Did the CIA Give Birth to The TTP at ‘Penny Lane’?

On November 25, The Associated Pressreleased a news report which strengthens the beliefs held by many security analyts, that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or ‘TTP’ for short, a terrorist organization which repeatedly claims ties to the Afghan Taliban, is a fake group bred by the American intelligence community.

According to the report, the CIA had a secret facility (until 2006) near the main Guantanamo Bay prison, dubbed “Penny Lane“, where captured jihadists and fighters from Afghanistan were turned into double agents. This fundamentally required that those who agreed in being American spies would guarantee full cooperation in “killing terrorists” (or, in other words, targeting elements who are eyesore for the US).

Captives who signed up to be double agents were offered millions of dollars from the CIA’s (read American taxpayers’ money) secret account (Codename ‘Pledge’), along with safety for their families.

But that’s not all. According to a report in the Voice of Russia compiled from various established sources, a few of these prospective double agents who were apparently lured by opportunities to be filthy rich and yet retain their iconic ‘warlord’ status, would sometimes request for porn material. It is said that Penny Lane was quite comfortable, in comparison to Guantanamo Bay prison, as it had beds, private kitchens and also a small patio.

The militants who decided once and for all to end fighting American forces signed formal agreements to work for the CIA. One prisoner though, was reportedly forced into agreeing because the CIA threatened of harming his children.

The CIA + Abdullah Mehsud = TTP is born

Abdullah Mehsud can be described as one of the key founders of the TTP, an organization whose country-wide attacks in Pakistan have resulted in 15,681 armed forces casualties. Similarly, approximately 5,152 civilians have been killed and 5,678 injured in bomb blasts and suicide attacks since 2008. These statistics werepresented by legal counsels for Pakistan’s intelligence agencies at the Supreme Court on 26 March 2013.

Abdullah Mehsud had lost a leg in a landmine explosion in 1996 and was captured sometime later by Uzbek-origin Afghan commander Abdul Rashid Dostum while fighting the Northern Alliance. He was imprisoned at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay for two years and later, to much surprise and shock, released in March 2004. What’s even more astounding is that he was also gifted a prosthetic limb by his captors, according to a statement by Brigadier General Jay Hood who was then running the camp.

A document titled JTF-GTMO Information on Detainees mentions that Abdullah Mehsud was released because he “claimed to be an office clerk and driver for the Taliban from 1996 to 1998 or 1999. He consistently denied having any affiliation with al Qaida. He also claimed to have received no weapons or military training due to his handicap (an amputation resulting from when he stepped on a land mine 10 years ago). He claimed that after September 11, 2001 he was forcibly conscripted by the Taliban military“.

This same Abdullah was later named as the commander of Al Qaeda-affiliated militants who ordered his band of subordinate fighters to kidnap two Chinese engineers (one was killed during a rescue attempt gone bad).

The Afghan Taliban were displeased with the incident and reportedly booted Abdullah Mehsud out. They were also suspicious of his activities since he was mysteriously released by the US military “crusaders” from Guantanamo.

While in Afghanistan, Abdullah Mehsud had created his own parallel “Taliban” militia and proudly claimed while giving media interviews in Afghanistan, that he was behind a series of attacks on Pakistani security forces (unlike the Afghan Taliban who were focused on fighting ISAF-NATO). Upon his return through Zhob in Balochistan province of Pakistan, security forces were aware of his presence and raided the house of Sheikh Ayub Mandokhel to capture him on 24 July 2007. Sheikh Mandokhel was a leader affiliated with the Islamist JUI-F of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. However, before he could be arrested, Abdullah blew himself up.

It is worth noting that before Abdullah Mehsud was released from Guantanamo and dropped in Afghanistan, there were no attacks taking place against Pakistani security forces. This is where a large information vacuum exists and which must be explored further. Had Abdullah Mehsud created a new “Taliban” that would be America’s own brand of Islamists?

In an article for The New Tork Times dated 22 October 2009, journalist Scott Shane quoted an unnamed Afghan Taliban official as saying that for the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), “there will not be any support from us”. He added the Afghan Taliban “don’t have interest in fighting against other countries”.

Furthermore, the Afghan Taliban commander said their mission is to get occupation forces out (of Afghanistan) and “not get into a fight with a Muslim army”.

Many journalists and security officials in Western states have been alleging since long that the Afghan Taliban are aided by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. Had that been the case, their so-called assets would have prevented Colonel (retd) Sultan Amir Tarar alias “Colonel Imam”, their former teacher from the Afghan war era, from being killed at the hands of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the recently-killed TTP chief.

There are also many other incidents such as this which suggest that had the Afghan Taliban indeed been proxies of the Pakistani agencies, as is routinely alleged, they would have instructed the TTP to stop attacks on Pakistani forces. But this never happened. Instead, as reported earlier, more than 15,000 soldiers and high-ranking armed forces personnel from Pakistan lost their lives.

But then, the question arises, who are these Pakistani Taliban fighting a Muslim army (of Pakistan) which the Afghan Taliban do not wish to fight? Are they a band of militants who were recruited by Abdullah Mehsud and later on joined hands with Baitullah Mehsud?

The ominous release of Abdullah Mehsud, when reviewed today in context of the new disclosures published by the Associated Press, lay bare historical facts and confirm the fact that he (Abdullah) had been set free because he must have agreed on becoming a double agent for the CIA, hence the safe haven in Afghanistan and US forces not capturing him there again. This also explains why his ideological descendants who later on coalesced to form the TTP are hell-bent on destroying Pakistan.

This also explains why both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have been working on different lines, although appearing the same on the outset (basically we have the identical nomenclature to blame for mass confusion).

