By Nasser Yousaf in The Dawn, July 22
The list of most-wanted persons carrying head money of millions of rupees could not have been more telling. Consisting of titles like ‘Qari,’ ‘Hafiz,’ ‘Mullah,’ ‘Maulana,’ ‘Mufti,’ the list reads like an ecclesiastical hierarchical map.
It was the NWFP government that took the initiative by coming up with the list with a maximum head money of Rs5m for the insurgent-in-chief of Swat. It would not do, the Government of Pakistan subsequently decreed, as it enhanced the scalp price manifold to match the magnitude of the gruesome cruelty unleashed by those included in the list. But with titles one holier than the other it is the spiritual aspect of the list that overweighs its enticing materialist value and thus merits greater attention.
There is little doubt that the ongoing spate of unrest in Pakhtunkhwa carries distinguishing and indeed ineffaceable marks of religious makings. But this is an argument that the apologists pooh-pooh as they are observed tirelessly trying to portray the operation against the militants as an international conspiracy against the Pakhtuns. And who really are those apologists who are taking recourse to crass analogies and outdated references to paint this relentless reign of terror let loose by the terrorists as having a great deal to do with Pakhtun renaissance? Such bizarre arguments only help strengthen conjectures.
The militants fighting throughout the length and breadth of the northwest are not doing so for the fun of it. Their level of resistance indicates the hard work that has, over the years, gone into the building of war machinery worthy of envy. Of course, such a piece of machinery would have malfunctioned without efficient ‘mouths’ oiling it day in and day out. If such ‘mouths’ are to be believed then Pakhtun nationalism has indeed undergone a metamorphosis and like Kafka’s gigantic pest is now stuck to the wall, refusing to fade until it dies of hunger and disease. But how can it die if so many hands and mouths are feeding and nourishing it?
Kafka’s Metamorphosis is not an easy story to read as it pitilessly suffocates its readers as does the current chapter in Pakhtun history. Gregor, Kafka’s lead character, was an able-bodied workingman until he saw himself transformed into a gigantic pest. Gregor ultimately perishes of hunger after his family abandons him to his fate. Here an uncanny analogy can be drawn with our present predicament, with some of our men of beautiful brains and bodies having metamorphosed into lingering pests and groomed to survive.
The apologists writing in the country’s mainstream newspapers and talking ad nauseum in numerous talk shows are doing a great disservice to the Pakhtuns by calling the ongoing operation against the militants anti-Pakhtun. They are the last people whom the Pakhtuns would want to be represented by. Pakhtuns are not lunatic warriors seized with fighting and settling all the world’s dirty wars. But where then are the original Pakhtun nationalists and why don’t they stand up? Must they not take the entire blame for refusing to come out of their leaderless little world of platitudes?
Pakhtun nationalism as envisioned, preached and practised by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan is dying and quite ignominiously at that. Unwittingly perhaps, the death pangs of nationalism started with the burial of the red-shirt old patriarch in the then Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.
At that time, some among us saw the event as the flowering of the assiduously planted tree when a tumultuous crowd accompanying the cortege violated the currency of the Durand Line with impunity. But that was not so; Ghaffar Khan’s shabbily constructed tomb in the heart of Jalalabad wore a picture of utter apathy no sooner had the last shovel of earth been thrown on it.
It was then bandied about that the great Khan had willed to be buried in the free land of Afghanistan as opposed to his native village in Charsadda. The veracity of the will was never seriously doubted despite the fact that back home it would deprive the nationalists of a solid platform whereon they could religiously renew their resolve for the pursuance of their objectives. With due respect to his soul and to the lack of foresight of those of his heirs who flaunted the will, its implementation has turned out to be as miscalculated as the nationalists’ love affair with the guilty Soviet occupiers.
Just when three million displaced Pakhtuns and Afghans were looking for solace and support, the nationalists handed them on a platter to a ravenous clergy looking for a constituency. Thus while the zealots feasted on war-induced resources and ploughed deeper into the camps and ranks of the distraught refugees, the nationalists busied themselves with empty sloganeering. It was perhaps precisely at that time in history when religion-based nationalism was mid-wifed; it has now metamorphosed into its most perverted form.
Ghaffar Khan’s nationalism was the most innocuous form of nationalism the world had ever seen. The non-violent struggle waged by the father formed the core theme of his eldest son Ghani Khan’s poetry, as the latter would sing:
‘Jang la dey Mansoor rawan thop o na tufang lari’ or ‘Mansoor (Bacha Khan) is marching to war sans armoury.’
But much water, and that too thick with the blood of innocent Pakhtuns, has since flowed under the Attock bridge.
One vividly recalls how Ghaffar’s politician son Wali Khan would command the respect of the Punjabi intelligentsia and liberals whenever he got an opportunity to speak to them. All that wealth of respect seems to have been buried with the great Khans as one now hears quite unsavoury stuff from the folks across the bridge in the halls and restaurants and on the pavements.
Nationalism identified with ‘Pakhtu’ and ‘Pukhtana’ was a wonderful equation; the one being presently forced down our throats is bitter. One wonders if non-violent Pakhtun nationalism will ever be revived. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/09-state-of-pakhtun-nationalism-szh-03

