Of the Amn Committee and Dajjal

Enter the domain of conspiracy theorists and you are bound to come across the most ludicrous of conjectures.

The discrepancies surrounding the PSN Mehran attack has fuelled the wildest of imaginations and the US-based contractor Blackwater, India’s RAW and Israel’s Mossad, all are being linked to the incident.

There are also claims that nobody sneaked into the naval base and attackers were in fact its employees already present there.

But the craziest one that has been churned up so far is that the attackers were members of the People’s Amn Committee – a Pakistan People’s Party-affiliated organisation based in the Lyari area of Karachi. There sure aren’t too many reasons to become a fan of the Amn Committee, but nobody in his/her rights senses can come up with such absurdity.

A mystery that leads to a number of possibilities and explanations is always intriguing, but some tend to go overboard, eventually obscuring their perception of reality to the point of ludicrousness.

In one such example, some have also come up with the assumption that al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s body has been thrown into the Bermuda Triangle as a gift to Masih ad-Dajjal, who, Muslims believe, would be the last of the false prophets and the greatest evil on earth before the Judgement Day – a figure comparable to the anti-Christ in Christian beliefs.

What was the person, who came up with this preposterous theory, had been smoking? Obviously, he/she has a deep resentment for the Americans as they are being perceived as aides of Dajjal. So it’s easy to guess as to where all this is coming from. In fact, one Maulana Umer Asim has even authored two books - Bermuda Tikon aur Dajjal (Bermuda Triangle and Dajjal) and Dajjal ka Lashkar - Blackwater (The Army of Dajjal - Blackwater) – in a bid to explain how the end-time scenario is shaping up.

Apart from brewing up conspiracy theories, some mullahs also propagate their agenda by spreading false tales about how people who desecrated the Quran or committed some other major sin were turned into grotesque creatures by God as punishment for their wrongdoing. For this, they use booklets and pamphlets and are also assisted by the profit-seeking owners of a few third-rated Urdu newspaper.

A few years ago, a newspaper carried a picture of a half woman-half animal along with a story, claiming that the creature was a woman punished for tossing the Quran into fire.

However, the deception was exposed the next day when it turned out that the monstrosity in the picture was actually a sculpture created by a famous artist.

Not too many of such lies circulate now… perhaps the presence of so many TV channels has made it hard to pull off such tricks (plus some TV channels have their own agendas to propagate). As for conspiracy theories, there are bound to be more bizarre ones in the coming days.

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”.

A dharna of another kind

The Don Juan of Pakistan now turned right-wing politician, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan put up a good show in Karachi.

His dharna (sit-in) at the Native Jetty Bridge was aimed at choking off NATO supplies headed for Afghanistan in order to protest drone attacks in the tribal areas, even if it meant inflicting losses on the country’s own industries.

Whether or not Mr Khan actually gave any sort of trouble to NATO, he certainly managed to attract a large crowd, in fact bigger than many would have thought he would. The two days of his dharna were perhaps the hottest days of the summer in the city so far. Drenched in sweat, hundreds toiled in the harsh, relentless heat to make Mr Khan’s dharna a success.

So the PTI chief suddenly becomes the crowd-puller. And understandably so… he had the mullah brigade backing him up. And not to forget the buzz about “Immi” of the Pakistan cricket’s golden days recently becoming the new pawn in the hands of our always meddling spy agencies.

Nevertheless, the event was a unique spectacle as people, who are worlds apart, were found side by side for a common cause.

Most of Mr Khan’s followers are the younger lot. So there were a number of young men and women at the dharna acting as cheerleaders for the PTI chief’s mission as if they were at a concert… actually it did turn out be a concert with Ali Azmat and Strings entertaining the participants of the dharna – not a bad thing actually if the youth develop a sense of political awareness (not sure if that was happening in this case) and also make such gatherings more fun than they usually are.

But at the same time, the Sunni Tehreek and Jamaat-e-Islami mullahs were also present there. In fact, even when their leaders spewed their bigoted, spiteful mullah rants, Mr Khan’s jumping jacks continued to party.

So let’s thank Mr Khan for providing us with a sight that we don’t get to see everyday. Two very different lots of the frenzied kind together - one group brainwashed into believing that religion tells you to hate others and the other with minds so cluttered with unnecessary junk that clarity of thought and the ability to reason and reach the right conclusion is gone.

Looking to the East

Fretted about the possibility of the US cutting of its billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan over the Osama bin Laden Pandora’s box, the country’s leaders are desperate to latch onto other options they have – backup plans, one might call them. Plus, they also have to deal with any other intimidating measures that the US might use against Pakistan with the ties between the two countries becoming increasingly marred by mistrust.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani rushed off to China to put the Pakistan-China friendship to test. The 60th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic ties presented the perfect excuse. And as always, the Chinese were quick to oblige. Pledges were made to “infuse new dynamics into the Pakistan-China partnership by enhancing cooperation among entrepreneurs of the two countries”. The Chinese also promised to provide Pakistan with 50 JF-17 fighter jets. But most of all, China defended Pakistan’s role in the war on terror and told the US to respect Pakistan’s sovereignty, like a big brother coming to the aid of his younger sibling and warning the bully to back off.
SO Pakistan has managed to send across a message to the US that the world’s economic powerhouse is steadfastly behind it and the Americans need to realise that they are not holding all the cards.
As Mr Gilani China mission was somewhat of a success, President Asif Ali Zardari didn’t fare that bad in Russia. He was there to win the support of another powerful nation (the mysterious and controversial killing of five Chechens in Kharotabad got anything to do with that?).
During the president’s stay in Russia, both countries agreed to “promote trade, investment and pursue joint projects particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure development, metal industry and agriculture”.
The president also invited Russia to “invest in regional and trans-regional projects and benefit from Pakistan’s strategic location and investment-friendly policies”.
Considering that the Pakistan-US relations appear to be falling apart and turning into a novel of betrayal and deception, the Pakistani leaders’ strategy to look elsewhere for support isn’t bad. For a country that is being suspected by the West as the epicentre of terrorism, looking to the East is certainly makes sense.

