. The response to terrorism can be more dangerous than the terrorists who caused the destruction. Relaxing in the warmth of anger and hatred will not be a solution to a problem, rather will lead to horrendous results. A team of professional counsellors and trained therapists should visit the victims and the survivors, counsel the families, providing all sorts of support to ensure a speedy psychological recovery.

#ArrestAbdulAziz - Pakistan - Reclaim Your Mosques -

In the heart of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, lies Lal Masjid; a state-owned mosque headed by ‘Maulana’ Abdul Aziz; a radical preacher and supporter of terrorism, whose students attempted to implement his vision through force in Islamabad, which resulted in a military operation against the mosque in 2007. What followed is history. Today, as the country and the wider world grieves for the children massacred by the Taliban in Peshawar, Abdul Aziz has called them his “brothers” and refused to condemn the barbaric attack. As he continues to spew venom on television and his sermons, the state refuses to intervene. Instead, it protects him. However, things are changing following the Peshawar attack. While the state continues to demonstrate impotence and complicity, the civil society has come forward and in an unprecedented development, it held a candlelight vigil and protest outside Lal Masjid on both Wednesday and Thursday. 
Jibran Nasir, an activist, is leading the campaign, which calls for confronting Taliban supporters and apologists across the country and demands that citizens reclaim their mosques and compel clerics to condemn terrorism. His decision to confront the Lal Masjid, along with other members of civil society, has a lot to do with symbolism among other things. The protests have understandably irked militants and Taliban sympathisers, and violent sectarian organisations such as Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) have begun to issue threats against peaceful citizens. On Wednesday, they took pictures of protestors to intimidate them. On Thursday, the protestors returned with greater numbers as they chanted slogans against Abdul Aziz and the Taliban despite the very real possibility of violent retaliation. This, what is unfolding in Islamabad, adequately summarises Pakistan’s dilemma. A house of worship occupied by fundamentalists and militants, the common citizens, enraged and deeply hurt over the murder of children, attempting to confront them, while the state watches, only to intervene to protect the killers. 
The role of the civil administration, especially the Police, has been shameful throughout the episode. Helpless in the face of Lal Mosque and ASWJ zealots, it has registered FIRs against protestors and arrested five of them. As of now, the protestors are standing their ground outside Aabpara Police Station, refusing to budge unless the SHO registers an FIR against Abdul Aziz. The SHO is not cooperating citing “pressure from the top”. Will Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan stop siding with terrorists against citizens? Will the Prime Minister? Extremism will not be defeated unless citizens reclaim their mosques. Terrorism will not be curbed unless the state doesn’t take on terrorists residing in the capital and elsewhere in the country. The media must also stop giving airtime to Abdul Aziz and others of his ilk. They justify the massacre of our children when they are not carrying it out themselves. The people must never forget what happened, and they must rise up as Jibran has.

Pakistan - #PeshawarAttack - Pakistan's volleyball player behind Peshawar attack

The most hated man in Pakistan is a 36-year-old father of three and volleyball enthusiast nicknamed "Slim".

His real name is Umar Mansoor and the Pakistani Taliban say he masterminded this week's massacre of 132 children and nine staff at a school in Peshawar - the deadliest militant attack in Pakistan's history.

A video posted on Thursday on a website used by the Taliban shows a man with a luxuriant chest-length beard, holding an admonishing finger aloft as he seeks to justify the Dec. 16 attack. The caption identified him as Umar Mansoor.

"If our women and children die as martyrs, your children will not escape," he said. "We will fight against you in such a style that you attack us and we will take revenge on innocents."

The Taliban say the attack, in which gunmen wearing suicide-bomb vests executed children, was retaliation for a military offensive carried out by the Pakistani army. They accuse the military of carrying out extrajudicial killings.

The accusation is not new. Many courts have heard cases where men disappeared from the custody of security services. Some bodies have been found later, hands bound behind the back and shot in the head, or dismembered and stuffed into sacks.

Some security officials say privately the courts are so corrupt and afraid, it is almost impossible to convict militants.

"You risk your life to catch terrorists and the courts always release them," said one official. "If you kill them then they don't come back."

