From ISIS to IS (Da’esh)

(Presentation given by Brig retired Asif Haroon Raja at Thinkers Forum Pakistan on November 29, 2014, chaired by Air Chief Marshal retired Kaleem Sadat, Gen retired Mirza Aslam Beg as chief guest and Lt Gen Abu Saeeduz Zafar in attendance).



I shall be dwelling upon the newly emerged threat of Da’esh, which is also known as Islamic State of Iraq & Sham (ISIS), which later morphed into Islamic State (IS), also called Da’esh. Its emergence has further disturbed the security situation of Middle East. It has created a stir and fears are expressed all over the world. Claims of the US and its strategic partners to degrade and destroy the ISIS are dubbed by many as a cover up to achieve their hidden objectives in Middle East.

Motives of US in Iraq

The prime motivation to annex Iraq in 2003 was oil, but the other compelling reason was Israeli security concern.

Tel Aviv viewed Baathist Iraqi armed forces under Saddam Hussain as the biggest strategic challenge to its security and a bottleneck in the path of its ambition to establish ‘Greater Israel’. Division of Iraq into three States was Israeli ambition and not that of USA.

Saddam kept Iraq United. Notwithstanding the fact that Saddam Hussain was a ruthless dictator, none can deny that he had kept ethnically diverse Iraq united and economically and militarily strong. Today Iraq is rived in sectarian/ethnic war and is at the verge of splitting into three States of Kurds, Sunnis and Shias. Iraq urgently needs another Saddam type leader to re-unite the country.

Baathist Army Disbanded. Sunni heavy well trained/equipped Baathist Army was disbanded in 2003 and in its place Iraqi National Army was raised essentially for counter terrorism purposes. $ 20 billion was spent to train/equip 800,000 strong Iraqi security forces.

Iraqi Sunnis Marginalized. War in Iraq was primarily against Iraqi Sunnis since Iraqi Shias in the south and Kurds in the north had been befriended. While the Shias and Kurds were empowered, 5-6 million Sunnis who had ruled Iraq for centuries were sidelined and persecuted by Nuri-al-Maliki’s Shia heavy regime installed by the US in 2006

Reaction of Iraqi Sunnis/Al-Qaeda

Deprived of power and subjected to gruesome repression, several militant Sunni groups sprouted in Iraq to wage a guerrilla war against the occupation forces and the US installed regime.

Al-Qaeda joined the fray and soon became the leading resistance group. Jihadist Salafism found fertile ground among the Sunnis of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

Zarqawi –Al-Qaeda Connectivity

Iraqi Sunni groups Ansar al-Sunna and Iraqi Islamic Army fought the occupation forces from August 2003 onwards. Jamaat al Tawhid wa al-Jihad under Abu Masab al Zarqawi swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden in 2004 and became an affiliate of al-Qaeda. In January 2006, al-Qaeda in Iraq merged with several groups under Mujahideen Shura Council.

Sectarian war in Iraq

Zarqawi, who was Abu Bakar Baghdadi’s guru, was the most ruthless leader. He organized bombing of both Sunni and Shiite mosques/Imabargahs under guidance of CIA. Bombing of one of the holiest Shia shrine al-Askari in Samarra in February 2006 triggered sectarian war. Zarqawi was killed in June 2006, but CIA and Mossad kept pouring oil on sectarian conflict.

In response, Moqtada al-Sadr established Iraqi Shias Army of 50,000 fighters. Inflammation of sectarian conflict between two sects which peaked in 2006-07, became the root cause of birth of Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

Sufferings of Iraqis in War. War in Iraq followed by sectarian war in Iraq caused over one million deaths, displaced two millions outside Iraq and 2.7 million inside Iraq and made 870,000 children orphans.

Formation of Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). Zarqawi’s group formed into ISI on October 13, 2006 under Abu Abdullah al-Rashid Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri. It claimed authority over Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salahuddin, Ninawa and parts of Babel. After Rashid Baghdadi and Masri were killed in an operation in early 2010, ISI was taken over by 43 years Abu Bakar Baghdadi in April 2010.

Arab Spring. By that time Arab Spring was fomented in Middle East in 2011 to weaken the militaries of powerful Arab and North African States as well as to affect regime changes wherever required. Tunisia, followed by Egypt became the immediate victims. Qaddafi was murdered and a regime change took place in Libya, while Syria got engulfed in sectarian war in 2011. Sudan was bisected, while regime change took place in Yemen in 2012. From that time onwards, the Middle East continued to descend further into the abyss of war, ravaged by a terror seemingly animated by blood and violence.

Training of FSA Rebels in Jordon. Reportedly the ISI fighters in Iraq proceeded to Syria via Jordon in 2011 and joined the civil war. Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels led by Salim Idris were trained by Jordanian and Israeli commandos along Jordan-Syrian border. British Special Forces, MI-6 and French were also involved in imparting training and in use of chemical weapons.

Support to Rebels in Syria. FSA and Al-Nusra Front – an offshoot of Al-Qaeda, were fully supported by USA, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and UAE to bring down Bashar al-Assad regime. Turkish Army trained, equipped and sent across the anti-Assad rebels.

ISI to ISIS

By early 2013, ISI established itself as a strong force in Syria. On April 9, 2013, ISI’s name was changed to ISIS. Sham envisages territories of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

Clash between Jihadi Groups

In April 2013, Al-Nusra Front leader Jawlani didn’t agree to Baghdadi’s proposal of merging his group into ISIS. Zawahiri who wanted Baghdadi to accept Jawlani as Emir in Syria also opposed the merger and in October he ordered disbanding ISIS and put Al-Nusra in-charge of Jihad in Syria. When Baghdadi paid no heed, in February 2014 al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with ISIS.