Felix Kuehn, renowned researcher on terrorism and author of “An Enemy We Created: The Myth of the Taliban/al-Qaeda Merger in Afghanistan 1970-2010″, said at an event organized by the Afghanistan Study Group and the Center for International Policy, that although the (Afghan) Taliban and Al Qaeda have some ties, “they are separate and distinct groups with different constituencies and different goals”. Kuehn had studied the Taliban and Al Qaeda closely while staying at Kandahar despite extreme risks to his life.

From a report by Bob Dreyfuss in The Nation:

For at least three years, Kuehn and Alex Strick van Linschoten have lived and worked in Kandahar, where they’ve studied the two organizations, lived with Kandahar citizens, and met people of all political persuasions there, including Taliban commanders.

Kuehn points out that the Taliban and Al Qaeda adhere to different strains of Islamic thought, the Taliban associated with Saudi-influenced, Wahhabi-style Hanafi beliefs, and Al Qaeda associated with the more radical, more rigid Hanbali school. The Taliban, of course, are Afghans, and Al Qaeda mostly Arab and almost entirely non-Afghan. Generationally, they are different, too, with most Al Qaeda leaders older than the young commanders of the Taliban, and whereas many Al Qaeda people are professionals and well educated, the Taliban are rural, unschooled, and grew up in places like Kandahar where newspapers were nonexistent and even radios were in the hands of only a privileged few.

When Al Qaeda arrived in Afghanistan from Sudan around 1996, says Kuehn, its membership was not more than 30. Al Qaeda fighters, and the growing number of recruits who came to Afghanistan from elsewhere, kept apart from Taliban fighters, who resented Al Qaeda, and there was a great deal of animosity between the two. Osama bin Laden insisted that international actions against the United States and other countries was crucial to his strategy, while Mullah Omar opposed such actions, says Kuehn.

“Osama bin Laden’s death will have zero impact on the Afghan Taliban,” says Kuehn. In part, that’s because they “didn’t have much a relationship to begin with.” Still, he says, it’s foolish to expect the Taliban to denounce Al Qaeda or to formally break with the organization, in part because bin Laden and Al Qaeda were Mullah Omar’s bridge to the Arab world. Yet when bin Laden was killed, the Taliban’s reaction was muted, and its statement—released via the Taliban’s semi-official web site—was mild and restrained. (If you haven’t spent time reading the Taliban in its own words, its web site is the place to start.)

Yet, we saw that Hakeemullah Mehsud and his groups under the umbrella of the TTP were openly supportive of, and aligned with, the global Al Qaeda. The attack on a CIA base by Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal Al-Balawi, who was seen in a video statement released by the Umar Media of TTP to be sitting next to Hakeemullah Mehsud, was most possibly a false attack which the CIA itself ordered as a stunt to prove it has no ties with the TTP.

Later, we saw Baitullah Mehsud, then Hakeemullah Mehsud (who lived in a luxurious $120,000 mansion), continue the legacy of this fake brand of Taliban. Or putting it more precisely, the CIA brand of Taliban. A group which has caused more damage to Pakistan than any other through brainwashed suicide-attack blasts, IED explosions, urban warfare, destruction of strategic defence equipment in use by the Pakistan Army, Air Force and Navy, bombing of ISI offices, murder of thousands of innocent civilians, beheading of hundreds of Pakistan Army troops, and what not.

It is most likely that the birth of these murderers’ ideology took place at the once-secret Penny Lane facility.

And when the controllers of these cheap hirelings and ignorant “holy warriors” of the Pakistani Taliban, who liaise between Langley and FATA/Afghanistan are no longer needed, they are simply disposed by being “droned” to death, just like Baitullah and Hakeemullah were. That is the destiny awaiting every worthless CIA asset.

Many sectors of the Pakistani society were well-aware of these facts but these mainstream revelations (still not complete though) are ample proof that the US has played a major role in destabilizing Pakistan, as it wants to avenge its own strategic blunders which it committed by unnecessarily invading Afghanistan.

The US needs it’s own Taliban to keep Pakistan engaged in internal house-cleaning and meanwhile give free space to India to attain what is has always desired: a large strategic stake in Afghanistan.

Related Posts:

• Bullying and Intimidating Tactics of USA
• Afghans Deserve Peace
• Afghan History Suppressed: Part I: Islamists, Heroin and the CIA
• Sabotaging Relations Between India and Pakistan
• ‘Project Malala’: The CIA’s Socio-Psychological Intelligence Operation

Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=278894

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/11/26/did-the-cia-give-birth-to-the-ttp-at-penny-lane/

Ignorance, Jahiliyyah is curse

بے حسی، بے حسی

اللہ کے آخری رسولﷺ کا وہ فرمان ایک بار پھر یاد کیجیے: ''جسے شرم نہیں، وہ 

اپنی مرضی کرے‘‘۔

ان کے بارے میں اور کیا عرض کیجیے جو ثالث کو حَکَم مانتے ہی نہیں۔ طالبان ہی کیا، جس موضوع پر بھی وہ جو چاہیں، کچھ بھی ارشاد فرمائیں۔ سیدنا علی ابن ابی طالب کرم اللہ وجہہ کو حکمران تسلیم کرنے سے انہوں نے انکار کر دیا تھا۔ یہی نہیں، ان کی بات سننے سے بھی۔ وہ کہا کرتے تھے ''ان الحکم الا للہ‘‘ ۔ ان کا جواب وہی تھا جو طالبان کا ہے... شریعت، شریعت، قرآن، قرآن۔ حدیث رسولﷺ یہ ہے اور ان میں سے کسی کو یاد نہ آئی''ھوالمعطی و انا القاسم‘‘ ''وہ عطا کرنے والا ہے اور میں تقسیم کرنے والا ہوں‘‘۔ اسّی فیصد قوانین حدیث سے آئے ہیں، سیرت سے۔ جہالت کا جادو سر چڑھ کر بولتا ہے۔

