Selective Passages From “Inside Al-Qaeda And The Taliban” by Saleem Shahzad

The vitriolic Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), an underground banned anti-Shiite militant organization, was the first to join the ranks of Al Qaeda’s affiliated structures. LJ is a breakaway faction of the later banned political party Sepah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP. LJ adherents had killed dozens of Shiite clerics and Shiite professionals, and the state had put all its members on the wanted list. After the fall of Taliban they did not have any place to go, and most of them had been hiding in Afghanistan during the Taliban regime. To take advantage of the situation Al Qaeda provided these LJ members with a precise role in the global Jihad. On Al Qaeda’s regrouping in Pakistan’s tribal areas, LJ members were welcomed in South Waziristan and encouraged to support Al Qaeda’s multi-faceted operations in Pakistan. LJ was permitted to continue with its targeted anti-Shiite killings, but some members like Qari Zafar (who was killed in 2010 in North Waziristan), were also used in Al Qaeda operations such as the attack on the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) offices in Lahore. At the same time, other leaders like Qari Hussain were tellingly deputed to raise suicide brigades for Al Qaeda’s anti-US operations. Slowly and gradually this strategy began to work, and brought thousands of new recruits into the Al Qaeda fld. Among them were two well-known brothers, Dr. Akmal Waheed and Dr. Arshad Waheed, who had earlier been affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islam. The two top physicians from the southern port city of Karachi were now linked to Al Qaeda through Jundullah. Dr. Arshad Waheed was later killed in Wana in South Waziristan in a CIA drone strike, and soon afterwards Al Qaeda’s media wing Al Sahab released a documentary on his life and exploits to inspire the younger generation. Subsequently several army officers joined the Al Qaeda cadre (see later in the book).

In July 2010 a spokesperson of Punjabi Taliban (the non-Pashtu speaking section of the Taliban) confirmed that the influence of Dr Arshad and Akmal Waheed had split Pakistan’s largest student organization, Islami Jamiat-e-Talba (IJT), and other organizations, especially those whose members who came from Karachi. Many joined forces with Al Qaeda in North Waziristan. (From Syed Saleem Shahzad’s book Inside Al Qaeda and Taliban)

How To Produce A Terrorist

How To Produce A Terrorist

The sky roared, the thunderous sound was echoing and then there was a loud explosion heard. The air strike caused a ruckus, there was bloodshed everywhere — with 10′s of fatalities and 100′s of wounded. People were shouting, crying — everyone was sad yet full of wrath. A lot of them lost their brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers, sons, daughters in the air strike. The present was full of grief.

This was a usual routine that sometimes Pakistani fighter planes would turn up and bomb the suspected hideouts of the militants and mostly the US led drone attacks sketch a real picture of another hell on earth. God knows how many militants the air strike killed, but what is apparent is that every air strike or drone attack for the purpose of hunting down the militants had never reduced the number of militants, instead it gave birth to the 100′s of more fighters against the state government and Nato, who show their ire against the state government and Nato because they lost their loved ones for no reason. Some of the peaceful people before the strike becomes terrorist after the air strike or drone attack parce que they lost their loved ones and the moxie for retribution intensifies within. How would you satisfy or pacify the people when “you” go on a killing spree of innocent civilians and make them loose their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and other acquaints in the drone attack or airstrike or bomb blast? You killed their beloved ones too, because you never raise the voice against the atrocities and you’re as blamable as the militant’s facilitators and ratifiers.

The ongoing terrorism, I daresay, has always been a bilateral process — and where the chances of peace has been practically deep-six. Subsequently, the battlefront is formed which we see today: you kill our brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, wives, fathers, mothers, husbands and friends etc. — in retaliation we’ll kill yours too. This is a ‘general’ situation, exclusive of the religious hype. This goes on, and we’re majorly loosing innocents day-after-day — the rural innocents in drone attacks and air strikes, the urban innocents in suicide blasts. In a word of one of my American friend: When American army or any army regrets the loss of innocent lives, I ask whose life isn’t innocent? We all are innocent.

