U.S. bombings in tribal areas are counterproductive
By Rana Fawad
WASHINGTON: Eminent Pakistani scientist
Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy has
commented that US-NATO bombings in Pakistan area will create
more support for the Taliban instead of doing any good against
war on terrorism.
He was
speaking at the Middle East Institute's event on 'Can the
Taliban Win in Pakistan' on Wednesday.
President Middle East Institute Wendy Chamberlin
introduced Hoodbhoy who is currently serving as chairman and
professor at Physics Department of Quaid-e-Azam University,
Islamabad (Pakistan).
"He holds a Ph. D. in nuclear physics
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the
recipient of the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics, the Baker
Award for Electronics, Faiz Ahmad Faiz Prize for contributions
to education in Pakistan, and the UNESCO 2003 Kalinga Prize for
the popularization of science."
"He
is visiting professor at MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, the
University of Maryland, Stanford Linear Accelerator, and often
lectures at US and European universities and research
laboratories."
Moreover, he is the author of "Islam and Science: Religious
Orthodoxy and the Battle of Rationality" and heads a
Lahore-based nonprofit Mashal Books (that publishes books in
Urdu on social, philosophical, and scientific issues).
He has also produced and directed many documentaries on
political, nuclear, and scientific issues.
The professor is also a member of the Permanent Monitoring Panel
on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists.
Presenting his analysis of the current situation in Pakistan, he
told the audience that despite their extremism, the Taliban drew
sympathy among masses because they were seen as the only
opposing force to the United Sates.
He mentioned that many Taliban leaders were never heard of a few
years ago but now they have influence in areas like South
Waziristan, North Waziristan, Bajur Agency, Mohmand Agency ( in
Federally Administered Tribal Area).
Referring to their strategy, Hoodbhoy explained that one of the
Taliban's motives is to destroy the government apparatus in
those areas and replace it with their own.
He told the audience that barbers in those areas have stopped
shaving beards because they fear they would be punished.
He blamed the government for letting those extremists function
in those areas who now demand the enforcement of the Shari'ah.
He added that even parts like Swat valley, which used to be the
main tourist attraction in Pakistan due to its beauty and peace,
are gripped by violence.
Hoodbhoy commented that right now Pakistanis are caught up in
other issues like economy, Musharraf, deposed judges, etc., and
if attention is not paid the Taliban would try to spread their
influence over the cities as well.
Hoodbhoy, with the help of a picture (which is not being posted
here due to the graphic detail) revealed that the prime victim
of the Taliban atrocities in those areas are the members of the
Shia communities. He added that the Taliban have also threatened
the Christians who now live in fear.
As for the government of Pakistan's role, the professor
commented that the government is confused whether it should
fight the Taliban or negotiate with them.
He pointed out that the army is also demoralized in this
situation and can fight with the Taliban
from a distance only.
In his suggestions, Professor Hoodbhoy was of the view that the
army needed to be retooled and should shift its focus from India
to the Taliban.
Referring to the US role, he warned the US leaders like Barack
Obama not to issue statements carrying
threats of bombing
Pakistan. He commented such statements would made a big impact
in that part of
world and actually draw more support f or the
Taliban.
He suggested the use of force should be allowed only when the US
was dead sure that Osama bin Laden or his associates were at a
certain place.
He criticized the US policy towards Pakistani leaders and
commented the Pakistanis should be allowed to choose their own
leaders instead of making efforts to legitimize Musharraf.
Professor Hoodbhoy pointed out that the Taliban were acting on a
very clever scheme to create schisms among the opponents and the
recent Kabul bombing of the Indian Embassy could be one of their
tactics to ignite hostilities between Pakistan and India.
He added that the deaths of nine Pakistani soldiers by the
US-NATO firing could be another such example, though we don't
know the reality.
With the help of a slide show, the professor illustrated how the
Taliban are inculcating extremism in the children's minds using
alphabets for the beginners in schools.
Responding to a question, the speaker said though cities were
not tribal areas and the Taliban had not gained influence there,
nobody had imagined Peshawar (capital city of NWFP) would be
under their threat.
He informed the audience that the army officers were asked not
to move around in their uniforms.
To another questioned, he replied that the Taliban would not go
away unless a massive effort was not put together to thwart
them.
Replying to
a question about the share of the blame in that region, he
recognized that the US policy during the Afghan-Soviet war
injected extremism with the help of primary
school books taught at the Afghan refugee camps.
Pakistanis opposed to status quo
on Kashmir: survey
By Rana
Fawad
WASHINGTON:
Seventy-one percent of Pakistanis are strongly opposed to an
outcome in which Kashmir remains under Indian control in the
present status whereas only 12 percent Indians declared this
status quo as unacceptable. Fifty-six percent Indians said it
was desirable (26%) or acceptable (29%) whereas for 10 percent
Indians the status quo is tolerable.
These are
the findings of a survey "Pakistani and Indian Public Opinion on
Kashmir and Indo-Pakistan Relations" released on Wednesday at an
event organized by the Center for Strategic and International
Studies.
The
questionnaire was developed by the World Public Opinion.org and
while a face-to-face survey with 1,258 respondents in India was
carried out in two phases by Team CVoter during October and
November in 10 of the largest metropolitan areas. Sampling error
of this size is approximately +/- 2.8 percentage points,
according to the news release.
In
Pakistan, the sample size comprised 907 adults from 19 cities
and survey was conducted by AC Nielson Pakistan between
September 12, and September 28, 2007. Sampling error for this
survey is approximately +/- 3.3 percentage points.
As for the
idea of an Independent Kashmir, 53 percent Pakistanis called it
desirable while 29 percent think it is unacceptable. On the
other hand, 53 percent Indians declared independent Kashmir as
unacceptable.
As for the
joint management (by India and Pakistan)
of Kashmir, 50 percent Pakistanis
and 48 percent Indians opposed
this idea.
The idea of
dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan also got low
approval rating as 52 percent Pakistanis and 42 percent Indians
said it was unacceptable.
Sixty
percent Pakistanis welcomed the notion of Kashmir's annexation
by Pakistan while 61 percent
Indians said it was unacceptable.
Greater
self-rule for Jammu and Kashmir within India is unacceptable to
66 percent Pakistanis while only nine percent Indians said it
was desirable and for 46 percent Indians it is acceptable or
tolerable.
On the
question of the role of the United States, a majority of
Pakistanis (57 percent ) thinks the US primarily takes India's
side while only 19 percent Indians say the US takes Pakistan's
side.
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