Editorial: Closet Taliban?

It is a matter of extreme concern that a provincial law minister has been seen pandering to a banned organisation’s senior leader. Rana Sanaullah, who happens to be Punjab’s Law Minister, either forgot his own designation during his recent visit to Jhang or was suffering from amnesia when he took Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) leader Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi on a ride in his car. He also visited the banned organisation’s madrassa. Is it not ironic that the law minister gave full protocol to a sectarian outfit’s leader, an organisation that has officially been banned by the government? Thus it was all but inevitable that there was an uproar over Rana Sanaullah giving official patronage to Ludhianvi in the National Assembly.

Mr Sanaullah was on a by-election campaign for a provincial assembly seat in Jhang, but it cannot be said with certainty if he paid a visit to the seminary for electoral purposes or deep-rooted extremist linkages. Even if it was for purely electoral purposes, should the law minister have taken along a sectarian leader with him on an election campaign? According to a report, ‘Pakistan: The Militant Jihadi Challenge’ by the International Crisis Group published in 2009, “The recent upsurge of jihadi violence in Punjab...demonstrates the threat extremist Sunni-Deobandi groups pose to the Pakistani citizen and state...Punjab-based radical Deobandi groups like the SSP and its offshoot Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ) provide weapons, recruits, finances and other resources to Pakistani Taliban groups...The SSP and LJ are also al Qaeda’s principal allies in the region.” Being a provincial law minister, Rana Sanaullah should have all this information. He should take effective measures to curb extremism and sectarianism in Punjab. Instead he opted for hobnobbing with the leaders of such militant outfits. Some lawmakers from Punjab had raised this issue in the National Assembly last year as well, protesting that the activities of banned outfits in Jhang were going unchecked. Just last month, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed addressed a seminar in Lahore. The Punjab government needs to be reminded that the JuD is just a new name of the banned terror outfit, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT). In January 2002, General Musharraf banned some jihadi outfits and launched a crackdown, but it was a complete failure as most of these groups renamed themselves before the ink had even dried on the proscription papers. JuD is a classic example. To let its leader address a seminar in Lahore is a grave violation of the rule of law. The judiciary should also take note of this as the Indian government has accused Hafiz Saeed of masterminding the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.

The Punjab government has long been in denial over the presence of terror outfits in Punjab, particularly South Punjab. The audacity of the PML-N to call itself a ‘progressive’ party — at best, it is a centre-right party — when it is pursuing such policies should serve as a wake up call for the people of Pakistan. If we want to rid our country of extremist ideology, our lawmakers should set an example instead of giving official patronage to terror outfits. An appeal to the Punjab government: stop living in denial and take effective measures to make our country safe from extremist elements. *

Second Editorial: Baloch grievances

Since the inception of Pakistan, the federation has never respected the rights of the Baloch people and led them to a level of extreme frustration after which they felt compelled to take up arms. Despite the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package announced by the incumbent government, the Baloch are unhappy. The said package was rejected ab initio across the board by the Baloch, be it the militant nationalists, the moderates, or the public. The reason was simple: no government has ever been able to exercise its writ over the province and the military establishment calls the shots.

President Zardari said the government will “initiate dialogue with exiled Baloch leaders after removing their distrust of the government”. With all due respect Mr President, removing that distrust may not be possible without initiating a dialogue with the dissidents. The president should initiate a dialogue right away with the exiled leadership and the Baloch nationalists in the country if he actually wants to redress Baloch grievances. This should be done so as to explore if the president and the Baloch are on the same wavelength vis-à-vis the ‘rights’ of Balochistan. If the president thinks that by giving a few jobs and some development funds to the province he would solve the crisis brewing in Balochistan, he should think again.

Now that the Supreme Court has refused to touch the issue of the intelligence agencies’ role in the phenomenon of the ‘disappeared’ or missing persons, the ball is in the government’s court. There are also other problems like that of the exploitation of the province’s natural resources without adequate recompense. Gas is the classic example, but more recent cases are the gold and copper projects in Saindak and Reko Diq. Signs of ‘settler colonialism’ in Gwadar have also ruffled the feathers of the Baloch.

All this leads one to wonder whether the government can actually deliver on its promises or will the establishment be allowed as usual to do as it pleases. The military’s presence and operations is the greatest obstacle for the government’s well-intentioned policy for Balochistan. The government must put its foot down now or else the federation can face grave consequences in future. *

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\01\story_1-3-2010_pg3_1