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Why Pakistan is a threat to the Pashtun people

Why Pakistan is a threat to the Pashtun people

Pakistan, being a creation of British foreign policy, has always harboured a sense of distaste towards the Pashtun people, especially to those living in Afghanistan. There could be many reasons for this, one being the durrand line. The Pashtun people throughout the ages, have been pitted against one another, divided and made to suffer under many great games by past empires, but has never ended to this day. Pakistan has played a very disastrous role in the Pashtun region, by arming social rejects and using other ethnic groups to fight against the Pashtun people. However, the role of Pakistan has two faces, one face being the one dictating to Pashtuns how they should live, and the other doing the completely opposite to what they preach.

Pakistan’s foreign policy towards the Pashtun people has been distasteful and deceitful, take the example of the meddling that occurred during the 70’s. The American’s wanted to give the Soviets their Vietnam, by doing so; they decided to use Afghanistan as the staging ground to lure the soviets in, and use Afghan blood instead of their own. 

As the Americans wanted their Vietnam, Pakistan looked to making a gain and a profit from the Pashtun people in Afghanistan. There were many debates within Pakistan, to find an opportunity to extract as much aid from America to turn Afghanistan into its proxy state, like for example finance Minister Ghulam Isthiaq khan stating “Pakistan must earn the ire of the Soviet Union, American has no option in the region to check Soviet expansionism except Pakistan, thus America must treat us fairly[1]”. Pakistan wanted to establish a lasting American presence in the region instead of an act of expediency. Zia ul haq, being the fore runner of introducing the US to Central/South Asia, complained on many occasions that he was doubtful of America’s intentions towards Pakistan’s role in this new planned war with the Soviets as he stated “If the US is going to help Pakistan, let it come whole hog. If I accept such meaningless level of aid, I will only provoke the Russians without really getting a defence against them. I will burn my bridges: do you really want me to do that?[2]” On 30th December 1970, Brzezinski affirmed that America stood by Pakistan and preserved its right to independence, meaning, America would support Pakistan at all costs, if the Soviets ever came to the assistance of the Afghanistan government or entered the region. 

As usual, the topic of India, always came on the minds of the Pakistani leadership at the time, this was a great opportunity for Pakistan to use Afghanistan, as a means to receive aid and assurances against India from America. The American Brzezinski/Christopher mission reassured Zia, that America would help Pakistan in event of an Indian attack and would work together in preventing India from becoming a full fledged ally of the Soviet Union. Pakistan and America became stronger allies during this period, and opposed any form of assistance from the Soviet Union to Afghanistan. Pakistan wanted to seek out a stronger ally who would protect its security and material assistance against both Afghanistan and India. 

However another interesting factor in regards to Zia ul haqs relationship with America was his association with the University of Nebraska, which worked with Pakistan in producing mass Pro Jihadi Literature which was destined for Afghans affected by the war in Afghanistan, in the early 1980’s, the CIA was tasked to distribute literature that would inspire Afghans to go Jihad against the Soviets and the Afghan government. This spread of “Anti Soviet”, and “Pro Al-Qaida” like literature took place in printing houses in Peshawer, which had a large number of Afghan refugees, with Zia’s approval this was given the go ahead and the radical islamifcation took place as Zia wanted to see a future generation of Militant Mullahs all over Afghanistan who would serve Pakistani interests. 

Pakistan not only found its way and key to guide itself into Afghanistan, it had the backing of a powerful ally being the USA, and with the constant flow of dollars and training from the CIA, the Pakistanis had a strong presence in Afghan affairs.

This made Afghanistan very nervous, and the soviets were called in to secure it from being overthrown from ISI/CIA led proxies, however, no matter what the Afghan government did, the ISI/CIA nexus always had a way to attack the Afghan government, one instance being a tactic used to block the supply lines of the Mujahedeen (proxies) from Pakistan, however, the ISI/CIA found a way to get in, and that was through a tunnel constructed by them at Zhawar Killi near Khost, which just borders Pakistan, that housed a training camp, weapons site, electricity and piped water and was close to Osama Bin Laden’s training camp at the time. 

America and Pakistan flooded Afghanistan with unsavoury figures from the Middle East, Europe and South East Asia, the decline and fall of the Pashtun people as an independent people came to its demise, a new era occurred, the era of outside powers running Afghanistan and using it as a staging ground of “Proxy Warfare”. 

When the Soviets withdrew in February 1989, the real great game began, with regional powers using the blood of the Pashtuns for their own interests. Its main competitors were the Pakistanis and the Saudis, who on the 19th February 1989 requested the members of the Islamic Alliance of Afghanistan to meet in Rawalpindi to discuss developing a new interim government similar to the recent Libyan NTC with the likes of Mujaddidi and Sayaf as chair, Hekmatyar as deputy chair and Yunis/Rabbani as foreign, defence and interior ministers. 

The ISI with the Saudis, started placing their favourites into power, and chose the most extremist elements of the religionist scene to control the way Afghanistan is run and made sure Afghanistan did not become a threat towards Pakistani interests in the region. As Pashtun Nationalism declined due to Pakistan’s meddling, the Militant Mullah took power, and turned Afghanistan into another province of Pakistan with Saudi Arabian Wahabist Ideology as a basis of education of the masses. 

Pakistan wanted its revenge on the Pashtun people, especially in regards of Afghanistan’s demand for a Pashtunistan that would unite both brothers across the imaginary durrand line. Afghanistan refused Pakistanis entry to the United Nations in the past which made it a priority for the Pakistani side to establish a cleric rule over Afghanistan, make it weak and instable, so the masses turn to Pakistan for opportunities and business. 

The author believes the sole reason why Pakistan supported the war on the Soviet Union, was due to the fact that, during a visit to Kabul in 1955 by Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev, stated that “we sympathise with Afghanistan's policy on the Pashtunistan issue[3]." the Soviet Union’s refusal to allow Pakistanis entry to US sponsored defence arrangements such as the SEATO in January 1955 and MEDO in September of the same year, which would be named CENTO later on contributed to their demand for Pashtunistan to be handed back to Afghanistan away from Pakistani colonial rule.

This made the Pakistanis very anxious, and looked for any opportunity to dismantle Afghanistan and divide, before the Soviets entered Afghanistan, Pakistan never missed the opportunity to attack Afghanistan, take for instance General Babar of Pakistan explained once that “I told the government we must have some elements to influence events in Afghanistan in case there was trouble[4]”

Pakistanis definition of an element to influence events in Afghanistan were a group of Afghan Ikhwanis (Muslim brothers) that were led by Gulbadin Hekmatyar and Burhadin Rabbani who were recruited by Pakistan to counter the spread of the Pashtun nationalism and support for a unified Pashtunistan under the government of Daud. 

