In wake of the 7/7 London-blitz, Pakistan's marshal-President Pervez Musharraf launched Jihad against terrorism or holy 'War on Terrorism,' demonizing terrorists as beasts or sub-humans. He urged of the nation to rally support behind him in emancipating the country of the phantom (the troika-terrorism, sectarianism and extremism) and in promoting 'enlightened moderation'. 

Pakistan has been a safe haven for terrorists and a cockpit of terrorism parachuting militants in Afghanistan as mujahidin or freedom fighters in Kashmir. Lutz Kleveman, a German journalist, in his convincing and incisive book, 'The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia' dubbed Pakistan 'the cradle of terror.' As more than 30,000 militants of diverse nationalities-among others Arabs, Chechens, Kazakhs, Tajiks, Slavs and Afghans-are marauding within and without Pakistan's frontiers.

What renders Pakistan a sanctuary of terrorism? The roots reach the Afghan Jihad and Kashmir war on independence. However, American dollars, Saudi Riyals and Pakistan's Army abetted the scourge.

The Roots - Liberation Wars, Culture, What Else?

The scourge of terror is a continuation rather an aberration of history. It is the fallout of the liberation war in Afghanistan. Fearing the Red Army onslaught, Pakistan, on the Washington's urging, descend an 'iron curtain' along Pak-Afghan porous border from Waziristan to Chaman and Bajour to Para Chinar. Whereupon the region became the Cold War field of containment, espoused by Brezizeniski.

Kalashnikov (AK-47s), RPGs and Stinger Missiles were deposited in Peshawar and then distributed to the seven Afghan factions. The borderlands were doted with training camps, in which the Mujahidin (holy warriors) militia was raised and equipped to wage a guerrilla war against the kufar (nonbelievers in God). Maddaris (religious seminaries) were the recruitment centres and Taliban (students of theology) formed their ranks and files.

The Russian 'bear' was severely bled, later to die in 1991 of un-healing wounds, but the blood drops red the Afghan landscape with seeds of civil war. The Soviets evacuated in 1989, but the war is ragging ever since. The American eagle flew back unscathed to the Atlantica, leaving Afghanistan to the geopolitical masterminds and machinations, diplomatic rumbling and humbling of regional powers-Pakistan, Iran, India and others. Within Afghanistan, warlords hobnobbed for power out of the ashes.

Out of the carnage, Pakistan managed the Taliban movement in 1994. Najibullah was hanged to death, as a remnant of Marxism-Leninism legacy; an Islamic caliphate, reminiscent of the Middle Ages, was proclaimed. Pakistan provided logistics, intelligence and manpower. Maddaris once again become the breeding grounds of the ideologues. The 9/11 crash of iron birds in the twin towers flew back to Afghanistan. The emirate was buried under the carpet of bombs and the taliban militia dispersed.

With the 1989 soviets' withdrawal from Afghanistan, Pakistan opened another war front-Jammu-and-Kashmir-with India. Freedom fighters regrouped, under ISI pampering and patronage, by Jamat-e-Islami's militant wings-Al-Bader and Hisb-ul-Mujahidin-were to liberate the Indian held Kashmir.

The young Muslim zealots were mobilised and marshaled in training camps across the country as liberation militia. The unemployed graduates, a plentiful asset of the nation, marched into Kashmir to die as martyrs (Shuhada) or to return as mujahidin. The mujahidin settled in Maddaris or spread over the land.

These wars of liberations left the people with huge stocks of arms and ammunitions and the skill to use. Weapons became more accessible than bread and butter. A new culture oriented thus, that is, the Kalashnikov culture. Not to mention narcotism. The deeply engraved religious fanaticism in culture coupled militancy-the hallmarks of political culture of Pakistan, particularly N.W.F.P. and Baluchistan. So the political culture of Pakistan is bedrock of mounting terrorism.

Arson and assassination are the attributes of politics in Pakistan. Concentration of power is absolute, cloaked in devolution of power, which stirs political aggrandizement and rift. Instability is the outcome that gives the army, the self-proclaimed savior of the nation, time and space to intervene. Each day the army takes over, it turns out to be the doomsday of the polity. Politics in Pakistan is therefore a misnomer and politicians mummies, reserved by the army as a camouflage. Public is kept at bay from or blindfolded to politics: citizens are bystanders and think of politics as vote-polling. Religion is the core of politics and religious parties the front-runners.

The payoffs? The liberation wars and the ensuing political culture have left a high mark on Pakistan's society. Islam is grossly politicized and the taliban phenomenon is perpetuated by religious orthodoxy. Poor living standard, weak civic society, sectarianism, militarism and other forces are abetting terrorism.

The Abettors

In Pakistan, civic society lives in absentia. Perpetual instability, persistent military intervention and wars have torn apart society into three distinct classes per se: the orthodoxy and fanatics; the enlightened and moderates, and; the bystanders or in-between.

The orthodoxy, which can be lineated along Shia-Sunni sectarian lines, have promoted and practiced terrorism, extremism and sectarianism in the society. And have institutionalized religious dogmatism and militancy. Jaish-e-Mohammad and Sipah-e-Sahaba are the notorious manifestations of religious, sectarian fanaticism-taking and giving lives are the avowed instruments. Consequently, the nation is fraught with sectarianism.

Maddaris of the respective orthodoxies filled lines of the extremities, while mainstream religious parties streamlined their support behind them. Funds were collected, rallies were organised and hatred literature was printed and distributed. These activities went unchecked, except periodic and eventual condemnation and contempt by the government. A terror regime has therefore consolidated in the country.

