Can Terrorism be eradicated from Pakistan and Afghanistan?

FEBRUARY 07, 2015 /

Afghanistan / educat ion / FATA / Pakistan History / pakistan-
educat ion / pakistan-polit ics / Pashtun History / pashtun-nat ionalism / pashtun-
societ y / taliban / Terrorism
By: Dr. Zaib Khan Esapzai

After the Massacre of 150 people including 136 Children in Army Public School Peshawar a
hot debate is taking place in the whole world particularly in Pakistan, as how to get rid of
Islamic terrorism in Pakistan and the world. Different solutions are presented from various
quarters and a committee consisting of representative from political parties of Pakistan has
been in place by the request of the Government of Pakistan to come up with a plan to address
the issue of terrorism in Pakistan.

It would not be wrong to say that if terrorism is completely eradicated in Pakistan &
Afghanistan, will help significantly in eradicating Islamic terrorism in the world.

I believe, it may be easy to say but extremely difficult if not impossible to eradicate terrorism
in Pakistan, Afghanistan or the world. It is important to know that terrorism in Pakistan and
Afghanistan is only the symptom of Islamic radicalisation of Pakistani and Afghan/ Pukhtun
Society, which took place in the last 45 years. At least 1 to 2 Generations of the society have
been radicalised in the process. To eradicate terrorism Islamic radicalisation has to be
reverted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and for that matter in the world.

It is crucial to understand the events that resulted in this radicalisation before one can present
a solution to revert radicalisation. The biggest culprit is the Cold war between Ex Soviet
Union and USA and the West. Since the creation of Pakistan, she has always been used by
USA and the West for their interest and the Rulers of Pakistan particularly the Army dictator
rulers have obliged them in return for few dollars and protection of their Power.

Afghanistan a neighbouring country of Pakistan has always been used as buffer country and
ground of battle between the West and Russian Empire since early 19 th Century and Afghans/
Pukhtuns have suffered the most in this adventure. In the last decade of 19 Century half of the
Afghans were separated from their other brethren in Afghanistan, by British Empire, which
has been the biggest tragedy in the History of Afghans/ Pukhtuns. The Land of the Occupied
Afghans Pukhtunkhwa remains to be occupied by Pakistan, who inherited Pukhtunkhwa from
the British Raj when the Indian subcontinent became independent. The land was named as
North West Frontier Province by British when they occupied it first in the last decade of
19th Century. The name of Pukhtunkhwa is recently obtained by Pukhtuns with their lengthy
Struggle for their Identity.

Afghanistan has always maintained that their occupied land i.e. Pukhtunkhwa is their land
and they will never give it up. Even the leaders of Taliban (enthroned on Afghanistan with
the direct help of ISI) did not have the courage to recognise the Durand Line as the
international border. This claim of their own land has made Afghanistan the biggest enemy of
Pakistan. The relationship between these two countries has been poor since the independence
of Pakistan in 1947 and further deteriorated in the early seventies.

Background Factors and Players

The Pakistan ISI called a meeting of radical Mullahs of Afghanistan in Balahesar Fort
Peshawar. ZA Bhutto was the Prime Minister of Pakistan at the time. This fact was boosted
by Colonel Imam of ISI on air during a TV Programme. This was the first meeting of ISI
with radical/ terrorist Mullahs from Afghanistan, and ISI started supporting these Mullahs
and encouraged them to begin their activities in Afghanistan.

General Zia-Ul-Haq the Army Chief of Pakistan arranged a coup on 5 July 1977, against
Prime Minister Bhutto in Pakistan. General Zia was a very conservative person and
considered himself to be a very good Muslim. He declared himself the President of the
Country latter in September 1978. He started Islamising (as he put it) the society. In fact he
started radicalising the society and promoted radical Islam in the Country.

On 28 April 1978 a Coup D’état planned by the People Democratic Party of Afghanistan
(PDPA) took place against the then President Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan of Afghanistan
and he was assassinated. Afghanistan had been close ally of United States of Socialist
Republics (USSR) but the relationship had cooled down between the two countries in the
final years of the Government of President Sardar Daud Khan. The PDPA Government
became much closer ally of the then USSR. Pakistani ISI recognised the opportunity and
branded the Government of PDPA as a communist Government, although there was
Communist Party in Afghanistan at the time but had nothing to do with the coup. The
Pakistan ISI reorganised all radical Muslims Groups and political religious parties in
Afghanistan. Some of them, they had previously met with at BalaHesar Fort Peshawar in
1973. In order to fight against the PDPA Government, these groups (mostly conservative
radical Muslims), started fighting the Government of Afghanistan with the support of the
Pakistan State, the ISI and with the blessing of the CIA/ USA, and propagated it as a religious
war.