Most of these recruits were trained at the Cherat Army Camp near Peshawer. In late July 1975, the ISI armed a group of militants under the command of Ahmad Shah Masood, and sent them to Pansjir valley in Afghanistan. The ISI led group, was instantly destroyed by the local community in Pansjir and the Afghan army. 

Due to this failure, Pakistan as usual, claimed it to be a success, and General Babar stated “I told Mr Bhutto it is time we conveyed a message to Daud[5]”. Pakistan’s meddling in Pashtun areas was of their own strategic importance, with less regard to the people as a whole, Pakistan’s ISI conducted most of the attacks on the Afghan government as Brig. Mohammad Yousaf once stated “I was now cast in the role of overall guerrilla leader[6]”.

The Pashtun blood became a tool for Pakistan to keep the Pashtun people divided and backwards, with a clerical rule, one can recall how the Islamic alliance of Afghanistan turned on themselves, and starting fighting one another to please their masters. The Islamic alliance committed crimes against the Afghan people, much worse than any other past occupier. Afghanistan’s infrastructure was destroyed, the roads were destroyed, and the markets were flattened due to rocket attacks by rival Islamic alliance groups. 

This made the lives of the Pashtun people miserable, and no concern from the West or the Muslim world was shown upon the people. The Pashtun people were ignored and left to the devilish hands of the Pakistani Intelligence agencies, that pitted one Afghan against another, and encouraged Afghanistan to become a country run by warlords and criminals.

The Americans couldn’t care less after they gave the Soviets their Vietnam, the mass number of innocent Afghans who were killed in the name of American/Pakistani/Arab world interests, were just pushed aside. The Americans and Pakistanis only wanted to lure the Soviets in. The people who were responsible and conducted the Anti Soviet Jihad, were less concerned about the welfare of the Afghan people after the Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan, take for example Zbigniew Brzezinski’s statements as follows:-

“It isn't quite that. We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would[7].”

And

“Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea. It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? The day the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter: We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war.…[8]” 

And

“What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war[9]?”

One can see, how the Americans, Pakistanis and the Arab world knew, this war could have been prevented or never even occurred, but their interests came first, with no regard to what will happen to the Pashtun people in the future, as we suffer due to the ill games being played upon our people and land, the Pashtun people must realise who the real problem maker is, and confront this spread of the Pakistani virus upon our Pashtun lands.

Our people are mistreated, exploited and guided on the wrong direction, with all links to our destruction as a people to the ISI in Rawalpindi in Pakistan’s Punjab. Even though, Pakistan has existed for over 60 years, they still continue to practice the FCR upon the Pashtun people. How can one say, Pakistan has any respect for the Pashtun people when infact, Winston Churchill himself stated in 1897 Malakand Campaign, that the Pashtun tribes regarded consolidation of the frontier with Afghanistan as an insult to their independence. Pakistan to this day, has abused its own laws, including the FCR to further punish the Pashtun people for instance take the case of Mohammad Nawaz and Tawkal Din, who were arrested for just being part of the Mahsud tribe. They stated the Pakistani Authorities arrested them for no reason and kept them behind bars and transferred to a prison in DI Khan. 

This disrespect by Pakistan occurs daily in the Pashtun region, from the authors own experience, the IDPs from Waziristan, Afghanistan, Swat and other parts of the Pashtun region, have been mistreated and exploited by the Pakistani government both for strategic purposes and to keep them in a demoralised state so the people never progress and show potential to become truly independent.

How can one forgive the way Pakistan treats the Pashtun people, how can one forget when the ANP coalition in May 2009 threatened to quit, on the grounds that IDPs from Swat were being prohibited from entering Punjab. This punishment does not stop there, there were cases whereby people of Punjab and Karachi purposely increased their charges of rent just to make a profit and exploit the miserable life the Pashtuns of Swat were going through. How can we sit there, and accept becoming IDPs on our own land.

While our children’s schools are constantly blown up by the Taliban, and the misery we go through because of Pakistan’s strategic goals on our land, this does not stop there, in March 2010, the Punjab minister Shabaz Sharif stated “If the Taliban are also fighting for the same cause then they should not carry out acts of terror in Punjab.[10]”

Even the Punjab minister at the time, wanted to spare his Punjab from the misery their Proxies have caused on Pashtunkhwa region. 

Pashtuns need to organise themselves, and develop a sense of national unity for the Pashtun cause, and remove every attempt of Pakistan to divide us.

By

Amir Khan Maseed

Afghan Patriot.

References

A. Z. Hilali (July 2005). US-Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan: Ashgate. 69. 

Akhtar Amin . (Sept 2009). PHC seeks explanation for PA’s action against tribesmen in settled areas. Available: Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan. Last accessed 26 Oct 2011. 

Dilip Mukerjee. (1975). Afghanistan under Daud - Relations with Neighboring States. Available: Afghanistan Under Daud :: Khyber.ORG. Last accessed 26th Oct 2011

Frank Clements (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia. America: ABC-CLIO Ltd. 122-123. 

Imtiaz Gul. (July 2010). The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier. Available: The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's ... - Imtiaz Gul - Google Books. Last accessed 26 Oct 2011.

Jeff Cohen. (December 2001). Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Available: Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Last accessed 26th Oct 2011. 

Neamatollah Nojumi (Jan 2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region . United States: Saint Martin's Press Inc.. 128. 

Rizwan Hussain (Feb 2005). Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan. Untied Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Limited .

Reuters Blog. (March 2010). Punjab minister asks for mercy from Taliban, earns woman’s scorn. Available: Punjab minister asks for mercy from Taliban, earns woman’s scorn | Pakistan: Now or Never?. Last accessed 26th Oct

[1] A. Z. Hilali (July 2005). US-Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan: Ashgate. 69. 

[2] By A. Z. Hilali (July 2005). US-Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan: Ashgate. 69. 

[3] Dilip Mukerjee. (1975). Afghanistan under Daud - Relations with Neighboring States. Available: Afghanistan Under Daud :: Khyber.ORG. Last accessed 26th Oct 2011. 

[4] Neamatollah Nojumi (Jan 2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region . United States: Saint Martin's Press Inc.. 128. 

[5] Neamatollah Nojumi (Jan 2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region . United States: Saint Martin's Press Inc.. 128.

