Dawn.com invites its readers to debate current affairs in this forum.
The United States’ new Afghanistan policy focuses on targeting Al Qaeda and ensuring that attacks against the West are stopped. As part of the new strategy, the US is planning to engage Taliban militants who have comparatively moderate views and are willing to lay down their arms.
According to US National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones, moderate Taliban include those militants who are willing to participate in the political process ‘without violence and without terror and without causing breaches in the security of either [Pakistan or Afghanistan].’
How would you define a ‘moderate’ Taliban? Is there such a thing as a militant with moderate views? Do you think the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are in a position to distinguish between ‘moderate’ Taliban and more hard-core militants? Does the new US strategy provide an effective framework for thinking about militancy?
Taliban is just a name for the revolution – any similarity to a real person is incidental, BUT remember FREEDOM is just another name for NOTHING LEFT TO LOOSE. Hope your revolutions are soft and the endings happy.
Apply for a green card just in case.
I am disappointed with the views expressed on this forum in support of Taliban. Taliban respresent a clear and present danger to Pakistan’s national security internally. They should only be given one choice but to surrender and all the issues they have be solved by dialogue, no if and buts. I totally disagree with running two justice system of Shariat and modern court system, the shariat should be incorporated into the court systems and let the judges and lawyers decide, it is slow process but atleast judiciary had better idea what they are doing than a no even a metric pass Molanah. If Pakistan does not disarm the Taliban soon enough, the West will not have any problem putting us on state sponsored Terrorism countries. I mean think about it people, Taliban are now attacking state institutions like the Police Academy. This should not be acceptable to any civilized society.
Taliban, in reality – are only moderate.
I have heard people say this over and over; there is just a fraction of them which has taken up arms because the US starting bombing them and killing their families.
I read a UN report back in early 1990’s, It said that Taliban are the most peaceful, honest and peace loving people to ever run a country; it also said something like ‘every country should have the afghani political system’. And it went ahead to give facts about changes is all sectors, the poppy production went down by 98%, theft/burgulary etc went down by 66%.
Again, You cant expect a person with moderate views to even speak with you normally if you kill his family.
To Summer (the NGO woman who brought the flogging incident to light) Please leave Pakistan ASAP. Your life is in danger. I am sure she is aware of that but please leave.
Difference in hues of Talibans are like difference between Trotskites, Leninists and Stalinists. They are same.
Pakistanis as a society, country, its strategists will have to decide sooner or later, whether they can continue this distinction and whether its good for their country.
Regardless of how one looks at the Taliban and judges them, the reality of the situation is that Pakistan is and will be for years at the forefront of the war of ideologies and values being fought.
Pakistanis will continue to be slaughtered almost at will by the Taliban until both the government and business leaders in Pakistan become much more serious about protecting life. Literally every one of the major mass-casualty attacks of late in Pakistan were preventable and many we had intelligence on before they were carried out.
Only one company in Pakistan right now is demonstrating the appropriate level of seriousness when it comes to counterterrorism training, vulnerability assessments, crisis response methodologies and intelligence acquisition. This fact should be unacceptable to the people of Pakistan.
Robert P. Newman, MTS, EPM
President & CEO
W.A.S. Security, Inc.
Global Counterterrorism Services
There is no such thing as good Taliban and bad Taliban therefore there is only one bad Taliban. Hence this Taliban must be eliminated completely before it eats Pakistan. As an Indian, I don’t want the Taliban as my neighbour. We want peacefull and prosporous Pakistan as our neighbour. Period
A term like moderate Taliban does not exist in todays Pakistan. These people are like cancer for our society. You have to make use of extraordinary measures to get rid of these extremists. Islam was not spread by the use of sword. You can not make other people pious muslims by using beheadings but by showing that you are a good human being by your character.
There are no moderate Taliban. Mr Waseem Yonus are you a spokeperson for the taliban? Have you gone to sawt and confirmed the above statement you so easily quoted? There are so many contradictions in the statement’s from all side’s the Taliban, media, provincial government, ngo, witnesses, federal government, political parties. Till now I have 5 different accounts of what happen there and cannot confirm either of them as I have not gone to swat.
The best part is of the taliban first claiming it they did it and then saying it happened 9 months ago by Muslim khan (which makes it a war crime) and then saying the next day no we did not do it when the people outrage came, more he said it’s fake and it’s a conspiracy. Then they say these days that they do not do such acts and they love the country Pakistan. So many white lie’s coming from the same camp what to believe Mr Waseem? After this they come out and say we will do two suicide attack a week, a gift for the protest against them. How can one let the Taliban be the judge, jury and executioner at the same time? When I don’t believe a word coming out of their mouth and see the same feelings for the people of swat. How can one leave people of swat to these animals? My message is NO TO TALIBAN, yes to ISLAM. Quaid-e-azam was neither secular nor a Islamic Fanatic( he never told muslims before independence to take arm’s against the British).
I was reading some of the comments. Although it should not bother me as an Indian. But as a human being I was felt sick reading some of the comments where people were justifying actions of talibans. One writer justified it saying that she was being punished for having an affair with her father-in-law. Can I ask this gentleman that if it is true then why not a similar punishment was given to the man.
Guys religion is meant not to bind people. It is to free your soul and mind.
Who appointed these so called tarecakers of the society to take these types of actions? Who says that Allah or God will accept these things.
My brothers and sisters in Pakistan, wake up before it is too late and this fire burns down your own house.
and for god sake dont try to make my comments an India- pakistan issue.
It’s people like Waseem Younus who promote this kind of extremist behavior. Who, in their right mind, thinks that it is acceptable for someone to get flogged for something that shouldn’t be a crime in the first place? Adultery or not, the girl did not deserve this kind of treatment. The Taleban do NOT have a legitimate demand. No one asked for their hands to be amputated or be flogged for crimes. We, the people of Pakistan, do NOT want this system in our country. There is no such thing as moderate Taleban. What the Taleban preach and desire is unacceptable to us. No one is their right mind could possibly ask for what these people want. How can we consider them moderate?