Objectives of Jihadi Groups. Whereas FSA and al-Nusra Front want overthrow of Asad regime and establish new Sunni Emirate in Syria, ISIS want to establish its own Caliphate on conquered territory. Al-Qaeda aspires to change the US run international order to Islamic system.

Offensive in Syria. Once ISIS captured series of towns including Raqqa in Syria, many fighters from FSA and Nusra started joining it.

Offensive in Iraq

ISIS then crossed into Iraq in December 2013 and captured Fallujah in Anbar province next month. All efforts by INA to retake Fallujah failed. The Da’esh Jihadists then launched a major offensive on June 9, 2014 and within days captured five provinces in northwestern and central Iraq that are Sunni inhabited. Mosul, second largest city with a population of two million people and defended by 30,000 troops was also captured.

The entire defensive structure built by Maliki regime to save Sunni dominated regions from the onslaught of Sunni militants crumbled. Large amount of armaments, helicopters, planes, vehicles and cash was also seized by the militants.

Cash Held. Before Mosul, Da’esh total cash and assets were $875 million. Cash was obtained through sale of oil from oilfields in eastern Syria in late 2012. Today Da’esh claims to be in possession of over $2 billion. 3/4^th of the cash was seized from Mosul.

Oil Sale. Da’esh has control over most of oil and gas fields in eastern and northern Syria.  Till recent, it was in control of biggest oil refinery Baiga near Baghdad which has been retaken by Iraqi forces backed by air. Da’esh is selling bulk of oil from Syria and Mosul through Turkey. Oil from northern Iraq is being shipped to Texas Gulf of Mexico.

ISIS to Islamic State (IS). On June 29, the first of Ramadhan, the ISIS was named Islamic State and its chief Baghdadi was declared Caliph and leader of Muslims everywhere. They asked the Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief. Hailing from Quraish decent, devout, sane and physically whole, he qualifies to be a Caliph. Osama bin Laden didn’t meet the pre-requisites and so is the case with Mullah Omar. The Caliphate map encompasses Syria, Iraq, Jordon, Israel, Palestine, parts of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Cyprus and southern Turkey.

Urge for Caliphate

After the demise of Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, it was revived by the Taliban by declaring Mullah Omar as Emir and Afghanistan as Islamic Caliphate. TTP too has been toying with the idea of Caliphate and so is Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Nusra in Syria, Al-Shabab in Somalia, Abu Sayyaf in Philippines, IMU in Uzbekistan, Uyghur in Sinkiang and al-Qaeda.

Islamic Caliphate/Daulat-e-Islamyia

The current span of Islamic Caliphate called Daulat-e-Islamyia extends from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala in Iraq and its capital is Raqqa. This stretch of territory is under complete control of Da’esh.

Da’esh – Strongest Jihadist Group

Today, Da’esh has become the strongest Jihadist group, both militarily and financially the world over. It has inflicted successive defeats to Iraqi Army, Syrian Army, Al-Nusra, FSA and Peshmergas and is a force to reckon with. Reportedly, it has 31,500 fighters but some put the figures to 200,000. 16000 are from foreign countries. Besides Sunni rebel groups in Syria, Boko Haram and Abu Sayyaf group have declared support to IS.  Jihadis from Algeria, Morocco and Yemen also want to join Da’esh.

Enforcement of Shariah laws in captured cities by Da’esh has dropped crime rates. Public restaurants providing free food have been opened in Raqqa and residents are given free fuel. $400 monthly salary is paid to each member. Unlike al-Qaeda, it has a sound organizational structure. Baghdadi has three deputies and 12 governors thereby establishing proper chain of command. Most of the appointment holders are ex Iraqi Baathist Army and ex Syrian Army officers and are well trained.

Da’esh Product of Bucca Camp

Majority of IS leading leaders were the products of CIA run Bucca camp in Baghdad from 2003 until 2009. Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, who earned a doctorate in Islamic law in Baghdad, also remained imprisoned in Bucca Camp from 2006 to 2009. His original name is Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarri. Some say Bucca Camp was a terrorist academy than a prison.  At that time the Iraqi Sunnis were trained and brainwashed to fight al-Qaeda. Reportedly, large numbers of IS mercenaries are convicted criminals, with many on death row, released from Saudi prisons on condition they will join IS.

Quick in Uptake. Da’esh fighters are motivated and they fight until death.  They are proficient in using modern techniques of warfare and psy warfare and are best snipers. They learned the use of captured American tanks, artillery, helicopters and other heavy equipment in Mosul with amazing speed and put them to quick use. Same thing happened in Syria where they captured Russian origin arms.

Use of Social Media

Da’esh is also employing the weapon of social media very effectively to reach out to the Muslim youth. It is using 12000 Twitter accounts called ‘Twitter Bombs’. Da’esh has appealed to the senses of educated Muslim youth in Muslim world and in the west, who are well cognizant of ills of capitalist system and US-western-Israeli dangerous designs against Muslim world.

The educated youth is aware of their intrigues aimed at weakening Muslim Ummah by creating misgivings and inflaming sectarian war to divide the targeted Muslim countries into smaller States. They feel that Muslim rulers are primarily responsible for executing the agenda of the west and hence must be removed and replaced by God fearing Muslim leaders and imposing Islamic system of governance.

Because of IS’s rapid gains and Baghdadi’s charisma, a continuous stream of Jihadists both men and young girls from Europe, USA and Asia are joining Da’esh in Syria and in Iraq. British girls are marrying Da’esh fighters.

