Fight Taliban Arundhati Roy style

If
you look at Afghanistan, Waziristan, you know, the northeast states of
India and this whole mineral belt that goes from West Bengal through
Jharkhand through Orissa to Chhattisgarh, what’s called the Red Corridor
in India, you know, it’s interesting that the entire thing is a tribal
uprising. In Afghanistan, obviously, it’s taken the form of a radical
Islamist uprising. And here, it’s a radical left uprising. But the
attack is the same. It’s a corporate attack, you know, on these people.
The resistance has taken different forms. – See more at:
http://www.blackstarnews.com/others/extras/interview-arundhati-roy.html#sthash.x2qXMXnZ.dpuf

If
you look at Afghanistan, Waziristan, you know, the northeast states of
India and this whole mineral belt that goes from West Bengal through
Jharkhand through Orissa to Chhattisgarh, what’s called the Red Corridor
in India, you know, it’s interesting that the entire thing is a tribal
uprising. In Afghanistan, obviously, it’s taken the form of a radical
Islamist uprising. And here, it’s a radical left uprising. But the
attack is the same. It’s a corporate attack, you know, on these people.
The resistance has taken different forms. – See more at:
http://www.blackstarnews.com/others/extras/interview-arundhati-roy.html#sthash.x2qXMXnZ.dp
 Comrade Roy taking a break from people’s revolution, at her home in Delhi’s most posh neighborhood (High Security Diplomatic enclave in Chanakyapuri)
“When you say things like, ‘We have to wipe out the
Taliban,’ what does that mean? The Taliban is not a fixed number of people. The
Taliban is an ideology that has sprung out of a history that, you know, America
created anyway…

If you look at Afghanistan, Waziristan, you know,
the northeast states of India and this whole mineral belt that goes from West
Bengal through Jharkhand through Orissa to Chhattisgarh, what’s called the Red
Corridor in India, you know, it’s interesting that the entire thing is a tribal
uprising. In Afghanistan, obviously, it’s taken the form of a radical Islamist
uprising. And here, it’s a radical left uprising. But the attack is the same.
It’s a corporate attack, you know, on these people. The resistance has taken
different forms…
We know from the history of the war on terror that
a military strategy is only making matters worse all over the world. The war on
terror has made the world a more dangerous place. In India, they have been
fighting insurgencies military since 1947 and it has become a more dangerous
place…


In
other words, for any Taliban atrocities, pass the buck on US but
if the local State itself tries to forcibly wrest control from the crazies supposedly created by US, it will be doing a grave injustice- as then these US created crazies (somehow) convert into tribal rebels fighting against Corporate attack. In effect, whatever the course of action you pick- just make sure to blame US, Local state and Corporates for screwing up what otherwise would have been a stateless utopia. War on terror has worked nowhere, goes on Roy. To back her claim, Roy says Indian State’s fight against insurgencies has made India more dangerous (offcourse the official data that says otherwise, is State propaganda and any anectodal evidence that backs the same is no more than middle class delusion). 

PS: Having said that, I do enjoy
Ms Roy’s loquacious diatribes on India’s Hindutva crowd (though she seems OK with some of the  Sharia enthusiasts of Kashmir valley and even trieS to justify 26/11 Mumbai attack)- not as a source of serious analysis but because she tests the boundaries of
freedom of expression in India and at times, just for the heck of it (a welcome break from
right wing nutjobs of India).

Operation in North Waziristan: the end of the beginning?

1. If the aggressive PR operation launched in connection with the latest Waziristan operation is to be believed, the army has finally realized that the bad Taliban are simply intolerable and must be eliminated. They have been beheading soldiers and playing football with their heads for ages, so this realization is not exactly a stroke of genius. But as they say, better late than never.
A few hardcore skeptics continue to doubt that this operation signals any significant change in the age-old policy of playing whack-a-mole with (some) bad jihadis while keeping the good jihadi operation going, but most liberals on my time line seem to find it revolutionary. Who is right?
I am hedging my bets: I support the operation because some particularly nasty people may indeed be eliminated (or at least forced underground), but…I remain doubtful about a serious change of heart about the use of terrorists to kill Afghans or Indians. And barring such a change of heart, new layers of terrorism and violence will arise (and will have to be operated against in turn). I also dont think it will be as clean as is being shown on TV. Innocents will die and unfortunately, may die in rather large numbers.

2. There is no attempt to undermine or discredit the various Taliban front organizations and fellow travelers (JUI-S, Jamat e Islami, right wing of the PTI, etc). There is also no sign of any decisive action against the Lashkar e Jhangvi (the anti-Shia killing machine). And of course, the good Taliban and good Jihadists continue to be on our good side, planning attacks on Afghanistan and rallies in Kashmir..

3. ALL of the above will have to be tackled if Pakistan is to reverse course. That change of course therefore remains a very big IF.

4. We know from history that a small numbers of determined terrorists can maintain a terror campaign for years. So even if this operation represents a genuine change of course, it will not lead to peace in the short term. At best, it may be the “end of the beginning”.

PS: Imran Khan and the PTI have decided to support the operation. This either means its so damn serious that even IK has been scared into changing his mind…. OR that there is less here than meets the eye….Take your pick. I am an optimist, but when IK steps forward to support an operation, one must pause and at least briefly reconsider any optimism one may have felt.
On the other hand, the nephew of the chief justice (employee of a “sensitive agency”) has been kidnapped in Multan. That may indicate that the Islamists find this operation serious even if some observers do not.

Of course, there is always the “long term optimists” view: that this operation (warts and all) should be seen as yet another small step in the continuing march of Pakistan back towards the modern world. In this supposedly optimistic view, the deficiencies and doubts could all be true, but its all part of a greater process. GHQ (and PTI) may not intend to see this operation lead to future operations against good jihadists and shia-killers, but just like they (slowly) moved from garlanding Nek Mohammed to trying to kill his successors, they will also move (after many delays and unnecessary casualties) to target those who are currently their friends or are not yet a priority. .
What do you think?

Zarb-e-Azb: More the things change…

Insanity, Einstein said, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 

Without a comprehensive deradicalisation strategy, dumping of good/bad Taliban dichotomy and a relook at relations with neighbors; it is difficult to understand what this very limited (to bad Taliban based in North Waziristan), much delayed  and crude (How many countries regularly deploy fighter jets to bomb insurgent hideouts in their own territory?) military operation will achieve apart from further alienation of local civilians from State, more reprisal killings of Shias, and violent attacks in  Pakistan’s cities.

Brown Pundits