Yunis Khushi

doi:10.19080/ASM.2018.01.555568

Research Article

Pakistan’s Internal and External Enemies

Yunis Khushi*

International Relations Department, Lahore Garrison University, Pakistan

Submission: March 26, 2018; Published: September 05, 2018

*Corresponding author: Yunis Khushi, Lecturer, International Relations Department, Lahore Garrison University, Lahore, Pakistan, Email: yunisadvocate@gmail.com;yuniskhushi@lgu.edu.pk

How to cite this article: Yunis Khushi. Pakistan’s Internal and External Enemies. Ann Soc Sci Manage Stud. 2018; 1(4): 555568. DOI: 10.19080/ASM.2018.01.555568

Abstract

There are many external and internal pressures on Pakistan, which include: economic dependency, political instability and law and order situation, poor social sector spending, security challenges from India and Afghanistan etc. The external enemies are not able to accept and tolerate the very existence of Pakistan. Afghanistan and India were very angry over the creation of Pakistan, so they have been trying to eliminate Pakistan from day one. USA is unhappy with Pakistan because of Pakistan’s close relations with China. USA has always wanted to have a hegemony over Pakistan to have its presence in the region to monitor China, Iran, Russia, Central Asia States, Afghanistan and India. Jihadi groups are a major security threat for Pakistan. Afghanistan is taking revenge on Pakistan for creating, supporting and funding Afghan Taliban (Pakistani establishment labels them as good Taliban) to destabilize Afghan elected government and have a Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) which is supported by Afghanistan and India for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan are considered bad Taliban by Pakistan, Baluch Liberation Army and other separatist movements are also serious threats for Pakistan. Why does Pakistan have more foes than friends? India and Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy are major hurdle to peace between the both countries. Iran, despite being a Muslim country, has better relations with India than Pakistan because it does not like Pakistan’s close association with Saudi Arabia and because Shia community is being persecuted and eliminated in Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Afghan Policy, Talibanization of Chinese Muslim Province, Taliban’s interference in Central Asian States, export of terrorists to the whole world, Nuclear Pakistan is seen as a major threat to world security. Following are Pakistan’s major internal enemies: Lack of Nationalism, Political Parties, Religious Extremism and Intolerance promoted by Religio-Political Parties, Role of feudal, business and industrial classes. There are going to be terrible implications of the Anti-Pakistan Policies by its foes.

Keywords: Enemies; Political Parties; Feudal; Business; Feudalism; Illiteracy; Sectarianism; Cast system; Tribalism; Religious & social intolerance; Bigotry; Prejudice; Social imbalance; Urbanization; Community

Introduction

Pakistan is at war with itself. This partial civil war is caused due to misadventures of many internal and external forces. All these forces are working on their agendas without worrying about the future of Pakistani people and implications of these deadly agendas on South Asian region and rest of the world. Among the internal forces, religious parties are promoting extremism, jihad and intolerance and preparing Muslim youth for Ghalba-e-Islam (promulgation of Islam in whole world). This job is being done in 2.1 million religious seminaries spread all over Pakistan.

Initially the religious parties were providing Jihadi training to youth in collaboration with those who were heading jihad and providing training to mujahideen and these Mujahideen were being exported to Afghanistan and Kashmir to fight freedom war. But, all this was being done with dollars from CIA via ISI. Net result is that Mujahideen, which were created by CIA and ISI, are now fighting against Americans in Afghanistan, and against Pakistan army in Swat, Waziristan and other tribal areas of Pakistan. Law of nature is working here: a snake charmer rears a baby-snake; the baby-snake grows up and becomes a serpent and swallows/kills the snake charmer, which had reared the baby-snake.

The CIA and ISI are reaping what they had sown. It was a serious mistake on the part of Pakistan to allow the growth of extremist groups like extremist religious parties and to rely on Jihadi groups for tackling Afghan and Kashmir issues. These problems should have been solved through diplomatic efforts and not through use of Jihadi groups. This act of evading diplomatic efforts and reliance on Jihadi efforts has weakened Pakistan on the diplomatic front and has brought it a title of a “troubled child”. But, USA is mainly responsible for turning Pakistan into a “troubled child”, for, the USA constantly supported military dictators and helped these dictators to topple weak elected governments. So, a powerful army continues to control the so-called democratic governments to date. Army should not be blamed alone; poor performance of the corrupt and greedy politicians is also responsible for this situation.

Many analysts believe that United States of America, Israel, India, Afghanistan and Russia are among external forces, which are actively busy to break Pakistan into four different parts. Why are these four countries i.e. USA, Israel, India, Afghanistan and Russia working on the agenda of disintegrating Pakistan? The answer according to many Pakistani analysts is that: USA and Israel fear a nuclear Pakistan. They are afraid that in case some extremist group comes into power in Pakistan, or if a Jihadi group gets hold of nuclear weapons of Pakistan, they will immediately fire them upon USA, its allies, and particularly on Israel and India because all these countries are anti-Islam, and anti-Pakistan. Islamist parties and extremist Muslims often express a desire that “Israel is a cancer of the world so it should be eliminated immediately, and rest of the world should be conquered, and Islam should be promulgated in the whole world”. An unjust support to Israel and India by the USA and rest of the West and delay in solving Kashmir and Palestine Issues has strengthened this view in Islamic world.

