It appeared to me that my friend was putting a lot of faith – perhaps a little too much – in the store of the outright rejection by the Punjabis and the Sindhis of the stone-age tribalism and barbarism that the Taliban represented. I couldn’t help pointing out to him that the cultural values, social mores, and philosophical syncretism that he thought would act as a bulwark against the spread of radical Islamism were all based on and drew inspiration from the teachings of a long line of great Sufi poets and saints, the last of whom walked these lands some three hundred years ago. Since then there has been neither any ideological and philosophical challenge nor any impelling societal rejection of those who advocate a literalist, if obscurantist and extremely intolerant, interpretation of Islam. I wondered if the Sufi influence was now wearing thin and being replaced by religious dogmatism towards which more and more people in Pakistan seemed to be gravitating.
Despite this, many people think – not just in Pakistan but also in India – that Punjab at least will never accept Talibanisation and will react very violently to the Taliban. But the sooner people disabuse themselves of this notion the better because when the Taliban mount pressure, Punjab will simply capitulate and collaborate. This is so for three reasons: one, the Taliban will not be seeking a ‘no objection certificate’ from Punjab before they impose their version of Islamisation. The acceptance or otherwise of the Punjabis is quite immaterial. Those who resist the Taliban will simply be butchered and the others will fall in line; two, Punjab has no history or culture of resisting invaders and marauders from the North-West. The only Punjabi ruler who fought and defeated the Pakhtuns was Maharaja Ranjit Singh; finally, a huge section of the Punjabi population actually identifies with and subscribes to the Taliban type of Islam. Over the last few decades, Punjab has become more orthodox and fundamentalist. The signs of this tectonic change in Punjabi society can be seen everywhere, only one needs to admit this reality.
" A huge section of the Punjabi population actually identifies with and subscribes to the Taliban type of Islam. Over the last few decades, Punjab has become more orthodox and fundamentalist. The signs of this tectonic change in Punjabi society can be seen everywhere, only one needs to admit this reality".
Adding to the power of the Taliban is the prevarication and ambivalence of the political class on the issue of Islamisation. Not a single politician or political party is willing to stand up and speak in favour of secular laws over Islamic laws. Even members of the only political party to openly oppose the Nizam-e-Adl regulations in Swat – MQM – take the position that as Muslims they are all in favour of Shariah and that their opposition is to the manner in which Islamic laws are sought to be imposed by the Taliban and to an extent the Taliban interpretation of Islamic laws. The irony is that parties like the ANP that claim to be secular have used their secular credentials as a license to accept and even promote Talibanisation and not had to face opprobrium for taking such a retrograde step. What the Pakistani politicians can’t seem to understand is that their failure to take a clear position on the issue of Islamisation effectively lends legitimacy to the stance of the Islamists. After all, if everyone is willing to live under Shariah then the only question that remains to be decided is who will decide the version of Shariah to be imposed. How this question gets answered – through democracy or by force of arms – is altogether another matter.
Even if the people and the politicians were to somehow reject the Taliban, they would have to depend on the Pakistan army to fight and defeat these barbarians. But the army doesn’t seem inclined to fight. Perhaps this is because the rank and file of the army has come around to the view that only the Taliban can ensure an end to the craven subservience of the military top brass and the political establishment to the US. There are also suspicions backed by some evidence that the army is playing a double game on the issue of Taliban. While it makes a show of fighting them, it also appears to be facilitating them and using them to for achieving political and strategic objectives.
Pakistan today resembles the Mughal state in its last days. No one ever imagined that the Mughal state would simply disappear, even though it was losing territory and authority all the time. The Mughal nobility was least bothered with the withering away of the state. The nobles shamelessly indulged in power games to win the favour of the emperor and be appointed the Wazir while foreign invaders were knocking on the door of Delhi. Then it was Delhi, today it is Islamabad. The adversary then were the Pakhtuns led by Ahmed Shah Abdali, today it is the Pakhtuns (and a smattering of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Chechens, Punjabis and others) led by a Taliban confederacy