[6] Neamatollah Nojumi (Jan 2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the Future of the Region . United States: Saint Martin's Press Inc.. 128.

[7] Jeff Cohen. (December 2001). Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Available: Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Last accessed 26th Oct 2011. 

[8] Jeff Cohen. (December 2001). Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Available: Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Last accessed 26th Oct 2011. 

[9] Jeff Cohen. (December 2001). Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Available: Internet Samizdat Releases Suppressed Voices, History. Last accessed 26th Oct 2011. 

[10] Reuters Blog. (March 2010). Punjab minister asks for mercy from Taliban, earns woman’s scorn. Available: Punjab minister asks for mercy from Taliban, earns woman’s scorn | Pakistan: Now or Never?. Last accessed 26th Oct

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The poison of Arab fundamentalism in Afghanistan

The poison of Arab fundamentalism in Afghanistan

The Arab militants have always viewed Afghanistan as their staging area for glory in Central Asia. Even Osama Bin Laden and many other Arab fanatics were cheer leading Afghans over a false claim that Afghanistan is Khorasan, and from this land, the black flags will rise, and no one will stop them, they the black flag holders, will march upon Illya(Jerusalem) and place their flags into its soil. Obviously, one can see, from the mention of Jerusalem, it has some motive and best described as wishful thinking of your typical Saudi Arab Bedouin fanatic at the time. Afghanistan has absolutely no relation to Jerusalem or its people hence such dubious claims should be brushed aside and never taken seriously.

However, in this case, there was a motive for such things to be spoken of, as the Arabs started to flood into Afghanistan during the Soviet Jihad, Arab fanatics such as Abdullah Azzam, were calling for Arabs to prepare for Jihad against the Communists and its Afghan supporters, they considered Afghanistan as Dar Al Islam. The Arab militants made their way to Pakistan as a first point of call, and from there, they headed to Peshawar to receive training from the Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency and military. It became difficult for the Afghans to accept such foreigners on their land because most Afghans never experienced the presence of a fanatical gang of “Wahabist/Salafists” as most Afghans at the time were Sufis, there were Arab DAWA groups, also known as missionary workers, who brought ideals and values totally alien to most Afghans at the time.

The process of Arabinazation of Afghanistan came with many repercussions and problems such as Arab fanatics destroying holy Sufi shrines in Afghanistan that angered many Afghan villagers, as they considered holy and inspirational. Arabs caused anger amongst the Afghan people and resulted in many Arabs being killed for crimes such as destroying Sufi shrines, mocking and insulting local Afghan Muslim leaders on the basis that they speak no Arabic and executing prisoners of war.

Afghanistan became a playground for Arabs to become famous in their native lands, for example there were “Gucci Jihadis”, who came to Afghanistan for a few months, took pictures of themselves attacking Afghan Communist positions and then returning home being welcomed back as “Mujahedeen’s”. Obviously, Afghanistan was seen as a place of earning trophies with no regard to the welfare of the people of Afghanistan, Arabs just couldn’t resist in turning Afghanistan into another Arab Desert Tribal battleground.

The Arabs in Afghanistan displayed acts of barbarity and gave no regard to the Geneva Convention and the rights of prisoners of war, just like their forefathers in Arabia; they looted and brutally slaughtered many Afghans. In the Communist held town of Jalalabad in 1989.The Arabs captured 60 Afghan government soldiers and took them away. The Arab fanatics physically cut the Afghan government soldiers into pieces and sent them back to Jalalabad to intimidate the supporters of the Afghan government and install fear in the masses of what will happen if you oppose the presence of Arab fanatics in the region.

The Arabs, were by far the most brutal people in Afghanistan, they were the driving forces of backwardness and hostility in Afghanistan. Hyman, who wrote the book titled Arab involvement in the Afghan war, has given a very precious account of the resentment the Arab fanatics faced from the Afghan people as follows:-

“The arrogant, bigoted behaviour of Arabs in the Southern border provinces of Afghanistan provoked friction and a backlash among Pashtun tribesmen and their allies. In particular, it was their treatment of captured Afghan women in Kunar and Nangrahar provinces in the winter of 1988-89, which provoked keen resentment among Afghans. They were accused of being responsible for forced marriages and rape, as well as many casual killings."[1]

The Arabs were extremely opposed to any form of progression or development that they deemed against their Islamic beliefs or became an obstacle towards their lust for killing the native Afghan population who they saw as non believers. During Afghanistan’s rebuilding phase, the Arabs became obstacles, and started working against any western or secular aid agency work, and only permitted the most radical orientated Islamic charities to function and provide to the Afghan people, even during the 1990s, when the Taliban were in control, western aid workers were attacked by such elements in Kunar, for one purpose, which was to keep the population under its Arabian inspired hegemony.

The Afghan people, were the not the only ones, who suffered under the Arab militancy in Afghanistan, the same Afghan Islamists, who conspired with the Arab and Pakistani fanatics guided by the Pakistani ISI to bring Afghanistan to her knees, became the victims of their own allies from the Arab world. A Militant Islamist, by the name of Maulvi Hussain, of the Hizb-i-Islami group in 1980, decided to establish his own base in Bajaur in present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tribal district, his base openly welcomed Arab fighters to train to fight in Afghanistan. Maulvi, referred to himself as a Salafi, and had a strong presence and influence in the Kunar region of Afghanistan, that all ended, when Maulvi Hussain was killed by his own Arab guest.

During near to the end of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, the Arabs sided with the more fundamentalist groups and as expected, starting stirring up Afghans to fight other Afghans over faith and Islamic issues. The Arabs preferred to side themselves with the Hekmatyar group on ideology, as both groups, shared a similar Islamic belief and agreed on many issues. However, the Arabs in Afghanistan, started to preach to Afghans, that those areas that are under the Afghan government control are no longer Muslim because the people support the Afghan government and object to the Arab call for Jihad hence they are kaffirs/heathens (Non-Muslims).

The Arabs wouldn’t hesitate in this instance to declare whom object to their terrorist activities as enemies of Islam, and believed the laws of Islamic conquest on those areas fully comply with their standards. The rules of conquest covered many areas which appeared insane and oppressive to the Afghan people; however the laws were then written up by the Arab fundamentalists at the time, the oppressive laws, promoted that the rape of women (combines, sex slaves), execution of prisoners and the selling of women as slaves would all be permitted with full compliance from all sectors of the Arab Militant movement in Afghanistan. 

The Afghan Islamists, facing the consequences of allowing such people to take part in their deluded and dreadful jihad on the Afghan government, resented the Arabs methods, and complained and warned the Arab fanatics that such methods will only help the Afghan government take advantage and would go against their aims and objectives.