I think there is no such thing as good or bad Taliban just as there were no good or bad Nazis. If Pakistan keeps on appeasing them they will become bigger monsters and drive Pakistan into poverty as they are anti progress and anti women. But is good to see that some section of Pakistani middle class is realizing this and resisting Talibanization of Pakistan
We should also look in the causes of militancy in nations e.g sri lanka Tigers, India sing privour, etc.
The reason for Muslim militancy is that Muslims are being killed indiscriminatly in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya, china, burma,etc. The worse kind of terrorism is occupation of a nation.
we should promote love.
I think the taliban have a legitimate demand. since pakistan is an islamic state they want the shariat to be implemented. what is wrong with such a demand? and why are all you people so concerned for that flogged girl? she was allegedly having an affair with her father in law so she was punished as per the law. i dont see how you people can ignore her actions unless this kind of thing goes on in your families as well.
Categorising Taliban into different grades like Good, Moderate or Bad is depended upon from where you are looking at them as well as when are you looking at them. When you look from Pakistan, the Omar brand, Hekmatyar brand or Haquani brand will fall in the Good category. From the US point of view they are Bad ones. Similarly Baitulla brand is pretty Bad ones from Pakistan’s point of view. But US is not really bothered. Again these Taliban or rather their forefathers the Mujahideen were extremely lovable variety as far US was concerned when they were fighting Soviets. Only after a gap of ten years or so they turned to be bad ones. So everything is relative. There is nothing absolute.
As many readers commented there is no such thing as moderate Taliban.
However, one needs to debate on how Taliban is defining Pakistan in recent years.
I hope you folks read the news recently.
Taliban has now assured that from now onwards there will be two suicide attacks per week.
Moderate Taliban is one who arranges just one suicide attack per month.
oooo i love the deceit and lies that people believe of the MEDIA….the problem is on this website all posh and high class people visit and comment ask the ordinary pathan during the TALIBAN era peace was prevalent…. see look at the other side of the perspective…and as for TALIBAN they are human and you always have black sheep in every society… so not all TALIBAN are equally bad!! i think
A moderate Taliban to me is any Talib (student of Islam) who is willing to remain loyal to the state of Pakistan, its laws and its traditions without serving any “hidden agenda”.
They are most welcome to live next door to me, or perhaps go to a social get-together with me. And yes I am even willing to offer a prayer behind him.
There is no such thing as a MODERATE TALIBAN. A Taliban is and remains one with a lopsided understanding of Islam. Lets get rid of this illusion!
I grew up reading Tagore’s Kabuliwala. Some of you are surely familiar with this tale. There was even a movie made with Balraj Sahani, I think.
This was the picture of Afghans and Pashtuns I have carried for many years. The Taliban phenomenon is foreign to this tale and to the Afghan culture.
When I read that orchards and vineyards, which takes years to mature, are destroyed by the Talibans so that able bodied men will have nothing to do but join the battle, I realised there can be no such thing as a moderate Taliban.
Moderate Taliban are like Moderate Nazis.
Pakistan must recognize the Taliban threat. All those who live in its territory are its citizen. If a nation wants its sovreign rights to be respected, it must accept accountability for violence against other nations practiced from its territory.
You can not have Taliban and AlQaeda getting support from Pakistani state and also complain about foreign troops. Living on U.S aid and constantly abusing them is not good either.
Pakistan seems to expect others to fund it for endless period while it can continue to grow and nurture fundamentalist against multiple countries.
A moderate taliban is like any other moderate human. One that can appreciate the others’ right to co-exist. The taliban in general can be characterized as a socially and chronologically lagging form of existence in relation to the current state of progress and advancement in the world. This sadly is due to the diasporia of war and conflict in the region over the past few decades. The effect on the people has been profound and mentally crippling. A generation of youth grown up in a particular mindset.
There is a picture of the taliban painted in my head. The Swat flogging incident is yet another stroke on the canvas.
Bring to those people enlightenment and then we will see a moderate taliban. There must have been some good in that organization before it was exploited.
Right now the taliban are like cowboys in the wild west parading through small villages and towns in the mountainous area terrorizing and imposing their ideals upon the general public.
What there is a need for is other local stakeholder to be more empowered. This will effectively dilute the outreach of the taliban propaganda. Increased commerce, creation of incentives, empowerment and education cannot be forgotten and need to be advocated for on a daily basis so as to create a sense of urgency which leads towards change.
Change is a buzzword that defines today. like Obama says, change is something we Pakistanis can benefit from boundlessly.
Our strength is our ability to be a leading muslim nation with a global voice. A Pakistan that can serve as an example of the positive side of the religion and culture that we collectively represent as a nation.
I don’t find absolutely any sense in going into this kind of debate. Taliban are simply trying to serve their masters to take charge of territories. There are no premises to talk; by talking, the state has legitimized their activities. The only way is a strong resistance against their designs. Moreover, this resistance must come from the people of Pakistan and not only the corrupt confused state organs…a sad reality. But hope is the only constant! Sanity will eventually win!
I totally agree with Ahmed. There is nothing as a moderate taliban they pressurize to meet their demands and do not accept any one’s views. They have formed an image of Islam and are ready to die for that image. They blame science and the comforts it provides, education for the women is considered as a hineous crime and they prefer it that way. Even their males are uneducated.
I totally agree that the ceasefire is just a smoke screen and they need time to regroup and are constantly settling in Pakistan making it as unsafe and unstable as Afghanistan. They should be kept across the border and I personally think negotiation with them is a waste of time.