Pakistani analysts believe that India is supporting Taliban and other anti-Pakistan terrorists and providing money, ammunition and training through its 18 consulates situated on Pak-Afghan border on Afghan territory. India is also supporting separatist movements of Baluchistan and Sindh. In Baluchistan, India is supporting groups like Baluch Liberation Front and in Sindh it is reportedly supporting Jiay Sind Movement of G.M. Syed and Mohajir Qaumi Movement.

Although a few years ago the then Indian Finance Minister Mr. Mukhurjee said in Indian Parliament that Pakistan was created to live forever, and India cannot eliminate it. But, India better prove with its actions that it has sincerely accepted Pakistan as a neighbor with an open and renewed heart. And the best action to prove its sincerity will be suspending its financial and military support to terrorist groups of Pakistan’s Tribal Areas, Baluchistan, and Sindh. India also needs to begin a process of evacuating from Kashmir and solving Kashmir issue according to the wishes of Kashmiri people.

Last but not the least Russia has also been supporting terrorist groups against Pakistan because Russians were taking a revenge on Pakistan. The Russians have not forgotten that Pakistan army had fought Afghan Jihad on behalf of Americans and caused Russian defeat. Whether the grievances of all five states i.e. America, Israel, India, Afghanistan and Russia are justified or unjustified. That is not the point under discussion at this moment. The point that is intended to be highlighted here is: What will these states and their agents i.e. Taliban, Sufi Mohammad, Maulvi Fazalullah, ISIS and several religious and ethnic groups, which are involved in terrorist activities, and target killings in many parts of Pakistan, achieve if, God forbid, they are successful in disintegrating Pakistan? This disintegration will have very serious implications for not only the whole of South Asia, but, for the rest of the world as well, and particularly for USA, Israel, India, Afghanistan and Russia. They will have more enemies from Pakistan and rest of the Islamic world. They will have more Taliban and Jihadi groups form Pakistan and rest of the Islamic world, and these groups will be supporting the Pan Islamic movement, which wants to conquer the whole world and promulgate Islam thereon.

The groups like Jamatul Dawa (formerly Lashkar-e-Tayyabah), Al Qaeda, Hammas, Hezbollah, and numerous other Jihadi groups will have much wider constituencies and followership among Muslims. Religious extremism, intolerance, and terrorism will increase in the Islamic world, and in those states, which have Muslim population. The religious minorities, particularly Christians in Muslim countries and especially in many parts of Pakistan will become more insecure and will be targeted by extremist parties. People other than Muslims will also angered over the destabilization of Pakistan and will join campaigns against enemies of Pakistan. Muslims all over the world will have more anti-US, anti-West, anti-Israel, anti-India, and anti-Russia feelings, and those feelings will be expressed through many more terrorist attacks all over the world, and particularly in the USA, other Western countries, Israel, India, Afghanistan and Russia. So, it is in the own interest of these “anti-Pakistan” states to help Pakistan become stable, both economically as well as politically [1]. A politically, economically, socially, and culturally stable, sound, steady, firm, and secure Pakistan will be beneficial for all those who are trying to disintegrate it. And a situation otherwise will prove to be extremely dangerous for not only those forces, which are working to destabilize Pakistan, but also for rest of the world.

This paper aims to analyze the following questions: Who is Pakistan’s worst internal and external enemies? Which internal and external enemies of Pakistan are deadlier and more dangerous? What are the general perceptions among Pakistani public regarding internal and external enemies of Pakistan? Why are Pakistani ruling powers unable to recognize the seriousness, gravity and deadliness of the internal enemies of Pakistan in particular? Why are the external and internal enemies of Pakistan so active, dedicated and committed to destabilizing Pakistan? Why does Pakistan have more foes than friends? What kind of changes should Pakistan make in its foreign policy for wining over more friends to increase a feeling of being a secure country?

Findings and Analysis

Following are the findings and analysis of the study.

External and Internal Pressures on Pakistan

While discussing the external and internal enemies of Pakistan, a senior analyst says that: “Weak governance and over-reliance on military solutions have contributed to political disorder and an increase of extremism. Al Qaeda forces and their associates stay active on Pakistani region [2]. This connectivity between Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban is one of the principal sources of insecurity in Pakistan. This connectivity leads tom suicide attacks and bomb blasts all over in Pakistan. Pakistan witnessed extra than dozen attacks next to its military, security forces, government officials and civilians. On September 3, 2008, for the first time in 60 years of freedom, Pakistan faced a direct military attack by outside armed forces, other than India [3]. It was a shocking condition for Pakistan’s security and independence [1]. But the external pressures regarding its security have been increased many folds during the past 3 to 4 years with arrival of ISIS. This is such a major threat to integrity of Pakistan that Pakistan Army was forced to set up a separate wing to tackle ISIS.

Who is Pakistan’s Worst External Enemies?

General perception among Pakistani public about external enemies are that USA, India, Israel, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asian States are Pakistan’s worst external enemies.