اب کراہت ہونے لگی۔ طالبان اگر ان کے بھائی ہیں تو ہمارا کوئی واسطہ ان سے نہیں۔ قاتل اور درندے انسانوں کے بھائی کیسے ہو گئے؟ صرف مینگورہ شہر سے دو سو لڑکیاں انہوں نے اغوا کیں اور بعض کی جبراً شادیاں کر دیں۔ سیدنا علی ابن ابی طالبؓ نے جناب عبداﷲ ابن عباسؓ کو خارجیوں کے پاس روانہ کیا۔ ''بلوغ الارب‘‘ میں لکھا ہے کہ دو سو برس کی عمر پانے والے صحرا نشین خطیب نے جو امیر معاویہؓ کی خدمت میں حاضر ہوا تھا، انہیں ''تمام علم اور تمام حلم‘‘ کہا تھا۔ اللہ کے آخری رسولﷺ انہیں عزیز رکھتے۔ عہد زریں کے کبار اہل علم میں ان کا شمار تھا۔ فقہ کے باب میں محتاط ترین عمر فاروق اعظم ؓ ان سے مشورہ کیا کرتے۔

ہماری تو اب کون سنے گا؟ کیا وہ ''تلبیس ابلیس‘‘ کے مؤلف

علّامہ ابن جوزی کی سننے پر آمادہ نہیں؟ غزالیؒ نے جن سے سیکھا اور جو فریب نفس پر لکھنے والوں میں مسلم تاریخ کی سب سے بڑی اتھارٹی مانے جاتے ہیں۔ 

انہوں نے یہ لکھا ہے:''ابن عباسؓ نے روایت کیا، خوارج الگ ہوئے تو ایک احاطے 

میں جمع ہوئے اور وہ چھ ہزار تھے۔ سب نے اتفاق کیا کہ امیرالمومنین علی ابن ابی طالب ؓ پر خروج کریں گے۔ لوگ ایک ایک دو دو برابر آتے اور خبر دیتے: امیرالمومنین یہ گروہ آپ پر خروج کرنے والا ہے۔ فرماتے: انہیں چھوڑو۔ میں ان سے قتال نہیں کرتا جب تک وہ مجھ سے قتال نہ کریں۔ وقت قریب ہے کہ جب وہ خود ایسا کریں گے۔ پھر ایک روز نماز ظہر سے پہلے میں نے آپ ؓ کی خدمت میں حاضر ہو کر کہا: اے امیرالمومنینؓ ظہر کی نماز میں ٹھنڈے وقت تک تاخیر کیجیے، میرا ارادہ ہے کہ اس گروہ میں جا کر ان سے گفتگو کروں۔ آپ ؓنے فرمایا: مجھے ان کی طرف سے آپ کی ذات پر خوف ہے۔ میں نے عرض کیا: جی نہیں آپ مجھ پر خوف نہ کیجیے۔ میں ایک ملنسار شخص تھا، کسی کو ایذا نہ دیتا تھا۔ میں نے بیش قیمت حلہ پہنا اور خارجیوں کے ہاں پہنچا۔ دوپہر کا وقت تھا۔ میں نے وہاں ایسی قوم کو دیکھا جن سے بڑھ کر عبادت میں کوشش کرنے والی قوم میں نے نہ دیکھی تھی۔ ان کی پیشانیوں پر سجدے کی کثرت سے زخم پڑ گئے تھے۔ ان کے ہاتھ گویا اونٹ کے دست تھے، زمین پر ٹکے رہنے سے غبار آلود، بدن پر حقیر قمیص، ازاریں ٹخنوں سے بہت اونچی۔ شبوں کو عبادت میں جاگنے سے چہرے خشک۔ میں نے کہا، میں مہاجرین و انصار کے پاس سے آیا ہوں اور رسول اﷲﷺ کے داماد کے پاس سے۔ انہی لوگوں پر قرآن نازل ہوا اور یہ لوگ قرآن کے معنی تم سے زیادہ سمجھتے ہیں۔ ان میں سے ایک گروہ نے کہا: یہ قریش سے ہے، تم قریش سے مناظرہ مت کرو کیونکہ اﷲ تعالیٰ نے قریش کے حق میں فرمایا کہ ''بل ھم قوم خصمون‘‘ یہ لوگ حجت باز ہیں۔ پھر ان میں سے دو تین بولے: ہم ان سے مباحثہ کریں گے۔ تب میں نے کہا کہ تم لوگ وہ الزامات بیان کرو جو تم نے رسول اﷲﷺ کے داماد اور مہاجرین و انصار پر لگائے ہیں۔

خوارج نے کہا: وہ تین باتیں ہیں۔ ایک یہ ہے کہ علیؓ نے خدا کے معاملے میں لوگوں کو ثالث بنایا، حالانکہ اللہ فرماتا ہے ''ان الحکم الا ﷲ‘‘ حکم کسی کا نہیں سوائے اللہ کے۔ قول الٰہی کے بعد آدمی کو حَکَم سے کیا تعلق رہا۔ میں نے کہا کہ یہ تو ایک ہوا اور کیا ہے؟

  کہنے

لگے: دوسرا اعتراض یہ کہ علیؓ نے لوگوں سے قتال کیا مگر نہ مخالفوں کو لونڈی غلام بنایا اور نہ ان کا مال لے کر غنیمت جہادی ٹھہرایا۔ تیسرا اعتراض یہ ہے کہ علیؓ نے عہد نامہ لکھواتے وقت ''امیرالمومنین‘‘ کا لقب اپنے نام سے مٹا دیا۔ پس وہ اگر امیرالمومنین نہیں ہیں تو (نعوذباللہ) امیرالکافرین ہوئے۔ میں نے پوچھا: کیا کچھ اس کے سوا بھی کوئی اعتراض باقی ہے۔

