(The following article is from the October 1-15, 2007 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

By Mobeen Ahmed Chughtai, Press Secretary of the CMKP (Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party - Communist Workers and Peasants Party) - abridged from the original

Afghanistan underwent a communist revolution in 1978 and came under the democratic rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), led by Noor Muhammad Tarakai, who became the new head of State. This did not sit well with the Western imperialist powers who sought new allies in the region to fight against this growing "threat".

     Pakistan, under the illegitimate and unconstitutional dictatorship of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, proved more than happy to oblige. Gen. Zia-ul-Haq was looking for ways to legitimize his rule and this proved to be a perfect opportunity. Of course, the millions of dollars that the USA was pumping into Pakistan for purposes of training and arming the new army of "Imperialist Mujahids" didn't hurt either.

     These Mujahids fought the USSR for many years. The USSR eventually recalled its forces and stopped its support of the democratically elected PDPA, which was finally ousted from power. In this manner a new theocratic Afghani state came into being.

     Even after two million refugees emigrated back to Afghanistan due to the ongoing repatriation, more than three million Afghans live in Pakistan today - most of them second generation refugees. Herein rest the seeds of contemporary Talibanisation in Pakistan.

     The NWFP is considered to be a conservative society, and this manifests itself in the make-up of the Provincial Government in the province - the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA, a grouping of religious parties). This is no mere coincidence. This same political organisation was responsible for the dissemination of money and material to the Taliban mujahids during the Afghan War, and has always enjoyed political clout in the region. Arguably such good relations with the Taliban continue. Therefore it would not be unfair to say that the Taliban find fertile ground within the MMA-governed NFWP and Baluchistan.

     A very important question that needs to be addressed, according to Ms. Bushra Gohar (director of the Human Resource Management and Development Center in Peshawar), is why the NWFP is suddenly a cauldron of troubles, where once it was as peaceful, at least relatively, as any other province of Pakistan?

     The answer she provides is that Pakistan's military and its intelligence and security agencies have a direct involvement in the instability of the region. The army and the security agencies have been fighting another proxy war against the people of Afghanistan - and by association the people of the NWFP as well.

     Ahmed Rashid, in his book Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia, explains the role of the agencies in the Afghan conflict and the ensuing Talibanisation in NWFP. He says, "The ISI (Inter Services Intelligence agency) became a victim of its own rigidity and inflexibility, even as its power to actually control the Taliban dwindled. The agency's operatives in Afghanistan were all Pashtun officers, while many were also motivated by strong Islamic fundamentalist leanings. Working closely with (Gulbuddin) Hikmetyar (a fundamentalist leader supported by the U.S. against the PDPA government in Afghanistan) and later the Taliban, this Pashtun cadre developed its own agenda, aimed at furthering Pashtun power and radical Islam in Afghanistan at the expense of the ethnic minorities and moderate Islam."

     This new proxy war is politely referred to as the "war on terror," although Ms. Gohar refers to it as the "War of Terror". According to her, a number of factors have contributed to the Talibanisation of the NWFP: the deteriorating law and order situation, social insecurity, inequity, and poverty, coupled with the oppressive environment which characterizes any dictatorship, have taken their toll. The government of Pakistan has been unable to maintain its writ and the direct result of such weakness has been incidents like the Jamia Hafza ("Red Mosque") fiasco.

     Another important indicator is that the Talibanisation has reached the center of Pakistani politics. Islamabad, theoretically the most secure and stable area of Pakistan, has been a theatre to political and social strife in recent months. Be it the hordes of bearded terrorists roaming the streets spreading their version of Islam, or the numerous political activists lining the roads outside the Parliament demanding rights and freedoms, Islamabad has lost its claim to political constancy in a most dramatic of fashions.

     Ms. Gohar says that, in truth, the Pashtun are not the monsters they are made out to be, rather they are very level-headed individuals. However, at the behest of the western imperial powers, the Pakistani government has taken it upon itself to systematically exterminate all hostility against countries like the USA and Britain from within the NWFP.

     It is for this reason that massive military actions in Waziristan have become common occurrences. The instability and loss of life thus caused have affected even the Maliks (tribal leaders) of the region, known to be dependable cronies of the government in the past. The recent refusal of Malik Wazir Masood to attend the Peace Jirgah, when he said "how can we be expected to talk about peace in Afghanistan when we bury nearly 200 bodies everyday in our own back yards," bears testament to this. In short, Ms. Gohar paints a very grim picture of future Pakistani society when she says "NWFP is burning and this fire will not be limited to the NWFP but, in short order, will envelop all of Pakistan."

     There are numerous reports and incidents of Taliban-like individuals coming to various public places and enforcing their will at the point of a gun. Aftab Alexander Mughal, in his article titled Living Under Fear, relates several such incidents. He says,

"... According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, throughout 2006, approximately 163 people were killed in NWFP in more than 84 incidents. Just the first five months of year 2007 (till May 18) have already seen at least 149 people, including 100 civilians and 18 security force (SF) personnel, killed in the province, a clear index of the mounting violence. A significant proportion of these fatalities have occurred in suicide attacks, with at least six of the 10 suicide attacks in Pakistan in 2007 (till May 18) having occurred in the NWFP."

     Not only is the geographical range of operations of such militants astounding, but the sheer number of incidents of violence is staggering. The power and the social impact of such retrogressive and conservative views within NWFP society grow day by day. Today these quasi-talibans are flexing their muscles to secure more "operational space" within the urban populace. There have been incidents, such as those reported on May 16, 2007, in Charsada city, of bearded individuals coming to video shops and distributing pamphlets and individually-named letters to shop owners ordering them to wrap-up shop within 10 days... or else. The "or else" part is very straightforward. Such shops that choose not to close down meet with an unfortunate end.

     Another, and entirely unfortunate, example of the spread of Taliban mentality within the NWFP comes in the form of abstinence of parents from getting their children to drink Polio drops. The reason furnished for such a foolhardy act is that the local religious scholars have declared it a joint conspiracy of the Americans and the Pakistani government who have "mixed" something in the drops. The theory goes that as soon as the child drinks these drops he or she will become sexually impotent.

     Considering the history that Pakistan has with this particular disease, it is extremely unfortunate that the decadent and paranoid approach towards everything, associated with the Taliban mind-set, is creating problems in dealing with Polio cases in our country. If such tendencies are allowed to foster, the day is not far when the NWFP will have a disproportionately high number of Polio cases. The vaccine in question is the same one used the world over, and is the vaccine of choice in over 50 other Muslim countries including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

     Even more shocking, the Taliban are going around recruiting not just misguided teenagers for "the cause," but also demanding that each school within their influence "donate" ten children each.

     On the eve of Independence we must ask ourselves, is this the Pakistan that Allama Iqbal envisioned? Or is this some heavily distorted and perverse version of that ideal? What happened to Jinnah's dream of a secular and free Pakistan? Did we lose our way someplace or were we deliberately led astray? If so, then who misled us and for what purpose?

     These questions will keep nagging us over the subsequent years which promise to be full of bloodshed and religious intolerance. Another important and extremely relevant question must be added to this list. Where have all the religious moderates gone?