Extremist Ideology

Battle of Siffin fought at Raqqa along the banks of Euphrates in 657 AD between the forces of Caliph Hazrat Ali and Emir Muawia, known as ‘First Fitna’, split Islam into two factions and fuelled sectarian violence across the ages. Kharijis who believed that any Muslim committing a sin became a non-Muslim and was unpardonable, continued to trouble both the Ummayyads and Abbasids and it took the two dynasties 300 years to put down Kharijites.

Today, we are witnessing the unraveling of centuries of bad blood and religious distortion. Da’esh is known for its harsh interpretation of Islam and violence and follows al-Qaeda ideology, which emerged from Kharijis and Tafkiri ideology. Anti-Da’esh lobbies say Da’esh draws inspiration from Kharijis and Emir Muawia and is dubbed as the ‘Second Fitna’.

Da’esh believes its Army is fulfilling an Islamic prophecy and is waiting for arrival of Imam Mahdi. It wants revival of golden period of Islam under Prophet Muhammad and four Caliphs of Islam who ruled from 632 to 661. But it has adopted practices of Kharijis and Salafis and aim at establishing Salafist model Islamic State initially in Iraq and Syria and later expanding it.

While captured Shias are being killed, Christians and Yazidis are given the choice to either convert to Islam, or pay Jiziyah, or exit or die. Even 20 Sunni Ulema disagreeing with the ideology of Da’esh, or refusing to pledge allegiance to the Caliph were murdered. In Samarra, 1000 Sunnis were killed. It resorts to Khariji style throat slitting or stoning of sinners.

Destruction of Holy Places. After destroying the holy shrine of Prophet Yunus (AS) on July 24, the Nabi Shiyt shrine in Mosul was also dynamited on July 26th. The Da’esh leadership has vowed to head for Najaf and Karbala and destroy sacred shrines. Da’esh has also threatened to capture Mecca and Madina since it is against House of Saud.

Halaku Strategy in Play. Da’esh is operating on the pattern of Halaku Khan to strike terror into the hearts of the people and make them flee. When Mongols had sacked Baghdad in 1258, Halaku’s men slaughtered about a million Muslims in a week. Da’esh believes in spreading Islam by the strength of sword and is mapping its campaign based upon Emir Muawia’s campaigns.

Response of Kurds. As you know, Kurdistan was divided in 1916. The Iraqi Kurds in northern Iraq, aspiring to establish independent Kurdistan took control of oil producing Kirkuk and vowed to fight the IS fighters. Likewise Syrian Kurds and Turkish Kurds have resisted fall of Kobane in Syria. Efforts of Kurds received a shot in the arm as result of NATO air intervention. But for air support, Kurdish capital Arbil was almost lost to IS. Likewise, Kobane would have fallen by now.

Response of Iraqi Shias. Shia militias in Iraq at the call of Moqtada al-Sadr have united to fight the IS. They are also killing captured Sunni militants. They are not so much concerned about the preservation of united Iraq but are more anxious to protect Baghdad, holy shrines of Shias and southern Iraq.

Da’esh viewed as Biggest Threat

Till its emergence, Israel was viewed as the foremost threat to the Arab States. The security spectrum has now changed. As long as Da’esh was fighting the security forces in Syria, Israel was quite content since the iron was cutting the iron.

Now that Da’esh has grown into a big monster and has published a map of its future caliphate which includes Israel as well, Tel Aviv changed course and expressed its willingness to jointly fight the common enemy. Taking advantage of fears of Arab rulers, Netanyahu suggested an impractical idea of establishing a joint HQ to confront the challenge.

Guns of Da’esh Silent against US/Israel

Intriguingly, neither any militant group operating in Middle East is poised against Israel or its western backers, nor any Arab country funding dozens of groups to fight Shiasm/terrorism diverted any group to come to the rescue of people of Gaza when they were being mercilessly slaughtered in July this year. None of the known Jihadist groups has fired a single bullet against US military or Israeli forces.

US 3rd Intervention in Middle East

After creating the desired turmoil, the US and its western allies have once again jumped into the oil-rich Middle East under the pretext of fighting the biggest threat to the world peace posed by IS. This time, western powers have decided not to send ground troops but only airpower, technical and intelligence support and to muster ground forces from the affected Arab countries. Several Arab countries, Turkey, Iran and Albania have joined the coalition and China is also being convinced to fight the menace.

Belated US Response. Quite surprisingly, the US didn’t show much anxiety when the Da’esh was moving ahead like a hurricane, capturing vast territories and slaughtering people from mid 2013 onwards in Syria. It remained engrossed in destabilization of Assad regime and in Ukraine crisis. It was only after the Da’esh fighters killed Christians and Yazidis in Sinjar and beheaded two US journalists and two British aid workers, and there was uproar in the western world that Obama woke up and decided to hit the IS. Another worry was western Jihadis return to their respective countries.

Air action in Iraq. To start with airstrikes in August were aimed at preventing fall of oil-rich Kirkuk and Arbil, capital of Kurdish region which houses US Consulate and also to help the marooned Yazidis. Dilemma on Syrian Front for USA

Syria has become a transit ground for jihadists from all over the globe. They are pouring in with bulk coming from Europe to fight Asad forces. The US wanting to strike Da’esh in Syria, remained indecisive whether Da’esh or Assad regime was a bigger threat.

From June to August, Syrian regime was viewed as a lesser evil by the US and Arab States. It was contemplated to assist Syrian Army to fight IS. But this view changed in September and now it is again treating Assad regime as a foe.

Egypt’s lack of Response. Egypt is being pressed to spare troops to fight the IS but Egyptian Army is busy fighting the supporters of Morsi in northern Sinai and as such is no position to get entangled elsewhere.

