The American Television and Print Media have portrayed the Taliban as a group of militants operating in the mountainous area on the border of Pakistan and their conflict as a battle between Islamic terrorists and the America-led Coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Our view has been very different. In our opinion, the Taliban is far more dangerous than a group of militants hiding in caves along the line of control between today’s Afghanistan and Pakistan. We view the Taliban as an organized fighting machine that has established its sway over the province of Pashtunistan (or South Afghanistan) and now looks to take over Pakistan itself.
This is an ethnic battle between the Pashtun and the Panjabi, the repeat of the battles of a thousand years ago, when the organized Pashtuns and Uzbek’s swept down from the mountains of Afghanistan and conquered the plains of Panjab.
We described our views in a series of articles:
– October 4, 2008 – www.cinemarasik.com/2008/10/04/pakistan–beginning-of-the-end-game.aspx
Ms. Rahman went on to say that the Taliban, who are trying to oust the Pakistan government, also had links with their Afghan counterparts and groups operating in Kashmir.
According to an article in the Times of India*, Taliban have been making inroads into the urban areas and cities of Pakistan. The leader of the MQM party (essentially comprised of immigrants from India), Altaf Hussein has made a statement that more than 40,000 Taliban men had infiltrated Karachi, the capital of the southern Sindh province. The article also reported that a number of Taliban posters had been put up in Karachi promising a better government in Sindh. The Pakistani media recently carried reports about the Taliban warning traders in Lahore not to sell “immoral” stuff. These are not border areas. This is the heartland of Pakistan.
As we have argued in our articles, this is a civil war for supremacy of Pakistan by the Pashtuns. They see before them:
- A country without any real leadership,
- Politicians that battle each other for power,
- An economy that is virtually bankrupt,
- A society that has lost all hope and
- An army has does nothing for the country except dream of competing with India.
Their only obstacle is the Panjabi core ruled commanded by the Secular Generals of the Pakistan Army. But, the Panjabi Generals are complacent in their belief that the Taliban is still their vassal and continue to dream of competing with India while moving their personal wealth outside Pakistan.
They should remember that the first acts of the Taliban was to execute the secular leadership of Afghanistan after they took over Kabul.
* Taliban, Qaida trying to take over Pakistan – October 15, 2008 – timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pakistan/Taliban_Qaida_trying_to_take_over_Pakistan/articleshow/3596429.cms
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