The country is so inured to violence that the discovery of such bodies barely rates a paragraph in a local newspaper. Despite this, the school attack shocked a nation where traditionally, women and children are protected, even in war.

Six Pakistani Taliban interviewed by Reuters confirmed the mastermind was Mansoor. Four of them said he is close to Mullah Fazlullah, the embattled leader of the fractious group who ordered assassins to kill schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.

"He strictly follows the principles of jihad," one said. "He is strict in principles, but very kind to his juniors. He is popular among the juniors because of his bravery and boldness."

Mansoor got a high school education in the capital, Islamabad, two Taliban members said, and later studied in a madrassa, a religious school.

"Umar Mansoor had a tough mind from a very young age, he was always in fights with other boys," said one Taliban member.

Mansoor has two brothers and spent some time working in the city of Karachi as a labourer before joining the Taliban soon after it was formed, in late 2007, said one commander.

His nickname is "nary," a word in the Pashto language meaning "slim", and he is the father of two daughters and a son, said another commanders.

"(Mansoor) likes to play volleyball," said one of the Taliban members. "He is a good volleyball player. Wherever he shifts his office, he puts a volleyball net up."

The Taliban video describes him as the "amir", or leader, of Peshawar and nearby Darra Adam Khel. Mansoor deeply opposes talks with the government, the commanders said.

"He was very strict from the start when he joined," a commander said. "He left many commanders behind if they had a soft corner (of their heart) for the government."

Pakistan - #PeshawarAttack - Looking within ourselves

By Mohammad Taimur Ali Ahmad

Remaining blissfully ignorant towards the suffering of certain members of society has corrupted our morality and impeded the formulation of any form of national unity

Stories of children hiding under the corpses of their friends, watching their class fellows and teachers being shot indiscriminately and the sight of their parents wailing at having lost everything will not let us sleep at night. This act of violence has pierced us as a nation; it will forever remain a chimera in our history. However, our response to this will define whether such events will continue to plague our future or not. Let us not act as if we can relate to the pain of the victims and their families; our vigils and outbursts on social media are futile unless they are backed by tangible change. If such a tragedy is not able to strip us down to our basic humanity and allow us to mourn and act collectively, irrespective of any socio-ethnic difference, then the sacrifices of those children will surely be in vain.

An act as heinous and inhumane as this should remove any possibility of us pushing aside the grave reality of our country like we have done in the past. We have repeatedly heard how a self-defeating national security policy, consistent political ineptness and a lack of political unity have allowed this menace to weave itself into our social fabric. However, we fail to acknowledge our lack of introspection and unwillingness to take responsibility at an individual level for the state of our country, which has come at tremendous costs.

We must recognise that the fault lies with us, the masses, who have allowed ourselves to be so desensitised to acts of terror that it takes an event of satanic cruelty to cut through our thick exteriors. Becoming normalised to acts of violence and terror is a natural response for coping with such frequently occurring events but our continued efforts to distance ourselves from the reality of our country have created more space to be filled by disruptive forces. Even now, in the aftermath of this tragedy, news sources and social media have erupted with questions about responsibility, pointing towards the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for leaving an obvious governance void in favour of the countrywide protests, the armed forces for failing to deal with the terrorists more effectively and the government for not being wholehearted in its counterterrorism efforts, leaving a major stakeholder unmentioned: society.

For years we have passed our nation’s troubles onto our rulers and their failures in governance. We have continued to hide behind political forces, aligning and realigning ourselves repeatedly in the hope of a messiah emerging who would blow our troubles away. Today, the country is vociferously calling for the army to launch an all-out offensive against the militants and for the government to hang those who have been apprehended. Irrespective of the effectiveness of these actions, we are still, once again, brushing the responsibility off ourselves and onto the state. Since these non-state actors have infiltrated our society at the grassroots level, no military offensive will be fully successful unless it is backed at a community level. And also, even if the army carpet bombs militant hideouts and eradicates their existence, will that be the end of our plethora of crises? No. Though security lies at the very heart of our problems, it is time we start seeing it for what it is: a symptom, not the cause.