Iranian Support. The US remained in two minds whether to ask Iran to combat IS threat in Iraq or not since it could further enhance its influence in Iraq and also strengthen Hezbollah-Syria-Iraq-Iran nexus. Ultimately Iran was given a green signal and it supplied some Army units, military equipment and artillery to support three main Iraqi Shia militias.

Catch-22 Situation for Turkey. Notwithstanding Turkey’s ire against Asad regime in Syria, the IS has posed a bigger threat to its security because of the involvement of Kurds from Syria, Iraq and Turkey in the fight against the IS, and the IS busy recruiting militants from Turkey. The catch-22 situation for Erdogon is whether to aid FSA to bring down Asad regime or to fight the IS in Syria. Both options are counterproductive and so is the option of acting neutral.

Da’esh Linkages in Pakistan

Tehrik-e-Khilafat, part of TTP was the first group in South Asia to declare allegiance to Da’esh on July 12, 2014. Jamaatul Ahrar, splinter group of TTP, led by Omar Khalid Khurasani was the second group to declare support to Da’esh on 4 September. On 8 October, six key commanders of TTP belonging to different tribal agencies pledged allegiance to Baghdadi. They all had sworn allegiance to Mullah Omar as their Ameerul Momineen in 2008.

Posters, pamphlets and wall chalking and book titled ‘Fatah’ in Pashtu/Darri languages concerning IS have been found in different cities. Suicide attack on Wagah on 2 November was claimed by IS linked Ahrar.

Reportedly, Baghdadi intends extending boundaries of his Caliphate to Khurasan, which in its prime time included northeastern Iran, parts of Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This has triggered an urge among militant leaders in Pakistan to add Khurasani to their names. Fazlullah is one example.

Raison d’être. Reason is that as per Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, armies of Islam carrying black flags would march to the Arab heartland for a final showdown and victory against Jews and their allies in end times. Jihadis believe that Great War is an inevitable occurrence and thus draw inspiration from Khurasan.

Largest Reservoir. Largest reservoirs of well-trained and motivated Jihadists are found in Afghanistan, Central Asia, Chechnya, Caucasia and Pakistan.

Competing Interests

Al-Qaeda, which has indicated its intention to open its offices in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and Da’esh are competing for winning the support of Pakistani Jihadis which in their view will tilt the balance in their favor. Da’esh has overshadowed Al-Qaeda.

The IS has created a ten-member ‘Strategic Planning Wing’ with a master plan how to wage war against Pakistan military. It claims to have recruited 10-12000 recruits in FATA and Hangu district. However, Operation Zarb-e-Azb has upset their plans and pushed their timeframe.

Skepticism Expressed

Many western analysts led by Michel Chossudovsky, Noam Chomsky and Fuller are selling the idea that Da’esh is CIA creation supported by MI-6, Mossad and Saudi Intelligence and is funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar to break up the Iran-Iraq-Syria-Hezbollah alliance and bring down Assad regime in Syria. Baghdadi is dubbed as US agent trained in Tel Aviv. They draw strength from the fact that wounded soldiers of IS are treated in Israeli hospitals. They say that the Muslims are being conned by a sophisticated scheme drawn up by Zionists to fragment Middle East and pave the way for establishment of ‘Greater Israel’.

Questions Asked

There may be some truth in what is being said since the US has been supporting Islamic terror network since Reagan administration. Why did McCain meet the rebels in Syria and why are they called moderates? If the US wanted to eliminate Da’esh, why didn’t it carpet bomb their convoys of Toyota pickups when they crossed from Syrian Desert into Iraq in June 2014. When Americans could bomb, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, why couldn’t they do so against Da’esh in open Syro-Arabian desert with latest state-of-art jets? A stitch in time would have saved nine. How can Da’seh ship oil from Syrian and Iraqi oilfields through Turkey and how come oilfields have remained safe? Why can’t their websites be blocked?

Where Lays the Problem?

The problem is, what face the advanced world led by USA has to lecture and show mirror to the IS and demonize their acts when the champions of human rights and democracy are the biggest violators of their own laws. To avenge the deaths of about 3000 Americans, they have killed over two million Muslims who had no connection with 9/11. In fact, 9/11 was instrumental in formulation of GWOT.

The imperialist powers go to any lengths for the realization of their geo-strategic and geo-economic interests. Muslim world has been turned into a killing field and life of a Muslim has become as cheap as a stray dog.

Willful effort has been made to demonise Islam and to put all the ills of the world in the basket of Muslims. Religious extremism in the Christian, Jewish and Hindu worlds has been ignored. Existing ethnic and sectarian tensions and religious divides among Muslims have been cleverly intensified to make Muslims fight among each other, keep the Muslim countries weak, dependent and subservient and thus facilitate their grand objective of neo-colonizing the Muslim world and harnessing their resources. The US creates a monster for achievement of its short-term objectives and then tries to kill it when it starts defying the master.

None can deny that Da’esh cannot operate and achieve spectacular successes at its own. Whoever is behind Da’esh, one thing is clear. Muslims are bleeding each other and it suits the imperialist powers.

How can we overlook Adid Yinon and neo-cons plans to divide and rule Middle East, Col Ralph Peter’s map and Pentagon’s Memo listing 7 Muslim countries as targets?  Ongoing chaos is in line with those insidious plans. Rather than failing the plans, we are helping them to succeed.

Everyone is suggesting application of force to crush the new threat not realizing that 13 years of war on terror has failed to control terrorism. Rather, it has spread out like wild fire. Today it is Da’esh; tomorrow some other outfit will emerge. Khurasan group in Syria is one example which has been described more dangerous than Da’esh. Even Haqqani Network and Lashkar Tayyaba are portrayed as monsters.