 خوارج نے کہا کہ بس یہی کافی ہیں۔ میں نے کہا کہ پہلا قول تمہارا یہ کہ امر الٰہی میں علی ؓنے لوگوں کو حاکم بنایا ہے۔ اگر میں تم پر کتاب الٰہی سے ایسی آیات تلاوت کروں جن سے تمہارا قول ٹوٹ جائے تو کیا تم اپنے قول سے توبہ کر لو گے۔ کہنے لگے کہ ہاں! میں نے کہا کہ اللہ نے ایک خرگوش کے معاملے میں جس کی قیمت چوتھائی درہم ہوتی ہے، دو مردوں کے حکم پر اس کا فیصلہ راجح کر دیا۔ 

میں نے آیت پڑھی: ''لاتقتلوا الصید وانتم حرم‘‘احرام کی حالت میں شکار سے ممانعت فرمائی۔ اور اگر کسی نے جرم کیا، مثلاً ایک خرگوش مارا تو فرمایا کہ تم میں دو عادل مرد اس موقع پر جہاں جانور مارا ہے اس کی قیمت کا فیصلہ کریں۔ اللہ نے عورت اور اس کے شوہر کے معاملے میں فرمایا: ''وان خفتم شقاق بینھما فابعثوا حکما من اھلہ و حکما من اھلھا‘‘ ''مرد کی برادری سے ایک مرد اور عورت کی برادری سے ایک مرد بھیجو، وہ دونوں ان کے معاملے میں فیصلہ کریں‘‘۔

اب میں تم لوگوں کو اللہ کی قسم دیتا ہوں کہ بھلا مردوں کا فیصلہ کر کے خونریزی روکنا زیادہ افضل ہے یا کہ خرگوش اور ایک عورت کے معاملے میں؟ خوارج نے کہا کہ ہاں بے شک اصلاح میں افضل ہے۔ بڑی خونریزی کا اس طرح سدباب ہوا۔ میں

نے کہا: اچھا تمہیں جواب مل گیا؟ کہنے لگے: ہاں۔ میں نے کہا:

 رہا تمہارا دوسرا قول کہ علی ؓ نے قتال کیا اور قیدی و غنیمت حاصل نہ کی۔ تو میں تم سے پوچھتا ہوں کہ تم ان لوگوں کو غلام اور کنیز بناتے جو رسول اﷲؐ کے اصحاب تھے؟ تم اسلام سے خارج ہو۔ اب بتاؤ کہ میں تمہارے اس اعتراض کے جواب سے بھی باہر ہوا کہ نہیں۔ کہنے لگے: جی ہاں۔

 میں نے کہا کہ رہا تمہارا یہ تیسرا قول کہ علیؓ نے امیرالمومنین کا لفظ اپنے نام سے مٹا دیا تو میں تمہارے پاس ایسے عادل گواہ لاتا ہوں جن کو تم مانتے ہو، جب حدیبیہ میں رسول اﷲﷺ نے مشرکوں کے ساتھ صلح ٹھہرائی تو ان کے سرداروں کے ساتھ عہد نامہ لکھوایا اور علیؓ سے فرمایا کہ لکھو ''یہ وہ صلح نامہ ہے جو محمدؐ رسول اللہ اور ۔۔۔‘‘ تو مشرکوں نے کہا کہ واﷲ! یہ ہم نہیں جانتے کہ آپؐ اﷲ کے رسول ہیں۔ اگر ہم جانتے کہ آپؐ اللہ کے رسول ہیں تو ہم قتال نہ کرتے۔ تو آنحضرتﷺ نے فرمایا: ''اللہ جانتا ہے کہ میں اس کا فرستادہ ہوں‘‘ اے علیؓ ! اس کو مٹا دو اور یوں لکھو کہ یہ صلح نامہ محمد بن عبداللہ اور اہل مکہ نے لکھا۔۔۔‘‘۔ اب تم دیکھو کہ اللہ کے رسولؐ ،علیؓ سے بہتر ہیں، رسول اللہؐ کا لفظ اپنے نام سے 

محو کرا دیا حالانکہ اس سے وہ رسول اللہ ہونے سے خارج نہیں ہو گئے۔ 

ابن عباسؓ بیان کرتے تھے، اس مکالمے کا نتیجہ یہ ہوا کہ خوارج میں سے دو ہزار آدمی توبہ کر کے واپس آئے اور باقی اپنی گمراہی پر قتل ہوئے۔ 

اللہ کے آخری رسولﷺ کا وہ فرمان ایک بار پھر یاد کیجیے:

 ''جسے شرم نہیں، وہ اپنی مرضی کرے‘‘۔

By Haroon Rasheed: http://dunya.com.pk/index.php/author/haroon-ur-rahid/2014-03-25/6501/22515826#tab2

Karachi: Enter TTP

By Zia Ur Rehman
The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may have been born in the tribal agencies, it might have even ruled Swat, but it is Karachi that has been crucial to the TTP`s perpetuation of power across the country. It is Karachi that helped fund the TTP`s war in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as the organisation routinely conducted bank heists to generate finances. It is also Karachi where members of the TTP found sanctuary as security forces pounded their hideouts. Slowly but surely, the largest city of Pakhtun people has witnessed three factions of the TTP taking control of a number of areas and exert their influence in many others. This is a process that has spanned more than half a decade; it promises to decisively shape the future of the city.

Back in 2007, as the Pakistan government began an operation to regain control of the Swat valley, thousands left their homes to escape being caught in the crossfire. The choice of Karachi was a natural one for these victims of war; with some four million Pakhtuns living in this megacity, many of the internally displaced people (IDPs) had kin they could count on, and with whom they could shelter until they returned home.

