The war in FATA - a tribesman's perspective
By Shah Zalmay Khan
.
Warrior Tribesmen but Peaceful Pakistanis
FATA tribesmen have a long history of resistance against oppression and invaders which tells us how they always reacted to aggression and use of force – from Babur’s massacre of Bajauris in 1500s to the fate of British military campaigns in 19[SUP]th[/SUP] & 20[SUP]th[/SUP] centuries. However, the same fiery tribesmen who kept the Mughals & the British on toes throughout their rule were tamed by a peace + humbleness gesture of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. At the Bannu Jirga with Jinnah in 1948, tribal elders from all FATA tribes voluntarily announced accession to Pakistan. Tribesmen did so inspite of opposition of Jamiat-e-Ulema and the propaganda of "Azad Pakhtunistan" and "Loy Afghanistan" by the erstwhile Congress-allies.
Jinnah trusted the tribesmen's loyalty; announced withdrawal of armed forces from FATA and designated the tribesmen as defenders of the 1000 km long border with Afghanistan.
The tribesmen and their homeland FATA (from Waziristan to Bajaur) remained peaceful from 1947 till 1979. Although the law used to rule FATA i.e. FCR was a draconian one and although the bureaucracy in charge of FATA was the most corrupt in the whole Pakistan, the tribesmen seldom caused any trouble.
.
The American-Sponsored 'Jehad'
Then came the year 1979. Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet forces and millions of Afghans migrated to Pakistan, most settling in the tribal areas. An international campaign led by United States was launched to root out Soviet forces from Afghanistan. Funded by CIA (yes the good-old CIA) and Arab Sheikhs; the Afghan, Arab and other fighters were trained and dispatched to Afghanistan to fight the RED BEAR. Tribesmen were told that this 'Jehad' against the bad infidel invaders (Russians) was ‘Farz’ and that the Arab/Afghan fighters were Mujahideen and the tribesmen's Guests.
Tribesmen believed what they were told by the pious Sheikhs, the good infidels (Americans) and their Pakistani front-men. The tribesmen took part in the war against Soviets and finally dispatched the bad infidels across Amu.
.
History comes Full-Circle with 9/11
From 1989 to 2001, the world forgot Afghanistan, Pakistan, FATA and the mess the world had jointly created. Then one fine morning (or may be evening) the tribesmen were told that their guests were actually international terrorists responsible for 9/11 and that they needed to be handed over to the good infidels (who ironically were now invaders of Afghanistan).
The tribesmen were confused (rather shocked) as to how the invasion of Afghanistan by bad infidels was bad and that the same act by good infidels was now good.
No serious effort was made to convince the tribesmen about the changed ground realities of the world and of the post-9/11 New World Order.
Confused, the tribesmen refused to hand over the 'guests' to Americans for dollars. However, they assured the authorities that tribesmen would ensure that the guests don't cause any trouble & remain peaceful. Pakistani authorities had other compulsions though; a supply of long-awaited dollars was on its way from western capitals, via IMF, Paris Club, London Club, World Bank etc. Nobody intended to kill the egg-laying chicken & be deprived of the eggs ($$$) in future. Therefore, military operations were started in the area to keep the flame burning.
.
FATA on fire
It was South Waziristan's Wazir-dominated area of Wana / Shakai where the first military operations (post-9/11) were carried out by the military. It was again South Waziristan where the killer birds known as drones commenced their killing spree. In 2004, Commander Nek Muhammad Wazir who was in peace deal with Pakistan Army (remember that General Safdar embrace pic going viral?) was killed in the first known drone strike. This single act of breach of trust gave such a boost to militancy that the conflict, largely restricted to Wazir areas of South Waziristan, soon spread to the Mehsud areas and then to neighbouring North Waziristan.
Then came 30 October 2006; when a drone strike in Cheenagai (Damadola) area of Bajaur Agency killed 83 kids at a religious school.
.
Though Pakistani military tried to claim responsibility for the attack, it was revealed soon that the strike was actually by a US drone.
