Aaj TV had their anchor Talat interviewing Taliban’s Maulvi Umar and Faqir Muhammad on 28th and 29th July. He sucks up to them by asking stupid questions about American conspiracy against muslims and Pakistan etc. These anchors have really been doing the job of spreading propaganda for these Taliban.
Some of the interesting aspects of the reports and interviews were
The taliban smugly accepted the traditional Khans and Mailk’s have lost power and most of them have been killed (by Taliban off course but they only said by somebody) and Talat did not probe them further. This happened gradually over a decade or more and Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy is responsbile for this state of affairs.
The taliban are basically loosely bound groups from the warlord culture we have seen in Afghanistan. Every twenty-thirty mile the hold of a different Taliban froup starts in the area. Basically any mullah can collect a few hundred to a couple of thousand men and occupy an area, claim allegiance to Mullah Umar and Taliban and receive weapons and funding. Controlling an area primarily means controlling the roads.
Talat did ask him about suicide and other attacks in Pakistan but gave him an out by saying that AlQaeda is doing these attacks. Maulvi Faqeer, having denied existense of AlQaeda a few minutes earliar, justified these attacks as revenge of AlQaeda and acts of war against Pakistan.
Maulvi Faqeer did not deny the presense of foriegn fighters with him and called them guests. He also did not hide the desire to take over government in Islamabad, saying if the goverment in Islamabad fails then Taliban would take over. He also showed a contempt for the present boundaries of Pakistan and want to estblish a Khilafat without the boundaries.
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I found it interesting how Maulvi Faqeer feels that the attack on Lal Majid is the moral equivalent of random suicide bombings in civilian centers. Apparently, he doesnt see a difference between clear warnings to vacate a building (feared to be harboring terrorists and materials) and random suicide attacks on civilian populations.