Pacification of the tribals

ON the face of it, Pakistan’s decision to involve tribal leaders in peacekeeping and anti-terrorism operations in North Waziristan seems to be getting accepted by the international community. Very few details of the deal are in the public domain. But there is no disputing the principle that relying solely on force is hardly the way to tackle a political problem, especially one with religious and tribal roots. From this point of view, British General David Richards’ statement following his meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad is revealing. Much of what appeared in the British press prior to the Nato commander’s visit to Pakistan now looks unfounded. If his public statement is to be accepted, far from talking tough which, according to British press reports, was the purpose of his visit, the general said he had come to Pakistan to thank President Musharraf and Pakistan’s security agencies for “the excellent cooperation” in the war on terror in Afghanistan. Denying that the idea behind his visit was to “confront” Pakistan with the evidence of the ISI’s alleged support for the Taliban’s forays into Afghanistan, the British general, who is also commander of the International Security Assistance Force there, said that was not the purpose of his visit. His aim was to further develop cooperation between the two sides in tackling terrorism on the other side of the Durand Line. More significant, however, was the general’s remark after his talks with President Musharraf that most of Afghanistan’s problems were internal and emanated from the two decades of war in that country.

Pakistan is constantly being advised to “do more”. There is no other country in the world which has such a direct stake in a successful prosecution of the war on terror as Pakistan. Because of our blunders in the past, religious militancy, backed by some foreign powers, including the US and Saudi Arabia, acquired a base in Pakistan which it used effectively in the war against the Soviet Union during its occupation of Afghanistan. However, even after the Soviet withdrawal, militant parties, well-funded and well-armed, employed their political and military power

not only to wage partisan wars in Afghanistan but also to use it effectively within Pakistan to advance their political agenda.

During the latter half of General Ziaul Haq’s rule and beyond, some of these parties and their militant activities became a tool of Pakistan’s foreign policy. To apply the brakes on what has often appeared like a runaway train is not easy. Under the given circumstances, Pakistan adopted the right option in trying to pacify the tribal region. The tribal people have a history of fierce independence and resistance to central authority, and they have their own notions of hospitality and tribal honour. To ignore all this would be downright foolish. It thus decided to involve tribal elders in anti-terrorism operations, to seek their cooperation in preventing infiltration into Afghanistan and to ensure peaceful behaviour by foreign militants on pain of expulsion. But it’s still a tricky situation. General Musharraf has himself said he is unsure if this policy will succeed. One hopes that President Hamid Karzai has taken note of what Gen Richards said — that most of Afghanistan’s problems are home-grown, like poppy being a major source of funding for the Taliban. Given the complexities involved in the Afghanistan conflict, it is not the blame game but meaningful cooperation that can deliver results.

President’s appeal

PRESIDENT Musharraf’s appeal to the liberal and moderate sections of society to galvanise their efforts to stem the tide of extremism in the country comes as a whiff of fresh air. Ever since Gen Ziaul Haq seized power in 1977 and gave a fillip to the religious extremist elements, this country has been plagued by a growing trend towards religious obscurantism. This has been an unfortunate development, especially in view of the fact that a majority of Pakistanis, who were tolerant and moderate in their approach to Islam and other religions, have now come under the influence of bigots. Extremism bred by Ziaul Haq for his ulterior political motives has had a dual impact on Pakistani society. First, it has encouraged militancy and intolerance among people with a religious bent of mind. Secondly, it has led to political and social polarisation in the country.

Had President Musharraf not egged on the extremists for his own political reasons, Pakistani society of the post-Zia years would have ultimately returned to a healthy balance. It is a pity that under the two military rulers, the religious extremists, who could previously operate only on the sidelines and never enjoyed electoral support, managed to enter mainstream politics and gain power. Now that the damage has been done President Musharraf has chosen to appeal to the moderates to work for the electoral victory of his liberal party. Was it not President Musharraf who tried to marginalise the moderates because he felt threatened by their call for return to a democratic system based on the rule of law, social justice and economic egalitarianism? For President Musharraf it is an expedient change of track. No doubt, the country’s salvation lies in leaders of the state and society adopting the middle road of moderation. If the president has truly converted to the cause of moderation, it is inevitable that the moderates will find themselves in the same camp as he. But does he realise that moderation and liberalism do not simply mean confronting the extremists? They also mean upholding the political, economic and judicial principles a democratic society stands for.

