The Taliban: To Solve a Problem, You Must First Understand It In the aftermath of the Peshawar APS tragedy there has been much grieving and a great push for action. This is all understandable. We are all shocked, horrified and aggrieved. We feel we’ve had enough. We don’t want something like this to happen again. And we want justice; we want the perpetrators to be held accountable. The government has lifted the ban on capital punishment and many people are asking for the execution and destruction of all terrorists and “Taliban” through force. These knee-jerk reactions seem to be largely motivated by anger, vengefulness and hatred. While these emotions are understandable, they are not the place from where correct action and real solutions are likely to emerge. A real and lasting solution will only come from understanding and knowing deeply what the problem is. This means that for a long term solution, we need to approach the problem with a deep and open curiosity, suspending our loathing and our judgment of the terrorists, militants and Taliban. We cannot understand when we go with presumption and judgment. And what we cannot understand, we cannot hope to fix. If a part of my foot is hurting, it would be stupid of me to just hammer it or chop it off out of anger and frustration. It would be wiser to figure out what the cause of the pain is and address it. If it is incurable and has to be surgically removed to save the rest of the organism, even in that case, it would be wiser to understand the source of the problem so that it does not appear in another part of the body. To understand the terrorists, we have to engage with them and be curious about them – their needs, concerns and problems. We have to be open to serve the communities from where they recruit young people in whichever way it is required – education, economic opportunities, building roads, providing a more beautiful and compassionate understanding of Islam, a forceful shutting down of hate-spreading institutions – it could be any number and combination of initiatives. We will only know what is actually required when we know what people are struggling with before and while they are recruited or drawn to such groups. And what the obstacles are to holding them accountable for terrorist crimes. Who Are The “Taliban”? I profess my almost utter ignorance on the subject. There was a time when this word, originally from the Arabic language, meant students. In the eighties this word referred to the Afghan students in refugee camps. They became a political-military group that took over large parts of Afghanistan in the nineties and were reputed to be violent and retrogressive with a Wahhabi-esque ideology. At that point, they were a relatively homogenous group of Afghan-Pushtun men who could be lumped together under the label “Tabliban”. At that time the word referred to this group of men alone and meant something. By the turn of the century, the word had come to refer to such a diverse array of groups that it has, at least for me, lost all meaning. The “Taliban” now include people of all Pakistani ethnicities as well as Afghans and other nationalities. They seem to range from the hardline brutal TTP and LeJ to small bands of thugs and extortionists operating in different parts of Pakistan. They are reported to receive funding and support from Saudi Arabia, the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, India, USA, and even local people. There are those who call themselves by this label. And there are those who are labeled “Taliban” just because they have beards or turbans or appear to be Pushtun. Given the low credibility of the national and international media and governments, I am not sure what to make of reports and articles that are filled with opinions, presumptions and unverified claims and sources. I don’t know what this word means anymore. I don’t know who these “Taliban” are, what they believe, why they do what they do, how they are organized and funded, how they recruit others to their cause and raise support for their activities. If there are people who can direct me to some credible sources of information on the Taliban, I would be grateful. In the meantime, I will strive to ferret and root out the “Taliban” inside myself – my attachment to divisive and alienating identities, based on ethnicity, nationality, gender, politics, religion, or sect. Before I can hope to deal with the monsters out there, I must deal with the monster *in here* -- so help me God.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 09:53:50 +0000
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