Study of Pakistan Circa 2008

1. Pakistan
2008
D Ramana

2. Key topics
• Key Events in 2007-2008
• Nazariya-e-Paksitan
• FATA War
• Baloch Civil War
• Pakiban & Terrorist groups
• MQM
• Historical background and Great Game
• Indian Role in Afghanistan
• Mumbai Terrorist Attack
• PPI

3. Key Events in 2007-2008
• Elections in TSP announced
– Return of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto from “exile”
• Gen Kiyani appointed Chief of Army Staff
– President Musharraf doff uniform
• Killing of Benazir Bhutto
• Elections in TSP lead to PPP majority in most of the country
– Geelani sworn as PM
• Resignation of Musharraf as President
• Election of Zardari as President
• Not all ousted Judges restored
• Talibanization of FATA continues
– Reverses by TSP Military
– US starts air and helicopter attacks in FATA region
• Survival of Karzai Govt in Afghanistan in doubt
• Economic Crisis haunts TSP
• Election of Obama in USA
• Mumbai Terrorist Attack

4. Nazariya-e-Pakistan
Ideology of Pakistan
• Slogan first coined by Gen. Sher Ali Khan, Information Minister and former
Chief of Staff of Pakistan Army
• "Pakistan ka matlab kya, La ilaha illallah”
– What does Pakistan mean, there is no God but God!
• Term was hijacked by Maulana Maududi and his party Jamaat –e-Islami(J-e-
I)
• Gen Yahya Khan wanted to crush Benglai Nationalism while JeI included
Sindh and Baloch nationalism.
– Gen. Yahya Khan and Maududi came together and ladi foundations for TSPA
and Deobandi branch of Islam.
• After 1971 Zulifikar Ali Bhutto was forced to Islamize at frantic pace not to
lose space to Islamists.
– The massive defeat in 1971 and the ascendency of J-e-I led to the Army assume
role of “Guardian of Islam.”
• Gen Zia coming to power led to consolidating the N-e-P concept through
wholesale changes to textbooks and complete rewriting of fabricated history
– Deobandi J-e-I and Salafist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supported the
transformation
N-e-P is an attempt to inculcate among the Pakistani masses the
habit of looking at India through the prism of Deobandi variety of Islam

5. N-e-P continued
• The massive defeat in 1971 and secession of East
Pakistan led to a rethink of the idea that Pakistan was
the guardian of Islam
• They wanted to assume a more moderate role of
“Guardian of Islam” in context of Indian Sub-continent as
their existence was under threat at that time and India
was the enemy.
• Fears of further secessions of Sind or Balochistan
• N-e-P was designed as an alternative to the cry “Islam is
in danger” or “Islam khatre main hain!”
• At the very basic level N-e-P is a social re-engineering
similar to Nazi attempts to remake Germany

6. Indian Perception Pakistan
• Two nation theory aka Partition theory
– Hindus and Muslims are two separate nations and
need two states.
• Policy with an eye on Indian Muslim population
• Ignores the various schisms and factions in
Pakistan
– More importantly ignores Pakistani self perception
which is “Not Indian”
• Pakistan was never wanted to be equal to India
but superior to India in every which way
• When Indians say “they are like us only” it
negates the self image of Pakistanis and hurts
There is nothing that Indians can do to assuage the
Pakistani self image at this time

7. Centrifugal forces in TSP

8. Baloch Civil War
• First rumblings due to
annexation in 1948
– Khan of Kalat
• Current Baloch revolt started
over revenue sharing from Sui
Gas fields
• Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti led
the revolt
– Killed in Army action
• Still in progress or slow burn

9. FATA War
• NWFP borders
Afghanistan
• After 911 the Taliban
from Afghanistan
escaped to FATA and
WANA regions and
regrouped
• Pashtuns in NWFP have
joined the Taliban and
are creating a new zone
of influence
• Pakiban are the Taliban
adherents of Pakistani
origin

