03-08-2009, 09:55 PM
3rd MARCH 2009 MARKS 85 YEARS SINCE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ISLAMIC KHILAFAH STATE
http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/resources/le...state.html
The Messenger of Allah ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? said: “Prophethood will last among you for as long as Allah wills, then Allah would take it away. Then it will be (followed by) a rightly-guided Khilafah upon the way of Prophethood. It will remain for as long as Allah wills, then Allah would take it away. Then there will be a hereditary leadership which will remain for as long as Allah wills, and then He will lift it if He wishes. Afterwards, there will be a biting oppressive rule, and it will last for as long as Allah wishes, then He will lift it if He wishes. Then there will be a rightly-guided Khilafah upon the way of Prophethood. Then he kept silent” (Musnad Ahmad)
The 3rd March 2009 marks 85 years since the destruction of the Khilafah, the state that unified the Muslim Ummah - one of the darkest events since Allah’s beloved Messenger ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? passed from this world. Since then we have seen nothing but destruction and division of the Muslim lands, dissected into more than fifty weak states, with as many rulers, flags and constitutions.
With every year that passes we witness more division. Iraq is occupied and fragmenting into three pieces. The next, whose map has already been drawn, is Pakistan. US military planning maps clearly define how Pakistan is to be dissected – and US policies are working towards that – fuelling sectarian hatred, backing despised politicians who allow the US to bomb civilians in Pakistan and making the Pakistani army kill their own people in America’s war on terror.
The slogans used to attack the Khilafah over 85 years ago are the same slogans used today. They accused the Khilafah of being the ‘sick man of Europe’ and that it was a backward state because it implemented the Shariah of Allah ?????? ?????? . The Ottoman Khilafah was portrayed as a dangerous extremist state which needs reformed so that it could be destroyed and its resources stolen. Although Pakistan does not implement the Shariah of Allah ?????? ??????, the mere desire of the population to be ruled by Allah’s law is enough to brand it as a violent extremist state. They attack it as backward and in need of reform.
Just as they sowed the seed of nationalism in the Ottoman Khilafah – playing the colonial game of divide and rule - pitting the ‘Turks’ against the ‘Arabs’ they pit ‘Pashtuns’, ‘Balouchi’, ‘Punjabi’, ‘Sindhi’, ‘Mohajir’, ‘Shia’ and ‘Sunni’ – all Muslim - against one another. Just as then, they spill each others blood – dearer to Allah than the Kaaba itself.
Yet over 60 years ago these same Muslims united people from different regions, and of different juristic opinions, to form one state with one objective of securing the Muslims and establishing the Shariah of Allah ?????? ?????? – just as Islam had successfully done for centuries before under the Khilafah. They sacrificed everything to fulfil their vision of establishing an Islamic State, even though people mocked them saying they were dreaming. With the call of La ilaha illAllah they moved to build a state for Islam, only to be betrayed by successive rulers.
Sultan Abdul Hamid (may Allah give him Rahma), one of the last Khalifahs of the Muslims, said of the “Our Ottoman Khilafah is the most international realm in the world. To us belong the Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Arnauts, Bulgarians, Greeks ... Notwithstanding this we are a large family united by our religious beliefs... Unfortunately, England, by her perfidious tactics, has succeeded in kindling the nationalistic fire in my dominion. Arabia has revolted, also Albania, the stronghold of Islam in Europe... If the idea of Muslim unity is lost, then our power will be at an end!”(New York Times)
The destruction of the Khilafah followed defeat in the First World War. The western nations occupied most of the Muslim lands, and then held the Paris Conferences to enact the Sykes-Picot Agreement which called for the carving up of the Muslim lands and the division of her unity under the Khilafah. How many conferences have we seen since then calling for further division in the Muslim world? Did we not see conferences in Bonn to establish a puppet regime in Afghanistan? Did we not see conferences that have agreed the division of Iraq? Have we not seen the traitor rulers in the Muslim lands having a conference in Cairo this week to sell Palestine? All to try to secure the occupation and control of our lands by colonialists.
After weakening Pakistan by waging a war and occupying Afghanistan, the US and NATO have established military bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now they are holding conferences to decide the fate of Pakistan. Just as the Ottoman government were not invited to the Paris Conferences, the Pakistani government will not be part of the decision making at the NATO or the SCO conferences to be held in the coming weeks. The fate of Pakistan is being sealed as Muslims look on impotent. Now is the time to move to stop the conspiracies against this Ummah and her deen.