More jobs for the Baloch

ONE hopes that the government’s first tenuous steps towards winning the trust of Balochistan’s alienated population will lead to greater efforts on Islamabad’s part to address the province’s numerous problems. In accordance with the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee’s decision last month to base employment quotas in government services on the 1998 census, Balochistan’s federal job quota has been upped from 3.3 to five per cent. It remains to be seen, however, when and how this decision will be implemented and to what extent it will reduce joblessness in the province. At the moment the unemployment rate in Balochistan is higher than the national average of 6.5 per cent. Besides, more than half the population of Balochistan lives below the poverty line and in the rural areas the figure is close to 70 per cent. Political restlessness and conflict have aggravated poverty and further marred job prospects as thousands of Baloch have been displaced by the army operations against the insurgents.

What has intensified the feeling of alienation and deprivation is the fact that an increasing number of outsiders have been inducted to work on development projects in Balochistan. Unfortunately, this has much to do with the poor quality of education and the lack of vocational training in the province, and that make many Baloch job-seekers ineligible for employment. This problem must be tackled by creating job training opportunities along with better access to education facilities so that Baloch aspirants are not disqualified on the basis of poor education and skills. While several other issues need to be resolved, more equitable resource-sharing and greater provincial autonomy among them, the government would do well not to dillydally with recruiting the Baloch in the labour force. Otherwise, economic frustrations will grow and fuel further unrest in the province.

Friday feature: Message of eternal guidance

THE Quranic demands are five-fold. First and the foremost is that we believe in it as the final word of God, revealed to the humanity, through the last of His messengers, Muhammad (peace be upon him), for providing eternal guidance in all walks of life. It invites us to believe that it is a perfect code of life. It treats human life as an indivisible whole.

Consequently, it addresses itself to all the segments and phases of life from a holistic standpoint. Moreover, as it does not approve of dividing human life into water-tight compartments, it invites us to believe that its instructions and teachings are equally valid for and eternally relevant to human life in its entirely making strictly no difference between public and private, spiritual and mundane, or religious and secular.

It stresses that whatever is contained therein is true beyond any doubt, correct to the core, valid for all times to come, and the only prescription for achieving success in this life and the hereafter. What is most remarkable about this invitation to belief is that it condemns blind faith, disparages uncritical acceptance of the customs, however old and entrenched, encourages adoption of real intelligent approach and cultivation of strict rational attitudes and recommends objective examination of what should be accepted or rejected.

Once a man concedes to the demand of belief in the Quran as the final embodiment of the Divine guidance he embarks upon a long journey towards the fulfilment and realization of what the Quran stands for. He is required to inextricably involve himself with the Quran by making it his lifelong concern, his never-ending occupation and engagement.

His first step, after the belief, to familiarize himself with the Quran, is to recite the word of God regularly, whether he understands the meaning thereof or not. Allah has taken upon Himself to preserve the pristine purity of his Last Message, “Verily We have sent down this remembrance and certainly We are going to preserve and secure it,” (Quran). This undertaking rovers the words and meaning both.

Being the original words of God the mere repetition thereof gives peace and tranquillity to the mind and the soul as no other incantation could possibly do. The spiritual elevation and moral boost which man receives by simple repetition of the Divine Word is matchless in its grip over human psyche.

To maintain, strengthen and perpetuate relationship with the Divine word every believer is required to commit to memory at least that much of the Quran which is indispensable for offering his five-time daily prayers. The Prophet (pbuh), moreover has very strongly recommended to memorise the Quran as much as one can.

He has made it very clear that a man’s spiritual elevation on the day of judgment would be commensurate to the extent of his learning the Quran by heart.

According to the Prophetic information the spiritual benefits which accrue by memorising the whole of the Quran are unfathomable. These benefits, we are told by the Prophet are not limited to the person who performed the job but radiate and engulf many others as well, as he would be granted the special Divine permission to intercede for others on the day of judgment. It is because of such vigorous Prophetic exhortations that from the very beginning the entire corpus of the Quran while being reduced to writing has alongside been committed to memory, thus eliminating any possibility of interpolation, addition, subtraction or change in the Quranic text.

