Selection of Mullah Fazlullah as Pakistani Taliban head: A clear sign that this terror outfit has keen interest in establishing its own absolute sovereignty over Pakistan

By Mujahid Hussain, New Age Islam

November 8, 2013

Since Mulla Fazlullah has been appointed the new Emir of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, there is high probability that Taliban will decline to hold any talks with the Pakistani government. The appointment of Mullah Fazlullah as the Emir of Pakistani Taliban is a clear sign that this terror outfit has keen interest in establishing its own absolute sovereignty going far ahead of its ilk and other terrorist factions and even Taliban leaders who had a sort of soft corner, in some affairs, for Pakistan. The former Taliban leaders had good expectations from Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf and Muslim League, given their soft strategies and mild attitudes towards them. But now after the appointment of Mulla Fazlullah as the Emir, the Pakistani army will get rid of the accusation that they have adopted the policy of discrimination with Taliban.

The point that became explicitly clear now is that Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is no more obliged to go by the directions of Afghan Taliban or Haqqani network. This will be such an absolute sovereignty that will make Taliban more sustainable, powerful and injurious to the state of Pakistan. According to the majority of the Tahreek-e-Taliban’s factions engaging in the regions adjacent to the Pak-Afghan boarders, the situation is now spinning out of Pakistani intelligence’s control. The few Taliban groups that used to stand by the government, sometimes, are either on the verge of extinction or have allied with the more powerful groups. They are in no mood to rest assured of the Pakistani government, while we clearly witness the growing influence of the Tahreek and its scores of foreign allies from Arabs, Uzbek and Chechens who are not at all ready to rely on the government. Rather, they consider the Pakistani army one of the likes of NATO and American forces.   

On the other hand, Pakistani states are not willing to fight Taliban on any ground, because the common consensus is that carrying out any operation against Taliban will amount to supporting the US and other western countries. The late Emir of Tahreek-e-Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud was considered a bigger enemy to America and the west than to the Pakistani government. Therefore, his recent death in the drone attacks became a cause of serious concern for everyone, despite the fact that his terrorist group killed more number of Pakistanis than that of Americans, in addition to thousands of the Pakistani forces being killed at their hands. They have caused so much damage to Pakistan's defense installations that even the traditional rival of Pakistan, India, could not do in the past three wars with it. Hakimullah Mehsud got even the Pakistani army army killed and launched direct attacks on almost all major offices of the ISI slaughtering dozens of people.   

The major issue is the recent national narrative of Pakistan that gained momentum during and after Musharraf’s regime. Not only Pakistan’s media but also its religious organisations, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, as well as political parties such as Pakistan Muslim League and Tahreek-e-Insaf Pakistan played a pivotal role to work out the details of this descriptive. Since the common perception in Pakistan is that America is the enemy, even the biggest dangers looming large inside the country are overlooked. Pakistani army is viewed as an entity that survives only to safeguard its interests and is ready to go to any extent of fighting for that.   

Today, the tragedy is that Muslim militants are not unanimous with even their Pakistani Muslim brethren. Neither they accept their state nor do they consider their social structure ‘Islamic’. Rather, they consider the democratic system adopted by their Muslim brethren as system of kufr (infidelity) and have declared Jihad against it a lawful and virtuous deed that will earn its participants martyrdom. For instance, the leader of Pakistani Tahreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan has recently witnessed the killing of three members of his party at the hands of his own Muslim brethren, but still he is not ready to change his stand. Imran Khan is now keen to extend support to the Jihadists who are fighting against the very system that helped him take his party to the power assembly. The same goes true of the leaders in the centre and the Muslim league ruling in Punjab who wish to oust Imran from his constituency and are willingly ready to facilitate things for Taliban in every respect. But since Mulla Fazlullah has been appointed now the Emir of Tahreek-e-Taliban, Imran Khan and the Nawaz members should now realise that their agreements are subjected to be nullified. After all, Mulla Fazlullah has no interest in holding talks with the Pakistani states. The very first statement by him points out that Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan considers all such talks just pointless.

On the other hand, there seems to be no possibility for the halt of drone attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the tribal areas, while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced to stop the NATO supply, given this situation. But the Central Government is utterly confused in this regard. Mian Nawaz Sharif who is

Mian Nawaz Sharif, who is greatly worried about the Pakistan's economic plight, is of the view that after the closure of NATO supply lines Pakistan will face further economic sanctions and, subsequently, his government will lose its popularity. However, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and its coalition partners, especially Jamat-e-Islami, want to take advantage of the current situation to gain popularity. The predominant media of Pakistan is spreading the sensation that Pakistan should take a hard look at its relations with US and other western countries, as its servile role has now become that of a slave of the west. Given this situation, it is an uphill task to change the common perception.

Pakistan's economy has been crushed by such an invisible concept of honour that cannot be opposed at all in Pakistan. Of course, a man of honour would rather die out of hunger but bow down to anyone.

But the tragedy is that the national honour filled with love for Taliban and Al Qaeda does not seem to do any help for Pakistan, because it considers Pakistanis the followers of the system of Kufr (disbelief) and hence it is Farz-e-Ain (individual obligation) to kill them and damage their country. Therefore, they are actively engaged in destroying the symbols of Pakistan’s honour, its army, and attacking on them by all means possible.

Pakistani Jihadi fighters are targeting the guards of Pakistan’s honour, its defence installations, and do not want to stop it at any coast. Whenever they get a chance, they slaughter the innocent Pakistani civilians in an effort to boost up their religious passion, as they believe so. It is an open secret that Mulla Fazlullah will not care about the feelings of ordinary Pakistanis and will carry on with his atrocities as were seen in Swat. Obviously, attacks on Pakistani troops will be more intensified leaving the citizens of Pakistan more vulnerable. Let’s wait and watch how the so-called Ghairat (Honour) brigades of Pakistan will tackle all these situations!

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/selection-mullah-fazlullah-pakistani-taliban/d/14373

URL for Urdu article: https://newageislam.com/urdu-section/the-state-pakistan-mullah-fazlullah/d/14342