[Mr. Haroon Rasheed and Sardar Khan of JI are contesting elections from the constituency of National Assembly 43 and 44 respectively. Haroon Rasheed was also elected in 2002 on the JI ticket when military needed religious parties to help military government. He was providing shelter to the Al-Qaida militants at his house who were wanted at international level. In 2009, during the military operation, 10 Al-Qaida militants from the Arab countries were recovered who were hiding there since many years. His brother and nephew were arrested but brother was released and nephew is still behind the bar to safe him. His house has also been destroyed with many other houses in the Loi Sim area of Bajur. All destroyed houses were not allowed to be reconstructed but Haroon Rasheed’s house has been renovated as a special case.]
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| Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, center, presides the Corps Commander Conference at General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. ( Image courtesy: Inter Services Public Relations Department, Pakistan) |
There have been some
developments during the past two weeks that reveal that in the coming elections
elements of the Taliban and Al-Qaida had been offered seats in the parliament.
Before these developments the security agencies with the help of right wing parties
have also allowed 53 sectarian candidates to contest the elections without
passing through the sword of the articles 62 and 63 of the constitution which
debar any candidate known to be involved in cases of sectarian violence, hate
campaigns or having been charged with murder and killings through sectarian
violence.
The military officials
were remained busy in the Bajur agency, Federally Administered Tribal
Area(FATA), close to Afghan border, to make a deal with the agents of Al-Qaida
for the coming elections. During the time of filing the nomination papers
the Military Commander of the Bajur agency, Brigadier Ghulam Haider, held a
meeting with the local leadership of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) who, in the past had
direct links with the militants of Al-Qaida and master minds of 9/11 and had
provided shelter to them. There are two national assembly seats from the Bajur
agency and these two seats were assured to JI and in return the JI and other
jihadist organization will provide (1) logistic support to those who want to
join Jihadin Afghanistan from Pakistani side and extend ‘melmastia’, the
traditional tribal hospitality, to Mujahideen coming back from Afghanistan; (2)
JI will not oppose any operation in Bajaur but rather support any military
operation in Bajure in future; (3) JI will not oppose but rather help in
constructing the road that connects Afghanistan with Pakistan (The road
connects Chakdara via Munda-Bajaur-Ghakhi Pass-Kunar and Chakdara-Munda-Samar
Bagh-Shahi-bin-Shahi-Asmaar-Kunar)and (4)the arrangement will remain intact
between the two parties until a favourable government in Afghanistan is
installed.
The reasons for such
developments are described as the USA and Allied Forces are leaving Afghanistan
next year so the military has geared up its contacts with those
political-cum-religious parties who could help in furthering the interests of
Pakistan and the military to establish their major share as a stake holder.
The interesting thing
is that when the US and Allied forces entered Afghanistan, the religious
parties in Pakistan were brought into the power in 2002 elections by the then
military dictator, General Musharraf. Now, when these forces are leaving
Afghanistan, there are hectic efforts to bring fundamentalists again into the
power particularly in the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP).
It worth mentioning here
that the May 11 elections are the first ever party-based elections in FATA
history after the political parties order was extended to the tribal belt as
part of reforms to the Frontiers Crimes Regulations (FCR) in 2011.
Mr. Haroon Rasheed and
Sardar Khan of JI are contesting elections from the constituency of National
Assembly 43 and 44 respectively. Haroon Rasheed was also elected in 2002 on the
JI ticket when military needed religious parties to help military government.
He was providing shelter to the Al-Qaida militants at his house who were wanted
at international level. In 2009, during the military operation, 10 Al-Qaida
militants from the Arab countries were recovered who were hiding there since
many years. His brother and nephew were arrested but brother was released and
nephew is still behind the bar to safe him. His house has also been destroyed
with many other houses in the Loi Sim area of Bajur. All destroyed houses were
not allowed to be reconstructed but Haroon Rasheed’s house has been renovated
as a special case.