The religious war suited Pakistani Conservative Government and rulers of Pakistan mostly
and was a successful strategy to persuade common Afghans/ Pukhtuns to take part in the
religious war, or so called ‘Jihad’ in Afghanistan. The radical Pakistani religious Party Jumat
Islami paid by ISI/ CIA, also jumped on the bandwagon to the support of Radical Afghan
Mullahs and started openly recruiting Pukhtuns from Pukhtunkhwa to fight shoulder to
shoulder with the radical Afghan Mullahs against the legitimate Government of Afghanistan.

The government of PDPA under President Mohammad Taraki started a radical modernisation
of the society which alienated the common Afghan/ Pukhtun population, and made it easier
for radical ISI backed radical Afghan Mullahs to persuade people to join the so called Jihad.
This was a good opportunity for USA and the West to take revenge from the Soviet Union,
as the Soviet Union was a strong ally and supporter of Afghan Government. Hence, the US
and the West also supported these radical Mullahs (Terrorists) with funds and logistics.
Muslim Conservative countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and UAE also started
supporting these radical Mullahs in their Jihad by providing funds for the so called Jihad.

Afghanistan at this time, had only a regular Army of 10,000 soldiers and was very ill
equipped. The Government of Afghanistan found itself very vulnerable at this point, with the
prospect of being overrun by radical Mullahs supported by Paki ISI and the west, the
Government thus proceeded to sign a pact with the Soviet Union in December 1978 which
allowed Afghanistan to call on Soviet forces for help.

Due to the weakness of the Afghan government at that time, and the imminent threats that
abounded, they repeatedly requested help in the spring and summer of 1979 from the Soviet
Forces, to provide the Government security and assistance in fighting the rebels (the so called
Mujahedeen). On 24 December 1979 almost after the two years war of radical Mullahs/ ISI
alliance with the Government of PDPA the Soviet Forces were deployed to assist the PDPA
Government of Afghanistan.
This gave even greater opportunity to the radical Muslims/ Mullahs in Afghanistan in
recruiting common Afghans for the so called Jihad. The presence of Soviet Army made it
difficult for the ISI & CIA backed Mullahs to overthrow the Government of PDPA, however
it gave them a great opportunity to propagate that the Soviet invasion was a war against
Islam.

The US and the West were looking for an opportunity to teach the communist Soviets a
lesson. The arrival of the Soviet Army in a country like Afghanistan where no foreign power
had managed to rule before, provided an excellent opportunity to the USA and the West for
this purpose. The radical forces in Pakistan also used this opportunity with great ferocity to
not only recruit Pukhtuns from both sides of the so called Durand line but also recruit radical
Muslims from all over the Muslim world to Fight in Afghanistan in the name of Jihad. The
radical rich Muslims of the world along with the radical Muslims Countries open heartedly
supported the Pakistan Government and Mullahs of Afghanistan & Pakistan with billions of
Dollars. Similarly the USA and the West also supported the so called Jihad with billions of
dollars, logistics and training of the forces of the radical Mullahs/ Muslims.

What happened as a result is unforgettable and unforgivable. All the stakeholders in the war
became unstoppable.

