Battleground Lahore: Taliban in the City
It was not so long ago that Lahore was the safest major city in Pakistan.
Its ancient status as the literary and cultural capital of Northwest India yet lingered in the decades after its name was changed to Pakistan. The architecture, the Shalimar gardens and all the rest were a reminder of its imperial past, as the southern port of Karachi fended off bombings and random violence.
Today, that illusion has distinctly faded away. A brief indiscriminate firing session was followed rapidly by the main event: a suicide car bombing that ripped apart a major office of the Pakistan security forces in the heart of Lahore, causing damage to its nearby buildings and tremors across the opposite sides of town.
The unofficial estimates range from 9 to 45 dead, but official reports indicate that so far it's 23. Whatever it is, the figure is high and it puts no doubt in the minds of skeptical Lahori residents that this time, Lahore was not an exception. There will be more to come now, one defense analyst said on Dawn television news.
It is not the first attack on Lahore in the last few years -- the random attacks have been dousing the public's sense of safety for a couple years now.
It is the latest escalation in a series of attacks that have worsened since the surge in U.S. attacks against the Taliban. The Lahori people were minding their own business when they got caught up in the U.S. attack on Taliban insurgency. Today was Lahore's first suicide bombing since President Obama took office.
In the aftermath, the most memorable images will no doubt include the bizarre footage and images of a clean cut, trimmed-beard man in black who snickered as he ducked from the public's beatings. Bigger and lighter-skinned than the handful of men who were handling him, he seemed almost amused by the attention. The suspect -- ever lost in the mire of semantics -- was called a terrorist by some and no doubt an ideological soldier by others. If it is true that he was involved in the attack today, the word criminal would also apply.
One thing was for sure, he looked and carried himself much like the quintessential Pashtun.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but most Pakistanis and defense experts can take a wild guess. The Taliban, as they are referred to in the Western press, are apparently a rabid group of militants intent on taking the world back a few millennia.
Not quite.
The insurgents that the Pakistani army and the U.S. forces are battling are not an organized group or a united front -- they are various fronts of poor, largely uneducated men of Pashtun (or Pathan, as it's referred to in Pakistan) origin who are doing what their ancestors have done for centuries: defending the Pashtun way, or Pashtunwali, as it's called. It is comprised of a fundamental interpretation of Islam and a few basic sets of values: if you're my guest, I will host you to my death; if you're my enemy, your death will come before mine.
Ultimately, however, the Pashtuns are just an easy target in America's post 9-11 interest in Pakistan: they are poor and religious in a way that most non-Pashtuns cannot relate to. In fact, it is quite likely that the poor, fundamentalist Pashtun is just another pawn in the midst of the Hot War: a cheap recruit of all the world powers who oppose the United States and would love this to be another repeat of Vietnam.
The trouble is, Pashtuns aren't your run-of-the-mill poor, easy targets. Nobody has beaten the Pashtuns for centuries. Even a defeat is not a true victory. If the Pakistani-American alliance manages it, it will be short-lived, because another important element of Pashtunwali is that a Pashtun never forgets.
It begs the question: what exactly does the alliance think it is doing? The millions of Pashtuns and their children who have fled the fighting zones will not forget how their land and their people were forsaken. The thousands of Pashtun fighters who will escape with their lives, will only have more reason to defend their way of life.
The only solution for combating Pashtunwali is incorporating it into a healthy lifestyle: an opportunity for these people to acquire long-term education, employment, health and livelihood. The British Raj didn't care to address these issues, and neither has the Pakistani government. The Americans don't have a remarkable track record of caring either -- just ask Charlie Wilson.
Unless a massive amount of resources and efforts are put in to give these people the kind of life everybody wishes they would lead, the only life they have is the one they will continue dying to defend.
In the meantime, the Pakistani public must suffer the consequences, too.
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There can be no justification for targeting and killing innocent people like this bomber did.
We are far too quick to empathize with those that would do this.
Poor and oppressed around the world would never kill innocent people because they are being mistreated by some group or country. The few that do target and kill innocents are clearly extremist and militant, and I suggest we first look at their true motives instead of the typical blame-America one.
I think it's too late really I believe we will see a new nation whether recognized officially or not that takes a big section of Pakistan and also a chunk of Afghanistan and is the Pashtun nation...
Also there are many Muslims in the army who are just not as motivated to kill fellow Muslims and the ISI plays both sides as they are Hindus or Indians...
Things look really bad for Pakistan stability to me and the plans and efforts this administration are considering are to far off to stop what's gonna happen....
The Iraq war was the greatest strategic and military blunder in our history, and the full ramifications of just how bad these are is still not realized..
In addition to my earlier post, I will like to refer the redaers to the following passage from sadeghi's excellent article:
"The only solution for combating Pashtunwali is incorporating it into a healthy lifestyle: an opportunity for these people to acquire long-term education, employment, health and livelihood. The British Raj didn't care to address these issues, and neither has the Pakistani government. The Americans don't have a remarkable track record of caring either -- just ask Charlie Wilson. "
This to a great extent has been done in the under chaos Swat Valley, where tourism industry flourished. Any Pakistani will tell you that he went there at least once for hiking and trekking. Swatis adapted their pakhtunwali to the needs of the tourism industry.
This was also accomplished in southern Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP) where the district of Dera Ismail Khan and environs gave up their tribalism in favour of a well established agricultural and trading life.
Finally, there is big region in the northeast of the province where Pakhtuns are a minority living along well with the Hindkoh (A punjabi / Kashmiri mix) speaking majority. Those areas (recall the earthquake of 2006) is also a very touristic area and Pukhtuns have adapted our Pakhtunwali to the needs of the time there.