But just as they plan a future for the Muslim world – weak and divided and living under kufr – Allah Plans something else. The real sick man of the world today is America – bankrupt economically and morally; defeated in war in two Muslim countries. As America and its allies try to spread ‘freedom and democracy’ by force, the Muslims cry out for Islam and Shariah.
When our forefathers saw the plots being hatched for the destruction of the Khilafah, they moved to prevent it. Seeing its destruction, some have worked tiresomely for its return. Working for the restoration of the Khilafah is something that Allah has commanded, but its return is something He SWT has promised – to grant it, and bring security and peace after the years of fear and terror.
?????? ??????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ????????????? ???????????????????? ??? ????????? ????? ??????????? ????????? ??? ?????????? ???????????????? ?????? ????????? ???????
???????? ?????? ??????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ??????? ?????????????? ??? ??????????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ?????????????
"Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them in the land succession (to power) on earth, as He granted it to those before them; and that He will establish in authority their religion - that which He has chosen for them (Islam). And that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: They will worship Me and will not associate anything in worship with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the transgressors.”
[Translated Meaning of Surah al-Nur: 55]
Dear Muslims! Do not fall prey to the whispers of Shaytan who tell you that Khilafah is a dream and you can never confront the super powers and their plots. Rather join the work and rely on the promise of Allah, as it is He ?????? ?????? who has power over all things.
???? ?????????? ??????? ????????? ??????? ????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ??? ?????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ?????
?????? ???????
"Say (O Muhammad ??? ???? ???? ???? ????): O All?h! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honour whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.”
[Translated Meaning of Surah Aali Imran: 26]
Today Hizb ut-Tahrir is leading the work for the re-establishment of the Khilafah throughout the Muslim world. From Indonesia to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa - the Party is rallying the masses of the Muslim Ummah behind the movement for Khilafah. Each one of us must contribute to strengthening this call wherever we are. As this call gets stronger and stronger we will, no doubt, with the Help of Allah ?????? ?????? see the overthrow of the agent rulers that are the real obstacles to establishing our unity.
???????? ?????? ????????????? ?????????? ???????? ?????? ????? ?????? ???????
"And to All?h belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and All?h has power over all things.”
WHAT FUTURE FOR PAKISTAN?
http://www.muslimedia.com/reflect0309.htm
March 23 is an important landmark in Pakistan’s history. It was on this date in 1940 that the All-India Muslim League passed a resolution in Lahore demanding a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Within seven years Pakistan emerged on the world map as an independent state. Badly weakened by the Second World War, the British colonialists were in no position to hold on to India but even in the dying days of the empire, they deliberately left a number of unresolved problems. These included manipulated boundaries that deprived Pakistan of its rights as well as a number of princely states whose future was left in limbo. India quickly grabbed all of them through military aggression, including the state of Jammu and Kashmir that has continued to bedevil relations between the two countries.
The greater damage the British caused to Pakistan was to saddle it with rulers, nurtured and groomed by the British, who had little sympathy for the masses. They had brown skin but were otherwise thoroughly Westernized; educated in Western institutions, they spoke English and had acquired the domineering habits and tastes of the departing colonial masters. The one attribute they did not share with the British was hard work. The new elites were lazy and thoroughly corrupt. For them, Pakistan meant a place they could plunder and continue the policies of the raj without the colonial masters.
For the Muslim masses, Pakistan meant something very different. They envisioned a state that would be patterned on the model of the Khilafah where the rulers would serve the people and where justice and fairness would prevail. For this, the Muslim masses had sacrificed millions of lives. Pakistan came to symbolize one of the greatest betrayals in Muslim history. It has been a great disappointment because those that occupied positions of power and authority had no clue what an Islamic State would look like. For them it simply meant a state where the majority was Muslim. Nor were they interested in ascertaining the wishes of the people considering them too ignorant to understand the finer points of statecraft. That the elites have made such a mess of affairs is something they are not prepared to accept even today.