The CIA/ USA and their western allies wanted to take revenge from the Soviet Union. The
Afghan & Pakistani Mullahs were blinded by bribes from both Western and rich Muslim
countries and the greed of power, and were therefore prepared to massacre their fellow
Puhtuns/ Afghans for the same. On the one hand hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghans
misguided by radical Mullahs/ ISI/ CIA alliance, believing they were defending their Land
from infidel atheist Soviet invasion were indiscriminately bombed and killed by the Soviet
forces and opponent Afghan soldiers. Then on the other hand, hundreds of thousands of
innocent Afghans/ Pukhtuns were killed fighting in defence of their land from radical
Muslims/ Mullahs who conspired with ISI/CIA and the West. Altogether more than two
million Pukhtuns were killed in 35 years long civil war starting in April 1978 till September
2001. The civil war and the killings still continues. Furthermore, several thousand secular
Pukhtuns on the Pukhtunkhwa side of the Durand Line were killed by the ISI/Mullah
Alliance because they opposed the imposition of Civil war on their brethren across the
Durand Line, yet the ISI/Mullahs continued to recruit more Pukhtuns from both sides of the
Durand line to fight against the Soviets.
The ISI under the leadership of General Zia-Ul-Haq/ Akhthar Abdurrahman / Hameed GUL
and its supporters along with Mullahs from both sides of the Durand Line, encouraged by the
success of drumming up supporters to fight in the name of Jihad had become more Greedy,
and had started developing pan-Islamic ideas and were thinking of worldwide Islamic state
ruled by one Kalifa or Amirulmominine. They opened more Madrassas throughout Pakistan
especially in Pukhtunkhwa, to radicalise more people and make it easier to recruit them for
Jihad. Radical Mullahs chalked on the walls everywhere in Pakistan a slogan, “more children
makes Jihad easier”. Family Planning which had started in early sixties was stopped and the
department was closed. As a result the population of Pakistan which was about 70 millions
swelled up to 180 million at present. The ISI and the Mullahs also set up radical organisations
including Albadar, Lashkare Tayaba, Lashkare Jangwi, Jeshi Mohammad, Hizbulmujahdin,
Sipah-e- Sahaba and many other organisations, armed them, and sent these organisations to
carry out terrorist activities in Afghanistan, India, Caucuses in the Soviet Union and even in
Northern Provinces in China. Pakistan, then under pressure from the world banned most of
these outfits. All this was supported economically and logistically by the USA/ West and the
radical Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar.

Poisonous Propaganda

Initially the ISI/ Mullah alliance spread poisonous propaganda about the Soviet Union. One
of the most common was that the Soviets do not recognise blood relations (mothers, sisters,
brother, and father) and people in their society have sex with their mothers and sisters like
they would with their wives, furthermore that mosques were demolished in Afghanistan and
no one was allowed to pray or practice Islam. Much false propaganda was spread among the
public in order to recruit and prepare people to join the so called Jihad. They also propagated
that after securing Afghanistan, the Soviet forces would invade Pakistan and carry out similar
practices and atrocities. They justified support from the west through verifying the Western
religions ownership of the holy books i.e. Torah and Bible.

Most of Pakistan and Afghan society, particularly Pukhtun society on both sides of the so
called Durand Line have been radicalised in this process. Society has been so radicalised that
most people can be easily manipulated and recruited for the so called Jihad. Several million
Pukhtuns from Afghanistan had immigrated to Pukhtunkhwa and although Pakistan was
radicalised, Pukhtun society on both sides of the so called Durand line were the main target.
This was made possible by Mullahs preaching in every mosque of the country, by teachers in
every school, by state owned Media and every state sponsored events or events organised by
radical religious parties. The education syllabus was completely radicalized and promoting
Jihad against any infidel was introduced. The Pakistan Education syllabus is still the same
with minimal, if any, changes since.

Post 9/11

Many of these radical organisations including Taliban became Pakistani enemies when
General Musharaf became an ally of the west after 9/11, and they started attacking the
interests of Pakistan. Although Musharaf/ ISI started playing a double game with the US and
the west, the Pakistan establishment saw the stability and prosperity of Afghans a potential
threat to the integrity of Pakistan i.e. the legitimate claim of Afghanistan on Pukhtunkhwa.

On one hand Musharaf handed over many notorious Al-Qaida leaders to the US but on the
other hand ISI/ Musharaf continued supporting the Haqani Network, Mullah Gulbuddin
Hekmat yar and Mullah Omar’s Taliban in continuing terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.
Gulbuddin Hekmat yar who had fled to Iran after the Taliban had taken over Afghanistan in
1996 was brought back to Pakistan in 2002, and soon thereafter started terrorist activities
against the Karzai Government and NATO forces.

Despite and as a result of the double game some radical Mullahs/ Muslims including some
ISI, both current and retired officers like General Hammeed Gul got even angrier and actively
supported attacking the interests of Pakistan verbally or physically, taking these interests as
the Government’s interests, believing that this was in the interest of the state.

Unfortunately those whom suffered the most in the double game were Pukhtuns and Pukhtun
Nationalist political leaders and workers of Pukhtunkhwa. I believe there are two main
reasons for it. One is that it was easier to carry out these atrocities in Pukhtunkhwa because of
easy access for the terrorists but secondly and more importantly because the leaders of these
terrorists happened to be ISI officers who are Punjabis by majority and the killings of
Pukhtuns hardly mattered to them. Also these ISI officers always considered these Nationalist
political workers and leaders as the enemies of Pakistan.

