IT is time for Muslims to understand that justice, tolerance and compassion were practiced by the Prophet (PBUH), not the vicious intolerance that has become a hallmark of extremist groups like the TTA, TTP, TLP and Al-Qaeda. For centuries, there has been a campaign by alien groups obsessed with hatred toward Islam, claiming that this religion was spread through the sword. The unfortunate reality is that these extremists, through their violence and intolerance, are trying to prove this propaganda. Islam spread through the practice of the ideals laid down by our Holy Prophet — his compassion, integrity and justice. When Salahuddin Ayubi captured Jerusalem on October 2, 1187, from the Crusaders, not a single church was destroyed. He offered generous terms and safe passage to Christians who wanted to leave. His humane treatment of non-Muslims earned him the status of a statesman and a respected military general. Madrassa reforms must be strictly enforced, with stress on teaching physics, mathematics and the rule of law alongside fiqh. There is no concept of a paid clergy in Islam. Tolerance for the faith and beliefs of citizens should be visible and practiced. The weaponization of blasphemy laws against members of other faiths and sects must not be tolerated.
It was the intolerance of Hindu supremacists that convinced MAJ that the survival of Muslims required a separate homeland. On August 14, 1947, it was the ingenuity of MAJ and other pioneers of the AIML who succeeded in carving out a separate country where the Muslim majority could live in peace with members of other faiths in a modern, democratic welfare state. Borders were created toward the east and west, separating regions and people who had lived together for centuries. A border was established to the west between Afghanistan and Pakistan, just as another divided Punjab and Sindh. Unfortunately, beneficiaries of illegal smuggling, in nexus with the political and paid elite of this country, tried to project the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan as a soft border, allowing free movement across it. Afghanistan produces almost 80 to 90 percent of the world’s opium and illegal drug smuggling constitutes nearly 11 percent of its GDP. It is a billion-dollar industry patronized by a few who have managed to make inroads into the political structure at the helm.
In 2017, Afghanistan’s former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah admitted that the TTP is based in their country. The US Department of Defence, in its 2019 report, claimed that about 5,000 TTP terrorists are based in Afghanistan. The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, affiliated with Brown University, stated in 2019 that over 23,372 Pakistani civilians and 8,832 security personnel had been killed in terrorist attacks. This total now stands above 90,000. The economic cost from 2000 to 2010 is estimated at $68 billion, while the total loss exceeds $126.79 billion. The enormity and frequency of these TTP attacks should have forged a united stand by all political parties against terrorism. Unfortunately, short-term political gains seem to have shrouded the mindsets of a few political parties. There are many apologists who still harbour goodwill for these terrorists. Worse still is the role of a few within the security establishment and the paid elite for their dubious part in rehabilitating these TTP terrorists in Pakistan and giving them sanctuary on our soil. Those who kill and bomb citizens of Pakistan and our security personnel are criminals who should be prosecuted and given exemplary punishments. Those who portray the Afghan Taliban and their affiliates like the TTP as ideologically committed to Islam and Shariah must confront reality. The Afghans freely align with extremist Hindu supremacists inspired by the RSS ideology, which brands Islam as alien and justifies killing Muslims in India, and with Zionists responsible for the ongoing Palestinian genocide condemned by the ICJ.
Recently, the Afghan Foreign Minister, during his visit to India, even declared IOK an integral part of India, disregarding UN resolutions. This mindset defines Pakistan’s challenge today. Granting such elements any space or freedom within Pakistan undermines state sovereignty, which demands regulated control over cross-border movement. Relaxing passport and visa requirements between Afghanistan and Pakistan under the pretext of shared faith has proven disastrous. Friendship between sovereign neighbours must rest on mutual respect, not misplaced religious sentiment that endangers Pakistan’s security, stability, and territorial integrity.
It would be ideal for Afghanistan and Pakistan to live as good neighbours, harbouring no ill will toward each other’s sovereignty. However, it takes “two to tango.” Pakistan has gone out of its way to help Afghanistan, a landlocked country, with transit trade facilities across its territory for trade with other countries. However, this goodwill gesture has not been honoured. These corridors of transit trade have been abused and now pose a threat to Pakistan and its citizens. There is a long history of alienation because Afghanistan was the sole country that opposed Pakistan’s admission to the UN in 1947. Gestures of goodwill by Pakistan have not been reciprocated. Instead, the brutality and frequency of terrorist attacks from safe sanctuaries in Afghanistan have increased. On December 16, 2014, an attack by six terrorists affiliated with the Afghan-based TTP massacred over 149 people, including 132 innocent students between the ages of 8 and 18 years. This should have been enough to awaken us to the existing ground realities and the cold-blooded hatred they harbour.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
