World safer
by
Javed Hafiz |
Bin Laden has dealt a huge blow to the Pak-US relations
Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted fugitive, is dead and that makes the world safer to some extent, at least psychologically. Osama was highly controversial in life and remains so after death. Osama’s demise was as dramatic as his 54 year-long life. He headed a potent terrorist organisation with international tentacles. Al Qaeda tutored the Taliban in the art of suicide bombing. That the biggest manhunt in recent history would come to a close in a summer resort in Pakistan was surprising, indeed stunning. When the events started unfolding on Monday morning, Arabic satellite channels started calling me for comments. The interviews continued for three days and I had to field some difficult questions.
Osama was never my hero. Indeed this man is responsible for much death and destruction the world over. Due to limitation of space, I shall confine my comments on the deaths, destruction and problems heaped on Pakistan by Al Qaeda. This organisation had made Pakistan its battleground much before 9/11. It opened its account of heinous crimes against Pakistan by attacking the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad in 1995. Ever since, Pakistani attempts to convince Mullah Omer to expel his unwanted guest from Afghanistan proved futile. Centuries-old Pashtun tribal traditions do not allow that the guest, even if a fugitive from law, be denied shelter.
Osama once told his Pakistani interviewer, Hamid Mir, that he could be killed by the Americans but not captured alive. Some fringe political groups in Pakistan and Palestine have tried to eulogise Bin Laden. But did he bring the Palestinian issue any closer to a solution? Those who consider Osama a hero say that he questioned and resisted US hegemony in the Muslim world. But did Osama take the Islamic nations to a position of strength? Had the tragedy of 9/11 been avoided, Afghanistan and Pakistan would have been spared of all this death and destruction. Today the governments in Kabul and Islamabad are more dependent on the United States than they were in 2001. They say a wise foe is better than a foolish friend. In my assessment, Osama was a foolish friend of the Muslim world and very foolish and stubborn, at that.
Osama dealt a grievous blow to the great religion of Islam which considers the murder of an innocent individual as murder of entire humanity. He created a negative image of Muslims in the West. Today, a number of political parties in Europe have adopted anti-immigration policies and Muslims are particular are the focus of their wrath. In Pakistan , over 30,000 persons have been killed in this war, many of them in the prime of their lives. It is indeed ironic that a majority of those killed had nothing to do with this war. It is also ironic that Osama, whose followers live in rather spartan conditions in Afghanistan, Pakistani tribal areas and elsewhere, was himself living a life of comfort at a hill resort, with his family. This unwanted guest of Pakistan has landed us in a very embarrassing situation. Leon Panetta, the CIA chief, says that Pakistan was either complicit or incompetent. The Pakistani leadership, civil and military, will now have to do lot of explaining. Osama, the illegal immigrant to Pakistan , has dealt a huge blow to the Pak-US relations.
This episode has been a tremendous loss of face for Pakistan . Our air force and the intelligence agency, considered to be one of the very best, were caught napping. US will now start looking for Ayman Al Zawahiri and Mullah Umar in Pakistan . Osama has shifted this war to Pakistan . What a betrayal of a nation that once hosted him knowingly and now perhaps unwittingly. The fact that Pakistani authorities had tipped the CIA about this compound first in 2009 and again a couple of months ago may take Pakistan eventually out of the list of allegations. But the perception that Pakistan is a safe haven for terrorists will take lot of time and effort to rub off.
Al Qaeda and Taliban dealt serious and repeated blows to the Pakistani economy. A bulk of the foreign investment has moved away. How many Pakistanis have lost livelihoods due to the senseless acts of these destructive elements? During Osama’s life Al Qaeda had lost much of its strength and appeal. It is now a mere shadow of what it was in yesteryears. The mere fact that, in his will, Osama has told his children not to join Al Qaeda, shows that he was a man of half conviction. How could such a devious character be my hero?
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