Internal Enemies

Following are Pakistan’s major internal enemies

Lack of Nationalism: Lack of nationalism gave rise to many internal enemies. Since Pakistani masses were not allowed to become a nation, religious and sectarian, regional and provincial divisions were promoted and a bridari based (caste based) [2] politics was encouraged by politicians, so Pakistanis could never become nation and continued to be a herd of cattle. They are like a family which is terribly divided and is after the throats of one another on bases of religious, sectarian and provincial hatreds.

This is very unfortunate that during the Pakistan Movement, it was said that Muslims need a separate homeland because Hindus were discriminating against Muslims, so far so that Muslims were not allowed to drink water from the pitchers meant for Hindus. Muslims were not allowed by Hindus to enter their homes and especially into their kitchens. In a nutshell, the Muslims were treated as Da’alats, Shudras and untouchables. But after getting a separate homeland, the Muslims began treating religious minorities in the same manner and later to one another as well. For example, Shias are declared by Sunnis as unclean and infidels and befitting to be eliminated.

Political Parties: Majority of political parties have not been sincere to Pakistan and its masses. They have been serving the vested interests of the feudal and industrial classes because these two classes have a control over the political parties of Pakistan. They have never been serious and sincere about the rights of the masses [4]. That is why some critics say that masses were fooled in the name of Islam and democracy and this country was originally and created by the elite classes to protect the rights of the elite classes. These parties have been fooling the masses in the name of Islam and democracy for the past 70 years and they do not have any plans to change their attitudes and political behavior because majority of Pakistani politicians are not statesmen, they are either feudal lords, industrialists, businessmen or elite religious leaders. That is why they are doing politics as a business to make a lot of money.

For example, take the case of Nawaz Sharif. He does not have any political grooming and charisma that is why despite being in politics for the past 35 years, he could not even learn ABC of politics. The man is basically a military baby. He was picked up by Ziaul Haq and adopted as his son [5]. Initially he was appointed Punjab Finance Minister where he bungled enormous funds to build up his industrial empire. He was Punjab Chief Minister for several times and then Pakistan’s Prime Minister for three terms. He enjoyed best of the State facilities to loot this country. He is well known for protecting the rights of the business community of Pakistan. Thus, political parties of Pakistan have never been and will never be sincere in solving problems faced by the Pakistani masses. These problems include: poverty, law and order, religious extremism and terrorism, provision of justice, a quality education and health system, housing, potable water and employment.

The politicians are not interested in solution of these problems because they are the biggest violators of human rights of the masses and a corrupt police system, corrupt judiciary, corrupt education and health system and religious intolerance and terrorism suit the politicians [6]. They want people to suffer in poverty and continue to fight on religious and sectarian basis so that masses never get united to demand their political and economic rights from the corrupt politicians and bureaucracy. In a nutshell, the political parties have always worked against the political and economic interests and rights of the masses of Pakistan.

According to a news report: “Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has said that 70% of crimes in the country will go down if people belonging to ‘militant wings’ of the government and its coalition parties are arrested, as they “are said to be involved in various murder cases”. Speaking to the media in Lahore on Monday, Nawaz mentioned a Supreme Court observation which stated that the parties working in Karachi have militant wings [7]. “If government’s own parties have militant wings, how will they arrest anyone then?” [3].

Religious Extremism and Intolerance Promoted by Religio-Political Parties

This researcher wrote a paper on ISIS in Pakistan: A Critical Analysis of Factors and Implications of ISIS Recruitments and Concept of Jihad-Bil-Nikah [3]. A religiously narrow-minded colleague read the paper and warned this researcher that some extremist group would shoot this researcher and he insisted that there were no Taliban in Pakistan, there were no ISIS recruitments going on in the country and there was no violence and terrorism in the name of Islam and that this researcher was writing papers against Taliban and ISIS just to defame Islam. This was very shocking for this researcher. Yesterday it was reported by national TV channels that a group of terrorists and criminals who were jailed on some criminal charges were recruiting prisoners for ISIS within Karachi Central Jail for the past two years.

It is very unfortunate that many people of Pakistan do not take religious extremism as something bad and serious and a major cause of terrorism. Many consider it part of their faith and the faith does not get completed without extremist attitudes [8-10]. This trend was set by the religious political parties right after the creation of Pakistan. Initially these parties were against the creation of Pakistan and opposed the Pakistan Movement on grounds that the whole world was a home to Muslim Ummah and Ummah did not need a separate homeland. They opposed Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation and labelled him as a Kaffir-e-Azam (instead of Quaid-e-Azam, the greatest leader, they called him the greatest infidel).

After the creation of Pakistan, these parties became in charge of all the religious and ideological affairs of the state and claimed that since Pakistan was created in the name of Islam, so it had to be a theocracy and run under the Islamic laws. They advocated separate slums and uniforms for religious minorities and demanded that Islamic laws on the lines of Saudi Arabia should be implemented in Pakistan. These parties introduced violence in educational institutions. They were so blunt and ruthless that professors of universities who taught theories of Physics were told by the student groups of these religious parties to shut up because they were talking against the teachings of Islam.

These parties have done irreparable damage to the society and culture of Pakistan by promoting bigotry, intolerance, vandalism and gangsterism in the name of Islam. This made religious minorities and women (women form 51 percent of the Pakistani population) extremely insecure. They tried to promote a mindset that religious minorities should either embrace Islam or live in Pakistan as zimmis [1] who are not citizens of an Islamic state. They punished and had been beating boys who talked to girls on the universities campuses. They also insulted and humiliated the College and University heads who opposed the agenda of these parties.