Root Causes

No one is interested in analyzing the root causes of mounting hatred of the deprived class against the privileged which has led to growth of intolerance, religious extremism and terrorism, what to talk of taking remedial measures. Militants are the product of lower classes, having no stake in the country and have nothing to lose.

Palestinian issue, Israeli belligerence, Gaza turned into open prison, desecration of Al-Aqsa mosque, double standards of the west, involvement of Iran’s increasing involvement in Arab countries, Maliki’s revengeful persecution of Sunnis, forcible change of regime in Libya, willful destabilization of Syria, when seen in context with weakened welfare system within Arab world, unemployment, misrule of Arab rulers, hatred against Hamas, their pro-western policies all put together, have bred discontentment among the Arab youth and they are fatally getting attracted towards Da’esh.

Remedy

In Pakistan, no effort has been made by our rulers to put our house in order, and to win hearts and minds of have-nots. Religious extremism and intolerance can be checkmated if the elite class changes its feudal mindset and lifestyle, gets rid of hypocrisy, revives pristine ethics and moral values, treat the poor as human beings and gain their trust by genuinely alleviating their sufferings by way of providing them basic amenities of life, equitable opportunities for education and social growth, cheap and evenhanded justice, creating in them sense of belonging and integrating the society by making Pakistan a true Islamic welfare State.

The Ulema, thinkers and media have to play a big role in lessening religious, sectarian and ethnic tensions and promoting climate of tolerance. Operation Zarb-e-Azb will prove productive only if civil administration, judiciary and media remain in step with Army.

To conclude, I would say that unity of Muslim Ummah in these testing times is absolutely essential for survival. The age of continuous conflict is upon us; and Muslims are on the menu. The Muslim countries must reduce their excessive dependence upon the west and should hasten to get out of the destructive magic spell of the US.

Does ISIS Exist in Pakistan?

 By Sajjad Shaukat                      

Recently, propaganda intensified that the militant outfit Daish or ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has its presence in Pakistan. Besides some newspapers and media anchors of some TV channels also misperceived that ISIS has penetrated into Pakistan. In fact, they made their observation on the basis of media announcements by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders and Indian media.

Although ISIS does not exist in Pakistan, yet Pakistan government, law-enforcing agencies, media and civil society must exercise high degree of vigilance against any possible ingress by any elements like ISIS. Despite this, existence of ISIS in Pakistan needs special analysis, as its presence can not merely be propagated on the basis of wall chalking or media announcements of the TTP leaders and India.

As regards this militant outfit, on 29 June 2014, ISIS proclaimed a worldwide caliphate by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, based in Iraq. It claims religious, political and military authority over all Muslims, while ISIS’s actions have been widely criticized around the world, with many Islamic communities judging the group to be unrepresentative of Islam. One of ISIS’s goals has been to establish a radical Sunni Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant region, which covers Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine etc., and southern region of Turkey. It is widely known for its violent propaganda which includes Internet videos of beheadings. The UNO and Amnesty International have held this group responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes. ISIS group has been designated as a terrorist organization by the UNO and the European Union.

Some reports suggest that as part of the double game, American CIA has also been supporting the militants of the ISIS to overthrow the Shia regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Another aim is to spread sectarian violence in the Islamic countries.

However, besides some Islamic countries, a majority of the religious extremists from the Western World and especially India has joined the ISIS. In this context, a deliberate oblivion on the part of the West about ISIS recruits from their countries also exposes their duplicity and hypocrisy.

It is notable that although various kinds of terror attacks in Pakistan have been conducted by the TTP and its banned affiliated groups in the past few years, yet the massacre of 132 school children at Army Public School and College in Peshawar on December 16, 2014 proved a watershed, as it has given a final wake up call to the nation to unite against these ruthless terrorists.

In this respect, the armed forces of Pakistan have conducted several successful military operations against the terrorists; the most recent one being operation Zarb-e-Azb, which has successfully broken the backbone of militants. Frustrated by their failures, these insurgents are resorting to coward acts like attack on innocent children in Peshawar.

Taking note of the school attack, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif has himself started supervising the military action against terrorists, and as part of the operation, several terrorists have been killed during air strikes. Gen. Raheel stated, “We are extremely saddened, but our resolve has taken new height”, and added “We will continue to go after the inhuman beasts, their facilitators till their final elimination.”

Undoubtedly, as a result of ongoing operations in Waziristan and Khyber Agency especially operation Zarb-e-Azb, militants are finding no place other than Afghanistan to flee and save their skin.

In this context, Gen. Raheel accompanied by the DG of Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), rushed to Kabul on December 17, 2014. During his meeting with his Afghan counterpart, President Ashraf Ghani and the ISAF commander, he presented evidence of the Peshawar massacre’s linkage with TTP sanctuaries in Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. He also asked the extradition of TTP chief Mullah Fazlluah, and handing over to Pakistan. In response, they assured him to take action against the TTP.

In fact, Afghanistan has become a hub of anti-Pakistan activities from where external secret agencies, especially Indian RAW are sending logistic support to Baloch separatist elements and TTP insurgents in Pakistan. Posing themselves as Pakistani Taliban, these enemies have joined TTP and other banned extremist outfits. In the recent years, especially TTP’s insurgents and its affiliated banned groups conducted many terror-activities in various regions of the country like suicide attacks, ruthless beheadings of tribesmen, assaults on security personnel and prominent figures including Shias, Ahmadis, Sufis, Christians and Sikhs as part of the scheme to create chaotic situation in the country.

It is of particular attention that spokesman of the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Usama Mehmood and some other militant groups have also condemned the TTP in relation to the massacre of innocent children at Peshawar school.

