Why The Jihadis Prevail

The October 8, 2005, earthquake that killed more than anestimated 100,000 in Pakistan could have been exploited by the military regimeand its chief patron, the US, as an opportunity to heal their moribund image.Thousands of hapless people under the wreckage of their homes could have beenpulled out alive had the huge Pakistan Army come to their aid swiftly. Thousandsof people would not have succumbed to their injuries had the big fleet of the USchoppers parked in the neighbourhood (Afghanistan) flown promptly to transportthem to hospitals. The Army and the US came into action too late – when allhope had died.

The jihadis exploited the opportunity that the Armyand the US missed. The Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) pulled out 450 girls from thewreckage of Garhi Habibullah Secondary School in Hazara, North West FrontierProvince (NWFP). Niaz Akhtar, the school’s watchman told this writer:"There were around 800 children in the school at the time of earthquakeincluding 13 teachers. The first shock flattened the school and the next momentHizb mujahideen were here to rescue the children. The earth was stilltrembling but they were working fearlessly to remove the rubble. They saved 450lives. Around 285 died instantly. Hundreds of Army soldiers around us did notreach to our help."

Hizb has a camp in the neighbourhood at Hasari called the‘Saifullah Khalid Shaheed Camp’, just a few kilometers from Garhi Habibullah.The camp’s chief, Abdul Basit, would not speak to this writer becausepermission had not been taken from the ‘authorities’ — an Inter ServicesIntelligence (ISI) Colonel, according to Basit, whose office was close to thecamp!

Jamatud Dawa (JD, formerly the Lashkar-e-Taiba, LeT) was thefirst jihadi outfit to reach the Margala Tower in Islamabad. Togetherwith civilians, its jihadis used heavy hammers in a bid to pull out thepeople under the rubble. Volunteers complained that Army did not help them."Seventeen people were rescued alive from the Tower – by the volunteersand the British team, RAPID (Rescue & Preparedness in Disasters). Army andPolice acted as spectators," says Kamran Durrani, a volunteer who worked atthe tower continuously for 10 days.

Dawa has the most organized and disciplined setup inMuzaffarabad and Bagh – 350 jihadis connected with wireless phones; 16ambulances and mobile X-ray machines/operation theatres; kitchens to feed 3,000people daily; motorboats to rescue people from inaccessible areas; an orthopedicunit under the supervision of Dr. Amir Aziz (who was arrested after the 9/11 fortreating bin Laden and later acquitted by the Supreme Court).

The Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Al Badr are working under thename of Al Rehmat Trust and Al-Safa Foundation, respectively, in the quake-hitareas. The Jaish has set up two main camps in Haripur and Balakot in NWFP.Its mujahideen walk for miles everyday to provide relief goods to thepeople living on the mountains. The HM has set up a big langar [openkitchen] in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Dawa’s founder Hafiz Saeed has come up with a solid‘rehabilitation strategy’. He plans to build ‘fiber’ schools, houses andmosques in the affected areas and look after all the abandoned and orphanchildren until adulthood. His deputy, Abdur Rehman Makki, claims confidentlythat Pakistan does not need foreign aid. Dawa alone could undertake the entirereconstruction and rehabilitation, provided it is given a free hand by theGovernment. This, he says, is no exaggeration! On Hafiz Saeed’s call, womenwould throw their golden ornaments at him and men will build stacks of currencynotes at his feet.

People in the affected areas are praising the jihadis tothe skies and criticising the Army and the US vehemently. In their opinion, theUS is a selfish friend with a track record of abandoning Pakistan inemergencies. The complaints are widespread and analogies are being drawn fromhistory: just like the Seventh Fleet that never came to ‘rescue’ Dhaka, USchoppers did not arrive on time to rescue the critically injured; the Americansare nobody’s sons, brothers, or friends; they are wedded to their ‘vested’interests alone; the Pakistan Army is to ‘rule’ the people, not to servethem; its officers still wore starched uniforms, ate rich meals and puffedimported cigars when the ordinary people in Muzaffarabad desperately neededfood, water, medicines and shelter.

The intensity of current sentiment against the Army isreminiscent of the hatred that the Bengalis had against it in 1971. Dawa’s jihadishave sought to placate the people by treating them humanely and providingrelief, even as they forbade them from chanting anti-Army slogans.

Even the detractors of the jihadi groups have beenfavourably impressed by their relief work. President Musharraf, BBC, WashingtonPost, CNN, ambassadors of European countries in Islamabad, among others, haveappreciated Jamatud Dawa’s work. More credence was attached to Dawa when ateam of doctors from its ideological enemy – the Agha Khan Foundation –started working in its clinics. At present, international organizations such asICRC, WHO, UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR, Khalsa Aid [a Sikh relief organization] andSingapore Relief Agency are working with Dawa.