Pakistan has often been referred to as a “failed” state. This is not far off the mark but instead of simply repeating what is wrong with Pakistan let us identify those responsible for this state of affairs. At creation, three distinct groups came to dominate the new state: feudal lords, the bureaucracy and the army. It is interesting to note that none of them played any significant role in the creation of Pakistan. In fact, another problem Pakistan faced at the time of its creation was that Muslims who had struggled for it belonged to areas that became part of India. Thus, most leaders of the Pakistan movement had no roots in the areas that became part of the new state. This naturally created a mindset that excluded the masses from determining who their rulers should be. Palace intrigues flourished in such an environment and provided ample opportunities for the bureaucracy to play one feudal group against another. Soon the army also jumped into the fray and being better organized, it quickly came to dominate the political scene. Pakistan’s entire history can be summed up in the struggle for political dominance between the feudal (and now industrial) lords and the military.
There is one other group that must account for its failures: the Islamic movement. Represented most prominently by the Jama’at-e Islami — there are others as well but their failures are equally glaring — the Islamic political parties are impotent because they joined the corrupt colonial-imposed system that they were supposed to condemn. Today the Islamic political parties are no different than their secular counterparts. It is in this environment that the masses have turned to extremist groups like the Taliban to seek redress for the gross injustices they suffer at every level in society. While the Taliban-type outfits are good at fighting, they cannot offer any solutions to the myriad problems facing people whether relating to social, economic or political justice. Merely insisting on long beards and ankle-high trousers are no solutions. Further, such groups are easily manipulated by the military that has always been in cahoots with the US. In the 1980s, the Americans supported these groups to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan so jihad was not only good, it was glorified. Pakistan had an appropriately Islamizing general at the helm. Today, the Americans themselves occupy Afghanistan so resistance is bad. Thus, jihad is vilified and those supporting the Afghans are branded as terrorists. Now thoroughly secular generals lead the Pakistan army. There is no independent thought that guides Pakistan’s policies. The less said the better about Pakistani civilians that masquerade as rulers.
Once a dream for million of Muslims, Pakistan has turned into a nightmare. There is no safety or security for anyone. The military is fighting and killing its own people and there are grave fears for the very survival of the country.
What a pity!
US STIRS A HORNET's NEST IN PAKISTAN
Eric Margolis
http://www.commondreams.org
Pakistan finally bowed to Washington's angry demands last week by unleashing its military against rebellious Pashtun tribesmen of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) -- collectively mislabelled "Taliban" in the West.
The Obama administration had threatened to stop $2 billion US annual cash payments to bankrupt Pakistan's political and military leadership and block $6.5 billion future aid, unless Islamabad sent its soldiers into Pakistan's turbulent NWFP along the Afghan frontier.
The result was a bloodbath: Some 1,000 "terrorists" killed (read: mostly civilians) and 1.2 million people -- most of Swat's population -- made refugees.
Pakistan's U.S.-rented armed forces have scored a brilliant victory against their own people. Too bad they don't do as well in wars against India. Blasting civilians, however, is much safer and more profitable.
Unable to pacify Afghanistan's Pashtun tribes (a.k.a. Taliban), a deeply frustrated Washington has begun tearing Pakistan apart in an effort to end Pashtun resistance in both nations. CIA drone aircraft have so far killed over 700 Pakistani Pashtun. Only 6% were militants, according to Pakistan's media, the rest civilians.
Pashtun, also improperly called Pathan, are the world's largest tribal people. Fifteen million live in Afghanistan, forming half its population. Twenty-six million live right across the border in Pakistan. Britain's imperialists divided Pashtun by an artificial border, the Durand Line (today's Afghan-Pakistan border). Pashtun reject it.
Many Pashtun tribes agreed to join Pakistan in 1947, provided much of their homeland be autonomous and free of government troops. Pashtun Swat only joined Pakistan in 1969.
As Pakistan's Pashtun increasingly aided Pashtun resistance in Afghanistan, U.S. drones began attacking them. Washington forced Islamabad to violate its own constitution by sending troops into Pashtun lands. The result was the current explosion of Pashtun anger.
I have been to war with the Pashtun and have seen their legendary courage, strong sense of honour and determination. They are also hugely quarrelsome, feuding and prickly.
One quickly learns never to threaten a Pashtun or give him ultimatums. These are the mountain warriors who defied the U.S. by refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden because he was a hero of the anti-Soviet war and their guest. The ancient code of "Pashtunwali" still guides them: Do not attack Pashtun, do not cheat them, do not cause them dishonour. To Pashtun, revenge is sacred.