Years of hypocrisy, bigotry and cynicism have created an atmosphere of intolerance and divisions along social, ethnic, political and religious lines. It takes a national tragedy of some sort to provide a platform for momentary, collective grieving and exhibition of solidarity. The flicker of hope and optimism soon gives way to the resurgence of the status quo, waiting for the next crisis to occur. This unfortunate reality is the fundamental cause of the milieu of issues our nation currently faces. Terrorism may well be a thing of the past one day but that does not mean that sectarianism, corruption and other social troubles will go with it. The unruly mob behaviour at the recent PTI events has already proved that merely labelling a movement as naya (new) Pakistan does not make it one.

Should it really have taken years of attacks on children, schools being blown up and incidents such as Malala and Aitzaz Hassan for such a social uprising? Are the horrific sufferings of religious and ethnic minorities not worthy of our sympathy? Exhibiting selective humanity must become a travesty of the past. If we want to work towards peace, we must feel the pain of the victims of all forms of violence, regardless of their political affiliation, social status and religious beliefs. Remaining blissfully ignorant towards the suffering of certain members of society has corrupted our morality and impeded the formulation of any form of national unity.

Similar to how the government has finally announced an end to any distinction between the good and bad Taliban, we must put an end to differentiating between the various forms of violence and terror within our country. Society needs to follow suit, if not set the precedent for the state. The life of a child should have the same weightage, whether it be Baloch or Christian or of some other marginalised group. Until we reach this point, our façade of placing ourselves on a high moral pedestal will only perpetuate instability and violence.

This tragedy, unlike ever before, has struck a chord so personal that December 16 will always be remembered as a day that the nation wept in unison. It could have been anyone’s child or sibling. The mere thought of the sheer trauma these children went through can break the resolve of even the strongest amongst us. Those who were martyred will always be remembered, but let us also not forget that there are those who survived. Children who lived through the trauma will forever live with the act of the barbarians entrenched in their minds. As important as we feel it is to commemorate the dead, it is more necessary for us to share in the pain of the living. They are the hope for our future, and it is up to us to ensure that the Pakistan they grow up in is not the same that made them witness the murder of 131 of their peers. To ensure we do not fail as a state, we must first not fail as a nation.

Pakistan - A turning point?

EVEN when they have violated every tenet of humanity, purveyors of hate and obscurantism have long remained virtually unchallenged in Pakistan. Their triumphalist ideology has been the bedrock upon which the justification of every atrocity has been based.

Even at a seminal moment such as now, in the aftermath of the Peshawar school attack, the collective outpouring of grief found no resonance with Maulana Abdul Aziz, chief cleric of Lal Masjid in Islamabad.

Asked for his reaction, he refused to condemn the massacre of students and teachers, seeking instead to explain it away on the grounds of “wrong decisions” taken by the state. His prevarication was greeted with revulsion across society, and on Thursday night an unprecedented protest took place outside Lal Masjid, with participants chanting slogans against Maulana Aziz and lighting candles in memory of the victims.

A member of the mosque administration warned them that no further chanting would be tolerated, while police, anticipating a clash, asked the crowd to disperse. An FIR was filed against the participants for violating Section 144. The police also accused them of using “hate speech” against the mosque administration.

But why should we be surprised at this grotesque inversion of culpability? After all, let alone the right wing, even extremists are above the law in this country, able to openly promote their views from the pulpit, from television screens, in the political forum, with utter and complete immunity.

Banned organisations have been allowed to resurrect themselves under new names and continue to spew their noxious rhetoric. The state has not merely tolerated these individuals; it has patronised and employed them as a means to further its strategic objectives and shape the national discourse.

They are a handy means of fomenting agitation against perceived external threats as and when needed, and for negotiating with terrorists who pose an existential threat to Pakistan.

As a result, they have become emboldened enough to sometimes adopt a stance completely at variance with that of the state that has given them succour. A glance at Maulana Aziz’s own recent record is proof of this: he has named the library in his seminary after Osama bin Laden, and voiced his support for the self-styled Islamic State.

As the right wing — represented by the likes of Maulana Aziz — gradually intimidated society into submission, several progressive voices — represented by the likes of Rashid Rehman — were silenced through violence.