The Arabs wanted to turn Afghanistan into a Wahabi state, in doing so; they aimed to limit the influence of Iran, because through Afghanistan the influence of Iran played a logistical role to other countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The Arab countries and their henchmen committed atrocities in towns and villages especially in the Kunar and Nangrahar region of Afghanistan during the period of 1988 to 1989 where by mass murders of men; the kidnapping of women and other terrible acts of punishment took place. The Arabs seemed to regard the Afghan people as mere peasants with a very bad knowledge of true Islamic belief and seemed to only look down upon the Afghan people instead of showing any sign of respect or equality.

Just like the Pakistanis, and others who took part in meddling in Afghanistan, followed a two faced policy, whereby they welcomed progression and development in their native lands, while on the other hand, they promoted Jihadist sentiments in Afghanistan, totally opposite to their values to their own kin, like the UAE who was one of the three countries who recognised the Taliban movement.

The whole Anti Soviet fiasco was not for the liberation of the Afghan people, but for a transformation of a well established cultural and historical Afghan state into a Jihadi haven that would be used by Arab militants around the world to spread their hegemony to other countries, especially in Central Asia and Russia’s Caucasus region.

The Afghan people never liked the dishonest, brutal and oppressive Arabs, as a matter of fact and expected; the Afghans had an enough of their oppressive behaviour and started to fight back from Kandahar to Kabul. Thousands of Arabs were captured and sent to Bagram airfield and Guantanamo bay, in Kabul alone, Arab terrorists were attacked by Afghans, and their mouths stuffed with Afghani bank notes to symbolise their hatred of their character and years of oppression.

The King, the messiah and the leader of the Arab militants, Osama Bin Laden, was insulted and humiliated seeing his Arab militants treated in such a manner. Osama Bin Laden like a coward, fled to Pakistan, from this ToraBora hideout, he bribed his fellow Mujahedeen commanders to allow him and his men access to cross into the Parchinar Beak to Pakistan where he was eventually found in Abottabad, Pakistan in 2011 very close to one of Pakistan’s main military bases which has speculated deep suspicions over Pakistan’s handling of the situation and its role in the region.

By

Amir Khan Maseed

Afghan Patriot

References

Brian Glyn Williams (2011). Afghanistan Declassified: A Guide to America's Longest War. USA: University of Pennsylvania Press . 154-159.

Brian Fishman, Peter L. Bergen, United States Military (2008). Bombers, bank accounts, and bleedout: al-Qa`ida's road in and out of Iraq. USA: Harmony Project. 29-30.

Cary Gladstone (2002). Afghanistan revisited . USA: Nova Biomedical . 193.

David B. Edwards (2002). Before Taliban: genealogies of the Afghan jihad. USA: University of California Press. 271-272.

Michael A. Innes (2007). Denial of sanctuary: understanding terrorist safe havens. USA: Praeger . 52-53.

Tom Lansford (2003). A bitter harvest: US foreign policy and Afghanistan. UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited . 139.

[1] Hyman, "Arab involvement in the Afghan war" p85

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The Punjabi Taliban

The Pashtun people have been unfairly dismissed as supporters of the Taliban, even though most of the victims of Taliban terrorism have been Pashtuns, from Afghan construction workers being killed, respected tribal elders being executed in Waziristan to girl’s schools being bombed in Swat.

The stereotyping of the Pashtun people has deceived many people and has given opportunists the chance to exploit the current situation to their liking. For example, Leftist writers such as Tariq Ali and Islamist apologists like Imran Khan, seem to associate the Taliban with Pashtun Nationalism, obviously there are motives for this, as the Taliban refuse to accept any other cause outside of Political Islam, which means they oppose Pashtun Nationalism and have done so since the 70’s.

However, there is one important issue that most seem to ignore or fail to highlight, and it’s the presence of Punjabis in the Taliban. The Punjabi Taliban consists of three militant groups in Pakistan, the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. All three militant groups have some link or have been associated in the past with the Pakistani ISI especially in Kashmir.

The Punjabi Taliban has been on the forefront with the Taliban since the civil war in Afghanistan.  The SSP faction of the Punjabi Taliban, have in the past fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against the Northern alliance and Hazara Militiamen. Mullah Omar himself had an admiration for the Punjabi Taliban and even offered the Punjabi Talibs of the Harkat Ansar group at the time employment, not only this, but three Afghan Taliban ministers and 22 judges belonged to the Punjabi Harkat Ansar Group too, which shows how influential the Punjabi Talibs were during Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Mullah Omar not only provided the Punjabi Talibs with jobs within the Taliban movement, he also allowed them to step up training camps in Kandahar, Kabul and Khost where they began training recruits for attacks in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya.

During the July 1999 offensive against the Northern Alliance, the 6000-8000 Pakistani militants who joined the Taliban were by majority Punjabis and Non Pashtun. Even after the capture of Mazar e Sharif, in August 1998, there were thousands of Pakistanis that went to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban, the number is estimated to be over 4000, with Punjabis making the majority once again, in this case, a meeting was held on the 13th July 1998 in Akora Khattak where a decision was made by representatives of 12 major madrasahs in Pakistan to send Punjabis to assist the Taliban.

During the Iranian-Taliban crisis, whereby Iran was deeply concerned over the killings of its diplomats in Mazar I Sharif and the Shia’s in Afghanistan in general, the leader of the SSP faction of the Punjabi Taliban, Azam Tariq who was at the time in a Military jail in Attock, Pakistan stated that his movement was ready to dispatch 20,000 militants to fight alongside the Taliban if Iran dares to attack Afghanistan.

Not only has Afghanistan been heavily influenced by Punjabi Pan Islamism, the region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has also followed the same route to take for instance a dispute occurred in Mohmand tribal agency of Khyber-Pakhtunkwha in 2007 over control of a Legendry Pashtun freedom fighter called “Haji Sahib Turangzai”shrine. Residents of the region complained about 300 masked Urdu speaking Talibs who were occupying the site, it came to notice, that the 300 masked Urdu speaking Talibs, were actually Punjabis, who were part of the SSP, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Harktul Mujahedeen. Residents were furious over the fact that their hero’s shrine was guarded by Non Pashto speaking Punjabis.

Such an incident highlights the substantial evidence out there that shows a “Punjabi Talib” presence even in the areas controlled by the TTP (Pakistani Taliban). In March 2008, a Taliban commander by the name of Maulvi Iqbal and his men were killed during skirmishes in Paktika Afghanistan with Afghan forces. It was later discovered they were Punjabis who were associated with Maulvi Nazir, who is the leader of one of the Pro Pakistani Taliban factions within the TTP.