In 2009, guised as IDPs, militants from Swat, South Waziristan, Mohmand Agency, Bajaur, Dir, and elsewhere began taking refuge in Karachi, as the military operations reached their respective areas. At first, they did their best to blend in: a number of militants who fled to Karachi shaved their breads, cut their trademark long hair, and worked in the city as petty labourers. Thus disguised, they waited for the right time to establish and reinforce their networks in the city.

Prior to such large-scale migrations, small cells of various TTP groups existed in the city; their job was primarily to raise funds for the operations of their parent groups, largely through bank robberies. “In the beginning, the TTP did not get involved in subversive activities. This was in line with the TTP policy of using Karachi only for fund-raising, rest and recuperation,” said a Mehsud tribal elder living in Ittehad Town.

“But then they seem to have changed their strategy for Karachi. Political leaders from Swat say that Swati militants who fled to Karachi had been assassinating pro-government Swat residents in the city, all under the cover of then ongoing ethno-political targeted killings.”

In short, the TTP took advantage of the chaos of Karachi to, quite literally, get away with murder.

The perfect distraction: `target killings`

When the TTP entered Karachi proper, it found a city in the midst of politico-ethnic conflict. At the time, it was convenient for both the police and political parties to sweep any so-called `target killings` under the larger rug of ethnically-fuelled violence and political turf wars. Assassinations carried out by the Taliban also came under this catch-all phrase.

In fact, it was largely thanks to the peculiar political dynamics of Karachi that the Taliban presence remained mostly unnoticed and unremarked. When the MQM, in 2010 and 2011, began to warn that the Taliban militants were acquiring a presence in the city, the ANP accused it of trying to use that claim as a pretext to `ethnically cleanse` Karachi`s Pakhtuns.

“MQM chief Altaf Hussain had pointed out the presence of the TTP in Karachi years ago, but the authorities, despite taking the issue seriously, denied the reports regarding the presence of the TTP in the city," said Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan, a MQM leader.

Privately, members of other political parties and analysts say that the MQM`s claims may have been proved true later on, but they were definitely written off as politically-motivated when first raised. There was no trust between the ANP and MQM, and the Taliban effectively took advantage of this gap, eventually becoming a direct threat to both parties.

Background interviews with Pakhtun elders, analysts and police officials familiar with the network of the TTP in Karachi suggest that most of the Pakhtun-populated areas of the city are now under partial or complete influence of the TTP.

A direct result of this dominance is the deterioration of the law and order situation in these areas. Here, the various factions of the TTP have joined hands with banned sectarian outfits and criminal syndicates in the city to increase both their subversive activities and fund-raising campaigns (mostly through extortion, robberies and kidnapping for ransom). These areas have become extremely dangerous not just for law enforcement agencies, but also for political activists of mainstream parties, especially the ANP, polio vaccinators and non-governmental organisations.

The battle for Pakhtun representation: ANP pummelled

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has traditionally tolerated no opposition, political or otherwise, when establishing a stranglehold over local populations. In keeping with their modus operandi, the TTP first went after local Pakhtun leadership in Karachi — which in this case was also the Awami National Party (ANP).

“Killing influential Pakhtun elders is a key strategy of Taliban groups, first successfully carried out in Afghanistan, then FATA and KP, and now in Karachi,” said Kahar Zalmay, an Islamabad-based security analyst who monitors the network of TTP across the country, saying that through an organised campaign of killing influential Pakhtun political leaders and elders in Karachi and forcing the ANP to vacate most of its traditional strongholds, now all Pakhtun-majority areas of the city are under varying degrees of TTP influence.

In fact, the first open acknowledgment by the TTP of its presence in this city came as a threat to the ANP. In June 2012, it openly threatened ANP activists to quit the party, remove their party`s flags and graffiti and close their offices.

The TTP then claimed the responsibility for killing Amir Sardar, an ANP leader and former union council mayor, in the Frontier Colony area in August the same year.

On Feb 21 this year, three ANP activists — Dr Israr, Jamshed Khan and Razeemullah — were shot dead along with two guests by unidentified people in MPR colony in Orangi Town. Israr`s relatives said that the three party activists were receiving threats from the TTP Swat chapter. Earlier, on Feb 8, grenades were thrown at the Sher Shah residence of Raza Jadoon, then Sindh president of Pakhtun Students Federation as well as at the home of ANP leader Rahim Swati in Qasba Colony area. Jadoon said that he had been receiving threatening calls from the TTP with the phone code of Afghanistan.

In a series of interviews with Pakhtun political and civil society activists, it emerges that the TTP Swat faction has killed a number of political activists mainly belonging to the ANP as well as social activists in different parts of the city.

Shahi Syed, Sindh president of the ANP, claimed that around 80 leaders and office-bearers of ANP have been killed by the Taliban. As a result, party offices across the city, including even the Baacha Khan Markaz, the provincial party headquarter situated in Pirabad, have been closed. Perhaps there can be no greater example of how serious the threat is than the fact that several leaders of the party have left Karachi and migrated to their native towns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because of threats issued by the TTP.

The political strength of the ANP has also diminished as a direct result of this: In the 2008 general elections, the ANP won two provincial assembly seats from Karachi`s two largest Pakhtun-populated areas — SITE Town and Landhi industrial area. But in the 2013 polls, the rallies and offices of ANP candidates — Bashir Jan and Amanullah Mehsud — from these two areas were targeted by TTP militants, killing and injuring several party activists. The TTP claimed the responsibility of the May 2, 2013 killing of Sadiq Zaman Khattak, an ANP candidate from NA-254 Korangi, in the Bilal Colony area.

Because of the attacks on the ANP, some party members and leaders sought safer pastures, joining other political parties such as the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and even the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jammat (ASWJ). Khurshid Inqilabi, an ANP candidate in the general elections from Baldia Town area, has recently joined the PTI. Inqilabi`s family sources said that he joined the PTI in order to save his life as he was also receiving threats from the TTP.