These parties never allowed the Pakistani masses to become a nation and promoted divisions based on religious and sectarianism. This is a dilemma of Pakistani society that the evils they complained of while living with Hindus and demanded a separate homeland for Muslims because it was said that Hindus discriminated against Muslims so far so that a Muslim was not able to drink water from the tap and a pitcher reserved for Hindus. So, to avoid living under the supremacy and subjugation of Hindus, a separate homeland for Muslims was demanded and after getting the homeland, the Muslims began hating and discriminating religious minorities and refused an equal status to their own women folk, and later on they turned their guns towards their own Islamist brothers i.e. Shia and declaring a Shia infidel and killing him was made part of the Islamic faith. This religious and sectarian hatred has killed more than 70,000 people in Pakistan, a number much higher than the casualties in 4 Indo-Pak wars.

Role of feudal, business and Industrial Classes

These three classes have played a major role for political destabilization and economic dependency of Pakistan. They don’t pay taxes yet enjoy all the benefits and best facilities in the country. They do not give any respect and regard to the law of the land. They do not implement labor laws in their industries etc. They do not pay any respect to the human rights and consider the human beings as ants etc. They, with their human rights violations, have turned Pakistan into a very insecure and unsafe country and not a place to live for a gentleman that is why majority of the population of the country is ready to flee for the lands of USA, Europe, Australia and Canada. They have corrupted all the democratic institutions just for their vested interests. That is why all the institutions, except the Army, are working against the interests of the country and its masses. They are so short-sighted that their immediate interests are more important for them as compared to the long-term interests and future and integrity of the country. They have made all the efforts for turning Pakistan into a failed state.

Economic Dependency

Pakistan’s economic dependency upon others is a major problem of the country and gives rise to several other problems, which are Pakistan’s internal and external enemies. Nature has blessed Pakistan with enormous resources, but the selfish, mean and short-sighted political leadership has been constantly looting the country and shifting the looted wealth to Dubai, Europe, Australia and America. The expenditures of the State are much higher than its income. Majority of the feudal lords, industrialists and business class does not pay taxes, but continue to enjoy all the facilities of the State. The annual budgetary deficit compels the governments to borrow money from IMF and World Bank. So far so that the salaries of the government employees cannot be paid if foreign loans are not availed. This dependency does not allow the state to be independent in its decision making and the agenda of the foreign powers must be implemented. Thus, Pakistan cannot function and operate as an independent, sovereign and self-reliant nation because it always depends on others for its economic survival and needs. The selfish and mean political leadership never thought on these lines of making the country a self-reliant state.

Political Instability and Law and Order Situation

While discussing the internal and external enemies of Pakistan, another analyst has commented that: “The entire security scenario changed in Pakistan after 9/11 incident. Now, Pakistan is facing various kinds of threats; both traditional and non-traditional such as extremism, sectarian violence, separatist movements, political and economic instability, terrorism, and feudalism are the traditional internal threats linked with external factors. These activities are going on in different parts of the country. Black Water, CIA, Raw, NDS, KGB and many other security agencies of different states are trying their best to destabilize Pakistan, wherever possible.

FATA is strategically one of the most important parts of the country, where such security breaching activities are happening on daily basis and these agencies have made sound grounds there for their activities. FATA became the source of terrorism in country and proved a haven for terrorists and extremists. These terrorists are continuously challenging the internal security of the state, territorial integrity and are jeopardizing the accomplishment of its national interests. There are also proven evidences of the foreign involvement in these activities. Along with FATA, the terrorist and insurgent activities in Baluchistan are major threats to Pakistan’s National Security. According to the foreign office of Pakistan, the militancy in Baluchistan is gaining support from foreign players especially our Eastern neighbor. Separatist movements in Sind and Baluchistan added by sectarian violence are posing credible threats to Pakistan’s National Security. Particularly, the Sunni-Shia conflict has crossed the threshold and has set the metropolitan cities on fire. Undoubtedly, it is the most hazardous threat and a plague to Pakistan’s integrity after terrorism” [1].

There is no doubt that Shia-Sunni conflict is one of the major internal enemies of the country because 70 per Sunnis and 30 percent Shias are dead against each other and are not ready to tolerate each other. Shia community has to live in a constant fear and their homes and Imambargahs are constantly facing threats of attacks from Sunni extremist terrorist outfits like Sipah-e- Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangavi. Things were not always like this. There was a lot of peace and tolerance between the both communities, but things began getting worse during the Ziaul Haq regime. Saudi Arabia funded Ziaul Haq regime to transform Pakistan into a Sunni Wahabi State. Shias resisted this move. Iran supported Shia community. Iran and Saudi Arabia who were traditional rivals, fought their proxy war on the Pakistani soil. Ziaul Haq allowed the creation of terrorist groups like Sipah-e- Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangavi whose sole aim was to eliminate Shias from Pakistan. Iran began funding Shia terrorist groups like Sipah-e-Mohammed. Shia leadership clearly told Ziaul Haq that they will not allow Pakistan to be transformed into a Sunni Wahabi state on the lines of Saudi Arabia. For this purpose, they formed Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e Fiqah-e-Jafaria [11].

