The Deep Roots Of Pakistan’s Extremism

by Bashir Ahmad Gwakh

Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s murder by his security guard was an obvious act of religious extremism and a clear sign that Pakistan has changed little in the more than 80 years since a carpenter killed a Hindu for allegedly publishing a book that insulted the Prophet Muhammad. A country that was founded on the basis of religion remains in a dark morass presided over by insidious, violent ideologies.

Karzai is loving it!

Afghan president Hamid Karzai is loving it. No, not the McDonalds but his post. After his “according to Afghan constitution” decision to hold the presidential election in April, he now accepts that Afghan presidential election should be postponed from to August. However, he won’t step down at the end of his term-May 21st.

BBC quoted him saying, “As long as there is no election, the president will stay in office.” His opponents think otherwise. They believe there should be an interim government.

Afghanistan’s history shows that most Afghan presidents never wanted to leave their post. In fact, Afghan presidents rarely transmit the power. I do not understand why they fall in love with the presidential palace that they never want to exit. Is it fun to rule a country full of mess? Or is there glue on that chair that no one wanted to leave it once they held?

The funniest was when Burahnuddin Rabbani, head of Northern Alliance’s warlords, was famous for taking his presidential chair to wherever he went. He held on to it even after Taliban took over Kabul and 95% of Afghan land.

I do not know why Karzai’s rivals not letting him rule for another five months. I have doubts about their rivalry to our president because if they are really anti-Karzai, they should let him stay in the mess for as long as he wants. I remember of a crazy old woman in our village who would curse people saying, “Be the king of Kabul!”

Talks Between Afghan Officials and Gulbaddin Hikmatyar

“As the Afghan foreign minister meets his US counterpart in Washington, Al-Jazeera has learnt of secret talks between Taliban-linked mediators and Afghan officials, which could lead to wider negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. The deal involves the return to Afghanistan of Gulbadin Hekmatyar, the former prime minister, whose forces fight alongside the Taliban. It involves a complex and delicate round of meetings from the heart of Afghanistan to Dubai, London and Saudi Arabia.” Watch the whole story at the buttom of the page.

I think Taliban, Gulbadin Hikmatyar and all the neglected trouble making groups should be given a chance to participate in political procedures. Hikmatyar’s Hizbe-Islami, one of the dominant Jihadi groups during Afghan-Soviet war, has an immense amount of support among Afghan population. There are no Taliban in Kapisa, Konar, Herat, Farah, Nuristan and Nimroz provinces but these are the Hizbe-Islami fighters who are emerging threat to Afghan, NATO/ISAF and Coalition forces. If Hikmatyar joins the political process it will not only have long term benefits but will put an end to this.

Currently, warlords are majority in Afghan parliament and enjoy brawny power in the government. The questions is if these warlords, who has the same views as Taliban and were the counterparts of Hikmatyar and Mullah Omar-Taliban supreme leader, can be a part of the government why not the Taliban?

An old Afghan proverb says; “Only dialogues (not weapons) solve problems.” I am sure these insurgents will lay down their weapons and join the political process if dealt with care. We have a good experience of having Taliban’s high ranking officials in parliament. They are not sabotaging any democratic process, US agenda or Afghan government. I believe the rest of the Taliban and other factions also deserve a chance for the greater good of our beloved country.

Here is Al-Jazeera's report:

Ashraf Ghani: Karzai is not capable of leadership.

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Dr. Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan former finance minister in Hamid Karzai's government and a possible presidential candidate for up coming election has criticized Karzai for weak leadership and bad management. American educated, Ghani was one of the first few high educated intellectuals who joined post Taliban government and worked in US backed Karzai cabinet. However, after serving for a couple of years as the minister of finance he resigned.

Many Afghans have gathered in Afghanistan and abroad to ask him run for office and he "seriously considered" the suggestion. Now as Karzai is extremely unpopular among Afghans, he is the most qualified person for the job.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria talks to him and other experts on what could be done to counter terrorism and bring back prosperity to Afghanistan.

Britta Peterson: "Afghans must develop a national vision for their country."

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Britta Petersen 42, is the Director of Initiative Free Press (IFP), a non government organization which trains journalists and support freedom of speech. IFP is a partner organization of Mediothek. Mediothek works with journalists, writers, human rights activists, students and teachers to help strengthen civil society structures. I had a little chat with her about Mediotec, IFP and media in Afghanistan.

What does IFP do?

IFP has been doing Media trainings in Afghanistan since 2003 in cooperation with Mediothek. We have been working in Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat, Kunduz, Mazar-e-Sharif and Wardak.