Till this moment the militant attacks had been limited to resistance against army operations in FATA only. Army or police elsewhere were not brazenly attacked on a large scale. However, Cheenagai drone strike led to the biggest revenge attack against Pakistan Army in Dargai on 8 Nov 2006 when a tribal suicide bomber killed 40+ soldiers during their routine drill.
Thus Cheenagai drone strike caused a paradigm shift in militancy in FATA as militants started spreading their activities recklessly. Each military operation and drone strike served as a booster for the militants and by 2007 the whole FATA, from Waziristan to Bajaur, and also Malakand Division were raging with militancy.
In late 2007, after the Lal Masjid misadventure, the scattered militant groups sat together leading to foundation of the umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
.
Thus started a chain reaction of killings and counter-killings; some justified, most collateral.
Drones / military operations killed thousands in FATA (not discriminating between militants and common tribesmen). In reaction, suicide bombers killed thousands in Pakistani cities (not discriminating between security forces and civilians).
Both sides engaged in a vicious cycle of violence, with non-combatants being ones losing the most.
.
Back to Stone Age and Revenge
Drones, fighter jets, helicopter gunships, heavy artillery, tanks (and bulldozers too) did what they normally do; DESTROY life.
Entire villages were raised to ground, their inhabitants were made homeless; shops, schools, orchards, mosques were destroyed and FATA was literally sent to the Stone-Age.
While everyone in Pakistan sees the deaths in suicide bombings through the media's eye, the original sufferers i.e. the tribesmen remain away from the limelight. Their sufferings are taken for granted and their pains considered a fruit of their own sins. But is that all? Can an entire region of 4.5 million people be stereotyped like that?
.
Though there are no confirmed statistics about the tribesmen killed, disabled, injured or displaced due to drone strikes and military operations; even mild local estimates put the death toll in the thousands. Similarly thousands of houses, shops, orchards, schools etc have been destroyed over the past decade or so. There are areas where kids have not gone to school for years now. There are no hospitals, no electricity, no telephones etc etc.
.
Civilian Victims of CIA's drone attacks in FATA, Pakistan
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rific-evidence-bloody-video-game-sorties.html
.
Such a great number of extra-judicial killings / casualties and such a vast destruction in any other part of the world would have rocked the international media scene, however, poor tribesmen seldom get a sympathetic view in the Pakistani or international media.
Imran Khan: the lone voice
PTI Chairman Imran Khan is probably the only mainstream political leader who doesn't only condemn this senseless war but also proposes talks for a peaceful solution to the war. We are proud that its our leader Imran Khan who is doing what the civil society, the custodians of law and justice or the pseudo-liberals should have been doing. And guess what? Let alone do something themselves, the liberals & most Laptop-based ‘FATA affairs experts’ in the media & intelligentsia have the guts to challenge and bash Imran Khan over his views & efforts in this regard.
- BTW is Imran Khan 'Taliban Khan' as the liberal fascists love to call him or is he a 'Jewish Lobby agent' as the Mullahs call him? Well he is none. In fact Imran Khan is what an overwhelming majority of the 180 million Pakistanis are i.e. a peace-loving moderate Muslim who hates all shades of the War of Terror, be it militants or drones.
.
What Next?
So the 10 year long War of Terror brought Pakistan some bitter fruits:
Wars are ultimately decided on talks tables and if talks fail once, more talks must follow. This is the only solution to war.
http://pti-fata.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-war-in-fata-tribesmans-perspective.html
By Shah Zalmay Khan
.
Warrior Tribesmen but Peaceful Pakistanis
FATA tribesmen have a long history of resistance against oppression and invaders which tells us how they always reacted to aggression and use of force – from Babur’s massacre of Bajauris in 1500s to the fate of British military campaigns in 19[SUP]th[/SUP] & 20[SUP]th[/SUP] centuries. However, the same fiery tribesmen who kept the Mughals & the British on toes throughout their rule were tamed by a peace + humbleness gesture of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. At the Bannu Jirga with Jinnah in 1948, tribal elders from all FATA tribes voluntarily announced accession to Pakistan. Tribesmen did so inspite of opposition of Jamiat-e-Ulema and the propaganda of "Azad Pakhtunistan" and "Loy Afghanistan" by the erstwhile Congress-allies.