Pakistan has been very unfortunate that it never got a dedicated, committed and sincere leadership after Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan. The political leadership that emerged after the two founders of the nation proved to be very selfish, mean, selfcentered, greedy, lustful and short-sighted. They did not have the capacities and abilities to perceive and grasp the extreme and deadly implications of promoting religious and sectarian intolerance and hatred.

Only Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was an exception. He was committed to transforming Pakistan in a modern socialist state, but he was opposed by the feudal classes and a corrupt bureaucracy. He initiated the nuclear programmed of the country and paid with his life for not rolling back the nuclear programmed despite enormous American pressure. The country has been under military rules for more than 30 years out of its 70 years of history. The politicians turn out to be incompetent, corrupt and are not able to deliver when they come to power. This failure of the politicians gave opportunities to the military generals to interfere and overthrow the civilian governments. The generals claimed that the military had to take over because the politicians brought the country to the brink of destruction, so the military was compelled to take over. The politicians have always claimed that they were about to deliver, and the military generals sabotaged their development plans.

The people of Pakistan are between the devil and the deep sea. When the politicians frustrate them, the people desire for takeover by army and when the oppressive rule of the generals gets prolonged, the people desire for a civilian rule. Generals have also claimed time and again that people of Pakistan are not fit for a democratic rule and they are a people who can be controlled and ruled with the help of a stick only.

Poor Social Sector Spending

According to one analyst, top 10 Enemies of Pakistan are: “1: Feudalism; 2: Illiteracy; 3: Sectarianism; 4: Cast system; 5: Tribalism; 6: Religious & social intolerance; bigotry & prejudice; 7: Social imbalance; 8: Materialistic classification; 9: Nonurbanization; 10: Ignorance of our human & cultural Potential”.

The corruption done by political leadership like Nawaz Sharif and Zardari left country with poor social sector spending which promoted poverty, ignorance, suicides, lack of education, unemployment, health, housing, quality food and clothing and recreational facilities for the youth. This turned them into angry mobs, who were misused by political and religious parties for vandalism against women and religious minorities and many were taken by religious seminaries, who trained them to join Afghan Taliban and Kashmiri Mujahideen and many joined criminal gangs within the country [12]. For example, many youths were misused by MQM to loot and burn Karachi for Bhatta collection. Many youths of Urdu speaking community gave up education and job seeking efforts and joined MQM and collected money for the party and the money was sent to London-based Altaf Hussain, the founder of MQM.

Security Challenges

Three countries i.e. India, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the most unfortunate neighbors, which love to hate and disgust one another. They have been extremely bad neighbors right from the beginning. All three of them have adopted a policy of bleeding the enemy instead of resolving their problems over a cup of tea. India and Afghanistan are collaborating against Pakistan and have reportedly set up a chain of consulates on the Pak-Afghan border to train and infiltrate terrorist groups like TTP (Tehrike- Taliban Pakistan), which has been and continues to carry out terrorist activities within Pakistan.

As far as Pakistan’s policy of using terrorist groups against India and Afghanistan is concerned, this has been beautifully analyzed by a senior analyst Imtiaz Gul. He says that: “It is indeed certain that non-state actors serve as the basic ingredient of Pakistan’s discord, particularly with the United States, India and Afghanistan. Such groups have been operating, at times unhindered within Pakistan, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) alias Jamaatud Dawa and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The Afghan and Pakistani Taliban i.e., the so-called Quetta Shura and the Haqqani network are also striving to end the ‘foreign occupation’ of Afghanistan. Pakistan, or parts of its establishment, believes that front-runners like the LeT and the JeM can keep pricking the Indian security apparatus and keep it at bay as well as bogged down.

The same forces also believe that an alliance with, or tolerance, of all those wedded to the ‘liberation of Afghanistan’ serves the country’s long-term strategic interests. Is Pakistan at fault, or are all the countries wrong in being averse to its policies? Will Pakistan change, or will it enforce a change in how others view it? Will Pakistan’s ‘victimhood at the hands of terrorist forces’ make up for the consternation its ‘duplicity’ is causing across the globe. Will the tolerance and appeasement of these forces continue, which on the surface are perceived as strategic assets, but are agents of medieval obscurantism? Will these forces remain partners in the security business while they abhor and reject music and films as un-Islamic i.e., essentially despise and viciously propagate against a normal way of life? Can they really be partners, when apparently, they can provide the first line of defense but, are proliferating the society with an extremely conservative narrative on life? Aren’t the beasts biting the hands that were feeding them?”

The above analyst has clearly warned that this double game of using terrorist for bleeding the enemies will ultimately make Pakistan pay a heavy price and these terrorist groups will ultimately become a serious security threat for Pakistan itself and it will be extremely difficult for Pakistan to control these terrorist groups. The writer has also warned that most of the international community does not like Pakistan’s policy of raising and support terrorist groups.

Which Internal and External Enemies of Pakistan are Deadlier and More Dangerous?

