The Muslim Wahabi groups are Poised to Devour the Pakistan State

Introduction

Islamic terror groups have many hues and facets. Some of them are nurtured by the Pakistan government, in the fond hope that they will fight India and help wrest Kashmir for Pakistan. This is the bone of contention as after the vivisection of Pakistan in 1971 and creation of Bangladesh with Indian help, Pakistan wants revenge. Kashmir is one place they feel that they have a chance with its Muslim majority Population. Unfortunately the Kashmiri people are reasonably happy with India and do want to join a sectarian society like Pakistan

However terror groups cannot be kept on a leash and the Pakistan policy has boomeranged on it. Another more militant and ruthless Jihadist groups have emerged in Pakistan, who wishes to overthrow the Pakistan government and establish an Islamic caliphate based on the Sharia

Full Grown Terror Movement in Pakistan

 The Pakistan policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound has badly backfired. The Wahhabi groups led by the Pakistan Taliban and Tehreek e Insaf have launched a violent struggle against Pakistan. The Jihadists fueled by the dream of a militant Islamic state, have been attacking airports and Pakistan army posts all over Pakistan. The recent Fedayeen attack on Karachi airport which left 37 dead is a pointer. Incidentally Karachi airport was heavily defended, yet its security was breached.

The Mountainous North West is the Center of Terror

 The North West of Pakistan that includes Waziristan and FATA (Federal Administered Territory) is highly inhospitable land. Spread over inaccessible mountains, this area for centuries has always defied authority. Even the British hold over this area was at best tenuous.  Now this mountainous area on the edge of Pakistan and Afghanistan is the epicenter of the Jihadi movement. Fighters from this area infiltrate to all parts of Pakistan and wreak uncontrollable destruction with Fedayeen attacks and suicide bombers.

The Armed Forces and Police are Suspect

In this fight against terror, the US is urging the Pakistan army to fight and destroy the movement in the mountains. This is easier said than done as the lower ranks of the Pakistan army and the Police have their sympathies with the so called Mujahedeen.

The police is suspect as was seen from the fact that the Punjab governor a liberal man who was against the blasphemy law was shot dead by his own body guard and the trial of the accused could not commence  as no lawyer is available to prosecute the killer who has the halo of a martyr. The sad part is that when this man was brought to court he was  showered with rose petals.

Even in the Pakistan army in one of the recent operations against the Pakistan Taliban, soldiers questioned why they were fighting the Mujahidin, when the real enemy was Hindu India.

The Battle in the North West Frontier

 After the recent brazen attacks on the pillars of Pakistan by the Wahhabi groups, which has shaken the foundations of the Pakistan state, the Government has asked the army to move against the militants in the tribal areas. The army has launched an operation, but it is 10 year too late.

Concept of Strategic Depth

Why did not the Pakistan army launch an operation earlier and snuff out the Taliban when they were relatively weak. This is because a section of the Military and civil establishment thought that the Jihadi groups would give the Pakistan army “strategic depth” to fight India.  It was a most silly notion, but it was championed by some powerful generals and the ISI. They never realized that the terror movement they were nurturing in their backyard would try and devour the Pakistan state itself.

The Future

Realization has at last dawned on the military and political establishment in Pakistan that the bigger danger is from the west. That is the reason that almost 70000, troops have been withdrawn from the Eastern border with India to fight the jihadi movement in the west. It’s a tossup as to what will be the result. The Pakistan army may not win a decisive victory, which eluded even the Americans and earlier the British, who fought in these areas in the 19^th century.

The only course is to make peace with India and concentrate on the movement that wishes to destroy Pakistan. It requires a complete change of strategy and thought and yet it’s unlikely that Pakistan can get away from its India obsession.