The Army’s callousness has disappointed even its mostcommitted supporters. Irfan Siddiqui, a noted Urdu columnist, wrote in the DailyNawa-i-Waqt [October 27, 2005]:

It is ironic that, with the first shocks of October 8, the 7th nuclear power of the world lost heart and started looking at others for help – from tents, lifesaving drugs to small cranes and choppers. The nation starved for 58 years and preferred to stay backward in all spheres of life for the Army. It sacrificed all its resources on the Army so that it could strengthen the country’s defense against a cunning and aggressive enemy [referring to India]. On October 8, the nation came to know that the lashkar [Army] it had been ‘feeding’ for the last 58 years did not have even a dozen helicopters to rescue a handful of its benefactors. The sun had not set on October 8 and each limb of our body had become a beggar. Begging had crept into our eyes. Honorable nations prefer death to begging.

One of the country’s top India-baiters, Siddiquisurprisingly appreciated India. "Nations who have faith in their peoplerefuse foreign aid even when they need it desperately. India is one of them. Itdid so at least on two occasions. Sri Lanka turned down the Israeli aid sayingthat its acceptance could hurt its Muslim population’s sentiments."

Similarly, anti-US sentiments are running very high evenamong the highly educated classes. In Bagh (Pakistan occupied Kashmir), Dr.Shamim Khan (a Pakistan-born British doctor) responded sarcasticaly and withhostility to questions about the US contribution in the relief work: "Weset up an operation theater in a tent. A US Chinook landed here and the theaterdisappeared! This is the Americans’ contribution!" Khan was also upsetabout the Pakistani Government arresting Dr. Amir Aziz at the US behest forallegedly treating bin Laden. Khan remarked: "A doctor can treat anybody.Although, I wish to kill President Bush, but I would still treat him if he comesto me for treatment."

NATO’s presence has further fanned the anti-US sentiment.The jihadis, rightwing and the opposition groups look at NATO’s 1,000soldiers in Muzaffarabad as a threat to Pakistan’s security. They fear thatthese Forces will remain in Pakistan permanently to protect ‘US interests’in the region. A Daily Jasarat [Oct 29, 2005] editorial declaimed:

NATO is a defense alliance of 26 countries. In its 40-year life, it was never seen working as a relief agency. Nothing justifies its presence in Azad Kashmir. It is in Muzaffarabad to make Kashmir a satellite state with the connivance of our rulers. NATO presence will lead us to another December 16 [On December 16, 1971, Pakistan disintegrated. East Pakistan became Bangladesh.] We fear that the rulers have sold our nuclear assets to NATO. We will come to know about it when the water will be above the bridge.

The earthquake will have a far-reaching impact on Pakistanisociety, and has immensely strengthened the jihad-mongers. The JD hasslowly and gradually been emerging as a state within the state, and theearthquake will accelerate this evolution. After providing education and healthfacilities to the poor masses in far-flung areas successfully, Dawa had, justbefore the earthquake, launched a ‘judicial system’ parallel to thestate’s justice system. As is the case with health and education, thePakistani state has failed to provide its citizens quick justice, with courtstaking decades to dispose off simple civil and criminal cases. Taking advantageof the state’s incompetence, Dawa had set up three arbitration courts atHyderabad, Bahawalpur and Muridke. According to Hafiz Saeed, the results ofthese courts were ‘very encouraging’, and he disclosed that partiesapproached these courts voluntarily. Those who came were Dawa’s own people whohad disputes. People had even accepted Dawa’s decisions in murder cases. Thesecourts passed orders in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah [precepts of theholy Prophet].

The day may not be far when the mainstream population wouldalso be condemned to approach Dawa’s courts due to ‘delayed justice’. The jihadisdo have the power to implement their decrees and are not as weak and fragileas civilian Governments. If the Dawa is perceived as providing ‘truejustice’, it will move closer to its agenda to establish a khilafat [caliphate],and a unique phase of Talibanization will commence under the emarat [leadership]of Hafiz Saeed.

The opportunities created by the enormous humanitariandisaster in the wake of the earthquake have been wasted by the state, and the jihadishave seized these with rare intensity and commitment. The reverberations ofthis quake will echo in Pakistan for a long time to come.

Mohammad Shehzad is an Islamabad-based journalist and writer.Courtesy, the South Asia Intelligence Review of the South Asia TerrorismPortal