There are at least nine ministers who'd support Taliban at every given opportunity. We saw them in the Musharraf regime also. They are a product of the secret agencies. Of their own, they'd never be able to win so many seats in the provincial assembly.
The News on Sunday: Do you believe the US concerns regarding Taliban presence in Balochistan are valid?
Habib Jalib: I am ready to buy the fact that there is Taliban leadership in the province. In the coalition (provincial) government of PPP, there are at least nine ministers who'd support Taliban at every given opportunity. We saw them in the Musharraf regime also. They are a product of the secret agencies. Of their own, they'd never be able to win so many seats in the provincial assembly.
As to the query whether the drone attacks will put an end to the Taliban, let me say we have seen a lot of America's war doctrine before also.
Quetta's population has never exceeded 0.7 million, but presently it is 2.2 million, thanks to the Afghan refugees. The fact is, drone attacks will only consolidate the position of the Taliban, because they will actually be able to win the people's sympathy and this will breed more militants. Those people who will be displaced will reach farther parts of Balochistan and start creating problems.
TNS: So, what is the solution?
HJ: I believe the government of Pakistan should clear the mess (of refugees) in the very first place. It should deport these people to camps and, with the help of the United Nations, ensure their return to Afghanistan safe and sound. Secondly, sanctions should be imposed on madrassas that have been built unlawfully on state land.
In Balochistan, 8-9 percent of total GDP goes to non-development expenditures; the rest is for administrative expenditures. Education does not get more than one percent share. In this situation, how can you expect your institutions to develop? When the people are not going to schools and they are not educated in the arts and sciences of the world, all you will produce are the likes of Taliban. When you don't give employment, when you launch operations, when you breed fundamentalists instead of the enlightened lot of nationalists, what else can you get?
I believe this drone-attack 'bombshell' has been dropped in order that the government can counter the Baloch movement which is at its peak right now. It's a plan hatched by the federation and the security agencies.
TNS: You mean, they are crying wolf?
HJ: Well, if they know Mullah Omar is in the region, can't the intelligence agencies to get hold of him? Is it difficult for them at all? Do you think any Taliban ever existed without the knowledge or support of the agencies? These people are looking for him everywhere but not in their own home. This hide-n-seek is being played so that the money keeps flowing in from abroad and also because they want to defuse the Baloch movement.
TNS: What is the reality of the Taliban Shura?
HJ: Every second person you meet comes across as a Taliban; only God knows what the reality is. In Quetta, the Baloch have been reduced to a minority. On the one hand, the government is selling its army to kill its own people; and it is sending in its Taliban on the other hand. Now, if we have drone attacks too, what will become of us?
Writer: By Usman Ghafoor
Source: http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2009-weekly/nos-11-10-2009/spr.htm
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