May be this is one reason of bestowing such huge and overwhelming rewards for memorising the Quran that by doing so a man asserts himself as one of the active agents, a dynamic participant, a living force and a moving spirit in the effective execution of the Divine promise and the consequent materialisation of His plan to protect, guard and preserve the Quranic text. The best time to rejuvenate, revitalise, revive and refresh one’s relationship with the Quran, especially its words, is the month of Ramazan, during which it was revealed.

It was customary with the Prophet (pbuh) to recapitulate, during each Ramazan, the whole of the Quran, revealed up to date, in the company of the Archangel Jibreel through whom it was being delivered. During the last Ramazan of his life he undertook the task twice. Since the Prophet’s time till today the Muslims all over the world recite and listen to the whole of the Quran in Taraweeh during the sacred month.

Howsoever important the mere recitation of the Quran be, it would obviously be wrong to suppose that by limiting oneself to reciting the Divine words one has realized and achieved the aims and objectives of revelation.

The Quran lays down: “This is the blessed Book, revealed to you, so that the people exert themselves to their full to understand it and thereby those having brains be roused to serious thinking”, (Q38:29).

This is the message of Allah to humanity to show them their way to a successful and happy life in this world and the hereafter and contain himself from falling into the devilish snares of beastly drives and satanic insinuations and thereby ruining his humanity.

This task could not be performed except by putting in all the finer qualities of his human intellect to decipher the demands of this message regarding the changes required of him at conceptual, emotional and practical level.

One has to pierce through the veil of the Divine words to catch a glimpse of the beauty of the will, the Ridha, of Allah and so to say to read the conscience, the mind of God. Unless man traverses the barrier of words he would not be able to know what Allah wants of him, how and in what mould his Creator, Cherisher and Sustainer desires him to cast.

The purpose of the Divine message could not be fulfilled unless man gives serious consideration to understand it. It is because of this that the Quran administers admonition to those who are not serious enough to undertake the process of understanding it. “Do they not then make serious and earnest efforts to comprehend the Quran or have they put on locks on their hearts, peculiar locks preventing them from understanding the Quran”, (Q47:24).

The Quran is very serious about human life. It holds that man has not been created aimlessly. He has a mission to fulfil. He has responsibilities to shoulder. He would be held accountable for every action of his. Even after believing in the Message of Allah and reading and properly understanding it if a man does not change his priorities, persists in maintaining an irresponsible attitude towards life and is not prepared to refashion and rebuild himself according to the principles and fundamentals laid down in the Quran, it indicates that his understanding of the Quran is seriously flawed.

The Quran demands that man’s fourth step in his pilgrimage towards the Divine word must be a total metamorphosis of his individual and social behaviour, a complete transformation of his modes of thinking, patterns of action, ways of feeling and norms of decision-making.

Virtually it has to be a spiritual rebirth. It aims at revolutionising the entire human life on the pattern it provides. A man has to practise the Quran, to live the Quran. Allama Iqbal, in a Persian couplet, says: If you are desirous of living the life of a Muslim, to do so is impossible without living by the Quran.

The final and the logical Quranic demand is to be generous with the treasures of its teachings, to make them available to the masses, to get them accessible to humanity at large by every possible means.

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “The best of you are those who themselves acquire the knowledge of the Quran and then disseminate it among others.”

Obviously they are the best because they are providing the humanity with what is best for it. Establishment of institutions enabling people to read, memorise, understand, or act according to the Quran, translating the Quran into various language, writing commentaries thereon, producing thematic studies, propagating the teachings of the Quran through print or electronic media, by word of mouth or otherwise or any other modern means of communication, all of them are included in the prophetic utterance.

The fast-developing IT has made it very easy to globalise the Quranic teachings thus realising what has been desired by the Prophet (pbuh) and ordained by the Quran.

The right to report

BRITAIN’S press became freer on Wednesday, thanks to a crucial legal ruling from five law lords that was unanimous, intelligent and brave in its defence of investigative journalism.

The case concerned a Saudi businessman and his company which had been named in an article by the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper had suggested that the business’s bank accounts were among those being monitored by the Saudi authorities after September 11, 2001 at the request of the US. He sued, winning first in the high court and then the court of appeal.

On Wednesday the law lords overturned the verdict, ruling that the paper had been right to publish, even though they could not prove the truth of their story.

— The Guardian, London