Besides the ANP, the TTP Swat faction has also started targeting leaders of the PPP. On Jan 24, Mujibur Rehman, president of the PPP PS-96, was killed near Banaras chowk. A Pakhtun leader of PPP in district West said that they are also feeling insecure because of the tough statements issued from the party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari against the TTP. They fear that the TTPs retaliation will target them.

But political parties are only a few of the targets. In Karachi, the TTPs Swat faction had also killed dozens of Swati pro-government elders and those who were associated with peace committees in Swat or who supported the security forces during the operation. “A number of influential political figures and members of anti-Taliban committees of Swat travelling to Karachi for personal or business reasons have been murdered since 2009,” said Sardar Ahmed Yousafzai, a political analyst and president of Kabal Tehsil Bar Association in Swat, adding that majority of assassinated people were from Kabal tehsil as that area was the birth-place of TTP Swat. He said that dozens of Swati families living in Karachi for the last three to four decades have recently migrated to Swat because of the security situation in Pakhtun neighbourhoods.

The golden goose of the TTP

All three TTP factions have been involved in collecting extortions from the Pakhtun traders and transporters, school and hospital owners and even madressahs for the last several years in Karachi. A number of Pakhtun traders interviewed for this report revealed that increasing incidents of extortions remained unreported because of immense pressure and threats by the TTP. The use of hand grenades as a scare tactic, and the killing of those who refuse to pay on time is part of their strategy. And, as usual, they prey mostly on those who are ethnically and tribally connected to them. “They know very well about the wealth of everyone belonging to their own tribe,” said a Mehsud transporter.

The TTP Mehsud faction, for example, has systematically occupied the trade bodies of the business of heavy machinery (heavy-duty vehicles) and local truck and mini-bus associations of Sohrab Goth and imposed fixed taxes on the traders and transporters associated with these bodies. Of course, the reason is that Mehsud tribesmen are largely involved in these businesses. The TTP Mohmand faction has been collecting extortion money from Mohmand tribesmen based in Karachi, who are well-off and mainly involved in selling timber and construction material.

Analysts are of the view that the TTP has been facing a severe financial crisis and a shortage of funds in wake of the measures taken by Pakistani authorities to cut off their international sources of income, especially from gulf countries. Now, the central leadership of all three TTP factions have directed their Karachi members to collect funds through extortion and kidnapping for ransom from the businessmen and transporters belonging to tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These funds are then used to purchase equipment, weaponry and fill the many expenses associated with running an insurgency.

Killing of law enforcement personnel

In keeping with their increased strength on the ground and their raised profile, the TTP also started posing a greater threat to law enforcement agencies. In recent months, a number of personnel of Police and other law enforcement agencies and their informers have been murdered in different Pakhtun areas of Karachi.

Police officials believe that the TTP is working off a hit list that includes police officers involved in the arrests and deaths of a number of militants, including its key commanders in Karachi. Bahaddin Babar, a well-known police officer, was gunned down on Dec 31 2013 by unknown assailants near the Bab-i-Khyber in the Metroville area of SITE Town. At the time, Chaudary Aslam said that the TTP Swat faction killed Babar because he was actively working against TTP operatives in the city. But after nine days of the killing of Babar, Aslam was also killed along with his two guards in a massive bombing on Jan 9 this year.

Several police stations and mobiles have also been regularly targeted in the areas under the influence of the TTP. For example, in February, Pirabad Police station was targeted with hand grenades twice in eight days. Similarly, Sohrab Goth, Mominabad and Mangophir police stations have been attacked several times by Taliban militants. Recently, trenches were dug around the Sohrab Goth and Surjani Town police stations while the same measures will be implemented in other sensitive police stations of the city soon.

In interviews with low-ranked police personnel, they said that the TTP militants target policemen standing on the roadsides, attack their vans by hurling grenades and in some cases, carry out grenade attacks near their houses when they are not on duty. “It has become very dangerous to patrol in these areas during night,” said a police officer deputed in the Mominabad police station.

Ongoing operation and the TTP

Although law enforcement agencies, and especially the Rangers, claim to have arrested several suspects belonging to banned militant outfits recently, leaders of political parties — especially the ANP and the MQM — and Pakhtun residents said that law enforcement agencies have not focused on the TTP in the whole operation.

“It is true that the ongoing operation has disrupted the network of targeted killers belonging to different political and sectarian groups and extortionists of different gangs, but the TTP-linked militants are still openly threatening and killing the people,” said a Pakhtun trader in the Pathan Colony area. In interviews with Pakhtun residents of different areas, they claimed that law enforcement agencies largely apprehend innocent people during the operation while militants flee the area before the arrival of the law enforcers.

“We have asked the government several times to take action against the TTP militants, who are killing our ANP members and capturing the Pakhtun areas, but instead of taking the matter seriously, no action has been initiated so far,” said Shahi Syed. The MQM has also similar reservations. Izharul Hassan said that the ongoing operation in Karachi was being conducted against the MQM and not against the Taliban militants.

However, sources familiar with the network of TTP in Karachi said that operation has in fact shattered the network of TTP Mohmand chapter in Karachi by killing its key leaders in encounters. However, the LEAs have not arrested or killed any significant leader of the Swat and Mehsud factions.

Sindh Rangers` director general Major Rizwan Akhter, in a Feb 25 interview with an Urdu daily, claimed that they have arrested and killed a number of militants associated with different Taliban groups and that reports of `No-go areas` for law enforcement agencies is baseless.