HAM-HANDED
Now, Washington's ham-handed policies and last week's Swat atrocity threaten to ignite Pakistan's second worst nightmare after invasion by India: That its 26 million Pashtun will secede and join Afghanistan's Pashtun to form an independent Pashtun state, Pashtunistan.
This would rend Pakistan asunder, probably provoke its restive Baluchi tribes to secede and tempt mighty India to intervene militarily, risking nuclear war with beleaguered Pakistan.
The Pashtun of NWFP have no intention or capability of moving into Pakistan's other provinces, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan. They just want to be left alone. Alarms of a "Taliban takeover of Pakistan" are pure propaganda.
Lowland Pakistanis repeatedly have rejected militant Islamic parties. Many have little love for Pashtun, whom they regard as mountain wild men best avoided.
Nor are Pakistan's well-guarded nukes a danger -- at least not yet. Alarms about Pakistan's nukes come from the same fabricators with hidden agendas who brought us Saddam Hussein's bogus weapons.
THE REAL DANGER
The real danger is in the U.S. acting like an enraged mastodon, trampling Pakistan under foot, and forcing Islamabad's military to make war on its own people. Pakistan could end up like U.S.-occupied Iraq, split into three parts and helpless.
If this continues, at some point patriotic Pakistani soldiers may rebel and shoot the corrupt generals and politicians on Washington's payroll.
Equally ominous, a poor people's uprising spreading across Pakistan -- also mislabelled "Taliban" -- threatens a radical national rebellion reminiscent of India's Naxalite rebels.
As in Iraq, profound ignorance and gung ho military arrogance drive U.S. Afghan policy. Obama's people have no understanding what they are getting into in "AfPak." I can tell them: An unholy mess we will long regret.
Eric Margolis is a columnist for The Toronto Sun. A veteran of many conflicts in the Middle East, Margolis recently was featured in a special appearance on Britain’s Sky News TV as “the man who got it right” in his predictions about the dangerous risks and entanglements the US would face in Iraq. His latest book is American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World
http://www.hizb.org.uk/hizb/resources/le...state.html
The Messenger of Allah ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? said: “Prophethood will last among you for as long as Allah wills, then Allah would take it away. Then it will be (followed by) a rightly-guided Khilafah upon the way of Prophethood. It will remain for as long as Allah wills, then Allah would take it away. Then there will be a hereditary leadership which will remain for as long as Allah wills, and then He will lift it if He wishes. Afterwards, there will be a biting oppressive rule, and it will last for as long as Allah wishes, then He will lift it if He wishes. Then there will be a rightly-guided Khilafah upon the way of Prophethood. Then he kept silent” (Musnad Ahmad)
The 3rd March 2009 marks 85 years since the destruction of the Khilafah, the state that unified the Muslim Ummah - one of the darkest events since Allah’s beloved Messenger ??? ???? ???? ???? ???? passed from this world. Since then we have seen nothing but destruction and division of the Muslim lands, dissected into more than fifty weak states, with as many rulers, flags and constitutions.
With every year that passes we witness more division. Iraq is occupied and fragmenting into three pieces. The next, whose map has already been drawn, is Pakistan. US military planning maps clearly define how Pakistan is to be dissected – and US policies are working towards that – fuelling sectarian hatred, backing despised politicians who allow the US to bomb civilians in Pakistan and making the Pakistani army kill their own people in America’s war on terror.
The slogans used to attack the Khilafah over 85 years ago are the same slogans used today. They accused the Khilafah of being the ‘sick man of Europe’ and that it was a backward state because it implemented the Shariah of Allah ?????? ?????? . The Ottoman Khilafah was portrayed as a dangerous extremist state which needs reformed so that it could be destroyed and its resources stolen. Although Pakistan does not implement the Shariah of Allah ?????? ??????, the mere desire of the population to be ruled by Allah’s law is enough to brand it as a violent extremist state. They attack it as backward and in need of reform.
Just as they sowed the seed of nationalism in the Ottoman Khilafah – playing the colonial game of divide and rule - pitting the ‘Turks’ against the ‘Arabs’ they pit ‘Pashtuns’, ‘Balouchi’, ‘Punjabi’, ‘Sindhi’, ‘Mohajir’, ‘Shia’ and ‘Sunni’ – all Muslim - against one another. Just as then, they spill each others blood – dearer to Allah than the Kaaba itself.