10. Pakiban
• Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
• Sunni (salafi/wahhabi/Deobandi) Taliban organization, normally opposed to
Berelvis
• Emerged in the FATA areas of NWFP in 2007
• About 40 local Taliban leaders announced the formation of TTP on Dec. 14,
2007 to centralize their command.
• Amir - Baitullah Mehsud (of South Waziristan), appointed by Mullah Omar
• First Naib Amir - Maulana Hafiz Gul Bahadur of North Waziristan.
• Second Naib Emir - Faqir Mohammed of Bajaur
• Spokesperson - Maulvi Umar
• Has a shura (consultative committee) of 40 senior Taliban leaders from the
entire NWFP area (including FATA and Settled Areas)
• Aim:To establish an Emirate, to enforce Sharia, to unite against the NATO
forces in Afghanistan and defeat them just as they did against another
superpower USSR, and do defensive jihad against the Pakistan Army if it
comes in the way.

11. Rise of Pakiban
Two faces of the problem as seen from US news media perception

12. Rise of Pakiban
• Its very clear that the border areas/NWFP (which
was created by Lord Curzon incidentally) are
getting fundamentalized / Talibanised.
• A corridor is being formed with its writ on west
bank of Indus.
• Add to that the recent reports of Karachi and
Talibanization of Sindh all these are portends of
the coming de-facto break up of TSP if not de
jure.

13. Pakiban Civil Wars
• The Bangash tribesmen who are massacring the Shi'a are part of the
Karlani group of tribes, one of whose constituents is the Mehsuds as well.
The Shi'a stand no chance at all, though they are getting Hazara fighters
from Afghanistan.
• Very soon, the Shi'a-Sunni of FATA will engulf Pakistan.
– Recent reports speak of SSP (Sipah Saheba-e-Pakistan, the most militant Sunni
organization) becoming very active in Karachi and in return the Shi'a Sipah-e-
Muhammed (known by various names such as Tehreek Jaffria Pakistan & Islami
Tehreek-e-Pakistan) have become active as well.
• At the same time, another war is also going on in FATA between the
Berelvis and the Deobandi/Wahhabi groups.
– The Sunni Tehreek (ST, a member of Al Qaeda's International Islamic Front, IIF)
has its hands full against many warlords in FATA. That's the problem for the
Taliban and Al Qaeda. They have many warring groups within the fold. Again the
Arabic saying: Me against my brothers, me and my brothers against our father,
me, my brothers and my father against our cousins . . .
A Pasthun is at peace, when he is at war!

14. Sarkari Islamist Group
• Tehreek Islami Lashkar-e-Mohammedi
• Formed in Karachi in February, 2008
• Umbrella organization for SSP (Sipah-e-Sahaba-
e-Pakistan, the mother of all terror outfits), LeT,
JeM and HM.
• Announced promulgation of Shariah throughout
Pakistan.
• Amir: Wajahat alias Sami alias Gulfam alias
Mansoor
– (Arrested in Karachi mid-2008)

15. Terrorist Orgs in TSP
• LeJ (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi) Sunni • Harkat-ul-Ansar(HuA)
Banned Aug 14, 2001 • Jandullah (Army of Allah)
• SM (Sipah Mohammad) Shia Banned • Jundullah
Aug 14, 2001 • Sunni Tehrik
• LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) Sunni
Wahhabi Banned by Pakistan in Jan • Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (Army of
15, 2002. the Prophet's Companions)
• JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed, Army of • Al-Muhajiroun
Mohammed) Banned by Pakistan in • Khudamul Furqan Banned
Jan 15, 2002. • Tanzeem-ul-Ikhwan
• HUM (Harkatul Mujahideen) Sunni • Zafar Group
Deobandi Banned in Nov, 2001 • Tariq-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jaafaaria
• Al-Badr Mujahideen (TNFJ)
• HuJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami)
• HuT (Hizb-ul-Tahrir, "Freedom • Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
Party") Banned Nov 20, 2003 Banned
• TNSM (Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e- • Lashkar-e-Islam
Mohammadi) • Tehreek Islami Lashkar-e-
• HMA (Harkat-ul-Mujahideen-al-Aalmi, Mohammedi
meaning HUM, International) • Islamic Jihad Union (IJU)
• Brigade 313