Not only has the Afghan Taliban been connected with the Pan Islamist Punjabis of Pakistan, but even more astonishing is the fact that most of the very influential Pakistani Talib figures such as Qari Hussain, have had some upbringing in Pakistan’s Punjab Region. Qari Hussain, one of the leaders of the Pakistani Taliban, also referred to as the man who trains most of the suicide bombers, was educated in Faisalabad and Jhang region of Pakistan’s Punjab, he later graduated from the Jamia Farooqia in Karachi Pakistan in 2003, even his cousin Hakeemullah Mahsud, who is currently head of the Baitullah faction of the Pakistani Taliban, keeps very close ties with well-known Pan Islamist Pakistani Punjabi Taliban factions such as the SSP and Lashkar e Tayba. The Punjabi Taliban has a very close relationship with the Pakistani Taliban; even their Pakistani Taliban contingent at Rishkore camp South of Kabul was managed by a Punjabi called Chacha Akhtar. The deputy of Hakeemullah Mahsud, Wali Ur Rehman, was educated at Jamia Islamia Imdadia madrassa in Faisalabad in Pakistan’s Punjab. Clearly the link with the Taliban’s ideology and Pakistan’s Punjab becomes quite evident that the real inspiration for global Jihad and control over Afghanistan through a Pan Islamist cause comes from Pakistan’s Punjab and not from the Pashtun heartland.

The well documented presence of Punjabis within the Pakistani Taliban controlled areas gives you a clear indication of how Punjabis are involved in the current war by the Taliban upon the Afghan government and the Pashtun people as a whole. One needs to look at the number of Punjabi Militants killed by American drones in the Pashtun tribal belt to develop a clear understanding of who the Taliban are.

On the 15th November 2011, six Punjabi militants were killed by an American drone in North Waziristan. Two missiles from an American drone hit a rebel compound in the Miram Shah Bazaar. On the 26th July 2011, American air strikes in Afghanistan killed 35 Pakistani Taliban fighters while a dozen or so were injured and were brought to hospitals in North Waziristan. According to the residents of Waziristan, Punjabi Talibs were also amongst the dead. On the 6th June 2011, a drone fired missiles at a Shawal area at 11.15 am, and it was reported that amongst the killed militants several of them were Punjabi Taliban militants.

On the 25th February 2010, Qari Zafar, the leader of the Punjabi Taliban was killed by an American drone attack, in the Dandi Darpakhel area of North Waziristan. It was also reported that members of the Punjabi Taliban were also killed during the attack. Qari Zafar headed the Badar Mansoor Organisation that consisted mainly of Punjabis. Qari Zafar was reported to have been seen on video sat next to Hakeemullah Mahsud and Wali Ur Rehman. The Pakistan Taliban confirmed on 3rd March 2010, that Qari Zafar the leader of the Punjabi Taliban was killed by an American drone. Taliban described him as a “Martyr” and stated they will avenge his killing. On December 2009, an American drone attacked what appeared to be a compound in North Waziristan that killed eight Punjabi Talibs. On the 22 December 2008, an American drone fired missiles on two vehicles in South Waziristan, in two villages; one of the vehicles was attacked at Ghwakhwa near Wana which killed three Punjabi Talibs, while the other attack was on a vehicle in Azam Warsak that killed two Punjabi Talibs.

From the figures of Punjabi Talibs eliminated by American drones in the Pashtun tribal belt, goes to show that the association with Taliban and Pashtun Nationalism by Pakistani political figures or writers is flawed and unfounded.  The author feels, a sincere Pashtun Nationalist would never associate him/herself with a movement that has large numbers of one of the most extreme pan Islamist Punjabis that aim to turn the Pashtun land into another province of the Islamic republic of Pakistan. Pashtun Nationalists do not kidnap young boys and indoctrinate them with backward Arab folklore to go and blow themselves up and murder innocent Pashtuns in the process for promised beauties in the other life by child killers.

These deluded claims are dangerous, and counterproductive, but with hidden motives. The reality is there to see, the Taliban not only kill Pashtuns especially those who are Nationalists but they also target the shrines of well-known Pashtun poets such as Hamza Shinwari also referred to as Hamza Baba. Pashtun Nationalism does not resort to Punjabis or Madrasahs in Pakistan for guidance or dictation on how our identity should be.  The Afghan Taliban which has its roots and most of its leaders educated in Pakistani Islamic schools such as the Islamic schools ran by the likes of the Jamiet-Ul-Uloom-Al-Islamiyah(JUIP) located in New Town, Karachi, these students of Mohammad Yusuf Binori are not Pashtun Nationalists, but proxies of the Pan Islamist Punjabi Terrorist nexus, how could one refer to the Taliban as Nationalist or fighting a Pashtun cause when three of the six councilmen of the  Afghan Taliban leadership have been educated from this exact Islamic school.

By

Amir Khan Maseed

Afghan Patriot

References

Agencies. (2011). Drone kills six suspected militants in North Waziristan. Available: http://www.dawn.com/2011/11/15/drone-kills-six-suspected-militants-in-north-waziristan.html. Last accessed 

BILL ROGGIO. (2009). US airstrike kills 8 Punjabi Taliban in North Waziristan .Available: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/12/us_airstrike_kills_t.php. Last accessed 29.11.2011. 

deccanherald. (2011). 35 Pakistani Taliban killed in US air strikes in Afghanistan. Available: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/179282/35-pakistani-taliban-killed-us.html. Last accessed 29.11.2011.

deccanherald. (2011). Militants attack Pashto poet's shrine in Pak.Available: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/178488/militants-attack-pashto-poets-shrine.html. Last accessed 29.11.2011.

Daily times. (2010). Taliban confirm Qari Zafar’s death in drone attack.Available: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C03%5C03%5Cstory_3-3-2010_pg7_5. Last accessed 29.11.2011.

Imtiaz Gul. (July 2010). The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's Lawless Frontier. Available: The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan's ... - Imtiaz Gul - Google Books. Last accessed 29.11.2011

India today. (2011). US Drone strikes kill 18 militants in Pakistan.Available: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/us-drone-strikes-kill-18-militants-in-pakistan/1/140550.html . Last accessed 29.11.2011.

Jagmohan Meher (2003). America's Afghanistan war: the success that failed. India: Kalpaz Publications. 238-240.