Now that the state finds itself scrambling to construct a befitting response to the tide of extremism that has begun to devour its own, it should take a cue from those who came to Lal Masjid to demand that apologists for extremism be held to account. In fact, it is imperative for the state to seize the moment and craft a counter narrative, one that abjures links with any shade of extremism, politically expedient or otherwise.

Pakistan - Islamabad stands firm on Lal Masjid

A large number of people gathered in front of Lal Masjid on the second consecutive day on Friday in protest against Maulana Abdul Aziz who refused to condemn the massacre of students at Army Public School in Peshawar.

The protesters also called for replacement of the cleric of Lal Masjid which is a government property. Later, the organisers of the protest reached Aabpara police station and submitted an application for registration of a case against Maulana Aziz for allegedly threatening the protesters. They said the leadership of Lal Masjid should clarify if it was with terrorists or with Pakistan.

Apparently because of the projection in the media, a large number of politicians also joined the protesters.

Speaking on the occasion, President National Party Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo said for the last 20 years his party had been demanding steps against extremists.

“Now politicians, civil society and citizens have united and decisive steps should be taken to eradicate the menace of terrorism,” he said.

Senator Tahir Mashhadi of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) said it was unfortunate that so far even the rulers of the country were not ready to name the group behind the massacre of students.

“They are the Taliban and it is our duty to eliminate terrorists. We are answerable to our children,” he said.

MNA Nafisa Shah of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) said: “We cannot win the war only by killing terrorists or by hanging them. We have to change the mindset and create awareness among people,” she said.

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Removal of Maulana Aziz from the mosque sought

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Former ANP parliamentarian Bushra Gohar said institutions which were promoting terrorism should be closed.

“Lal Masjid has been affecting the minds of the youth, so its management should be changed. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should also take action against those who were responsible for the Peshawar incident,” she added.

PPP Senator Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi: “It is not acceptable when innocent students are killed, a cleric supports the killers.”

Shaan Taseer, son of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer, said media should stop projecting the so-called religious leaders.

“After the death of my father, a cleric started giving Fatwa against PPP leader Sherry Rehman due to which I filed an application against him with a police station. Within two days, I received a letter from the embassy of an important Muslim country stating that the cleric was their (embassy’s) employee,” he said.

Senator Rubina Khalid said terrorism cannot be tolerated in the country.

Human rights activist Farzana Bari said Maulana Aziz had become a representative of the Taliban.

He should be arrested and removed from the mosque. “His statement was wrong which was why the civil society decided to protest against him. All mosques and their sermons should be regulated,” she said.

Jibran Nasir, one of the organisers of the protest, said media was projecting clerics who were changing mindsets.

“The civil society will shut down media houses if they continued promoting clerics. We do not want Maulana Aziz as head of Lal Masjid anymore,” he added.

Mr Nasir also announced that he would file an application with the police against Maulana Aziz for allegedly making an attempt on his life. Later, he submitted an application to the Aabpara police station.

Haris, a former student of Army Public School Peshawar, said his teachers had been killed in the attack so he would continue participating in the protest outside Lal Masjid.

“My teacher of Islamic Studies used to say that Taliban are our brothers but they are on the wrong path so we should pray for them. On December 16, Taliban killed my teacher,” he said. Jibran Nasir told Dawn that participation of politicians in the protest had increased their strength.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Asmatullah Junejo told Dawn that an application had been received and an FIR would be registered against Maulana Aziz for delivering a hate speech and violating the loudspeaker act.

When asked why the police lodged an FIR against the protesters, the SSP said: “No one is allowed to stage protest even at the doorsteps of a murderer because it can lead to a clash. Police had contacted the organisers of the protest and it was decided that they would hold the protest at a Chowk near Lal Masjid. However, the protesters violated the agreement and reached the main door of the mosque.”

Peshawar school attack mastermind among 21 killed in Khyber Agency airstrikes

At least 21 militants including Umar Naray alias Umar Khalifa, a well-known commander of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan`s Tariq Geedar group, have been killed in fresh airstrikes in the Khyber tribal region today (Saturday), sources told.

According to security sources, military jets bombed seven militant hideouts in Tirah Valley on Saturday morning.