Implications

The strengthening of the TTP in Karachi has nationwide security and political implications. Karachi is considered a key area in the nexus of terrorism in the country because it has become the main hub of militants` fundraising and alliances. Security experts, politicians and law enforcement all agree that TTP wants to tighten, where they already have great influence in the Pakhtun dominated suburban areas. It not only adds to the city`s already worst security situation, but also adds to TTPs financial and strategic assets. The TTP militants in Karachi are drawing their strength from the continuing silence of the government and a lack of focus by the security forces. Government is still in position to control the spreading TTP network in the city through launching a `selective and surgical` operation against various factions of TTP in Karachi. Although a month-long ceasefire between the TTP and the government has been announced, analysts believe that it will not stop the TTP`s campaign of fund-raising and killing Pakhtun leaders. “The TTP can stop targeting law enforcement agencies in Karachi but their campaign of fund-raising and killing Pakhtun leaders in the city will continue,” said Kahar Zalmay.
Dawn.com

Real Sharia not like False Democracy

پس چہ باید کرد
طالبان نے یک طرفہ جنگ بندی کا اعلان کر دیا ہے اور ان سطور کی اشاعت تک حکومت بھی اپنی جانب سے اسی طرح کا اعلان کر چکی ہو گی اور بقول مولانا سمیع الحق ‘یہ واقعی حکومت کے لیے ایک سنہری موقع ہے کہ امن و امان کا مقصد حاصل کر سکے۔ایک مہینے کے لیے جنگ بندی کا مقصد یہ بھی ہو سکتا ہے کہ اگر مذاکرات اس دوران کامیاب نہ ہوں تو اپریل میں گرمیاں شروع ہونے پر فوج کامیابی سے آپریشن شاید نہ کر سکے۔تاہم ‘طالبان شروع ہی سے بہ تکرار یہ کہہ رہے ہیں کہ حکومت مذاکرات کے بارے میں سنجیدہ نہیں ہے چنانچہ اب حکومت کو اپنی سنجیدگی ثابت بھی کرنا ہو گی کیونکہ اب یہ کوئی جھگڑا یا تنازع نہیں بلکہ زندگی موت کا مسئلہ بن چکا ہے۔
سوال یہ ہے کہ اس جنگ بندی کو دوام بخشنے کے لیے حکومت اس کے بدلے میں طالبان کو کیا پیشکش کر سکتی ہے یا اُن کا کونسا مطالبہ مان سکتی ہے اور ان مذاکرات میں لین دین کا انداز اور گنجائش کہاں تک ہو گی۔اس بات کو تسلیم کر لینا چاہیے کہ طالبان ملک میں اپنی کوئی خود ساختہ یا مخصوص شریعت نافذ کرنا نہیں چاہتے بلکہ ہمارے اسلامی آئین کو صحیح اسلامی بنانا ہی ان کا مقصود و مطلوب ہے جو عملی طور پر کسی طرح سے بھی اسلامی نہیں ہے کہ اسلامی نظریاتی کونسل نے اس سلسلے میں کئی تجاویز حکومت کو پیش کر رکھی ہیں لیکن حکومت کے کان پر جُوں تک نہیں رینگی،اور یہ رویّہ اس بات کو ثابت کرنے کے لیے کافی ہے کہ حکومت کے احساسات اس ضمن میں کیا ہیں۔
حق بات تو یہ ہے کہ عملی لحاظ سے ہمارا آئین اتنا ہی اسلامی ہے
جتنی کہ ہماری جمہوریت جمہوری ہے جو کہ حقیقتاً جمہوریت کی پیروڈی ہے۔انتخابات کے مرحلے پر آئین کے آرٹیکل 63,62پر کبھی صحیح معنوں میں عمل نہیں کیا گیا اور اس کے نتیجے میں جس قسم اور وضع قطع کے اراکین ظہور پذیر ہوتے ہیں وہ ہم سب کے سامنے ہیں۔جمشید دستی کے الزامات اگر ثابت نہ بھی ہو سکیں ‘تو بھی ایک اسلامی جمہوریہ کے ارکان اسمبلی پر اس طرح کے الزامات بلاوجہ نہیں ہو سکتے‘ نہ ہی اپنے ان ہم منصب حضرات سے موصوف کو کوئی دشمنی ہو سکتی ہے۔علاوہ ازیں ہماری سڑکوں اور بازاروں میں جس بے پردگی اور بے حیائی کا مظاہرہ شب و روز دیکھنے میں آتا ہے اُسے کہاں تک اسلامی اور آئین کی روح کے مطابق گردانا جا سکتا ہے۔شراب نوشی اگر ممنوع ہے تو صرف اس حد تک کہ آپ اسے پی کر سرِراہ غُل غپاڑہ نہیں کر سکتے جبکہ گھر کے اندر ہر طرح سے اس شغل کو جاری رکھ سکتے ہیں۔یہ محض ایک دو مثالیں ہیں ورنہ ڈانس‘مُجرا اور اس قسم کے دیگر اشغال پر کوئی پابندی نہیں ہے۔لطف تو یہ ہے کہ جن افراد کو پھانسی کی سزا سنائی جا چکی ہے، ان کی سزا پر عملدرآمد ہی روک دیا گیا ہے اور اس سلسلے میں واضح قرآنی احکامات کو نظر انداز کر کے بعض مغربی ممالک کے جذبات کو پذیرائی بخشی جا رہی ہے‘جبکہ آئین میں اس کی کوئی گنجائش نہیں ہے۔