Mariam Abou Zahab, Olivier Roy (2004 ). Islamist networks: the Afghan-Pakistan connection. UK: Columbia University Press . 24-25.

Mansur Khan Mahsud. (2010). The new, new face of the Pakistani Taliban?. Available: http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/30/the_new_new_face_of_the_pakistani_taliban. Last accessed 29.11.2011.

Neamatollah Nojumi (2002). The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region . New York: Palgrave Macmillan . 120-122.

Our Correspondent. (2008). Five ‘Punjabi Taliban’ killed in drone attacks.Available: http://archives.dawn.com/2008/12/23/top16.htm. Last accessed 29.11.2011.

Our Correspondent. (2010). Punjabi Taliban leader Qari Zafar killed.Available: http://archives.dawn.com/archives/35857. Last accessed 29.11.2011.

Robert Anthony Pape, James K. Feldman, Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism (2010). Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It. USA: University Of Chicago Press. 144-145.

Rosemary Durward, Lee Marsden (2009). Religion, conflict and military intervention. UK: Ashgate; Har/Ele edition. 152.

Sushant Sareen (2005). The jihad factory: Pakistan's Islamic revolution in the making. India: HPC. 158-159.

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ISI and Afghanistan

ISI and Afghanistan

The ISI, the Intelligence agency of Pakistan, has played a very dangerous role in Afghanistan, from arming unsavoury figures to flooding the country with weapons during the civil war. The ISI has done all it can through any means to keep Afghanistan weak and on its knees. The ISI is the main obstacle in the way of progression in the region; it has interfered, meddled and forced its way into Afghan affairs right from the beginning. The author will discuss the role of the ISI in Afghanistan in more detail. 

The ISI has always favoured the Islamists in Afghanistan over any other dissident faction or group because Pakistan was founded on Islamist ideals; having political Islamists running Afghanistan would allow the ISI to meddle more easily in Afghanistan under the pretext of the Muslim brotherhood. 

Since the 1970s, Pakistan has protected the Islamists in Afghanistan and provided them with shelter, training and weapons. At that time, Afghanistan was slowly changing into a modern progressive society; women were beginning to show their faces, there was more equality between the genders and cities were being modernised through development. The ISI on the other hand, were planning new tactics to counter this progression, and so the “Peshawar Seven” were born. 

The Peshawar Seven, aided by the ISI and the Islamic Middle East, started to promote the “Islam is in danger” war cry just as Afghanistan was leaving behind the backwardness and tribalism that had plagued its society since its creation as a state. The ISI knew very well that a radical form of Islam could counter a strong Afghanistan so they worked on people’s emotions and spread propaganda such as “Afghan women are wearing skirts and not wearing the Burqa” through radio, mosques and loudspeakers all over the refugee camps in Pakistan. 

While Pakistan enjoyed a secular lifestyle with a moderate Islamic law system, under which women were permitted to sing songs about Pakistan and promote Punjabi Pakistani culture and arts, the ISI had other plans for the people of Afghanistan; these plans were not nice and were extremely two faced.

On 27th November, 1979 a call for jihad was made by the ISI-led “resistance parties”. The ISI had run out of patience, and wanted to start the war quickly while there were no Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan. The ISI wanted to start some form of rebellion in the name of Islamic Jihad because they knew full well the Afghan government would call upon Soviet assistance, as it had done in the past, especially when Pakistan blockaded Afghan trade routes. 

Pakistan sidelined any groups opposed to the Socialist Government of Afghanistan that did not hold or follow an Islamist belief; and that is how the Peshawar Seven came into being. All the members of this group were chosen by ISI/Islamabad. The groups within the Peshawar Seven were all radical Islamists; they were as follows:-

· Hizbul-Islami-Afghanistan led by Hekmatyar

· Hizbul-e-islami Afghanistan led by Maulvi Younas Khalis

· Jamiet-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Prof Burhan Ud Din Rabbani

· Ittehad-e-Islami Afghanistan led by Abdul Rabb Rasool Sayaf

· Mahaz-e-Millie e Islami Afghanistan led by Syed Ahmed Gilani

· Jabha De Nijat e Milli-e-Afghanistan led by Prof Sibghatullah Mujaddidi

· Harkat-e-Inqilab e Afghanistan led by Maulvi Muhammad Nabi Muhammadi 

The Peshawar Seven were opportunists who were looking for any opportunity to enter Afghan politics, and they were assisted by the ISI who felt it would benefit them. Take the example of Daud’s coup in 1973; at the time, Burhan ud Rabbani offered Daud assistance from the Islamic movement on the condition that he left his communist comrades. Daud knew that this was an attempt by Pakistan to place their proxies in the Afghan government; Daud refused and many Islamists were arrested. 

Afghanistan was constantly attacked by a revolution that was started in Pakistan and funded by the ISI. The Arab world also wanted a piece of the pie, and found the idea of an Afghanistan under Islamists quite attractive; that’s why the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader, Umar Salasani, visited Peshawar in October 1982 to show his support for the likes of Hekmatyar and for the Islamic revolution in Afghanistan. 

The Islamists, had always turned to the Pakistanis for help and assistance; even during the rule of Sardar Daud, Younis Khalis, the leader of the Khalis group, would visit ISI-led Islamic Madrassahs such as the Darol Ul Haqqania in Akora Khattak, Nowshera district, to seek knowledge and education in implementing what the author would refer to as “Arabisation through radical Islamic doctrine”. In addition Younis Khalis formed a group that was against obscenity that went the name of “Hebz-Tawabin” in Ningrahar and Kabul. Younis Khalis also had a weekly magazine entitled “Gaheez” in 1968, which was used to produce materials in support of a radical Islamic system. Again, he was funded by and linked with the Aala-Al Maudoodi, then the Chief of Jama at-e-Islami in Pakistan. 

The ISI knew very well, that if other Islamist groups were to emerge, they would find it very difficult to control and organise them, so they gave ultimatums that a failure to join one of the recognised Peshawar Seven groups would mean no weapons, and, without weapons and funding, the Islamists would be powerless in their Jihad against Afghanistan. The ISI developed a special cell by the name of the Afghan Bureau, which assisted and helped Islamist fighters in Afghanistan, provided those arms and weapons, and forged links with warehouses to provide constant supplies to bring about a radical Islamist revolution in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has two faces and suffers from self-denial; there have been countless times that Pakistan has denied any link or connection with Islamists in Afghanistan but then has been exposed. Pakistan would always deny it was arming Afghan refugees, and state that the fighters were in the tribal areas just to prevent it being seen to break any UN rules; however, everyone knew the Pakistanis were arming the Islamists, recruiting and brainwashing them in refugee camps through scare mongering tactics, and funding Islamists to spread propaganda. However, according to Brigadier Mohammed Yousaf of the Pakistani Army:

“During my four years some 80,000 Mujahedeen were trained, hundreds of thousands of arms and ammunition were distributed, several billion dollars were spent on this immense logistic exercise and ISI teams regularly entered Afghanistan alongside the Mujahedeen”. [1]

Pakistan remains a corrupt double dealer and two-faced hypocrite to this day. It is double dealing its own allies, on one hand taking dollars from the Americans, but on the other hand using those dollars to train suicide bombers to kill innocent Afghans through the Haqqani network and so to get even with India on Afghan soil. 