USA, India and Afghanistan are worst external enemies and religious extremism and jihadi groups, poverty, corruption, political instability and high rate of population growth are the worst internal enemies. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a natural and social scientist has drawn attention to a very serious problem and major threat to the present and future security and integrity of Pakistan. This problem or most serious threat has hardly been seen by most analysts or the public.

“ASK people around you to identify the three greatest threats facing Pakistan. Ordinary people, chatterbox anchors, mullahs, generals and politicians will name everything from corruption, bad governance and religious terrorism, to Indian and American conspiracies, and general moral decay. But few, if any, waste sleep worrying about the country’s exploding population. Some educated people do have misgivings, but they show concern only when prodded. Fortunately, the ultra-religious sorts - which this land is abundantly blessed with - are free from useless doubt. For them more is better. Every newborn, say the ultras, comes with a guaranteed rizq (provision) stamped on its forehead. Now let’s assume, ignoring the visible contrary evidence, that this is correct. Yet there shall remain an impossibly difficult problem even if food and water were to drop miraculously from the skies. Fact: Pakistan will eventually run out of physical space. This is what the law of exponential growth says.”

No sensible person could dare to disagree with the seriousness and gravity of the most threatening and dangerous problem of exploding population of the country, especially in the situation wherein the country is already going through. The country is already going through a very serious economic crises, high unemployment rate, low growth rate, majority of the population does not have potable water, and 60 per cent of the population is living below the poverty line. Thus, a further increase in population will add to the pains of the country and it will have armies of millions of youth without education, skills, jobs, shelter etc. and will be left at the mercy of the jihadi groups like Taliban and ISIS, who have plenty of money to offer jobs to the unemployed youth. This high population growth rate is an atomic bomb for a state, which is already incapable of providing education, health, housing, jobs enough quality and nutritious food and decent living standards to its more than 60 per cent population.

What are the General Perceptions Among Pakistani Public Regarding Internal and External Enemies of Pakistan?

That the external enemies like USA, West, Israel, Afghanistan and India want to wipe Pakistan off the world map and as far as internal enemies are concerned, they are all created and supported by the countries, which are Pakistan’s worst enemies. The internal enemies like religious extremism, jihadi groups, poverty, corruption and political instability are not taken seriously by the public and are taken for granted as part of life. The public, politicians and many of the intelligentsia do not have the capacity and abilities to grasp and perceive the severity, gravity and seriousness of the internal problems/enemies [13].

But this researcher believes that religious extremism, which was intentionally promoted by the feudal classes of Pakistan with the aim that masses should continue to fight among themselves and declare one another as kafirs (infidels) so this could help the ruling elite to loot Pakistani financial resources and grab political power without any hindrance. This deadly game by the ruling elite proved to be very fatal for national development because the masses could never become united as a nation and continued to be a herd of cattle and were herded into different directions by different civilian and military dictators and were fooled in the name of Islam, democracy, roti kapra aur makan (food, clothing and shelter). This slogan was created by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the most popular and the most powerful political leader in 70 years history of the country, Bhutto ousted by military dictator Ziaul Haq on instructions of CIA, was sentenced to death by High Court on a murder charge and was reportedly killed by jail authorities several hours before the time of his hanging).

In view of this research, the division on religious, sectarian, ethnic, caste and provincialism has been the root cause of all the problems of Pakistan. People of Pakistan were never allowed to become a nation, continued to cut one an others’ throats by declaring one another infidels and this paved the way for rampant corruption and loot by the ruling elite. This further gave rise to political instability, poverty, and religious extremism, crimes against women, minorities, children and smaller sects of Muslims.

This researcher is extremely positive that unless Pakistani masses don’t become a nation, unite on class lines instead of caste, color, creed and provincialism, the corrupt politicians and their partners in loot will continue to loot the national wealth, continue to deprive masses of their political, economic and cultural rights, an increase in poverty and ignorance, high population will continue and jihadism and extremism will continue to flourish.

Why are Pakistani Ruling Powers Unable to Recognize the Seriousness, Gravity and Deadliness of the Internal Enemies of Pakistan in Particular?

The internal enemies like poverty, ignorance, religious extremism, terrorism, corruption, lack of nationalism are all created and supported by the ruling elite, these internal enemies suit the ruling elite of Pakistan so they are not interested in eliminating these internal enemies of Pakistan. The Pakistani ruling elite wants these internal enemies to continue to grow and flourish because these problems keep the masses divided and the masses never become united to demand their political and economic rights and this situation gives a free hand to the ruling elite to loot the national wealth without any hindrance.

Also, because most Pakistani politicians do politics as business and not to serve the country. They are not statesmen. They lack capacity to analyze the implications of internal enemies like religious extremism, terrorism, poverty, population growth and ignorance. They are self-centered and extremely shortsighted. They are not able to think beyond their vested interests.

Why are the External and Internal Enemies of Pakistan So Active, Dedicated and Committed to Destabilizing Pakistan?