The JI and its leaders
were involved in providing shelter to Al-Qaida militants. The mastermind of9/11
incident, Mr. Khalid Shiekh Mohammad was arrested from the house of Ahmed Abdul
Qadoos, a leader of JI from Rawalpindi, Punjab, in March 2003 but with the help
of Musharraf government Qadoos was released and no action has been taken
against him. The same was with former provincial mister of KP, Mr. Sirajul Haq,
the president of JI from the province. He handed over one Al-Qaida man to his
friend’s house in Durgai, the Malak and Agency. After some years the Al-Qaida
militant was arrested by the military but no action has been taken against Haq
and his friend, it was in the era of Musharraf government when Haqwas the
senior minister of the province.
Last January in
Karachi, two Al-Qaeda operatives were arrested after a shoot-out in the house
of Sabiha Shahid, another leader of the Jamaat’s women’s wing. Dr. Khawaja
Javed and his brother, who are facing trial on charges of harbouring senior
Al-Qaeda operatives and their families, in their sprawling residential compound
outside Lahore, are closely related to a senior Jamaat leader.
According to the
newsline report of 2003, Similarly, in Karachi, Jamaat (JI) activists were
involved in the shoot-out which helped a third Arab to escape. “We have strong
evidence of the Jamaat’s involvement with Al-Qaeda,” said a senior government
official.
The Jamaat boasts the
most active women’s wing of any political party. They have been in the
forefront of the protests against the arrest of Al-Qaeda leaders. Many
political leaders accuse the Jamaat of using its women members as human
shields. Security officials maintain that Jamaat activists, who actively
participated in the Afghan war against Soviet occupation, developed close
contacts with the Arab fighters and the links continued after the war was over.
“Their association with the Al-Qaeda is not surprising,” said a senior
official. Faisal Saleh Hayat, the federal interior minister, said it was a
matter of great concern to the government that top Al-Qaeda operatives were
found to be harboured by the Jamaat. “How can they claim that Al-Qaeda
fugitives are their guests?” he asked. In a press briefing on March 10, an ISI
official maintained that individuals from the Jamaat were associated with the
Al-Qaeda.
This time the military
has again contacted the JI and other religious groups to induct religious
candidates in the parliament so that the liberal and secular political parties
should not come in majority and can not change the Islamic colour of the
country. In the recent days the chief of the Army staff, General Kiyani has
come out with the announcement that the Islamic Ideology is the basis of the
creation of Pakistan and it can not be separated from the country. This
announcement has been termed by media circles as the ‘pre-poll rigging’.
As the general
elections are coming closer the Pakistan military is making arrangements for
the induction of Al Qaida and sectarian elements for the next parliament which
will be formed after the May 11 elections. A deal is under way with many Jihadi
groups and they were assured that the military will make their way in to the
parliament but in return they have to extend their help in furthering its
interests in Afghanistan by providing safety and security to the Jihadi
elements. This is the reason that JI have been taken as the best via media for
the militant organisations and in return JI will be given good numbers of the
seats in the parliament.
It is very much evident
that three political parties, the PPP, MQM and ANP and other political parties
from Balochistan province, who are liberal and secular have been threatened by
the Taliban that they would not be allowed to have freedom of election
campaign. Their public meetings are continuously under the bomb attacks and the
Taliban claim the responsibility. Those political parties who are supposing to
the ‘friends of Taliban’ have the full freedom for the election campaign. The
security forces are also not providing any security to stop the attacks of the
liberal parties. A great divide has been made by the military, the caretaker
government and election commission between the centre right and liberal
political parties and all arrangement have made that those political parties
must win who have the inclination towards Al-Qaida and Taliban.
The Asian Human Rights
Commission (AHRC) urges the caretaker government to stop the military
intervention in the general elections of May 11 for assuring the political and
religious parties who are close to the Al-Qaida and Taliban.
The AHRC also calls
upon the international community to observe the general elections and use all
possible diplomatic channels to stop the rigging in the coming election and
bringing back the Al-Qaida and Taliban elements again in the country.