Want to know more about how, by and large, the world produces terrorist? One should watch the movie “The Peacemaker”. His only daughter was killed and he went on a rampage to blow the whole city with a nuclear bomb. This is the state of mind of ‘many’ of the suffered ones — furiousness at its peak. Those tagged terrorists of today kill someone else’s loved ones .. and the status quo afloat, under a revision. We ought to find out the root cause of the problems and start rendering the justice to the best we can. Justice is the solution to all problems, and not the war or oppression of any kind.

Innocency Or Hypocrisy?

Of late, I came across the views of many people who don’t like to see or hear even a single word against the dear me dear intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Pakistan Army, simultaneously they’re also endorsing the cause of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and are pretty much browned-off since the verdict has been announced.

In May 2004, the then Interior Minister of Pakistan acknowledged that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui was abducted from Karachi by Pakistani security agencies — that automatically held former president General Musharraf accountable for her miseries by the way.

All I’m unable to understand is the tantrum of those people who are ‘never’ ready to hear a single word against ISI or Pakistan Army, despite the fact that their own responses are no less than the oxymoron — supporting Dr. Aafia on one side and on the other hand supporting those as well who’re actually responsible for Dr. Aafia’s miseries.

What should we call it: a hypocrisy or an innocency?

PS: I say, please, at least denounce the bad moves — be it coming from any one.

A Notorious Winner For Nobel Peace Prize

Obama - Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Obama won the Peace Prize days back, and tomorrow he’s going to visit Norway to receive it in person. The term ‘Peace’ — for which Obama is actually getting the Prize — categorically talks about the absence or nonoccurrence of war. The so-called summa cum laude Peace Prize Obama has won during a time when he’s commanding two ugly wars — Afghanistan and Iraq. Wars are always ugly, besides, the disputed resolutions on war across the globe does substantiate the fact that these wars are supplementally ugly. Is he really worthy of receiving the Peace Prize?

I’m not against the Peace Prize itself, but I was wondering about those 5 members in the panel who unanimously approved Obama’s name for Peace Prize. Were they actually known to the definition of Peace? Or perhaps Obama has won so many hearts and minds and enjoying the warmth of so many of the fans throughout the world after the same intensively hanky panky orations — a traditional weapon of every political leader. But it’s another matter altogether that giving a ‘hope’ for reshaping the world in this 21st century by Obama — the Peace Prize winner — has reached to an ad infinitum end. It is hard to point to a single place where Obama’s ‘sincere’ efforts have actually brought about peace. Obama has done nothing pragmatic to bring peace to any where in the world by even an ane percent. Is there there any?

There’s something for sure I can say that Obama won’t be winning any such phenomenal prize within his country during his stay in office as President. It’s been nearly one year now since Obama took the office and the state of financial and commercial hardship in US is at its peak. Instead of getting better, it deteriorated more. The unemployment rate has touched 17.5% in United States.

The committee of Nobel Peace Prize has made a mockery of the award. Now I understand again, how hard it’s to distinguish the hopes from the achievements — real achievements. Same has been the case with Pakistan, but without a Peace Prize involvement.

Bring Back Jinnah’s Pakistan

A trembling of nation, Pakistan, everyone can see – while dwellers can actually feel it immensely. With the addition of two more blasts yesterday and one blast today in Pakistan, the numbers of such blasts have reached to 223 (two hundred and twenty three) today. The number of deceased have reached to 3,000 while the number of wounded have reached to nearly 8,000. The cold-blooded and hard-hearted Ghairat Brigade has really turned out to be the Ghairat Brigade of Pakistan after facing such a vile chaos. But that’s most certainly a short-run fervency as it always happens.