India

The external enemies are not able to accept and tolerate the very existence of Pakistan. India was very angry over the creation of Pakistan, so it has been trying from day one to eliminate Pakistan.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is taking a revenge on Pakistan for creating, supporting and funding Afghan Taliban (Pakistani establishment labels them as good Taliban) to destabilize Afghan elected government and replace it with a Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Pak-USA, A Love-Hate Relations

USA is unhappy with Pakistan because of Pakistan’s close relations with China. USA has always wanted to have a hegemony over Pakistan to have its presence in the region to monitor China, Iran, Russia, Central Asia States, Afghanistan and India. Pak-US relations are known as a Catholic marriage. A husband and wife though hate each other but are forced to live together and cannot divorce each other because Catholic marital bond is very strong, and divorces are discouraged by the Catholic Church. USA and Pakistan need each other – Pakistan is dependent on USA for its military and economic needs and USA needs Pakistan for its presence in the region.

Jihadi groups

Among the internal enemies, jihadi groups, which are a byproduct of the religious extremism and intolerance in society have become a permanent part of the economy and culture of Pakistan. Jihadism became a well-paid activity and business from the days of Afghan Jihad, which was fought with American dollars, jihadis/Mujahideen from the whole of Muslim world and facilitated and trained by ISI of Pakistan Army. The Arab jihadis/ Mujahideen, after the end of Afghan jihad settled in tribal areas of Pakistan, purchased lands, purchased women and made families. Sitting idle turned out to be very boring for them so they became tools in the hand of foreign secret agencies and turned their guns against Pakistan, the very country which had raised, trained, and accepted them.

TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan)

which is supported by Afghanistan and India for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan are considered bad Taliban by Pakistan.

Baluch Liberation Army and other separatist movements

The lack of political and economic rights to Baluch, Sindhi, Muhajirs (Urdu Speaking) and dominance of Punjabis of all the other provinces is used as an excuse by Baluch, Sindhi and Muhajir separatist movements. They forget that most Punjabis (60 percent) are living below the poverty line and life is being enjoyed only by industrialist, business and feudal classes of all the 5 provinces. All the Punjabis cannot be blamed for usurping the rights of other provinces. The separatist elements (which are supported by foreign elements) must understand that staying together with Pakistan is the only guarantee for their security and future. As smaller states, they will be eaten up by the enemies in only one bite.

Also, the energies being spent by the separatist elements for breaking up Pakistan, should be spent for strengthening Pakistan and for demanding and obtaining rights for the people of all the five provinces from the ruling elite who has denied the masses their political and economic rights. These separatist elements must use their energies positively for promoting unity among all provinces instead of promoting separatism and hatreds.

Why Pakistan has More Foes than Friends?

There are reasons for Pakistan to have so many external and internal enemies.

India and Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy

India is Pakistan’s enemy because it never accepted the creation of Pakistan right from the beginning because the extremist groups of India were angry that their motherland (Bharat mata) had been cut into pieces. Secondly, India has always complained that Pakistan was sending mujahideen to Kashmir. So, Pakistan’s Kashmir policy is despised by many including India. India also sees Pakistan as a permanent threat for itself.

Iran

Iran, despite being a Muslim country, Iran has better relations with India than Pakistan because it does not like Pakistan’s close association with Saudi Arabia and because Shia community is being persecuted and eliminated in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Afghan Policy

Afghanistan never accepted Pakistan right from the beginning. Also, because Afghanistan claims that Pathan (Pashtoon) community and their whole land which forms Khaibarpakhtun Khawa province of Pakistan belongs to Afghanistan and should be part of Afghanistan. There is something seriously wrong with Pakistan’s Afghan policy. There are forces in Pakistan which have been trying to conquer Afghanistan through Taliban and want to have Afghanistan as 5th province of Pakistan. These forces have always wanted to have dominance over Afghanistan through Pashtuns which angers other ethnic groups of Afghanistan.

Talibanization of Chinese Muslim Province

Though China is said to be Pakistan’s best, closest and the most reliable friend, but it is unhappy about Pakistan’s support for Talibanization because Taliban are also said to be supporting separatist movement in Xinxiang, the Muslim majority province of China.

Taliban’s Interference in Central Asian States

Although Pakistan does not have any direct conflict or clash with any of the Central Asian States, but they don’t like Pakistan’s support for Taliban against Uzbek and Tajik groups and because Taliban are interfering in Central Asian States.

Export of Terrorists to the Whole World

World community is unhappy that Pakistan is exporting terrorist to the whole world. Any and every terrorist arrested anywhere in the world is either Pakistani or had been trained in Pakistan.

Nuclear Pakistan seen as a Major threat to World Security

The international community is quite worried about the nuclear weapons of Pakistan because a politically immature and instable country which has plenty of extremist elements is having such deadly weapons. The world has a deep concern that: What if some extremist group comes into power in Pakistan? Such forces would be very much ready and willing to test these weapons against Israel, India, USA and Europe. Japan was number one donor of financial aid to Pakistan, but it has been giving a cold shoulder after the nuclear tests by Pakistan on 28th May in 1998.

The Pakistan military authorities have assured the world community time and again that the nuclear weapons of Pakistan are in very safe hands, but the world community is not ready to trust. The army can have and does have Pan Islamists like Hamid Gul. What if things go into the hands of such elements? Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a renowned physicist and intellectual of Pakistan, in one of his papers mentioned about his encounter with a retired general of Pakistan army. During the conversation in a dinner the said general insisted that India should be eliminated with nuclear weapons. Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy insisted that it could be very dangerous because then India will also eliminate Pakistan. The general said never mind but India should be eliminated. Dr. Hoodbhoy reacted that there were 25 million Muslims in India and they will also die in case Pakistan attacks India. The general said never mind India should be attacked. Dr. Hoodbhoy said that this way both the countries will be destroyed. The general continued to insist that never mind India should be attacked. You see this is the kind of mindset that is quite common which the world community fears.