16. MQM
• Altaf Hussain formed All Pakistan Mohajir Students
Organization (APMSO) in 1978 in Karachi
• Formed Mohajir( Refugee) Quami Movement (MQM) in
1984 in Karachi. Name changed to Muttahida (United)
Quami Movement in 1997 to counter allegations of being a
refugee interests party.
• Allied with Benazir Bhutto’s PPP in 1988
• Crackdown by Pakistan Army in 1992 led to Altaf Hussain’s
exile to London
• MQM represents émigrés from all over India who are tied by
language of Urdu and do not form part of the elite ruling
groups
• MQM is the Kabila (group) that holds Pakistan together and
Karachi is its center
• All others are ethnic groups based on region- Punjabi,
Baloch, Sindhi and Pashtun

17. Historical background
• Ahmed Shah Durrani’s Empire
• British Expansion in Anglo- Punjab Wars
• Great Game concepts
– Buffer States for British India
• Modern Great Game
– Oil, Energy and Geopolitics

18. Ahmed Shah Durrani’s Empire

19. India’s Outer Buffers-Caroe

20. Caroe’s Seven Power Circles

21. Great Game aspects of TSP-I

22. Brezinski’s Grand Chessboard

23. 1948 Situation Map

24. Modern Great Game

25. Natoization of Afghanistan
• US invasion of
Afghanistan after 9/11
• US needed NATO troops
to takeover ISAF while
engaged in Iraq
• NATO and US troops
under constant attack
from Taliban forces
sheltered in FATA/
WANA regions of
Pakistan

26. Economic Crisis
• Since 9/11 US has provided $10B as aid to Pakistan : CSIS study
• Despite all that Pakistan faces an economic crisis due to oil price
rise and collapse of Pakistani rupee
• US, China and KSA have refused bilateral aid and prefer multi-
lateral agencies to aid and restructure Pakistani economy
• IMF Agrees to $7.6 Billion Loan to Pakistan

27. Indian Role in Afghanistan
• India always was interested in Afghanistan
• Before 9/11 supported Ahmed Shah Masood and his
Northern Alliance
• Supported the Hamid Karzai govt with civilian assistance
to rebuild Afghanistan
• Reopened the consulates in Jalalabad, Peshawar and
– Indian Embassy building bombed. Most likely ISI supported
terrorists
• Built the road from Zaranj to Kabul providing the
alternate land route to one controlled by Taliban
• Assistance ~ $1Billion and is the largest amount outside
US.
• Stable Afghanistan is a national security interest of India

28. Western Alternative plans for
Pakistan remapping
• Bernard Lewis
• Ralph Peters
• Pashtun - Durand Line
• Pashtunistan Billboard map

29. Bernard Lewis Plan
• Truncates Pakistan
• Splits Pashtun areas and Baluchistan
• Keeps Sind and Karachi with Pakjab

30. Ralph Peters
• Similar to Bernard Lewis Plan

31. Pashtun Plan-I
• Creates greater Paktunistan including parts of Afghanistan
• Keeps Sindh and West Punjab together

32. New Pashtunistan Billboards
• More realistic as it covers all Pashtun speaking lands
• Even Keeps Sindh and Pakjab together
• Separates Northern Areas of Afghanistan

33. Indian Claim in 1947
• Note the border of greater Punjab is East of Indus and includes Bhawalpur
• Sindh is separate and removes Karachi from Pakjab

34. Most Likely

35. Indian Options For PIP
– Crackdown on terrorism in J&K and SIMI
• Reduces the million mutinies inside India
– UN presence in Afghanistan
• Provides diplomatic cover for Indian troop presence in
Afghanistan
– Independent command in Iraq w/Iraq invitation
• Provides security for rebuilding Iraq and bringing it back to
community of nations
• Presence will reduce the operating space for KSA and TSP
in OIC and Sunni states
– Reduction of ISI as its great game tool
• Reduce numbers as it coincides with US objectives in
Afghanistan
PIP= Peaceful Implosion of Pakistan

