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| Al Qaeda is a worldwide phenomenon | | Taliban are exclusive to Afghanistan, Pakistan | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI: Pakistan President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, has emerged as an experienced politician--and a good strategist,too. However, some realities he referred to this September 5 seem to elude observers of the Pakistani scene in the context of the war on terror. Speaking to the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament in Brussels, Gen. Musharraf said that the centre of terrorism had shifted from Al Qaeda to Taliban and the latter posed a greater threat.
Al Qaeda, Pakistan President said, represented an ideology while Taliban were a social movement and were more dangerous because they had roots in some sections of society in Afghanistan and Pakistan. People the world over, including the western media, often use Al Qaeda and Taliban as synonyms, forgetting that at least theoretically the former is a worldwide phenomenon while the latter are exclusive to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The adherents to the Al Qaeda philosophy seem to obey an unseen leader who harbours an obsessive hatred of America.
The Taliban, Gen. Musharraf requires to be told, have a specific geopolitical aim. Al Qaeda would like to spread death and destruction without achieving or attempting to achieve the takeover of a state. But Taliban’s specific aim is to drive the US-led forces out of Afghanistan and recapture power there. Also, unlike Al Qaeda, Taliban have tasted power and ruled a country.
Al Qaeda has no such benefit and merely enjoyed Taliban’s hospitality. In fact, America seemed to be conscious of the difference between the two when its ultimatum to the Taliban government in the aftermath of 9/11 had boiled down to just one demand: hand over Osama bin Laden to Washington. The Taliban leadership could perhaps have spared the Afghan people the miseries of war if it had accepted the American demand.
The second point Gen. Parvez Musharraf referred to is a historical truth: Pakistan alone is not responsible for the jihadi culture that today has large segments of the people in Pakistan and Afghanistan in its grip; “we”, by which the Pakistan President meant America and other western countries, brought mujahideen from all over the world to fight the anti-Soviet jihad. “We armed the Taliban...we did it together”. But once the aim was achieved, he said, “everyone” left, while the Pakistanis had to face the reality of 30,000 armed mujahideen in their midst. Thus Pakistan paid “a big price” for a mistake for which America and some other countries were equally responsible.
Those who today ask Pakistan to “do more” ignore the difficulties in the way. A social and political movement, especially one having a religious orientation, cannot be defeated by commando actions, or through a blanket ban on madressahs. It has to be tackled basically by non-military means. The military, to quote Gen. Musharraf, “buys time” and gives an opening for a political solution. Coming from a general, these views indicate the complex nature of the problem Pakistan is expected to solve overnight.
The agreement with the tribal leaders in North Waziristan will be watched with hope and fear. Islamabad must seek a solution because the elimination of religious extremism and a philosophy based on violence is in Pakistan’s own interest, for which it does not need foreigners’ prodding. But then the Pak government should also try to establish its credentials. The agreement with the tribal leaders should not mean that North Waziristan becomes a sanctuary for religious militants, and the misgivings in the country and abroad that certain elements in the army, especially the ISI, are still hand in glove with Taliban need to be removed.
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