Recently, you have launched a project for journalists on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Tell us about the training of journalists from both sides of Durand line?

We had a workshop on Investigative Journalism in Jalalabad, Nangarhar. 17 journalists from different Pashto speaking provinces of Afghanistan participated and learned about investigative journalism. The workshop ran from 13th to 23th October 2008. Investigative journalism is as necessary as it is a challenge in Afghanistan. Journalists must be able to work professionally if they want to fulfill their duty as watchdogs in a democracy. I believe that we have taken a first step in this direction in Jalalabad.
The workshop was the kick-off event to a program for Pashton journalists from Afghanistan and Pakistan organized jointly by Mediothek Afghanistan and IFP. The aim is to create a network of Pashtu speaking journalists from both sides of the Durand line in order to promote peace and non-violent conflict resolution between the two neighboring countries.
For this purpose, two media centers – one in Jalalabad and one in Peshawar – have been set up. They will host a series of capacity building workshops for journalists throughout 2008 and 2009 as well as regular discussions, round-tables and functions in order to create a bond between the journalists. They also provide facilities such as computers, internet access and a library.
The participants of the first workshop in Jalalabad, who came from the provinces. Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman, Khost and Kandarhar, will be traveling in December to Peshawar to attend a joint seminar with journalist from the tribal areas in Pakistan on “Peace journalism”. The program will be followed by a “Networking” workshop for the two groups as well as additional 17 journalists from Peshawar.
We hope that our project will lead to the establishment of a Pashtu news agency by 2010. We are optimist that we will find the necessary funding and start working on it.

Are these journalists going to have jobs in Mediothek? What next for them?

We hope that the planned news agency for the Pashtun provinces will be self sufficient financially and thus not dependent on donor money. For that is the only way to create long lasting job opportunities.

Many critics accuse Mediothek for lack of local leadership. I mean many believe that the heads of Mediothek’s local offices do not have healthy relations with local journalists, writers and universities. However, the main objective of Mediothek is to develop communication among intellectuals. What do you say about that?

As a foreigner who does not live in Jalalabad, I hardly have insights into the journalism scene in Nangarhar. I also do not consider it my business to get involved in the problems that Afghans have amongst each other. However, if this is the case, it is very unfortunate and I would really ask all the local journalists to make use of the facilities that are provided by the Mediothek Media Centre. If Afghans cannot settle their conflicts among each other, they will always be exploited by the vested interests of foreign powers.

Some believe there are not many professional trainers in Mediothek offices. For example, a student of Nangarhar University told me that the local instructor of Mediothek’s journalism workshop is not Journalism, media or communication graduate, and did not have enough experience or knowledge to teach journalism workshop. Do you have any specific plans to avoid such complains?

I do not know the trainers of the local workshops. The organization of these workshops has the responsibility of the local Mediothek alone and I do not have any information about the trainers or the content.

We have seen in Afghanistan that many NGOs have not been last for too long in Afghanistan due to lack of funds and other problems. For how long Mediothek is going to be there to serve?

The founder of Mediothek, Mr. A. Sultan Karimi has dedicated his entire life to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. He founded Mediothek already in 1992 when he was in exile in Germany and I do not think that he will ever give up his efforts.

As a media person, what is your opinion about the current Media atmosphere in Afghanistan? Problems, concerns, progress, etc.

To start with the positive: Since I first came to Afghanistan in January 2002, Afghan media have made tremendous progress! From almost no media at all, the country now has hundereds of newspapers, TV and radio stations. The young journalists have eagerly participated in all kinds of capacity buildiung offered by international organisations and it really shows in their work. Many jobs have been created in the media sector and journalism today is an attractive career opportunity for young graduates in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately in the last few years, the political conditions for journalists have not improved. On the contrary, as you know, many journalists have been killed, both by Taliban or local commanders who did not like their work. I have enormous respect for these women and men who sacrifized their lives for the free media in Afghanistan and they are the true martyrs. Unfortunately the situation also from the side of the government has worsened as the case of Pervez Khambash shows. The freedom of speech that is granted in the Afghan constitution is not respected and it will take a very long time and much effort in the future to make sure that journalists can keep on reporting the truth about what is going on in this country.

What do you think where Afghanistan is leading? Many believe we do not have a clear direction in future?

The situation is really difficult, for both lack of leadership inside the country and foreign intervention. It needs a totally new generation of politicians to lead Afghanistan into a better future. My hope is on the Youth!
Afghans must develop a national vision for their country based on rationality. The international community must support Afghanistan selflessly and stop playing their own different games.