Varieties of Taliban?

Benazir’s two varieties of Taliban
By Khalid Hasan
Daily times, November 17, 2006

WASHINGTON: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has once again drawn a line between the good Taliban and the bad Taliban, the former being pre-Al Qaeda, the latter post-Al Qaeda.

In a question-answer interview with Newsweek published this week, she was asked if it was true initially she supported the Taliban when they first came to be formed in Afghanistan. She answered, “When the Taliban first emerged, the United States, Pakistan and many other countries saw them as a force for peace, but soon we became disillusioned. There’s a difference between Taliban with Al Qaeda and Taliban without Al Qaeda. When the first Taliban emerged, there was no Al Qaeda. They were there as Afghans trying to be a political force within Afghanistan. After the overthrow of my government in 1996, they allowed Al Qaeda to set up training camps. At that time, I was leader of the opposition in the Pakistani parliament, and I called upon the government to issue an ultimatum to the Taliban that unless they evicted Al Qaeda, Pakistan would break relations with them. Unfortunately, my calls fell on deaf ears.”

In answer to the question why Osama Bin Laden had not been found, Bhutto replied that elements of the military security apparatus had a lot of sympathy for Bin Laden. Gen Musharraf is relying on the military to find Bin Laden, and it’s simply not going to happen. “What we really need is a change, and I believe that change has to come by going to the civilian option,” she added. As to how she would rate Gen Musharraf’s performance as a partner to the United States in the Bush administration’s fight against terror, she said he took the “right decision” after the events of 9/11 “to stand with the international community to fight terrorism”. However, she would question how effective he had been in eliminating terrorism. “There is a lack of implementation of his decisions in many parts of the country, and we have seen in (recent) years how the Taliban have reorganised themselves, and their goal is to take over Afghanistan once again. The religious parties have gained strength within Pakistan and today control of two of our most important provinces that border Afghanistan. Militant groups that were (once) banned - who were attacking New Delhi, Bombay - are re-emerging and hold peace between India and Pakistan hostage. When I look at the rise of the religious parties, the reorganisation of the Taliban and the persistence of the militant groups, I worry for Pakistan’s future.”

When asked to describe her new alliance with Nawaz Sharif and what her intentions were “going forward”, she answered that she had travelled to Saudi Arabia last year to meet Sharif. She had told him that people inside and outside Pakistan were concerned that both of them spend so much time fighting each other and that if democracy is restored, the two might have another round of “senseless political battles”. She told him that they both needed to send a signal that “we’ve learned our lessons and that next time it will be different”.

Bhutto recalled that the two of them had come up with a Charter of Democracy aimed at creating a political system of checks and balances. She explained, “In Pakistan, politics is a zero-sum game, but we believe that there should be a place within the system for divergent political views. A democratic society will also create tolerance among the young people in Pakistan who are confused by conflicting messages. On the one hand, they hear about the beauty of an accountable, transparent governance system that empowers ordinary people. But their reality is that power flows from the gun. We need to reverse the culture of violence and replace it with a culture of law and tolerance.”

Questioned about Pakistan’s term limits to the prime minister’s office and if she would like to run “in some other capacity”, the PPP chairperson answered, “In the immediate future, my party and the alliance with Mr Sharif are both looking to put an end to the term limits. We feel that it should be left to the people of Pakistan. It’s not like America, where a president is elected and he completes (one or) two terms. Our terms are interrupted, so they don’t really qualify in the American sense of two terms. I am planning to go back to Pakistan to help my party in the next general elections. If that limitation is lifted, I’ll run for prime minister.”