Pakistan’s main goal in Afghanistan was to create a Pan Islamist entity, and a federation for which Pakistan’s Punjab would be the capital. US representative Wilson stated that the Pakistanis were committed to Hekmatyar as they predicted, just like Zia ul haq did, a world conflict between Muslims and Hindus. However, what makes the author astonished but not surprised is Zia Ul Haq’s plans to turn Afghanistan into another province. Wilson recalls Zia Ul Haq giving him a map “in which overlays indicated the goal of a confederation embracing first Pakistan and Afghanistan and eventually Central Asia and Kashmir”. [2]

The ISI was instrumental in forming these plans for a Pakistani-led confederation that would imperialise other countries in the region and radically Islamize their societies as a counter-strike against any rebellion against Pakistani control. Pakistan has a very long record of using Islam as a shield for its strategic interests in the region, and Afghanistan is a very good example of this.

The whole anti-Soviet war was not a war for the liberation of the Afghan people, but a war for ISI/Pakistan’s Islamic interests. Dr Marwat recalled an Islamist Afghan refugee leader stating the following:-

“We will try to make Pakistan and Afghanistan one country with a new name of Islamistan, and if not possible, then we will make a confederation of the two countries”[3]

Pakistan used radical Islamic beliefs and teachings to turn Afghanistan into a province so that if an attack by India occurred the Pakistanis would have easy access to station its troops and citizens in Afghanistan. The author feels that another reason why Pakistan required a defenceless Afghanistan to exploit was so that it could use the terrain and the people as proxies, or allow the establishment of militant groups for the liberation of Kashmir from India. 

The traitorous and backward-minded sell-out Mullahs, not only supported taking anti-progressive measures, but also sold Afghanistan piece by piece to the Pakistanis. Even in May 1991 when the UN produced a five point peace plan for Afghanistan that promoted a ceasefire, fair elections and an end to all arms supplies, the bickering Mullahs and their Islamist supporters rejected the plan, and Hekmatyar requested the Pakistani government to formulate a new plan to satisfy the Mujahedeen. As usual, the Islamists begged Pakistan to defend them and their criminal ways. 

To save its Islamist assets and secure Pakistan’s dominance over a future Afghanistan, in April 1992 Nawaz Sharif made the Peshawar Seven sign an accord to create a Mujahedeen government in Kabul. Nawaz Sharif, ISI general Nasir Ahmed, Army Chief of Staff General Asif Nawaz Janjuwa and Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal all came to show their support to this interim government. 

The real reason for this interim government was to secure both Pakistani and Radical Wahabist Arab interests in Afghanistan. The ISI knew that uniting the factions under a pan-Islamist ideology with allegiance to Pakistan would prevent the bickering Mullahs from fighting one another. However, as usual, the author feels the Mullahs were only interested in money, as Nawaz Sharif gave President Mujaddedi a cheque for 250 million rupees. 

As time progressed, the accord failed due to infighting and constant bickering on who should be involved in sharing power; the Islamists had no idea nor knowledge of how to run a country, in the same way the Taliban had no understanding nor knowledge of how to run Afghanistan during the 90s. Due to this disturbance, on 7th March 1993 the Pakistanis, Saudis and Iranians brought all the Mujahedeen leaders to Islamabad, Pakistan to sign a power sharing plan called the Islamabad accord. 

The Peshawar Seven/Islamists proved to be useless leaders and men of no value with regard to making Afghanistan stable and strong. The Afghan people, especially the refugees, were mistreated and forced to join the Peshawar Seven. People in most camps were required to become a member of one of the Peshawar Seven groups to be entitled to an identity and ration card from the Afghan refugee’s commissionrate. These were later called the “ration card parties” and they were led by Maliks/Mullahs who made money on the miseries of the Afghan people. 

Pakistan’s intentions towards Afghanistan have always been cruel and self-centred. According to Dr Qaudir Amiryar, a professor at George Washington University, Pakistan supported the radical islamization of Afghanistan and favoured the Islamists, while rejecting the Secularist/Nationalists; they resorted to rejecting their visas and even denied a visa to King Zahir Shah. 

The ISI could not see Kabul in peace or modernised. Most of the American aid destined for the Islamists went straight into the pockets of the Punjab/ISI elite in Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Zia Ul Haq made it quite clear, that all American assistance to the Mujahedeen/Islamists should go directly through Pakistan alone. Pakistan used the aid first to modernise and strengthen its army along the Indian-Pakistani border and secondly to provide a share of the aid to its most favoured Islamist elements in Afghanistan. 

The ISI was never an organisation that wanted to see Afghanistan in peace; in fact the same General Akhtar Abdur Rahman of the ISI stated that “Kabul must burn”.[4] The ISI’s intention was to secure a future Islamist Afghanistan that would be recruited to serve the interests of Pakistan in the name of Islam and Al Jihad, even though most of Pakistan was living a different lifestyle to the one proposed and promoted by the ISI in Afghanistan. The ISI needed its Islamist assets to counterattack Secularism/Pashtun Nationalism in Afghanistan. It supported Islamist culture, such as suicide bombing camps, public lashings for minor crimes and the abolishment of indigenous culture and music, while Pakistan itself promoted a different kind of lifestyle on its own soil, with hardly any rebellion or objection from the Islamist parties, such as JUI which was more focused on destroying the well-being of Afghans than Pakistanis. 

More years went by and peace was never brought to the land of Afghanistan. The same Mujahedeen, which had claimed at the start that is was bringing liberty to the Afghan people, started fighting one another for power. The ISI and other agencies were the main orchestrators of the mess, especially during the civil war. Pakistan’s Afghan policy started to face many problems, one being unaccomplished missions and another being the expense of funding particular under-performing proxies.