Yet over 60 years ago these same Muslims united people from different regions, and of different juristic opinions, to form one state with one objective of securing the Muslims and establishing the Shariah of Allah ?????? ?????? – just as Islam had successfully done for centuries before under the Khilafah. They sacrificed everything to fulfil their vision of establishing an Islamic State, even though people mocked them saying they were dreaming. With the call of La ilaha illAllah they moved to build a state for Islam, only to be betrayed by successive rulers.
Sultan Abdul Hamid (may Allah give him Rahma), one of the last Khalifahs of the Muslims, said of the “Our Ottoman Khilafah is the most international realm in the world. To us belong the Turks, Arabs, Kurds, Arnauts, Bulgarians, Greeks ... Notwithstanding this we are a large family united by our religious beliefs... Unfortunately, England, by her perfidious tactics, has succeeded in kindling the nationalistic fire in my dominion. Arabia has revolted, also Albania, the stronghold of Islam in Europe... If the idea of Muslim unity is lost, then our power will be at an end!”(New York Times)
The destruction of the Khilafah followed defeat in the First World War. The western nations occupied most of the Muslim lands, and then held the Paris Conferences to enact the Sykes-Picot Agreement which called for the carving up of the Muslim lands and the division of her unity under the Khilafah. How many conferences have we seen since then calling for further division in the Muslim world? Did we not see conferences in Bonn to establish a puppet regime in Afghanistan? Did we not see conferences that have agreed the division of Iraq? Have we not seen the traitor rulers in the Muslim lands having a conference in Cairo this week to sell Palestine? All to try to secure the occupation and control of our lands by colonialists.
After weakening Pakistan by waging a war and occupying Afghanistan, the US and NATO have established military bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now they are holding conferences to decide the fate of Pakistan. Just as the Ottoman government were not invited to the Paris Conferences, the Pakistani government will not be part of the decision making at the NATO or the SCO conferences to be held in the coming weeks. The fate of Pakistan is being sealed as Muslims look on impotent. Now is the time to move to stop the conspiracies against this Ummah and her deen.
But just as they plan a future for the Muslim world – weak and divided and living under kufr – Allah Plans something else. The real sick man of the world today is America – bankrupt economically and morally; defeated in war in two Muslim countries. As America and its allies try to spread ‘freedom and democracy’ by force, the Muslims cry out for Islam and Shariah.
When our forefathers saw the plots being hatched for the destruction of the Khilafah, they moved to prevent it. Seeing its destruction, some have worked tiresomely for its return. Working for the restoration of the Khilafah is something that Allah has commanded, but its return is something He SWT has promised – to grant it, and bring security and peace after the years of fear and terror.
?????? ??????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ????????????? ???????????????????? ??? ????????? ????? ??????????? ????????? ??? ?????????? ???????????????? ?????? ????????? ???????
???????? ?????? ??????????????????? ???? ?????? ?????????? ??????? ?????????????? ??? ??????????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????????? ???? ?????????????
"Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them in the land succession (to power) on earth, as He granted it to those before them; and that He will establish in authority their religion - that which He has chosen for them (Islam). And that He will change (their state), after the fear in which they (lived), to one of security and peace: They will worship Me and will not associate anything in worship with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the transgressors.”
[Translated Meaning of Surah al-Nur: 55]
Dear Muslims! Do not fall prey to the whispers of Shaytan who tell you that Khilafah is a dream and you can never confront the super powers and their plots. Rather join the work and rely on the promise of Allah, as it is He ?????? ?????? who has power over all things.
???? ?????????? ??????? ????????? ??????? ????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ????????? ?????? ?????? ????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ??? ?????? ???????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ?????
?????? ???????
"Say (O Muhammad ??? ???? ???? ???? ????): O All?h! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honour whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.”
[Translated Meaning of Surah Aali Imran: 26]
Today Hizb ut-Tahrir is leading the work for the re-establishment of the Khilafah throughout the Muslim world. From Indonesia to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa - the Party is rallying the masses of the Muslim Ummah behind the movement for Khilafah. Each one of us must contribute to strengthening this call wherever we are. As this call gets stronger and stronger we will, no doubt, with the Help of Allah ?????? ?????? see the overthrow of the agent rulers that are the real obstacles to establishing our unity.