Jinnah trusted the tribesmen's loyalty; announced withdrawal of armed forces from FATA and designated the tribesmen as defenders of the 1000 km long border with Afghanistan.
The tribesmen and their homeland FATA (from Waziristan to Bajaur) remained peaceful from 1947 till 1979. Although the law used to rule FATA i.e. FCR was a draconian one and although the bureaucracy in charge of FATA was the most corrupt in the whole Pakistan, the tribesmen seldom caused any trouble.
.
The American-Sponsored 'Jehad'
Then came the year 1979. Afghanistan was invaded by Soviet forces and millions of Afghans migrated to Pakistan, most settling in the tribal areas. An international campaign led by United States was launched to root out Soviet forces from Afghanistan. Funded by CIA (yes the good-old CIA) and Arab Sheikhs; the Afghan, Arab and other fighters were trained and dispatched to Afghanistan to fight the RED BEAR. Tribesmen were told that this 'Jehad' against the bad infidel invaders (Russians) was ‘Farz’ and that the Arab/Afghan fighters were Mujahideen and the tribesmen's Guests.
Tribesmen believed what they were told by the pious Sheikhs, the good infidels (Americans) and their Pakistani front-men. The tribesmen took part in the war against Soviets and finally dispatched the bad infidels across Amu.
.
History comes Full-Circle with 9/11
From 1989 to 2001, the world forgot Afghanistan, Pakistan, FATA and the mess the world had jointly created. Then one fine morning (or may be evening) the tribesmen were told that their guests were actually international terrorists responsible for 9/11 and that they needed to be handed over to the good infidels (who ironically were now invaders of Afghanistan).
The tribesmen were confused (rather shocked) as to how the invasion of Afghanistan by bad infidels was bad and that the same act by good infidels was now good.
No serious effort was made to convince the tribesmen about the changed ground realities of the world and of the post-9/11 New World Order.
Confused, the tribesmen refused to hand over the 'guests' to Americans for dollars. However, they assured the authorities that tribesmen would ensure that the guests don't cause any trouble & remain peaceful. Pakistani authorities had other compulsions though; a supply of long-awaited dollars was on its way from western capitals, via IMF, Paris Club, London Club, World Bank etc. Nobody intended to kill the egg-laying chicken & be deprived of the eggs ($$$) in future. Therefore, military operations were started in the area to keep the flame burning.
.
FATA on fire
It was South Waziristan's Wazir-dominated area of Wana / Shakai where the first military operations (post-9/11) were carried out by the military. It was again South Waziristan where the killer birds known as drones commenced their killing spree. In 2004, Commander Nek Muhammad Wazir who was in peace deal with Pakistan Army (remember that General Safdar embrace pic going viral?) was killed in the first known drone strike. This single act of breach of trust gave such a boost to militancy that the conflict, largely restricted to Wazir areas of South Waziristan, soon spread to the Mehsud areas and then to neighbouring North Waziristan.
Then came 30 October 2006; when a drone strike in Cheenagai (Damadola) area of Bajaur Agency killed 83 kids at a religious school.
.
Though Pakistani military tried to claim responsibility for the attack, it was revealed soon that the strike was actually by a US drone.
Till this moment the militant attacks had been limited to resistance against army operations in FATA only. Army or police elsewhere were not brazenly attacked on a large scale. However, Cheenagai drone strike led to the biggest revenge attack against Pakistan Army in Dargai on 8 Nov 2006 when a tribal suicide bomber killed 40+ soldiers during their routine drill.
Thus Cheenagai drone strike caused a paradigm shift in militancy in FATA as militants started spreading their activities recklessly. Each military operation and drone strike served as a booster for the militants and by 2007 the whole FATA, from Waziristan to Bajaur, and also Malakand Division were raging with militancy.
In late 2007, after the Lal Masjid misadventure, the scattered militant groups sat together leading to foundation of the umbrella group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
.