طالبان اگر اس نظام یعنی جمہوریت کے مخالف ہیں تو اس لیے بھی کہ ہمارے ہاں یہ نظام چلتا پھرتافراڈ اور محض زراندوزی ہوکر رہ گیا ہے اور جہاں سیاسی جماعتوں کے اپنے اندر انتخابات کا تکلّف روا نہیں رکھا جاتا وہاں یہ سراسر ایک موروثی نظام ہو کر رہ گیا ہے جس میں اشرافیہ کی چند فیصد آبادی ملک کے سیاہ و سفید کے مالک کی حیثیت اختیار کر چکی ہے اور جو صرف اور صرف اپنی تجوریاں بھرنے میں مصروف ہے اور لوگ اپنے اعضا اور بچے فروخت کر نے اور خودکشیاں کرنے پر مجبور ہو کر رہ گئے ہیں جسے بظاہر ایک اسلامی فلاحی مملکت کا نام دیا گیا ہے۔
اب یہ تو ہو ہی نہیں سکتا کہ طالبان اپنا کوئی مطالبہ منوائے بغیر خاموشی سے گھر بیٹھ جائیں اور اس شیطانی چکر کو اسی طرح چلتا رہنے دینے پر رضا مند ہو جائیں۔اس میں کوئی شک نہیں کہ آئین کو اپنی اصلی شکل میں نافذ کرنا اہلِ سیاست کے لیے ایک طرح کی خودکشی کے مترادف ہو گا لیکن یہ بھی یاد رکھنا ہو گا کہ مذاکرات ہمیشہ کچھ لو اور کچھ دو کی بنیاد پر ہی کامیاب ہوا کرتے ہیں اور حکومت کو یہ کڑوی گولی نگلنا ہی پڑے گی‘ حتیٰ کہ اسلام اور اسلامی شعائر ہی کو جس طرح یہاں مذاق بنا کر رکھ دیا گیا ہے‘طالبان کے علاوہ یہاں آبادی کی ایک بہت واضح اکثریت بھی اس موجودہ جکڑ بندی سے جان چھڑوانا اور بے استحصال زندگی بسر کرنے کی خواہشمند ہے۔
چنانچہ سمجھوتہ اگر ہو سکتا ہے تو اسی بات پر کہ آئین کو عملی طور پر اور اُس کی روح کے مطابق نافذ کرنے کی ہامی بھری جائے اور اس کے لیے ایک ٹھوس لائحہ عمل کی بنیادیں رکھی جائے، اس کے لیے باقاعدہ ایک ٹائم فریم مقرر کیا جائے اور اس کے لیے ضمانتیں بھی فراہم کی جائیں اور عوام کے ساتھ عرصہ دراز سے جو کُھلے عام دھوکا روا رکھا جا رہا ہے‘اس کے سدباب کا اہتمام کیا جائے کیونکہ اس سے کم تر پر طالبان کے رضا مند ہونے کا سوال ہی پیدا نہیں ہوتا۔اس سے اگر وقتی طور پر کچھ مسائل پیدا ہوں گے تو لاتعداد مسائل حل بھی ہوں گے جن کا فی الحال صحیح طور پر اندازہ بھی نہیں لگایا جا سکتا۔
اب تو نوبت یہاں تک پہنچ چکی ہے کہ مذاکرات کی ناکامی کو یہ ملک افورڈ ہی نہیں کر سکتا‘اور‘ اگر آپریشن ہو گا تو دونوں طرف سے ہو گا اور خلقِ خدا ایک زیادہ شدید اور مُستقل عذاب کا شکار ہو کر رہ جائے گی جو اونٹ کی کمر پر آخری تنکے کی طرح ملکی سلامتی ہی کو خطرے میں ڈال دے گی‘ اور ‘اگر اس کے بعد بھی یہ معاملہ مذاکرات کی میز پر ہی حل ہونا ہے تو اتنی تباہی کا انتظار کس لیے کیا جائے۔چنانچہ یہ وہ کم از کم مطالبہ ہو گا جو کسی سمجھوتے کی بنیاد بن سکتا ہے اور جسے عوام کی بھی پوری پوری تائید حاصل ہو گی۔بصورت دیگر حکومت اس کی قیمت ادا کر ہی نہیں سکتی کہ وہ قیمت بجائے خود ناقابلِ تصور ہو گی۔
اور اگر طالبان کی طرف سے کوئی سراسر ناقابلِ قبول مطالبہ کیا جاتا ہے تو اسے عوامی تائید بھی حاصل نہیں ہو گی‘تاہم‘ امید یہی کی جاتی ہے کہ طالبان جس آئین کو تسلیم نہیں کرتے ‘اُسی کو اسلامی اور شرعی بنانے پر اکتفا کریں گے کیونکہ اسی میں ملک و قوم کی فلاح بھی ہے اور جس دلدل میں ہم گوڈے گوڈے دھنس چکے ہیں اس سے نکلنے کا اور کوئی راستہ بھی نہیں ہے اور اگر حکومت سمجھتی ہے کہ فریقِ مخالف کسی لالی پاپ پر مطمئن ہو جائے گا‘ یا اُسے جھوٹ موٹ کے وعدوں پر ٹرخا یا جا سکتا ہے تو اس کا بھی سوال پیدا نہیں ہوتا کیونکہ طالبان بھی کوئی کچی گولیاں نہیںکھیلے ہوئے کیونکہ بقولِ حکومت یہ مٹھی بھر لوگ حکومت کو مجبور کر کے یہاں تک لا سکتے ہیں تو کوئی ٹھوس نتائج حاصل کیے بغیر پیچھے ہٹنے پر بھی تیار نہیں ہوں گے۔ظاہر ہے کہ اس مرحلے پر عسکری قیادت کو بھی دُور اندیشانہ اندازِ فکر اختیار کرنے کی ضرورت ہو گی کیونکہ فوجیں بھی دشمنوں سے جنگیں لڑنے کے لیے ہوتی ہیں‘ ایسے مخمصوں میں پھنسنے کے لیے نہیں ۔اور‘ آخری بات یہ کہ حکومت اور قومی سلامتی کے دوسرے اداروں کو اس سلسلے میں ایک صفحے پر بھی ہونا ہو گا۔
آج کامقطع
سوارِ خواب تھا یا اور کوئی شے تھی، ظفر
نظر کے سامنے اٹھتے غبار میں کچھ تھا
Zafar Iqbal
Dunya.com.pk