"The trouble is, Pashtuns aren't your run-of-the-mill poor, easy targets. Nobody has beaten the Pashtuns for centuries. Even a defeat is not a true victory. If the Pakistani-American alliance manages it, it will be short-lived, because another important element of Pashtunwali is that a Pashtun never forgets."
Thank you for your thoughtful analysis, Shirin. I myself think it is really not only tactically ill-advised, but morally wrong for the USA to encourage the Pakistani govt to beat up on its own people, many of whom are some of the poorest people in the world. Whatever comes of this, it won't bode well for the Pakistani people, their govt or the Obama adm. President Obama, what are you thinking?
I see a lot of finger pointing going on at Bush, I think some of that is misplaced. And before anyone jumps on me, I didn't vote for him, either time.
The problems in that part of the world go back to the British. after WWII they just carved up the empire and basically said "It's all your kids, we are outta here".
I also think it's oversimplistic to say they just need some education and some good will. If you don't want educated and just to be left alone, no amount of money or good will, will change that.
Mousharif blamed the whole mess on Afghanistan, but he got 8 Billion in US aid and used it to prepare for a war against India instead of making sure his own house was in order. There is enough blame to go around.
Pakistan's years of fianncing and training of the terrorists to fight in Kashmir and Afghanistan is now engulfing their own country.
"It is the latest escalation in a series of attacks that have worsened since the surge in U.S. attacks against the Taliban. The Lahori people were minding their own business when they got caught up in the U.S. attack on Taliban insurgency. Today was Lahore's first suicide bombing since President Obama took office."
I am sorry for the people of Lahore.
Likewise Mumbai. They were minding their own business too.
And what about on 9/11/2001? The people of New York City?
Pakistan has a chance to rid the world of this curse,
the world will help but you can not surrender to theTaliban extremism.
Pashtoons are just the recruits.H
Organizations like the Taliban and all the other loosely affiliated groups have to have the patronage of some government and in this case it is the Pakistani army and ISI. You cannot absolve them and push the blame entirely on the pashtoons.
Best expose yet on the stupidity of U.S. policy in the region.
What are they thinking?
Sorry. I just can't get there with this. You say that they've been this way for centuries. They never forget. They will defend their "way" to the death. And we have to spend billions of dollars to get them to see things our way? If they want to be left alone, they should be wise enough to realize that Osama Bin Laden is not some honorable dinner guest. They have no interest in seeing things our way. Their narrow-mindedness is the root of their cultural identity. Why do you suppose they have been poor... for centuries? These are not knowledge seekers. They think they have it all figured out. Knowledge is anathema to them. So building them schools is the answer? To teach them what? Simply put, they are the other. Sometimes I wonder if this is how Cro-Magnon felt when he encountered Neanderthal.
Something's gotta give.
I quite agree. Ignorance cannot be an excuse to murder people. If that's the Pashtun way of life, tough luck for the Pashtuns. The Americans and the Pakistani Army should now make sure this way of life is changed. As you rightly point out, evolution and progress means going forward in time, not walking back through dusty centuries of superstition.
I actually had a very different reaction to Sadeghi's description of the Pashtun. I was reminded of the American concept more than any other. Heightened sense of morality, inability to forget, lack of compassion when seeking revenge - I think we're 3/3 there. Sadeghi did a great job highlighting how we're not that different after all. The only difference is that the Pashtun are being displaced, maimed, and killed and we aren't. This article should have sparked a sense of brother/sisterhood and some compassion, if anything; not revive battle cries. Despite what we've been taught over and over again by the previous administration, its not us against them. And we, as Americans, should feel a sense of responsibility for these people that have been affected in the worst possibly way because of our foreign policy. In short: DONATE even a few cents to help innocent Pashtuns in need.
The UN estimates that one-half of all small arms come from the U.S. Then there is the opium trade. Charlie Wilson's War was a stunning temporay success. The Soviet Union was destroyed but another enemy developed with a stronger belief system than communism - the "Godly" Mujahideen. The Communists never believed that they were going to Paradise.
Another culture with strong beliefs was the Viking culture. These warriors believed that Vulkuries sweep down on the battlefield and transported the brave to Valhalla. The introduction of Christianity undermined these belief systems and caused the Vikings to become weaker in battle.
Our own belief in the Almighty dollar is fading. But we are still armed to the teeth with nukes. Will our belief in greed and money overcome a radical belief system in Pakistan and Afghanistan? What do we offer these people? Faith in Wall Street ethics? We need to get our own house in order. The whole world can see that we have not done that yet. Their belief system is much older than ours. We want short-term profits without creating anything.
Hmm..inter
Really, these Pashtun wish nothing more than to continue with their traditional lives and hoping for something better for their offspring. The historically recent policy of forbidding poppy growth as more to do with British Colonialism and the modern synthesis of heroin, than with these Pashtun farmers growing what is an idea crop for them.
Let's get over our apprehension about nature's ideal pain relievers, sanction the traditional farming of the Pashtun, undermine the power of the warlords who are a result of the war on drugs (not the cause), and leave these otherwise peaceful farmers their lifestyle while opening the door to progress for their children if they choose to pursue it for themselves or their villages.
What are you talking about Pilgrim.Br
: if you're my guest, I will host you to my death; if you're my enemy, your death will come before mine.
May a guest question? If so:
Do you see any reason why you should not use force to make me accept your beliefs? If not: Then do you see any reason why I should not use force to make you accept mine?
I feel so much better now. They're just being themselves, and as soon as we put up a couple schools, they'll be nice. OK, let's got right on that then.
Tribes....
In the 21st century
Nothing else to say.
Change is inevitable.
Growth is optional
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