Who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

Muhammad Ali Jinnah is venerated by many names: Baba-e-Qoum, Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam, Baani-e-Pakistan. But what thunderclaps me is that – from the shores of Arabian sea till the Himalayan range, while everyone knows about the founder of nation, everyone knows about the ideologies of Jinnah, even the uneducated ones learn from the word of mouth – how many practical followers of Jinnah are actually left here in Pakistan?

Who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

There’s a simplified version of Jinnah about the governance of the country, there’s a simplified version of Iqbal about implementing Islam in Pakistan, but there’s not a single staunch political party to resume the cause of Jinnah and Iqbal from where both of them left. Everywhere in Pakistan there’s brouhaha about ideologies. There’s a strong clash of ideologies. Anarchism, democratism, Islamism, Talibanism, this’ism, that’ism – but where is Jinnah’ism and where is Iqbal’ism?

Who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

If there was a man from our history who wouldn’t forsake his principles in politics then that was Jinnah. Where’s the politics of principles today? Principles are desperately seeking the ‘politics’ which is hiding behind the veil of sanctimoniousness. It’s hard to lift the veil and help principles to find the ‘politics’ because the show must go on in a view of fact that watching such matinees have become best leisure time activity of ours and the nights are for peaceful comfy sleeps, so don’t disturb please.

Who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

Jinnah wanted to give minority the status of majority. Concurrently, he sent a word to the people of Pakistan in which he urged about equality and equity, and that the rulers of nation should partake the characteristics of a real leader that Prophet Muhammad SAW taught – characteristics of simplicifty, understanding of the responsibilities entirely. Is there anyone today who resembles Jinnah?

Who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

The one whose obsession with Pakistan – to stand alongside with the Muslims – made him loose his wife and then the daughter – was Jinnah. He doggedly strived for Pakistan, for the rights of Muslims to emancipate them; the Jinnah, who fought the case of Pakistan in Emperor’s Court for years, who was completely obstinate, albeit Gandhi offered him to become the first Prime Minister of India if he stops endeavoring for Pakistan – Jinnah refused it. He had no lust of power. Howbeit, he merely wanted a Pakistan – a separate state for Muslims – free from slavery of Brits and then India. Today’s leaders are substantially afraid of raising one’s voice against the atrocities of their self-appointed superpowers. Whereas, Jinnah always stood for every ‘single’ Muslim who was hit and battered by British Raj before independence.

Who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

To touch the right chord about another greatness of Jinnah, I had a look at the will of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, which says:

All my residuary estate including the corpus that may fall after the lapse of life interests or otherwise to be divided into three parts – and I bequeath one part to Aligarh University – one part to Islamia College Peshawar – and one part to Sindh Madrassa of Karachi.

I ask an additional time, who talks about bringing back Jinnah’s Pakistan today in the middle of the prevailing national turmoil? Any political party here, I ask?

To bring back Jinnah’s Pakistan, we must come out of our shells of idlenes; we must come out on roads – for peaceful protests, with the purpose of exhorting government and admonishing them that Awaam isn’t kipping any longer now. At this decisive phase today, we be forbidden to wait for a wake-up call from our affiliated political parties. Jinnah’s amount of supporters were little than Congress activists but his supporters were sincere. Our amount of supporters may be little, but our supporters should be sincere likewise. We all must get united to do something to bring back Jinnah’s Pakistan while none of the political party is up for broadcasting the ideologies of Jinnah; we must rise against the pseudo democratism, taliban’ism, religion’ism, Musharraf’ism, Nawaz’ism, Altaf’ism, Bhutto’ism, Sindhi’ism, Punjab’ism, Pashtun’ism, Baloch’ism, this’ism and that’ism – and backtrack Pakistan the ideologies of Muhammad Ali Jinnah – and the ideologies of Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

The desire for struggle is in our hearts
We shall now see what strength there is in the boughs of the enemy

سرفروشی کی تمنا اب ہمارے دل میں ہے
دیکھنا ہے زور کتنا بازوئے قاتل میں ہے