Nevertheless, after Peshawar incident, strong public reaction against extremism/terrorism and dislike for Taliban/TTP elements—has been equally condemned by the political leadership as a national policy, showing solidarity with the armed forces. In this connection, on January 2, this year, political and military leaders agreed on a draft of legislative measures which would pave the way for establishment of special military trial courts. The participants also reiterated the commitment for dismantling and destroying all forms of terrorism and terrorist networks operating within the country. It was unanimously resolved that the 20 points enunciated in the All Parties Conference (APC) Resolution of December 24, 2014 shall be acted upon expeditiously—the bill as 22nd (Constitutional) Amendment, will be enforced soon after its approval from the parliament.

Meanwhile, media has reported that an Indian person namely Mehdi Masoor of Banglore remained affiliated with ISIS, and is running a pro-ISIS tweeter account. So question arises as to how India justifies its propaganda of ISIS linkage with Pakistan?  As a matter of fact, New Delhi has been frustrated by the successes achieved against the Taliban/TTP insurgents by Zarb-e-Azb. Therefore, sinister aim of Indian false propaganda about the presence of ISIS in Pakistan is to distort country’s image in the eyes of international community, while ISIS does not exist in Pakistan.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

NOT A WAY TO PAY HOMAGE TO PEOPLE FIGHTING A WAR FOR YOU

Aasef Chaudhry

What all is happening in Islamabad should have not happened at all. Marches and Sit-ins are not a new thing, neither their trespassing Red Zone is something weird. As a matter of fact the current govt has a far bad history for attacking the Supreme Court, parliament and the president house. But as they say that two wrongs can’t make one right so the same acts by PTI and PAT can’t be appreciated. However, if on one side we criticize both the parties for their extreme acts then on the other hand one must has to see what has forced them to come on the roads and opted for a march. No one has any doubt that the prevailing political impasse in the country with protesting groups of both PTI and PAT, observing sit-in at capital city of Islamabad, blocking sensitive Red Zone and threatening vital Govt buildings, have negatively impacted the entire nation causing fretful anxiety for all segments of society. But as earlier said that the demonstrations have been prolonged / extended unnecessarily, since the govt never considered their genuine demands seriously and the immature, self-centred advisors of the govt kept advising to handle the issue through its slow strategy thus could not grab the initiative to settle the issue through peaceful dialogue.

The govt could grab the initiative at many occasions but failed to do so. The PTI’s demand was initially recounting of four constituencies and enquiry of rigging in the election which, when govt didn’t address seriously then turned in to a demand for the PM’s resignation. On the other hand PAT’s demand was very simple as they wanted the FIR to be registered against PMLN’s political elite for the heinous murder of 14 people during broad day light at Model Town Lahore. The irony was that both the demands were not taken seriously by any quarter of the govt hence the situation aggravated.

If govt looked least interested in resolving the issue then on the other hand emotional speeches of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri coupled with digging graves/ showing coffin-cloth and Imran Khan’s hard stance to get resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, point at continuity of deadlock and impending perils of violence. Govt wasted vital time to address the rigging grievances of PTI, coldness/ insensitivity to register FIR against concerned people responsible for killing in Model Town, Lahore. Recent failure of dialogue, Govt’s decision to use force against the protesters and resultant killings in Islamabad has further spoiled the situation.

Everyone one was happy that the Army is keeping itself away from the political muck as they were otherwise busy in the most sensitive operation of Pakistan’s history operation Zarb e Azb. But here in Islamabad when the situation got worsened then very strangely the army’s name was heard for the first time as the likely mediators. It’s strongly believed that the govt herself requested the army for a role for the political motives best known to them and later backed out abruptly and tried to throw onus on PTI and PAT. Mediating role of Army was acrimoniously politicized which brought embarrassment for Army high command and caused delay in resolution of crisis.   

           

In whole episode Javed Hashmi’s role sounds quite dubious and suspicious. As PTI and PAT decided to demonstrate before the PM House, Javed Hashmi suddenly parted ways with PTI and asserted that Imran Khan was prompted by Sheikh Rashid to march towards PM House along with PAT. Javed Hashmi’s sensitivity towards Establishment is one thing but veiled pointing towards Army for having conveyed a message through Sheikh Rashid is a distrustful thought and a cynical view point. It is an ugly attempt to spoil civil-military relations in the country. That was the point from where things took turn and unfortunately the army’s character was questioned despite the fact that the Army maintains a totally neutral and entirely apolitical stance. It is, however, deeply concerned on prevailing political turmoil. Although a large section of press didn’t believe it and stood by the armed forces but a small section led by GEO; the govt’s media team tried their best to malign the forces. Ultimately the ISPR had to issue an unambiguous press release clearly expressed Army’s pro-democratic stance, asking the Govt to resolve the crisis through political dialogue and avoid violence / use of force.

The govt will have to do away with the habit of throwing blame on others and will have to seriously resolve the issue as this political turmoil in Islamabad has brought both protesting side and the Govt into a blind alley from where the rays of hope appear too slim. There is a need for the Govt to take bold decisions and hold dialogue with PTI and PAT leaders. Some compensation has to be paid for earlier loss of precious time to address the grievances of the protesting groups and the govt should remember that there is no shortcut to bringing the situation normal in Islamabad. Army as we all know is a prestigious institution and it fully supports the democratic system and averts all skepticism of derailing democracy. Such thoughts are ugly in nature and must not be attributed towards pro-democratic Army.