???????? ?????? ????????????? ?????????? ???????? ?????? ????? ?????? ???????
"And to All?h belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and All?h has power over all things.”
WHAT FUTURE FOR PAKISTAN?
http://www.muslimedia.com/reflect0309.htm
March 23 is an important landmark in Pakistan’s history. It was on this date in 1940 that the All-India Muslim League passed a resolution in Lahore demanding a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Within seven years Pakistan emerged on the world map as an independent state. Badly weakened by the Second World War, the British colonialists were in no position to hold on to India but even in the dying days of the empire, they deliberately left a number of unresolved problems. These included manipulated boundaries that deprived Pakistan of its rights as well as a number of princely states whose future was left in limbo. India quickly grabbed all of them through military aggression, including the state of Jammu and Kashmir that has continued to bedevil relations between the two countries.
The greater damage the British caused to Pakistan was to saddle it with rulers, nurtured and groomed by the British, who had little sympathy for the masses. They had brown skin but were otherwise thoroughly Westernized; educated in Western institutions, they spoke English and had acquired the domineering habits and tastes of the departing colonial masters. The one attribute they did not share with the British was hard work. The new elites were lazy and thoroughly corrupt. For them, Pakistan meant a place they could plunder and continue the policies of the raj without the colonial masters.
For the Muslim masses, Pakistan meant something very different. They envisioned a state that would be patterned on the model of the Khilafah where the rulers would serve the people and where justice and fairness would prevail. For this, the Muslim masses had sacrificed millions of lives. Pakistan came to symbolize one of the greatest betrayals in Muslim history. It has been a great disappointment because those that occupied positions of power and authority had no clue what an Islamic State would look like. For them it simply meant a state where the majority was Muslim. Nor were they interested in ascertaining the wishes of the people considering them too ignorant to understand the finer points of statecraft. That the elites have made such a mess of affairs is something they are not prepared to accept even today.
Pakistan has often been referred to as a “failed” state. This is not far off the mark but instead of simply repeating what is wrong with Pakistan let us identify those responsible for this state of affairs. At creation, three distinct groups came to dominate the new state: feudal lords, the bureaucracy and the army. It is interesting to note that none of them played any significant role in the creation of Pakistan. In fact, another problem Pakistan faced at the time of its creation was that Muslims who had struggled for it belonged to areas that became part of India. Thus, most leaders of the Pakistan movement had no roots in the areas that became part of the new state. This naturally created a mindset that excluded the masses from determining who their rulers should be. Palace intrigues flourished in such an environment and provided ample opportunities for the bureaucracy to play one feudal group against another. Soon the army also jumped into the fray and being better organized, it quickly came to dominate the political scene. Pakistan’s entire history can be summed up in the struggle for political dominance between the feudal (and now industrial) lords and the military.
There is one other group that must account for its failures: the Islamic movement. Represented most prominently by the Jama’at-e Islami — there are others as well but their failures are equally glaring — the Islamic political parties are impotent because they joined the corrupt colonial-imposed system that they were supposed to condemn. Today the Islamic political parties are no different than their secular counterparts. It is in this environment that the masses have turned to extremist groups like the Taliban to seek redress for the gross injustices they suffer at every level in society. While the Taliban-type outfits are good at fighting, they cannot offer any solutions to the myriad problems facing people whether relating to social, economic or political justice. Merely insisting on long beards and ankle-high trousers are no solutions. Further, such groups are easily manipulated by the military that has always been in cahoots with the US. In the 1980s, the Americans supported these groups to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan so jihad was not only good, it was glorified. Pakistan had an appropriately Islamizing general at the helm. Today, the Americans themselves occupy Afghanistan so resistance is bad. Thus, jihad is vilified and those supporting the Afghans are branded as terrorists. Now thoroughly secular generals lead the Pakistan army. There is no independent thought that guides Pakistan’s policies. The less said the better about Pakistani civilians that masquerade as rulers.
Once a dream for million of Muslims, Pakistan has turned into a nightmare. There is no safety or security for anyone. The military is fighting and killing its own people and there are grave fears for the very survival of the country.
What a pity!