Implications of the Anti-Pakistan Policies

First, the Pakistanis will not tolerate any such move of destabilizing the country. They will be united against the anti- Pakistan forces. This country is housing and protecting more than 200 million human beings as their motherland, therefore, every Pakistan, regardless of their color, creed, caste etc. will tactagainst any such move. Secondly, despite the fact of adventurism by some of the military generals, Pakistan Army is one of the most professional and patriotic armies of the world and has been and has the full capacities and abilities to protect the country. It is the Pakistan army which has saved and protected the country from anarchism of corrupt politicians, who made all efforts to turn the country into a failed state. These corrupt political leaders can go to any extent for coming and staying in power and obtaining wealth. They have been looting the country and investing the looted wealth in Australia, Dubai, Europe and America. They have not been able to break up the country only because of a strong and well-organized army. In a nutshell, the implications for destabilizing Pakistan will prove to be deadly for the anti-Pakistan forces.

Conclusion

a. Pakistan is facing many internal and external pressures.

b. A major pressure is Economic Dependency of Pakistan on other Super Powers.

c. The internal enemies include: Political Instability and Law and Order Situation, religious extremism and terrorism, poverty, ignorance.

d. Poor Social Sector Spending is giving rise to many other internal and external enemies of Pakistan.

e. The external Security challenges include threats from ndia and Afghanistan.

f. The external enemies are not able to accept and tolerate the very existence of Pakistan.

g. Afghanistan and India were very angry over the creation of Pakistan, so they have been trying from day one to eliminate Pakistan.

h. USA is unhappy with Pakistan because of Pakistan’s close relations with China. USA has always wanted to have a hegemony over Pakistan to have its presence in the region to monitor China, Iran, Russia, Central Asia States, Afghanistan and India.

i. Jihadi groups are a major threat and causing internal as well as external problems for Pakistan.

j. Afghanistan is taking a revenge on Pakistan for creating, supporting and funding Afghan Taliban (Pakistani establishment labels them as good Taliban) to destabilize Afghan elected government and have a Taliban regime in Afghanistan to secure its Western borders.

k. TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) which is supported by Afghanistan and India for carrying out terrorism in Pakistan are considered bad Taliban by Pakistan,

l. Baluch Liberation Army and other separatist movements are also destabilizing Pakistan.

m. India and Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy are creating problems for both countries as well as for Kashmiri people.

n. Iran, despite being a Muslim country, has better relations with India than Pakistan because it does not like Pakistan’s close association with Saudi Arabia and also because Shia community is being persecuted and eliminated in Pakistan.

o. Pakistan has more foes than friends because of its Afghan Policy, Talibanization of Chinese Muslim Province, Taliban’s Interference in Central Asian States, export of terrorists to the whole world, Nuclear Pakistan seen as a major threat to world security and international peace.

p. Following are Pakistan’s major internal enemies: Lack of Nationalism, Political Parties, Religious Extremism and Intolerance promoted by Religio-Political Parties.

q. Role of feudal, business and industrial classes, Implications of the Anti-Pakistan Policies.

Recommendations

a. International powers must support Pakistan to become politically, economically and strategically strong, secure and stable.

b. Since most terrorist activities within Pakistan are carried out by India and Afghanistan, so the world community must play an active role to discourage these two countries to.

c. Persecution of Shias on instructions of Saudi Arabia angered Iran that is why it has better relations with India than Pakistan.

d. Both India and Pakistan must crush their internal extremism and learn to live in peace as good neighbors because that is the key to their secure future.

e. If they continue to fight, their future is going to be very bleak.

f. India must appreciate economic progress of Pakistan.

g. World community and particularly donors who financially support Pakistan must press governments in power to ensure a corruption free economy and accountability.

h. World community and donors must pressurize Pakistani governments to increase social sector spending in the country to eliminate poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, shortage of housing and jobs for the poor.

i. World needs and must support a politically, economically and strategically stronger Pakistan and those internal or external forces which are working to destabilize or disintegrate Pakistan do not understand that the implications will be extremely deadly.

j. World community must pressurize India and Afghanistan to accept sovereignty of Pakistan and refrain from a continuous policy of bleeding Pakistan.

k. Pakistani establishment must revisit and reevaluate and change its Afghan and Kashmir policies and resolve the matters through diplomatic means instead of jihadism.

l. Pakistani establishment must eliminate all extremist groups including good and bad Taliban and promote moderate and enlightened Islam of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and the country should have no place for extremism, intolerance or Talibanization.

m. What kind of changes should Pakistan make in its foreign policy for wining over more friends to increase a feeling of being a secure country? It must revisit and recheck its Afghan and Kashmir policies. It must abolish jihadism at every level. Only state has a right and duty to maintain an arm for the protection and security of the country and no individual and group should be allowed to form and maintain a jihadi group.

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Pakistan’s Internal and External Enemies

Yunis Khushi*

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