After ISPR press release the govt was badly embarrassed for lying that it was PTI and PAT who requested the Army to mediate. There are few ministers in the govt who are deadly against the army and are in habit of creating misunderstanding off and on. People know them well and some of them after this humiliation made another attempt and tried to create a feeling that the army sent a message to Imran Khan through Sheikh Rashid to join PAT leadership for marching towards PM House which was totally baseless. Javed Hashmi must be feeling alienated in PTI as perhaps competitors like Shah Mehmood Qureshi are getting encouraged by Imran Khan. Some media analysts and political leaders like Achakzai and Fazalur Rehman also tend to show their loyalties to top political leadership by mentioning about the possibility of military take over and they do not hesitate in insinuating against Army for its hidden role in present crisis. Such elements have an agenda to spoil civil-military relations. They must be countered assertively.  

It’s high time now that the govt must take the initiative using comprehensive strategy and visionary approach to resolve the issue without using force and avoiding violence. The situation presents serious challenges to the political leadership who must find a political solution with open mind and selfless dexterity. External elements are keenly studying the developments taking place in Pakistan and are preparing wicked schemes to damage Pakistan’s interests. Hence, there is a dire need to end the political standoff and learn how to hold own Army in high esteem.

GEO - Going for a Settlement?

By Ishaal Zehra

Although the Hamid Mir dramatic event is dying down its own death because of inability of people in charge of this act to prove their accusations, but they should not be given an easy escape because this incident has shook all the nook and corners of Pakistan, hurting the feelings of a large number of the Pakistani community not only in cantonment areas of Pakistan but throughout the Pakistani community around the globe. Question must be asked who or what gave confidence to a mere private TV channel, one of the dozens in Pakistan, to launch such a damaging campaign against a premier intelligence agency of the country — the ISI.

Hamid Mir, whose earlier plan was to go to Quetta, changed his plans at the last couple hours and instead came to Karachi. Even Karachi police wasn’t aware of his new plans. Only a couple people in GEO Karachi office in admin were aware, or, the people who forced him to come to Karachi instead Quetta knew that. Instead of blindly accusing Gen Zaheerul Islam, Geo should have done an internal investigation first, if Geo or Mir Shakeel ur Rehman themselves were not involved in this drama.

Agha Iqrar Haroon has been working with national and international media houses for the last 24 years. His tenure as journalists includes 8 years in print media and 16 years in electronic media. He writes: Who knew change of Hamid Mir plan to go to Karachi instead of Quetta? Hamid Mir had a plan to go to Quetta from Islamabad. He changed his plan and travelled to Karachi and from where he was supposed to travel to Quetta. Change of his travel plan was known only by his close circle—mostly Islamabad and Karachi office of Geo Television. This is one the lead for initial investigation in the case of attack on Hamid Mir. It may be mentioned that involvement of Geo staffers also came on surface on the face of Wali Khan Babar case.

A friend of mine opined: if victim (Hamid Mir) has a solid proof, then he has every right to name the culprit no matter if he or she is a President, Prime Minister or a General. Now, it’s up to him to present proof or get punishment for maligning a national institution. No criminal should be allowed to take refuge under sanctity of any institution

Practically all the senior Pakistani journalists/ columnists and anchorpersons, leaving a few who are already well known for their “Foreign Agendas”, have expressed concern over the organized campaign against the security agencies by a section of the media in the name of the attack, saying this is a clear violation of journalistic values and code of conduct.  Human Rights activist Asma Jahangir and prominent media persons like Ayaz Amir, Talat Hussain, Shazeb Khanzada, Haroon Rashid, Mubashir Luqman and all others condemned the GEO channel for its non-serious handling of the issue. None of them said that inquiry should not be done but there are journalistic ethics to report any incident and verification of news with supporting proof should be there before establishing a fact. Interestingly, political parties are also against the way GEO has handled this episode. PMLN, though, apparently joined hands with PTI against GEO’s adventurism but the fact remains that they have not done anything credible to reprimand the doers.

Voice of Journalists say, new revelation in the GEO-ISI saga has come into light and it is alleged that Ansar Abbasi, a reporter of Jang/Geo news, secretly visited PEMRA office to draft the PEMRA notice against Geo. It is the same notice which was sent out to Geo after the Ministry of Defense sent a complaint against the said media house for bringing disrepute to state agencies.

It is alleged that Mr. Abbasi went to PEMRA office on 23rd April night around 2:18 AM and prepared the draft and or helped in drafting the show cause notice which was then sent to Geo. It is alleged that different versions of the drafts were discarded for being strong worded. The final draft version was then approved and sent out to Jang/Geo media house.

If matters are really moving the way they are being reflected then things are fishy inside the government machinery. PMLN government must check the status and take serious notice before the seriousness of the matter checks them instead. Rest assured, Pakistan really knows how to tackle its problems.

Operation Blue Star: Democracy justifies Injustice

by Ishaal Zehra
 

It was fiery June of 1984. There was a large crowd of people in the Holy Shrine gathered to observe the martyrdom day of their Guru Arjun Dev, an event of special significance in the development of Sikh faith. Sikhs from all over the world had travel long distances to become part of this Holy ritual. Many of whom wouldn’t have even thought in their wildest dreams that this could be their last journey. The dark night of June 5th became witness to the beginning of bloody game which ultimately finished off with the assassination of thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children.  Operation Blue Star was the code name given to the dreadful attack launched on the Golden Temple (the holiest Shrine of Sikh community) in June 1984 by the Indian government. Justification for such an odious episode which claimed a huge number of civilian causalities could not have been better than operation for the seizure of militants hiding in the Holy Shrine.

            On June 2nd 1984, Indira Gandhi-led Indian government cloaked a veil of secrecy and horror over the entire northern Indian state of Punjab. A curfew was announced and Indian Punjab came totally under the army control. Telephone lines were cut and all the press reporters were asked to leave. Surrounded by military troops, the State was completely disconnected from rest of the world. Nobody was allowed to enter or leave. Self-proclaimed largest democracy had set the stage for what was to follow; a deliberate, cold-blooded massacre of her own citizens, by the state establishment itself.