36. Indian Perspective
• The loss of Kandahar by Akbar in 1588 was the death blow of the
Mughals as they were finished in less than 150 years after that.
• The frontier areas were allowed to go under Persian influence and led
to the Durranis taking over Afghanistan with severe consequences to
mainland India.
• Ranjit Singh created the buffer state and the English got hold of those
areas after the Anglo-Sikh Wars. Durand line was created after the
Anglo-Afghan wars and formalized the de-facto buffer created due to
Ranjit Singh's efforts.
• To support Pashtun recovery of Durand line will bring the frontier
back to the outer rim of Indian core lands.
• Pashtuns should be shown to recover their lost lands from the
Iranians/Persians. Better yet be satisfied with what they have.
• Another argument is the Sarkari Pashtuns on the eastern side of
Durand lines are the tribes that sided with Aurangazeb and being the
successor state it is India that should look out for them eventually.
Frontier Gandhi's debt has to be repaid. He was let down badly as we
didn’t understand nor had the capability to support him in 1947.

37. Oil Pipelines from Central Asia

38. US Elections and Pakistan
• 2008 US Elections are a key milestone in US-Pak
relations.
• Democrats want to disengage from Iraq and Afghanistan
• Obama Transition team has published position that the
road to Afghanistan is through Pakistan which needs a
settlement with India on Kashmir
– Bruce Reidel, John Podesta Center for American Progress
• Unhelpful as J&K is on its way to normalcy
– Will rejuvenate Pak inspired terrorism in J&K
– Pak is on its way to disintegration and collapse and throwing
Kashmir into the mix is unhelpful to the people of Kashmir.

39. Afghanistan in Pak sights
• The top priority of US for next two administrations will be
war in Afghanistan
– Future of NATO
– Containment strategy towards Russia
– Grand ideas like unilateralism and war as diplomatic tool
• Pakistan has realized that if it chooses it can make
matters worse for the US in Afghanistan
– NATO jugular in Pak grip
• TSP troops in border areas keep the Taliban in check at same time
keeps the US from retaliating
– 75% of all supplies through TSP
– US unwilling and unable to use Russian or Iranian route for
supplies
– More SF ops in borderlands is invitation to future disaster

40. Afghanistan in Pak sights
• US experts Reidel etc suggest that one way to win TSP cooperation is to
make India “settle” Kashmir
– Five different agencies formulate US policy on Afghanistan
• White House, State dept, Pentagon, Central Command and intelligence
• Durand Line and Pak’s Afghan policy
– Eight million Pashtuns straddle the Durand Line
– Past Pak leaders have tried to formalize the Durand line
– Unless Afghanistan formalizes the Durand Line TSP is in jeopardy
– However formalization divides the Pashtuns for ever even after the end of
colonialism
– A new Afghan national Army (134K) will be a check on TSP as it will be mostly
Tajik due to demographics. More Tajiks live in Afghanistan then in Tajikistan.
Just as more Pashtuns live in TSP than in Afghanistan
• Not clear what is driving the US experts
– Aim at keeping India unsettled?
– Aim to keep India from pursuing her Central Asian near abroad/
– Aim to keep India from joining the SCO powers to control Central Asia heartland?
India needs to watch the situation and be ready to counter any
moves

41. Radicalization of TSP society
• If you watch TSP channels one sees that there is a de-facto
separation in the TSP society also.
• What I mean for example, there are two cooking channels on GEO
TV both hosted by women- One is a RAPE type but dressed in
Indian attire, the other is an Islamist with head covered. So they
cater to different segments of the society. The curious thing is they
both make Continental dishes!
• And the music shows have two streams- pop and sufi type. So there
is a fundamental schism underway in TSP on fundamentalist lines
• Regular news reports of schools, beauty shops closed

42. Conclusions
• The rise of Pakiban is erasing the Durand line.
What we are seeing is the gradual failure of two
states- TSP and Afghanistan.
• In Afghanistan elections are slated in 2009. If the
Taliban ensure reduced Pashutn participation it
will lead to a default Northern Alliance Tajik
leadership which will unite all Pashtuns(sarkari
and non-sarkari, Ghilzai and Durrani)) under the
Taliban black flag.
• So any way one looks at it 2009 is critical year
for that area.