Hekmatyar and Dostum failed to capture Kabul and it eventually became too expensive for the Pakistanis to fund their activities. Rabbani become difficult to overthrow in Kabul and had sided with the Iranians, Russians and India. With the Kashmir front also being fought for by the ISI and the Pakistanis, the ISI found it difficult to organise its proxies and keep them intact due to the fact that most of the aid from the West stopped after the end of the Cold War. Pakistan had successfully destroyed Afghanistan, dismantled its infrastructure and turned its people into its “Jihadis of fortune”. 

With the on-going dispute between Ahmed Shah Masood and Pakistan over aid and arms, the Pakistanis were in desperate need to formulate a new strategy to keep its influence intact in Afghanistan. This new strategy was the Taliban. The ISI, with the assistance of the JUI party, started to recruit young boys from well-known Islamist Madrassahs all over Pakistan; Darol ul Haqqani/Binori Masjid being one of the main recruiting centres. 

Pakistan also started creating divisions by ethnicity and couldn’t resist turning the conflict into a Pashtun vs. Tajik war. The author can recall how Pakistanis used false propaganda and scare mongering tactics about a decline in Pashto usage in Afghanistan and the country being ruled by minorities. This spread into the minds of gullible Pashtuns all over the Pashtun region, but in fact it was Pakistan that had reduced Pushto’s importance by replacing it with Urdu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. This is the same Pakistan that armed the non-Pashtuns under Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Masood to counter Pashtun Nationalism. Now the tides had turned in a different direction and the ISI took full advantage of it.

The Taliban followed a radical Islamist ideology that brought Afghanistan back into Pakistan’s sphere of influence. Most of the Northern Alliance realised, regardless of its Islamist past, that Pakistan was a double dealer and an untrustworthy friend. Former assets of Pakistan within the Peshawar Seven started to turn their guns on Pakistani interests, which led to Pakistan’s ISI trying to find some way to take control once again. The Taliban, under the pretext of “bringing peace and order”, was assigned the likes of Col Imam and Col Faizan by the ISIS to assist Taliban military gains and to take control of the Afghan capital of Kabul. 

However, the author feels, there was another reason why the ISI and the Pakistanis invented the Taliban that the media and most readers never discuss; to show this, the author would like to point out the events that took place after Kandahar was taken by the Taliban. During the Zia Ul Haq government, Zia himself had always dreamed of an Islamist union with Pakistan as the leader, as mentioned earlier. Zia ul Haq really wanted to provide Pakistan with access to Central Asia, especially through the trade that goes through Afghanistan. The author feels the purpose of the Taliban was to secure this trade route through Afghanistan, as well as bringing order and preventing attacks from rivals or enemies of Pakistani interests. 

General Babar, who was a Pakistani commander in the frontier corps, was the man who developed the Afghan trade development cell that had the task of facilitating a trade route to Central Asia. However, the author feels that Pakistan favoured its own economic interests over the so called peace they claim to have brought to Afghanistan through the Taliban. Pakistan was very much involved in projects in Afghanistan such as Pakistani Telecom setting up a microwave telephone network for the Taliban in Kandahar, which then became part of the Pakistani telephone grid. 

Civilian Pakistani engineers from the Public Works Department and the water/power development authority worked on making road repairs and supplying electricity to Kandahar. Pakistan was once again, working to integrate Kandahar as a Pakistani city by providing development packages; however, the Pakistan Army was also involved, and was tasked to help the Taliban set up an internal wireless network for its commanders in the field. The PIA (Pakistani International Airlines) and the PAF (Pakistani Air Force) sent technicians to Kandahar airport to repair it along with the MIG fighter jets and helicopters captured by the Taliban. 

When the Taliban captured Herat, the Pakistanis became joyful and decided to send a ten-man team led by the Director-General of the Afghan Trade Development Cell by road from Quetta to Turkmenistan. Those with him included men from the civil aviation, Pakistan Telecom, PIA, Pakistan Railways, Radio Pakistan and the National Bank of Pakistan. The individuals and their ministries were encouraged to fund and support the Taliban from their budgets.

The author feels the Pakistanis used the Taliban to extend their influence into Central Asia through an Islamist ideology. The Pakistanis knew very well that the society would become weak due to religious conflict, and with a Pakistani presence in the region they could somehow enter the politics and social life of the inhabitants through the name of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the Pakistanis have their own interests, and couldn’t care less whose lives they destroy. Pakistan aimed to imperialise Afghanistan, and make Afghanistan dependent on its projects and development packages, and sooner or later planned to fully integrate it as a province led by Islamists. 

Those vile and gullible supporters of Taliban must realise the Taliban were/are proxies of the Pakistani ISI and government. If NATO had not disrupted the Taliban network and operations in the region, the whole of Afghanistan would have become another province of Pakistan flooded by Islamist elements from abroad. 

Pakistan armed, supported and provided assistance to the Taliban from its creation and throughout its time ruling Afghanistan; now one must ask what if NATO had not attacked the Taliban? What would the policy of the Taliban towards Pakistan be? Pakistan infected the fabric of Afghan society with the poisonous Islamist Ideology and anti progressive militancy. The Taliban supporters can use all the justifications they can come up with, but the fact remains that it was due to Pakistan that the Taliban become what they are today. 

By

Amir Khan Maseed

Afghan Patriot. 

References

Dr Fazal-Ur-Rahim Marwat. (2005). The Illusory "Peshawar Seven" Tanzimat (Parties). In: Dr Marwat From Muhajir to Mujahid. Peshawar: University of Peshawar. 59-99. 

M. Hassan Kakar, Mohammed Kakar (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982. USA: University of California Press. 291. 

William Maley (2001). Fundamentalism reborn?Afghanistan and the Taliban. UK: C. Hurst and Co Ltd. 84-86. 

[1] Dr Fazal-Ur-Rahim Marwat. (2005). The Illusory "Peshawar Seven" Tanzimat (Parties). In: Dr Marwat From Muhajir to Mujahid. Peshawar: University of Peshawar. 59-99. 

[2] Dr Fazal-Ur-Rahim Marwat. (2005). The Illusory "Peshawar Seven" Tanzimat (Parties). In: Dr Marwat From Muhajir to Mujahid. Peshawar: University of Peshawar. 59-99. 

[3] Dr Fazal-Ur-Rahim Marwat. (2005). The Illusory "Peshawar Seven" Tanzimat (Parties). In: Dr Marwat From Muhajir to Mujahid. Peshawar: University of Peshawar. 59-99. 

[4] M. Hassan Kakar, Mohammed Kakar (1997). Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982. USA: University of California Press . 291. 

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