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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| MMAâs strange silence on Wana |
| 2004-03-26 |
| EFL and registration required Despite statements by some of its top leaders threatening to take the issue to the streets, the six-party religious alliance, the Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has only announced low-profile protest demonstrations against the army-led operation in Wana in South Waziristan. The army and paramilitary troops are currently engaged in a major operation in the area in a bid to catch some of the most wanted Al Qaeda militants suspected of hiding in the area. By all indications, this is the biggest military engagement within the country since the army was called out in 1974 to quell the Balochistan insurgency. Many people are asking the question of why the MMA is soft-peddling the issue. Indeed, one of the component parties, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, has already accused the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam of Fazlur Rehman and the Jamaâat-e Islami (the two biggest component parties) of not doing enough to protest the issue. However, many political observers believe the religious partiesâ low-profile campaign is a âfixedâ affair. âThere has been no street agitation or a call for a million-march to Islamabad. They never shied from doing that,â says one analyst, who thinks the JUI-F is downplaying the issue to save its government in the NWFP. If this is correct, and many observers think it is, this could also lead to some friction between the JI and JUI-F. Both have stuck together recently because the other component parties have accused them of hijacking the alliance. The past campaigns by the religious parties have been violent. The high watermark of sustained street protest orchestrated by them was the PNA movement of 1977. The movement forced then-premier zulfikar Ali Bhutto to agree to new elections but before the agreement could be formalized, the army struck and took over. The religious parties have also engineered violent demonstrations against the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Strange that they only destabilise civilian governments. This time the response has been weak. The current phase of the Wana operation was launched some two weeks ago but so far the MMA has failed to orchestrate any big demonstration in any city of Pakistan. And while there is criticism galore, there have been no calls. Indeed, the MMA has not even called a meeting of its supreme council to specifically discuss the issue. The JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not cut short his visit abroad and no MMA leader has tried to visit South Waziristan. âIt seems like both the JUI-F and JI want to stay away from the situation and have allowed the army to clean up the foreign mujahideen,â says a leader of the rival faction of JUI-F led by Maulana Sami-ul Haq. âThis is what we called a sell-out.â Sami is just mad because he isnât important enough to get his own payoff. But the most important factor seems to be the MMAâs consideration that it must not create a situation which might force General Pervez Musharraf to change his mind about doffing his uniform. Interestingly, some pro-Musharraf elements have already started asking Musharraf to reconsider his decision. In fact, the PML-Q legislators said in the assembly recently that they would ask the president to not quit f the MMA persists in its opposition to the national security council bill. The leaders of PML-Q and also the MQM are interested that Musharraf continue as the army chief. Technically, Musharraf would require a two-thirds majority if he wants to get out of his commitment to the MMA, which is part of the agreement on the Legal Framework Order passed by the parliament as the 17th amendment. But, say sources, if the situation deteriorates, Musharraf always retains the option of declaring emergency and prolonging himself as the army chief. Insiders say many in the MMA, but especially Qazi Hussain Ahmed want to wait for the new army chief before deciding their next move. Since the percentage of the Pakistani population living in poverty has increased from 25% to 30% in the past 5 years, the Islamists can afford to take things slowly, as theyâll have plenty of new supporters to draw on. No one really knows the toll on both sides since the military has not allowed any journalists to go into the area since the operation began. However, intelligence sources say they believe that most of those who gave shelter to al-Qaeda, were the supporters of the outlawed movement, Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) whose chief Sufi Mohammad is still in jail. Ironically, the presence of such a large number of Al Qaeda members whether they are Arabs or are from Central Asia, contradicts Islamabadâs earlier claims that there was no Al Qaeda network in Pakistan. We havenât heard from the TNSM in a while, I guess the Afghans sold enough Pak Jihadis back to their families that they have been able to reorganise. The TNSM was a rival to the JUI (since the latter participates in infidel democracy), so that might be another reason why Fazl is keeping quiet. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 [Off-topic or abusive comments deleted] |
| Posted by: Anonymous TROLL 2004-03-26 8:49:44 PM |