The deadly sin of telling the truth

Saleem Shahzad, the bureau chief of Asia Times Online, has paid the price committing the worse sin of them all in Pakistan – telling the truth. Perhaps if he had opted to be on the intelligence agencies’ payroll and glorify bloodthirsty terrorists, he might have lived, and in a much leisurely fashion as well. But no… the curse of being a journalist took its toll on him, forcing him to disclose stuff that is never meant to become public knowledge. He knew that his life was in danger… he had told the Human Rights Watch about it. He also must have thought about what would become of his wife and three children if he is no longer around. But he went through with it anyway.

He disclosed in a report that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pak Navy. A cell of the terrorist organisation was operating in many naval bases in Karachi. When the navy intelligence found out about it, many lower cadre naval personnel were arrested. After al Qaeda demanded their release, the Pak Navy tried to negotiate with it but failed. Eventually this led to the attacks on navy buses in Karachi and finally the PNS Mehran siege.

Shahzad had certainly tested the patience of some with such disclosures and to make matters worse, the journalist was planning to reveal more information on how al Qaeda had made inroads into the other armed forces of the country as well. This was unforgivable. They wanted Shahzad’s head on a spike.

Going through the list of the usual suspects, Shahzad may have been murdered by the bearded lunatics, whom he had spent his career reporting about, or it could have been our sleazebag spooks as they had every reason to teach him a ‘lesson’.

Shahzad’s murder was nowhere near the usual al Qaeda or Taliban style ala the gruesome Daniel Peal killing. However, it reeks of the intelligence agencies’ malice. The Human Rights Watch has claimed that Shahzad was abducted by the Inter-Services Intelligence. His abduction from a city like Islamabad, minutes after he had left for a TV station to participate in a talk show - perhaps to disclose more ‘disturbing’ stuff – the discovery of his body in the Sarai Alamgir area bearing torture marks, one just needs to fit the pieces together. Maybe his abductors didn’t want him dead… only give him a thrashing he would never forget, but their third degree tactics proved too much for the journalist. His death has probably only multiplied their troubles.

Whatever the case may be, it’s hopeless to expect a proper investigation into this grim affair. After the usual condemnations, condolences and the announcement of a probe, the case would be closed before anyone realises it.

Shahzad’s murder also brings another issue into focus. Whether it is him in Islamabad or Wali Khan Babar in Karachi, journalists would remain an easy target. Unarmed and vulnerable, they still put their lives at risk everyday, driven by the urge to do the right thing. And sometimes, it ends with the biggest sacrifice they can make.

The power of a single mosquito

If you wondered why the eccentric Bollywood actor Nana Patekar in one of his movies frantically kept on repeating that a single mosquito can turn a man into a eunuch, you should go through the news about six men or probably four holding off about 1,500 soldiers for 16 hours in Karachi.
Six terrorists (if somebody actually wants to take Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s word for it, otherwise according to contradictory reports, there were only four), earlier speculated to be between 10 and 15, grabbed their arms and explosives, sneaked into the naval base, PNS Mehran, destroyed two precious US-made P-3C Orion aircraft and killed 10 security personnel. Later, the security forces were at their wits’ end by the time they managed to take down the handful of terrorists.
If the manner in which our armed forces’ “preparedness to meet any challenge” was exposed wasn’t painful enough, the interior minister and navy chief really rubbed salt into wounds. The former likened the attackers to "Star Wars characters" on the basis of their appearance, and as for the latter, it’s mind-boggling as to why he chose to speak if he only had to admire the attackers’ skills, training and efficiency.
The October 2009 attack on the military headquarters in Rawalpindi should have compelled the army to review many of its flawed strategies and set its priorities right.
But it didn’t. And now it cannot afford to waste time on reassessing as to who poses the biggest threat to the country. The answer is right there in front of it in its ugly form.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the naval base attack, which is apparently part of the expected backlash in the aftermath of the US raid in which al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed.
A closer look at the terrorists’ modus operandi in the PNS Mehran attack shows that it shares many similarities with the army headquarters siege in Pindi, the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the Mumbai attacks in November 2008. In almost all these cases, there is a group of heavily armed men who are experts in guerilla tactics. They infiltrate into the targeted area and keeping the security forces engaged for hours.
These methods are unlike the ones employed by the tribal areas’ Taliban, who usually blow themselves up at crowded spots or ram an explosive-laden vehicle into a building, like what they did to the Crime Investigation Department office in Karachi.
The tactics used by terrorists in the naval base attack and the similar ones before it are hallmarks of the jihadists prepared for Kashmir. For years, they have managed to get the better of Indian armed forces and it’s no wonder why they are so well-trained.
When there was a shift in Pakistan’s Kashmir policy during former president Pervez Musharraf’s tenure and insurgency was reduced, these jihadists, rendered useless in the new scenario, turned against their own country’s military and joined hands with the Taliban in the tribal areas. They call themselves the Punjabi Taliban, as that is where most of them hail from. Though a sub-group of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, they have their own methods of going about their business.
The PNS Mehran and the army headquarters sieges were both suicide missions. They attackers knew that there were no chances of survival. The only aim was to humiliate the armed forces by taking control of their bases… just long enough to dent their morale. And this is what must be giving the shivers to the West… a nuclear armed country, where less than half a dozen men are capable of taking on the defences of its “invincible army”.