On many occasions however many army facilities were also attacked by these terrorists with
the help of the internal support from those facilities. All the terrorists fighting against
Pakistani interests including Hakeemullah Mahssod, Mullah Fazlullah, Mullah Wali Rehman
and others were the creation of ISI.

A big chunk of Pakistani society has become so radicalised in the process that only until a
few weeks ago many rightist political parties and religious parties, not only had sympathies
for these terrorists but justified their actions without any fear of losing public support.

Many of the Foreign Al-Qaida terrorists found it unacceptable to live with the double game
of ISI/ Musharaf and found it unsafe to continue living in Pakistan, so these terrorists left the
country and exported terrorism from Pakistan to other countries like Iraq, Yemen, Somalia
and Nigeria. Some of these terrorists were exported with the blessings of ISI. The terrorists
of 7/7 in the UK got their training in Pakistan after 9/11, more than likely by the radical ISI
officers. In the pre 9/11 era ISI conspired with and willingly exported terrorism into many
countries. Until recently the ISI classified terrorists as good and bad terrorists. Some of the so
called good terrorists were exported by ISI with the blessing of CIA from Pakistan to Syria
recently. Although the Pakistan Army continuously pledges that they are acting against good
and bad Militants and there is no difference in them anymore, however many of the banned
organisation including Taliban of Mullah Umar, Haqanni Network, Jumat Dawa, Lashkare
Tayaba and many more are not even touched by the Army.

By now it has become very complicated matter and to eradicate terrorism will not be an easy
task, in fact it will be almost impossible not only in Pakistan & Afghanistan but the whole
world. It still is possible however difficult it may be, provided all the stakeholders including
CIA/ US & the West, and more importantly ISI/ Pakistan Army & the Muslim world
sincerely and genuinely want to work towards it.

Suggestions: What needs to be done

I believe that it needs to be completed in two stages. In the first instance all the international
perpetrators including KGB/ Russia (on behalf of ex-Soviet Union), CIA & other western
intelligence agencies/ USA & the West, Saudi Arabia/ UAE/ Qatar/ Kuwait, and ISI/
Pakistan apologise to Pukhtuns on both sides of the so called Durand Line for their suffering
and radicalisation, and they not only pledge but prove through actions that they are prepared
to do whatever is in their capacity to revert this. ISI and the radical religious political parties
need to denounce supporting terrorists. They also need to stop creating and supporting
terrorist organisations. They need to commit themselves to never send terrorists to other
countries. All the Madrassas should be converted to schools and all the students of Madrassas
should be provided free of cast education, like they are provided free education in Madrassas.
All radical/ terrorists Organisations are banned and all their members are punished by
imprisonment. None of the members of terrorist organisations should be allowed to start
another organisation of a different name. Even now an amnesty is offered to those who
surrender themselves, provided those terrorists who have committed crimes are punished by
imprisonment. All the terrorists including General Hameed Gul, Haqanis, Gulbadin Hikmat
Yar, Mullah Umar, Mullah Fazlullah and other terrorists leaders should be punished by life
imprisonment. Apologists of the terrorists should be punished if they continue to justify the
actions of terrorism in the name of Islam anywhere in the world. The mosques and Mullahs
should be stopped from preaching hatred, terrorism, and sectarianism. Mullahs, or for that
matter, religious organizations or political parties should be prohibited from declaring
Jihad.

The Federally Administered Areas (FATA) in Pakistan should be converted to settled areas.
Free education should be a provision for all in FATA and development projects should be
established in the land of FATA to improve their socio-economic situation.

The second stage of eradicating terrorism is to eradicate radical Islam. Pakistan and
Afghanistan have been declared ‘secular states.’ States and religions are separated from each
other in the entire world. The education syllabus needs to be completely reformed and the
concept of Jihad should be removed from the education syllabus. Family planning should be
invested in and promoted. Children should be encouraged to hold a pen & Pencil in their
hands instead of Guns. All the intelligence services in the world and particularly ISI & the
secret services of Saudi Arabia need to genuinely stop supporting and promoting terrorism,
weather in Afghanistan, India or anywhere else in the world.

I believe without taking these measures and steps terrorism will never be defeated let alone
eradicated from Afghanistan and Pakistan and for that matter from the rest of the world, and
anarchy will continue to spread in the world, otherwise it will not be long before the whole
world is ruled by terror and terrorist.