The tiger headed straight for the serpent’s lair

The ‘tiger’ of Punjab roared and growled in Sindh. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Mian Nawaz Sharif has returned to his confrontational ways, which perhaps suits him better, but this time around, he is up against the very forces to which he owes his political career. His makers, one might say. So here we have a typical Frankenstein situation. The creation turns against its creator.

But the tiger is simply lashing back in self-defence. He realises that he is not the blue-eyed boy of the military establishment anymore. The spy agencies are up to its dirty old tricks again and devising a script to divide his vote bank in Punjab. Apparently, a part of this ploy is to back up Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, who appears to be the ideal man in the establishment’s scheme of things. Even though both Mr Sharif and Mr Khan are right-wing, the establishment fears that Mr Sharif might still be carrying the desire of becoming the Amir-ul-Momineen and asserting his authority over all, including military generals.

So Mr Sharif has delivered a few below the belt blows. He said that intelligence agencies need to stay away from politics and quit running a parallel government. He also demanded that the army and its top intelligence agency’s budget be brought to the parliament. Later, he urged the nation to stop treating India as the country’s biggest enemy. Now, he wants military dictators as well as the generals and judges who supported them to be brought to justice.

This is all too painful to the ears of his previous masters, especially the part about India - a major shock for the anti-India hawks perched in Pindi. The tiger is headed straight for the serpent’s lair. Mr Sharif is taking on an adversary that has never been defeated before – on a domestic level, that is. Good luck to him... he will need it.

Exit Osama bin Laden, enter Hafiz Saeed?

Just as Pakistan is trying to rid itself of the spectre of Osama bin Laden and its authorities would like the world to believe that they had nothing to do with al Qaeda chief hiding in Abbottabad for years, perhaps the world’s new most wanted terrorist is already in the making – not in the caves of Afghanistan or the rugged terrain of Waziristan, but in the cultural centre of the country, Lahore.

One would expect someone like Ayman al Zawahiri or Mullah Omar to take over the mantle with bin Laden gone, but it’s Hafiz Saeed, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader, who literally promises much.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa is actually the al Qaeda-linked terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba operating with its new name ever since it was ‘banned’ by the government in 2002.

Recently in Lahore, a gathering of more than 4,000 bearded fanatics, reeking of hate and consumed by rage, cursed the Americans for killing bin Laden and called the terrorist a martyr. There, Saeed, the man allegedly responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, uttered the words that Osama's death is the beginning of America’s defeat.

Apart from Saeed’s followers, participating in the gathering were also activists of the country’s right-wing parties. In fact, the religio-political party Jamaat-e-Islami declared that Saeed is the leader of all religious parties of the country.

The Pakistan Army is reluctant to launch an operation against terrorists in North Waziristan and its spooks are quick to whisk away nationalists of Balochistan and Sindh, but here is a man declaring jihad against the US - a country giving us billions of dollars in aid from of its taxpayers’ money - and enjoying complete liberty of doing this in the open.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba was originally meant for the Kashmir jihad. But now it poses as much of a threat to the US as al Qaeda does. It has spread its tentacles not only across Pakistan but to other countries as well.

The powers that be in Pakistan, keeping in view what they believe are ‘strategic interests’ of the country, are unlikely to lay a hand on the terrorist organisation, which has been such a handy tool for them in the past and could still serve them in the days to come.

But is it really in Pakistan’s strategic interests to become increasingly isolated internationally and keep getting closer to being labelled a terrorist state? Perhaps for a mindset that is too anti-India to see anything else beyond, yes.

Setting the tone

Prior to his arrival in Pakistan, US Senator John Kerry made it clear that it won’t be him taking the stick from the Pakistani authorities over the Osama bin Laden debacle and in fact, he would be the one giving it to them instead (strictly in the idiomatic sense of course).
He expected the Pakistanis to make a fuss over the al Qaeda chief hunt in Abbottabad in which the Americans “violated” the “sovereignty” of the country so he went for their Achilles’ heel - aid. He knows where it hurts most and he sent across a reminder that beggars can’t be choosers.
Mr Kerry made it clear that Pakistan can expect a “profound” change in its already troubled relationship with the US if does not mend its ways and become an actual ally in the war on terror instead of continuing to play its duplicitous game.

Warning Islamabad that it might run the risk of losing some of the billions of dollars in aid after the discovery that bin Laden was living in the city of Abbottabad for so many years, he advised the Pakistani authorities to give a rest to the monkey business of finger-pointing.
Let’s face it. The US and Pakistan are stuck in a bad marriage where a divorce at this stage will hurt them both. They will have to continue sharing the same bed whether they like it or not. The US needs Pakistan for its campaign in Afghanistan and the latter needs the billions of dollars flowing in from the former. For the Americans, Pakistan is a shoe that hurts, but one it cannot do without… not for now at least. It needs it to go the distance. As for Pakistan, it can’t let go of the habit of biting the hand that feeds.
Since 2002, Pakistan has gobbled up more than $20 billion from the US. Where has all that money gone and what is the financial crisis all about if all those dollars came in is another issue.
With Mr Kerry setting the tone for his meetings in Islamabad, one can imagine who will be calling the shots. One can expect some official statements similar to ones that condemn drone attacks. But what is actually said and done is quite different.