Re: Imran Khan with Javed Malik on Swat and Tribal Areas
Imran Khan's logic is completely flawed. He is perpetuating the myth that the tribals can not be defeated because they were not by the British. The tribals have been and still can be defeated militarily. The British were more interested in using them as a buffer in their great game against Russia and that is what they did.
It's not just the British who were defeated there but anyone who has ever ventured there incl. the Afghans and Sikhs.
Now coming to that article by Rasul Bakhsh Rais, how can he ignore the fact that Taliban was Benazir's very own creation and her saying now "It was a mistake" is simply not good enough? It shows that she lacked political foresightedness at the time and she is now only speaking out against these people because she wants to be seen as a 'moderate' and wants to grab power thru the back door. She is just using the West and the Pakistani establishment for her own political gain. So she is as guilty of political opportunism in my view as the other parties incl PML-N and MQM (I know they don't support religious extremism but they have surprisingly not said a word on what's going on in Swat) who have not openly condemned the unspeakable atrocities being committed by Mullah and his militants in Swat.
And coming to these qabailies they have always been jaahil and unruly people. They have always held very rigid religious beliefs and adhered to stone-age culture. But atleast before we had gone in they were minding their own business. Believe you me Al-Qaeda or no Al-Qaeda in that area, these people would have retaliated in the same abhorrent way as they are now if we had gone in there any time before 9/11. These qabailies have always been fiercely independent and accept intervention by no foreign forces incl. Pakistan. Not trying to justify their crimes but the fact of the matter is these people see the very presence of our forces there as a blatant attack on their freedom and independence and hence we are seeing the unspeakably cruel acts in Swat and the worry is it may spread to other parts of Pakistan. By fighting this proxy war, by continuing military operation in that region we are in danger of alienating not only 1 million qabailies but also many of our own pathans who have strong cultural and religious ties with that region and who have more in common with the qabailies than the rest of Pakistan.
As I said before in the short-term we have to capture Mullah Fazlullah and his henchmen but in the long-term we have to give these qabailies full liberty. Let them do whatever they want to do in their own territory.