US STIRS A HORNET's NEST IN PAKISTAN
Eric Margolis
http://www.commondreams.org
Pakistan finally bowed to Washington's angry demands last week by unleashing its military against rebellious Pashtun tribesmen of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) -- collectively mislabelled "Taliban" in the West.
The Obama administration had threatened to stop $2 billion US annual cash payments to bankrupt Pakistan's political and military leadership and block $6.5 billion future aid, unless Islamabad sent its soldiers into Pakistan's turbulent NWFP along the Afghan frontier.
The result was a bloodbath: Some 1,000 "terrorists" killed (read: mostly civilians) and 1.2 million people -- most of Swat's population -- made refugees.
Pakistan's U.S.-rented armed forces have scored a brilliant victory against their own people. Too bad they don't do as well in wars against India. Blasting civilians, however, is much safer and more profitable.
Unable to pacify Afghanistan's Pashtun tribes (a.k.a. Taliban), a deeply frustrated Washington has begun tearing Pakistan apart in an effort to end Pashtun resistance in both nations. CIA drone aircraft have so far killed over 700 Pakistani Pashtun. Only 6% were militants, according to Pakistan's media, the rest civilians.
Pashtun, also improperly called Pathan, are the world's largest tribal people. Fifteen million live in Afghanistan, forming half its population. Twenty-six million live right across the border in Pakistan. Britain's imperialists divided Pashtun by an artificial border, the Durand Line (today's Afghan-Pakistan border). Pashtun reject it.
Many Pashtun tribes agreed to join Pakistan in 1947, provided much of their homeland be autonomous and free of government troops. Pashtun Swat only joined Pakistan in 1969.
As Pakistan's Pashtun increasingly aided Pashtun resistance in Afghanistan, U.S. drones began attacking them. Washington forced Islamabad to violate its own constitution by sending troops into Pashtun lands. The result was the current explosion of Pashtun anger.
I have been to war with the Pashtun and have seen their legendary courage, strong sense of honour and determination. They are also hugely quarrelsome, feuding and prickly.
One quickly learns never to threaten a Pashtun or give him ultimatums. These are the mountain warriors who defied the U.S. by refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden because he was a hero of the anti-Soviet war and their guest. The ancient code of "Pashtunwali" still guides them: Do not attack Pashtun, do not cheat them, do not cause them dishonour. To Pashtun, revenge is sacred.
HAM-HANDED
Now, Washington's ham-handed policies and last week's Swat atrocity threaten to ignite Pakistan's second worst nightmare after invasion by India: That its 26 million Pashtun will secede and join Afghanistan's Pashtun to form an independent Pashtun state, Pashtunistan.
This would rend Pakistan asunder, probably provoke its restive Baluchi tribes to secede and tempt mighty India to intervene militarily, risking nuclear war with beleaguered Pakistan.
The Pashtun of NWFP have no intention or capability of moving into Pakistan's other provinces, Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan. They just want to be left alone. Alarms of a "Taliban takeover of Pakistan" are pure propaganda.
Lowland Pakistanis repeatedly have rejected militant Islamic parties. Many have little love for Pashtun, whom they regard as mountain wild men best avoided.
Nor are Pakistan's well-guarded nukes a danger -- at least not yet. Alarms about Pakistan's nukes come from the same fabricators with hidden agendas who brought us Saddam Hussein's bogus weapons.
THE REAL DANGER
The real danger is in the U.S. acting like an enraged mastodon, trampling Pakistan under foot, and forcing Islamabad's military to make war on its own people. Pakistan could end up like U.S.-occupied Iraq, split into three parts and helpless.
If this continues, at some point patriotic Pakistani soldiers may rebel and shoot the corrupt generals and politicians on Washington's payroll.
Equally ominous, a poor people's uprising spreading across Pakistan -- also mislabelled "Taliban" -- threatens a radical national rebellion reminiscent of India's Naxalite rebels.
As in Iraq, profound ignorance and gung ho military arrogance drive U.S. Afghan policy. Obama's people have no understanding what they are getting into in "AfPak." I can tell them: An unholy mess we will long regret.
Eric Margolis is a columnist for The Toronto Sun. A veteran of many conflicts in the Middle East, Margolis recently was featured in a special appearance on Britain’s Sky News TV as “the man who got it right” in his predictions about the dangerous risks and entanglements the US would face in Iraq. His latest book is American Raj: Liberation or Domination?: Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World