Umar Khalifa, mastermind of Tuesday’s attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, was killed along with 21 other militants. Seven other militants were also injured in the airstrikes.

Tariq Geedar Group was based in Darra Adamkhel and was headed by Umar Khalifa. The same group was involved in attack on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-756 in Peshawar in June this year, that left a woman passenger dead and two crew members wounded.

Earlier on Friday, 32 insurgents were killed by security forces in an ambush in the Tirah area of Khyber, where the Taliban and other militants have taken refuge from ongoing army offensive Zarbe-e-Azb.

"Reportedly a group of terrorists was moving from Tirah towards Pak-Afghan border. Security forces ambushed the moving group at Wurmagai and Spurkot, killing 32 terrorists in exchange of fire," the statement said, adding that three security personnel were injured.

The government and military have reaffirmed their determination to defeat the Taliban following the school massacre in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Tehreek-Taliban gunmen stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar Tuesday, killing 148 people, including 132 children, in the country`s deadliest ever terror attack.

Pakistan - Five militants killed in Peshawar

Five militants were killed when security forces hit militant hideouts in the restive northwest Saturday morning, officials said.

According to sources, police and paramilitary soldiers raided suspected hideouts in Peshawar during which five militants including a local commander were killed.

"Five terrorists were killed in a raid on their hideout in Gujjar Gadi neighbourhood of Matni, around 16 miles south of Peshawar," a senior security official told.

The killed terrorists included Mustafa alias Mannan, brother of a terrorist named Umar who was involved in an attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. He was a key commander in Darra Adam Khel.

One of the culprits was identified as Hidayat aka Salim while the identity of the remaining militants could not be ascertained yet.

The incident was confirmed by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The army has been waging a major offensive against longstanding Taliban and other militant strongholds in the restive tribal areas on the Afghan border for the last six months.

But a series of fresh strikes after Tuesday´s Peshawar attack, which left 141 people dead -- most of them children, suggest the military is stepping up its campaign.

As the Peshawar tragedy unfolded, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif said the attack had renewed the forces´ determination to push for the militants´ "final elimination".

Pakistan - PPP stand by with victims’ families: QamarKaira, Pervez Ashraf

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Former Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf and ex-Federal Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira here on Thursday said that PPP was standby with victims’ families of school attack and the sacrifices rendered by the students would not go waste.

Addressing a press conference here, Pervez Ashraf said attack on school is very barbaric act that was felt in the entire world.

He said people and politicians should raise above party politics and by standing together we can defeat the menace of terrorism.

Qamar Zaman Kaira said attack on school was a great human tragedy and we need to build consensus on issue of terrorism. He said terrorism could be defeated through national unity.

He said peaceful Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan. He assured full support to Federal Govt and PTI Govt in this war. He said PPP was struggling for a peaceful Pakistan.

Pakistan - Sherry Rehman discusses the need for creating a comprehensive counter terrorism strategy

Aaj With Saadia Afzaal - 18th December 2014 by sm_raza1

Pakistan - Drone strike kills five suspected militants North Waziristan

A US drone strike killed at least five suspected militants in Datta Khel, North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Saturday, security officials said, warning that the death toll was expected to rise.
“A US drone fired two missiles at a compound in Mada Khail neighbourhood of Datta Khel area in North Waziristan killing five militants. The death toll is expected to rise,” a senior security official requesting anonymity told AFP.
The incident was confirmed by local intelligence sources.
A previous drone strike took place on November 26 in which eight suspected militants were killed, according to security officials.
“The drone fired two missiles, killing at least eight people and injuring two others,” a security official in the area had told AFP via phone on condition of anonymity.
“There may be more dead bodies under the rubble,” he said.
Further, just a day before, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Mullah Fazlullah had escaped a drone strike that had taken place near the Pak-Afghan border.
A senior security official from Fata, while talking to The Express Tribune, said it was confirmed that Fazlullah was present in the Nizyan area of the Ningarhar province of Afghanistan on the Durand Line.
He said the TTP leader escaped the drone strike. However, five others were killed in the strike reportedly near near the zero-line between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Video Report - Pakistan - Exclusive Footage of Terrorists' Execution in Faisalabad Centeral Jail