            Wikipedia registers that a media blackout was imposed in Punjab before the attack on Golden Temple. The Times reporter Michael Hamlyn reported that journalists were picked up from their hotels in a military bus, taken to the adjoining border of the state of Haryana and "were abandoned there". A group of journalists who later tried to drive into Punjab were stopped at the road block at Punjab border and were threatened to be shot if they proceeded. Indian nationals who worked with the foreign media were also banned. The press criticized these actions by Government as an "obvious attempt to attack the temple without the eyes of foreign press on them".

When all's said and done, the operation started. A variety of army units along with paramilitary forces, led by General Kuldip Singh Brar, surrounded the temple complex on 3 June 1984. Army claims to keep asking the militants to surrender, using the public address system but some people contradict this statement and say no one was informed to come outside the temple. Several hundreds and thousands of Sikhs in the temple were became target of massacre by the Indian army, not even sparing the children. Priceless Sikh artifacts and literature was burnt. An Enormous number of pilgrims were murdered where a majority was mercilessly exterminated. A correspondent of the Associated Press, Brahma Chellaney, the only foreign reporter who managed to stay on in Amritsar, reported that “several” suspected Sikh militants had been shot with their hands tied. Also, no efforts were made to identify the dead. No relative were informed. Hesitant to turn over the bodies, the Indian government cremated them immediately making sure that no autopsies could be performed and no precise body count was made. Perhaps, the exact number of men, women, children and elderly dead by the hands of their own government will never be known.

As if the operation blue star had not inflicted enough misery and destruction to the Sikh community, it was followed by operation wood rose, a mop-up operation spreading the destruction to other Gurdwaras. The Army simultaneously attacked various other Gurdwaras and caused considerable bloodshed. As per Dr.Sangat Singh’s, “The Sikhs in History”, the White paper mentions 42 Gurdwaras, but some accounts mention 74. The army was given powers equal to martial law to clear villages of “militants”. Strict censorship, including a blanket ban against the foreign pressmen entering the state of Punjab, made this army operation earthed for some time. It later transpired that during this operation thousands of Sikhs, overwhelmingly young men, were detained for interrogation and subsequently tortured. According to estimates published by Inderjit Singh Jaijee, approximately 8000 individuals were reported as missing as a result of Army operations during this period. Whereas, Dr.Sangat Singh, Joint Intelligence Committee, claims about 100000 youth had been taken into custody within first four to six weeks of the operation and he adds that many of them were not heard of again. Women were desecrated in various fashions. People wearing turbans were dishonoured and summarily shot at point blank range with their hands tied up at their backs with their turban cloth. The illusion that operation blue star would  brought the Sikhs to heel and that they would be amenable to compromise with the government was completely dispelled. In reality, sullen resentment produced a sense of unity in the unfortunate community.

After the cordon, the misinformation from the state-controlled press continued to propagate. Claims were made and later retracted or proven lies. To set the government record straight, a white paper was issued. Soon after, the government’s own spokesperson conceded that the figures carried in the white paper were grossly under estimated. This particularly destroyed the legitimacy of that white paper. Also, the sequence of events narrated in the government’s white paper were not borne out by the eyewitnesses present in the temple complex during the operation. The causality number clashes between 493 given by Indian Government under civilian/terrorist category to 8,000 by eyewitnesses.

The operation was truly a terror inflicted upon a minority living in a “democratic” state. The government did not keep track when it slaughtered its own people in that fearsome army operation. Indian government still claims that the Operation Woodrose never happened but the cold hard facts presented in Cynthia Mahmood’s book “fighting for faith and nation” negates those claims completely. The Hindustan Times correspondent Chand Joshi alleged that the army units "acted in total anger" and shot down all the suspects rounded up from the temple complex. Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, in Amritsar; Mrs. Gandhi's Last Battle, criticized the Army for burning down the Sikh Reference Library, stating that it did this to destroy the culture of the Sikhs. In The Sikhs of Punjab, Joyce Pettigrew alleges that the army conducted the operation to "suppress the culture, and political will, of a people". Similar accusations of high handedness by the Indian Army and allegations of human rights violations by security forces in Operation Blue Star and subsequent military operations in Punjab have been levelled by Justice V. M. Tarkunde.

Attack on Golden Temple and its follow-up Operation Woodrose, concealed from public eye with great treachery, were two of the most inhumane acts committed by the Indian government. It is not surprising that this legacy of ill-will and bloodshed produced a sense of alienation among the Sikhs. In search of political gain, countless Sikhs were murdered and no one was held accountable. Khushwant Singh (internationally renowned writer), Dr Ganda Singh (eminent historian) and Sadhu Singh Hamderd (editor of Ajit) returned their Padma Bhushan awards in protest. Four months and three weeks after the operations, Indra Gandhi paid the ultimate price for the planning and execution of Operation Blue star and Woodrose. She was shot by her two Sikh body guards. This reaction of the Sikhs should not have come as a surprise, but it did. Four years later these incidents Mrs. Gandhi assassins, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, paid the penalty for their vengeance being hanged to death in Tehar jail. Regrettably, 29 years have passed yet the people behind 1984 massacre and killers of thousands of Sikhs remain unpunished. In fact, the soldiers and generals involved in the operations were presented with gallantry awards, honours, decoration strips and promotions by the then government.

What a shame that in much hyped “secular” India there is one law for Hindu majority and another for Muslims, Christens and Sikhs, who are in minority. Indian government must not forget that India can never achieve the pursuit of national glory unless her minorities feel safe and secure while living there. It is high time that she may act as a true secular state and accord the status as that of Hindus, to all minorities. India must realize that bad beginnings can never have good endings.