Thus started a chain reaction of killings and counter-killings; some justified, most collateral.
Drones / military operations killed thousands in FATA (not discriminating between militants and common tribesmen). In reaction, suicide bombers killed thousands in Pakistani cities (not discriminating between security forces and civilians).
Both sides engaged in a vicious cycle of violence, with non-combatants being ones losing the most.
.
Back to Stone Age and Revenge
Drones, fighter jets, helicopter gunships, heavy artillery, tanks (and bulldozers too) did what they normally do; DESTROY life.
Entire villages were raised to ground, their inhabitants were made homeless; shops, schools, orchards, mosques were destroyed and FATA was literally sent to the Stone-Age.
The indiscriminate use of force, both by Pakistani military and the Americans had exactly the effect that could be imagined by any sane mind; given the tribesmen's centuries old history of resistance to any oppression. Every collateral death gave rise to a dozen militants and the chain reaction started. Foreign agencies also started capitalizing on the popular tribal resentment against Pakistan's state. Fuel was added to fire by the notion that it is Americans who fund every bullet and artillery shell fired in FATA by the military (via Coalition Support Fund reimbursements).
Indoctrinated suicide bombers blinded by their revenge instinct started hitting every icon and symbol of Pakistan's authority, from pro-Pakistan tribal elders to police, FC, Army, Airforce, Navy (and later everything).
Stereotyped tribesmen; biggest victims of the WarIndoctrinated suicide bombers blinded by their revenge instinct started hitting every icon and symbol of Pakistan's authority, from pro-Pakistan tribal elders to police, FC, Army, Airforce, Navy (and later everything).
While everyone in Pakistan sees the deaths in suicide bombings through the media's eye, the original sufferers i.e. the tribesmen remain away from the limelight. Their sufferings are taken for granted and their pains considered a fruit of their own sins. But is that all? Can an entire region of 4.5 million people be stereotyped like that?
.
Though there are no confirmed statistics about the tribesmen killed, disabled, injured or displaced due to drone strikes and military operations; even mild local estimates put the death toll in the thousands. Similarly thousands of houses, shops, orchards, schools etc have been destroyed over the past decade or so. There are areas where kids have not gone to school for years now. There are no hospitals, no electricity, no telephones etc etc.
.
Civilian Victims of CIA's drone attacks in FATA, Pakistan
.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rific-evidence-bloody-video-game-sorties.html
.
Such a great number of extra-judicial killings / casualties and such a vast destruction in any other part of the world would have rocked the international media scene, however, poor tribesmen seldom get a sympathetic view in the Pakistani or international media.
Imran Khan: the lone voice
PTI Chairman Imran Khan is probably the only mainstream political leader who doesn't only condemn this senseless war but also proposes talks for a peaceful solution to the war. We are proud that its our leader Imran Khan who is doing what the civil society, the custodians of law and justice or the pseudo-liberals should have been doing. And guess what? Let alone do something themselves, the liberals & most Laptop-based ‘FATA affairs experts’ in the media & intelligentsia have the guts to challenge and bash Imran Khan over his views & efforts in this regard.
- BTW is Imran Khan 'Taliban Khan' as the liberal fascists love to call him or is he a 'Jewish Lobby agent' as the Mullahs call him? Well he is none. In fact Imran Khan is what an overwhelming majority of the 180 million Pakistanis are i.e. a peace-loving moderate Muslim who hates all shades of the War of Terror, be it militants or drones.
.
What Next?
So the 10 year long War of Terror brought Pakistan some bitter fruits:
- Nearly 40,000 Pakistanis killed and as many injured (including almost 6000-7000 Security Forces personnel)
- Loss of nearly 70 Billion dollars to the already fragile economy
- Nation split between hard liners; religious extremists on one side and liberal fascists on the other (both bent at destroying futures of 180 million moderate Pakistanis)
Wars are ultimately decided on talks tables and if talks fail once, more talks must follow. This is the only solution to war.
http://pti-fata.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-war-in-fata-tribesmans-perspective.html
