Taliban, Pashtoons and Pakistan

The tribals have been living in that area and following their primitive traditions for centrues... The world just passes them by, there was hardly any problem

But then you pakis started using and abusing them for your own "strategic" wet dreams... you pumped money and weapons and used them as cannon fodder... now these primitves have tasted blood and they ain't going back...

you can't really de-tribalize them...

the pashtuns of tribal areas are not what Mr Jinnah the founder of Pakistan called "hopeless Punjabis" .You Punjabis were 90 % of Punjab and the Sikhs were using your Badshahi Mosque of Lahore as a Horse Stable and ypu Punjabis had invented the shuttle cock burqa so that your fair sex are not abducted by the Sikhs at will.And the knight in shining armour General Sir Hugh Gough of Bengal Army of English East India Company saved u Punjabi Muslims from being deflowered by the Sikhs.

You Punjabi Muslims cannot be compared with the indomitable tribals.

You Punjabi Muslim troops fored even at the Holy Kabaa.

Azeem Hussain son of Sir Fazl i Hussian himself a Punjabi thus quoted Jinnah " THE PUNJAB IS A HOPELESS PLACE , I WILL NEVER VISIT IT AGAIN" . You Punjabi Lotus Eaters.

Just read it. More later

I have been reading this word "Detribalize" in most of the comments but how would you do that? I cannot see that happening. It's almost impossible.

Secondly, War isn't the solution of this problem. Go through their history and you'll get the answer.

Thankyou.

FATA or Pakistan?

That could become the choice!

yes IF is a dangerous word. However, i would like you to note the following

(a) ISI has links with the pushtoons
(b) ISI created LeJ which split and is suposed to have no connections with the creator now. However, it is said that the ISI still controls these guys. The factions of the LeJ are allied with the pushtoons jihadis but controlled by the ISI.

So that IF used by me was just a contrieved thing - since the ISI is still controlling the insurgency (at some leve) or is learning to control the whole movement through the factions it controls. This is already happening, bhayya.

This greater Afghanistan turning into greater pakistan can happen in a jiffy without much effort. And that might be what the elite of the pakistan's establishment want - surreptitious yes, so what if it kills a few thousand pakistanis along the way - it will called collateral damage!

And it would not be the west that they want - but to control what the west wants - oil and gas from CARs and be the biggest, baddest member of the OIC !

Dash sahib,

(Maybe a great Afghanistan is not a bad idea (from a Pakistan POV) since IF the inteligent Punjabis, Muhajirs, Sindhis etc learn to control the Pushtoons, they will have a very nice greater pakistan with its strategic depth. )

IF is a very dangerous word, sahib, I hope you will appreciate that.

(Then whither India? )

I doubt if the Pushtoons wud be satisfied with piffling India as the intended prize. If India was enuff for them the Tali-Paki alliance in 1995-2001 wud have already concentrated on that and forgotten all about everything else. No sir, they wud be looking for something for substantial, which can only be the West. And the West wont play possum.

Regards

majumdar bhayya, forget KY jelly that shoul dbe the last thing they have to worry about.

Pushtoon hegemony (as it was many many moons ago(as Bhatti says in his article)) would mean, the Poonjanbis and Mujahirs would staring at the very thing they were running from "hegemony". In case it would be true hegemony and not a perceived thing.

Maybe a great Afghanistan is not a bad idea (from a Pakistan POV) since ifthe inteligent Punjabis, Muhajirs, Sindhis etc learn to control the Pushtoons, they will have a very nice greater pakistan with its strategic depth. Then whither India? Could this be the thinking of the elite within establishment - create chaos, get greater afghanistan, and then turn tables around!

Bhatti sahib,

Nice write-up, Pak is indeed caught between a rock and a hard place.

Seems like:

Pushtoons wont give up jihad or tribalism.
USA wudn't allow Pushtoons to do a jihad or allow Pak to turn a blind eye to Pushtoons jihadi activity.
If Pak refuses to comply USA does some serious arm-twisting for which the generals have no appetite.
But if it whips up military activity against Pushtoons, large chunks of the army will resist . And Pak opens itself upto retaliation by both armed militancy in NWFP/FATA and by terrorist attacks in the settled regions.

Pakistan has to detribalise Pushtoons for its as well as its Pushto speaking citizens long-term well-being but in doing so it opens itself to tuff retaliation.

Tuff choice. Maybe it wasn't that bad that NWFP did not accede to India.

Dash,

(or else the Sindhis and the Punjabis have to accept Pushtoon hegemony over them)

In which case young Sindi and Punjoo boys may as well start carrying KY Jelly/Vaseline with them.

Regards

Pakistan has no choice but to detribalise these guys. Given safe haven to foreign terrorists is not an internal matter of the pushtoons - but an interference in the Foreign Affairs of the antion. If they gave refuge to say a Poonjabi Jihadi, then its an internal matter.

Unless they are detribalised Pakistan is going to have a repeat of this or else the Sindhis and the Punjabis have to accept Pushtoon hegemony over them (as before - you alluded to it in tyour article)- and viola you have Greater Afghanistan!

The choice is pretty stark at this juncture!

Khalid Saab,

Fairly good assessment of the situation, but sadly no one who matters is listening.

The puishtoons with their tribal ways can no longer survive, simply because it is no longer a tribal simple and even self sustaining, and green way of life. The al quida has changed all that, and they have an agenda to operate out of the so called idylic tribal platform.

The same was told about the invasion of afghanistan, but teh B52s moved the valient afghan fighters inside the borders of pakistan.

You are correct, if the tribals cannot live in the mountains, they will come to the city, and they are circling Islamabad.

There is only one simple option for pakistan, the north korean model and teh west and the nato will leave pakistan alone to sort out the mess on the terms of teh pakistanis.

As long as the bomb is there, others will meddle, and if required will take the bombs away.

All your interpretation and review of a pakistani-islamic solution is irrelevant as long as the bomb is there.

So take care in your forth coming article, do not leave the bomb alone.