THE killing by the Balochistan Republican Army of its remaining 10 policeman captives may well reflect that organization’s mindless brutality, but it also represents the failure of the government, which well knows the solution to the problem, but has not implemented it, or even moved towards its implementation. The BRA has killed the remainder of its police hostages left from the initial bloodletting, in which it killed eight of the 18 policemen it had kidnapped on July 30, along with 11 labourers, from Chhattar in Naseerabad district. In a vain attempt to stop that incident, four members of a pursuing police party, including a DSP, were killed. However, the labourers were all released by the kidnappers.
The government, in the person of the President, Asif Zardari, who is also co-Chairman of the PPP, had already apologized to the Baloch for past wrongs. The Balochistanis not only shared in the PPP’s mandate in the Centre, but also installed the PPP in the province itself, with its own Chief Minister for the first time since 1977. President Zardari had set up a committee to prepare for an All-Parties Conference on the province. Recently, in his Sharm Al-Sheikh meeting with Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani had the issue of Balochistan included in the final communiqué, which caused Dr Singh a lot of trouble in the Indian Parliament.
Apart from the genuine grievances of the Baloch, which include a continuing refusal by the central government to implement truly the provincial autonomy given by the Constitution, there are two other potent factors. First, so many years of military rule, under which the Baloch suffered more than others. Second, the accusation made to Dr Singh: that India (and Afghanistan) were supplying the Baloch money. Baloch nationalists should remember that they only do themselves a disservice by taking Indian help, and the only path for them is dialogue. The government should also remember that its only path out of the situation is that same dialogue. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/12-Aug-2009/Deaths-in-Balochistan

Washington (PTI): Describing India as its “strong” ally, the United States has said both New Delhi and Islamabad should move beyond the stereotype rivalry against each other and concentrate on how to fight terrorism, poverty and other challenges being faced by the people in the region.
“We have a very strong and growing partnership with India. We have a partnership with Pakistan that we’re trying to improve on. We need to get away from these views of if we are a supporter or we have a good relationship with India, that impacts the relationship with Pakistan,” State Department Deputy spokesman Robert Wood said at his daily press briefing.
Mr. Wood was responding to questions about growing anxiety among the people of Pakistan because of the strengthening relationship between India and the US.
“I understand that that is how people in the region see it, but I think we really need to move away from this type of view in the 21st century,” Wood said, adding that the people of the region have some very difficult challenges to face.
“We are doing what we can to try to support them as they confront these challenges, not only from terrorism but from poverty, illiteracy, drought, disease,” he said.
The US would continue to work with India, Pakistan and other countries to deal with these challenges.
“But we have to move away from these old stereotypes and work with one another in the 21st century to defeat these common enemies that we do face, as I said – drought, disease, hunger, illiteracy, poverty, terrorism,” Mr. Wood said. www.thehindu.com/holnus/000200908120325.htm

By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, Aug 11: The Khan of Kalat, Mir Suleman Dawood, announced on Tuesday formation of a council for ‘independent Balochistan’ and rejected any reconciliation with the government of Pakistan without the mediation of European Union and United Nations.
Addressing reporters from London on telephone, he said the council would ensure the creation of an independent state of Balochistan.
The Khan said Baloch separatist forces of Pakistan and Iran would have representation in the council.
He said the names of members of the council would be announced later.
He, however, said that Nawabzada Baramdagh Bugti will be a member of the council, adding that he was in touch with him and other forces which stood for an independent Balochistan.
Replying to a question, he said that recommendations adopted at the Kalat Jirga had not been shelved.
He said that a lot of progress had since been made and the issue of Balochistan had been raised at the international level. He said that some people had disassociated themselves from the recommendations.
He said he was enjoying the support of ‘friendly’ and ‘like-minded’ countries who had promised all help and cooperation.
The Khan of Kalat said the Baloch had observed their Independence Day on Tuesday because the British rulers had accepted independent and autonomous status of the Kalat state on August 11, 1947. They later announced independence of Pakistan and India on August 14 and 15.
He said the Qauid-i-Azam had negotiated Kalat’s accession to Pakistan but it was rejected by the Kalat state assembly. He said Kalat was merged into Pakistan in March 1948 and in reaction Prince Agha Abdul Karim mounted a revolt.
The Khan said the Baloch had lost trust in Pakistani rulers. However, he said that if European Union and United Nations mediated then negotiations could be held with the government of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the Khuzdar Engineering University was closed on Tuesday for an indefinite period.
According to sources, a group of students belonging to the Baloch Students Organisation-Azad entered the university campus and tried to hoist the flag of ‘independent Balochistan’ on the administration building.
Law-enforcement personnel did not allow them to remove the national flag and arrested a number of students.
After the incident, the administration announced the closure of the university. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/khan-of-kalat-ups-the-ante-289Khan of Kalat ups the ante: The Dawn, Aug 12