The national army to a greater extent solicited these activities either to writ large in internal politics or to recruit manpower for its Kashmir policy. Aamer Khan, Karachi-based BBC News correspondent, asserts that the army is "crafting and carrying Pakistan's pro-jihad policy." Jihad and mujahidin have been a watchword of the ISI clandestine activities in Afghanistan, Kashmir and in Central Asia.

Saudi Arabia and Iran too have been proactive in setting sectarianism and religious intolerance ablaze. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Pakistan has been a battlefield for the two, to wage and rage their ideological wars. Riyadh injected its Riyals into Sunni orthodoxy and religious parties. Religious schools mushroomed cross the country. Tehran, on the other side, threw its weight behind Shia orthodoxy and financed their activities.

The American unjust war on terrorism in Afghanistan, to which Pakistan became a frontline, became an outcry for the religious zealots. Islamic seminaries and political parties, thereupon, proclaimed Jihad against the American-led coalition. Hundreds of Taliban, even moderate elements, crossed the border to die with honour and accompany their Muslim brethren into the paradise-the eternal abode. In Pakistan, Islamists alliance using the 'War on Islam' (referring to war on terrorism) triumphed the political scene. Through landslide victories in 2002-parlimentary election constituted governments in Baluchistan and N.W.F.P. The army intelligence agencies' role in determining the ballot result is hidden from none, as the martial-mullah alliance.

Economic deprivation and debased living standard have stimulated and flourished terrorism. Social stratification is widening day by day: rich class is growing richer, while poor class is getting poorer every day. Stagnant poverty, rampant unemployment, social chaos, ill health and absence or prioritisation of opportunities have antagonised the mass of people. In despair, the downtrodden class resorts to intimidation inflicting pain on the upper class, becoming cadres of terrorism.

All of the aforementioned, interlocking factors have abetted terrorism and mushroomed terrorists. "Where are they [yesterday's jihadists, today's terrorists] now?", President Musharraf, on 21 July 2005, questioned the nation and world community. As terrorist are simmering in Afghanistan, sprouting in Pakistan and backlash-ing in Madrid and London one after another. Afghanistan is the heartland of terrorism and Pakistan the hinterland. President Musharraf testified: "No matter where something happens, we end up being directly or indirectly involved. . . . It turns out that they [terrorists] have either visited Pakistan or passed through it on their way to Afghanistan."

Musharraf now intends to undo what he and is predecessors did for the last 26 years. He wants to outmaneuver the elements that perpetrate terrorism, disparage the philosophies that proclaim terrorism, outcast the institutions that promote terrorism and outlaw the parties that practice terrorism, irrespective of shades and shapes. Is there any way out? to drain the scourge that has riddled each and every aspect of the stat and society.

The Way Out - There Is?

President Musharraf has launched a campaign to rid the country of the Frankenstein and to renaissance the polity on an enlightened foundation, outreaching the Muslim world.

His renaissance formula comprises:

• Outlawing groups under new names whose manifesto is terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism;
• Clamping down elements that endorse and practice terrorism, and those that print, finance and distribute hatred literature;
• Reforming and registering seminaries and closing schools that teach religious fanaticism and dogmatism;
• Consolidating democracy by devolving power;
• Revitalising the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) towards enlightened moderation to cope with Muslim fundamentalism and terrorism that beset the Ummah (the Muslim nation); and
• Warring terrorism internationally, for it is a global menace and shall be sorted out globally. International community shall therefore cooperate rather than accusing one state or a civilisation for acts of terrorism. "The correct strategy to deal with this is to encourage and support each other rather than speaking against each other and blaming each other," Musharraf emphasised. In addition, the West should therefore integrate the Muslim world rather isolating it and should help them in developing their societies and alleviating poverty.

The way out is the 'culture of peace, tolerance and coexistence.' Mass of the people shall be educated in the values of a civilized culture on equal footings-a culture based on humanism, in which, human beings are accepted and tolerated as human beings not rejected or confronted as Muslim and non-Muslims; a culture that encourage dialogue not the clash of civilisations.

Religion should be relegated to private life and a secular polity shall be constituted. And politics shall be demilitarized.

Society shall be cleansed of weapons of bloodshed and small arms shall be banned outright. This is possible whenever maximum security of life, property and honour is ensured by the state.

Tribal areas where outlaws, bandits and terrorists take reigning free shall be banished and subjected to the civil and criminal codes of municipal and international laws.

Terrorists shall be (first) demobilised and disarmed, then (second) integrated as responsible and respectable citizens of the society by providing ample jobs and opportunities. They shall be provided education and training if necessary. Simply, thumping them out iron-handedly will not work. It will rather further hardened their rankings and resistance.

Afghanistan shall be resurrected as a responsible, sovereign state otherwise terrorism will endure in the region, in particular, and the world in general.

Simply, there is no short term, quick-fix solution to the scourge of terrorism. Any antiterrorism strategy shall be multi-pronged and dynamic. Simply pounding on terrorists will not work, because terror breeds terror. So if Pakistan wants a lasting peace, it shall prepare for peace. Politics is the art of the possible: intention, intuition and will are the things needed.

Imran Khan
Research Scholar,
Area Study Centre (Russia, China and Central Asia),
University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
The writer is doing research on 'Trans-Afghan Gas Pipelines: Prospects and Impacts'. 
Email: smashf@yahoo.com
Office: +91-91-5261739
Residence: +91-91-279665

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