43. Prognosis
• A new "northern alliance", with covert material support from Iran and Russia, with
Indian tacit approval & "peaceful" participation on the ground, will likely begin a new &
successful "jehad" against US/NATO forces in Afghanistan. In fact, a long term
US/NATO presence in Afghanistan is probably the last hope of the Pakis to keep their
artificial "country" together.
• But Russian/Iranian supported bleeding of US/NATO forces in Afghanistan will drive
them out in a lot less time than the Soviets held out.
• And in the subsequent obvious conflict between opposing Jihads (Taliban from the
south and new NA from the north), the Taliban will finally bleed to death, putting
Afghanistan squarely in Russian (& Indian) orbit. That should also begin the long
delayed unraveling of the artificial construct otherwise known as Paki satan.
• As usual, and contrary to Paki hi expectations, China will intrude minimally in this
process.
• What matters is that with retreat from Afghanistan, and also from Iraq (foregone
conclusion), US/NATO will find itself in an unusual (for it) defensive mode.
• The consequences for India, while full of cautionary circumstances, will be nothing but
fruitful.

44. Prognosis Continued
• The Pakiban and Taliban phenomenon is really an Islamized Pashtun nationalism at its core. If
one maps the areas in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan it is very obvious that it’s all in the
Pashtun areas. As Paul pointed out first that, the Pahstun has grabbed Islamization as a
substitute for thwarted and suppressed nationalism.
• This phenomenon is not an isolated one in history. Islam provides politico-religious milieu for
suppressed nationalism throughout its history. The first occurrence was the Arab tribes that burst
out into the Middle East the first hundred years after advent of Islam. The next one is the Vandals
of North Africa who were left out of the Roman Christian mission who became Islamized and
swept Spain or Al-Andalus. Then we have the Turks of Central Asia who created the Ottoman
Empire and the Sultanates all over Middle East to India in the medieval period.
• An Islamized Pashtun state will at a minimum straddle the Durand line and could have a zone of
influence till the west bank of Indus. The Tajiks in Afghanistan will seek to merge with their
brethern. and so will the Uzbeks. The Shite Afghans around Herat will have to join Iran for safety.
• However everytime a new Islamic state is established it leads to spillover in its immediate
neighborhood and farther if it gets too powerful. Looking at the past it is possible to predict the
course of spread of such Islamized nationalism- the neighboring states and regions will get the
first impact of the successful wave and it will spend itself in distance and time. So India is in for
the long haul. It is possible to deflect the wave Westwards than to absorb it Eastwards for
historically the Persians were able to subdue the Afghans as the book "History of the Pathans" by
Olaf Caroe shows.
• Karzai and other sarkari Pashtuns will be overwhelmed unless the TSP is taken down massively.
I don’t think the West understands this or hopes to use the wave towards India.

45. Alternate Prognosis
• The new elite in Islamabad must realize, that an ideological
necessity no longer exists for the continuance of military rule
– They need to let the kabila guards go and allow the society to settle
down and be at peace with itself and its neighbors.
• There is also no reason why Balochs, Sindhis and Pashtuns should
not have greater autonomy
– Nazariya-e-Pakistan is not realistic
– Even during the pre-Mughal era the Turks and Afghans fought each
other
• Pakistan must repeal its law declaring Ahmadiyas as non-Muslims,
and give more freedom to Christians and Hindus.
• The new elite should envision a new concept of how Pakistan
should look like in future and abandon the “Not India” vision