The Afridi Conviction

By Ghalib Sultan
ZoneAsia-Pk

An Assistant Political Agent in FATA has sentenced Dr Afridi to 33 years in prison and a fine under the Frontier Crimes Regulations for collaborating with the US CIA in the process that led to the unilateral US action to kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Dr Afridi is a Pakistan national domiciled in FATA though his CIA directed activities were carried out in the town of Abbottabad that is not in FATA. Pakistan must have made sure that his trial under the FCR was legally correct because of his domicile status. According to media reports Dr Afridi’s wife is a US national and if true then that may have given the CIA a coercive advantage if any was needed—material gain was definitely involved.

The US by publicly defending and championing the cause of Dr Afridi has established beyond all doubt that Dr Afridi, a Pakistan government employee, was subverted and recruited to work for the CIA. What the US has not explained is why Dr Afridi was left to face the music and why he and his family were not taken out especially when his role was sure to be discovered. The US had abandoned Cuban collaborators after the Bay of Pigs fiasco in the Kennedy era. South Vietnamese collaborators were also abandoned to a horrific fate and now the Afghans are bracing for what awaits them. Angry US law makers have now woken up and demanded that Afridi be released as he has done nothing wrong. He hasn’t under US law but can Pakistan ignore the fact that a Pakistani government official collaborated with a fToreign intelligence agency in a clandestine manner? Not if they do not want to set a precedent for others. Dr Afridi under US direction also recruited other government employees to work with him and by using a vaccination campaign as a cover discredited the government’s health care programs. US law makers have proposed a cut of US$ 33mn—one for each year of Dr Afridi’s prison term—to be deducted from the aid to Pakistan and perhaps paid to Dr Afridi as compensation. This cut comes after a proposal to cut all aid to Pakistan by half for the continued closure of the NATO logistics route. The gloves are off and the strategy is to brow beat Pakistan into compliance. Pakistan, and Dr Afridi, are learning what collaboration with the US really means.

US lawmakers are calling Pakistan an extortionist because it has demanded adequate payment for damage to its infrastructure. Pakistan has been called a schizophrenic ally—living in Alice’s wonderland and one has speculated that if this is Pakistan’s idea of cooperation then what would its opposition look like? You do not want to go down that route not with the present situation in Pakistan. Many in the US are also questioning the timing of Dr Afridi’s conviction and asking who is orchestrating policy in Pakistan. Some media anchors, analysts and writers are answering the question exactly as the US wants it answered. Pakistanis are now realizing the full implications of the change in the US’ strategic direction in South Asia away from Pakistan and decisively towards India. If the down slide in US Pakistan relations is not arrested then Pakistan’s response options will be severely restricted and the US would have effectively destabilized another country and region with disastrous consequences. The Afghans are not the only ones bracing for a catastrophe.

India may agree to pull back troops to peacetime positions

The Indian government is likely to pull back troops from wartime positions, deployed at the working boundary with Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Troop withdrawal to peacetime positions is among the first substantial overtures since India and Pakistan resumed peace talks following the terror strike in 2008 that had almost triggered a full-scale war.

Military and diplomatic officials told The Express Tribune on Sunday that the two nuclear-armed nations had reached an understanding on this during last month’s visit to New Delhi by President Asif Ali Zardari.

A formal announcement in this regard, they added, was likely when the Indian premier visits Islamabad possibly during the later half of this year. “It is going to happen in September or October,” one of them remarked.

Political figures privy to the president’s daylong visit to India on April 8 said the major development was a result of backdoor channels, which had been active between the two countries for the past couple of years.

Officials said that in July 2008, the Indian government had immediately mobilized troops to take wartime positions at the working boundary with Pakistan immediately after terrorists launched commando-style attacks in the heart of Indian commercial capital of Mumbai. The term working boundary relates to disputed border particularly
in Kashmir.

New Delhi blamed the attacks on Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a group based in Pakistan. More than 160 people, including foreigners, were killed in the strikes at multiple locations across the port city.

According to experts, in wartime scenario, regular army starts manning border instead of special-forces meant for protecting boundaries. India has Border Security Forces and Pakistan has rangers for this purpose.

Officials said Pakistan responded to Indian move in 2008 by sending troops to concentration areas-forward basis-along with the working boundary at Sialkot and some other locations.

A senior military official said that though troops were mobilised by India, there wasn’t any serious tension at the border like in 2002 after an attack on Indian parliament also blamed on a group based in Pakistan.

“There has never been an alert. Neither on our side nor on the other,” said the military official.

Defence experts argue the move will provide Pakistan a space to deploy more troops in the north of the country where the military is busy fighting al Qaeda and homegrown Taliban.

The United States and other western nations fighting an insurgency in Afghanistan want Pakistan to curb terrorists on its soil.

Siachen, Sir Creek disputes

Besides pulling back troops, Manmohan Singh visit might carry other ‘pleasant’ surprises for Pakistan and India.

Officials said ‘major announcements’ were also expected on Siachen-the disputed glacier in the Himalayas known as world’s highest battlefield-and Sir Creek – an un-demarcated stretch of coastline dotted with small islands.

They said there was a possibly that both sides might agree on troop withdrawal from the killing mountainous range where an avalanche buried more that 130 soldiers and civilians last month.

Pakistani civilian and military leaders including Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani have more than once said both countries should withdraw troops from the border to divert resources to public welfare.

Lyari – Swat of Sindh

ZoneAsia-Pk

To the oldest locality of Pakistan’s largest city, violence and illegal activities is not new. Lyari saw its first well known gangster back in 1960s. Gangs were typically involved in drug smuggling, bootlegging and other street crimes. The situation took a turn for the worse in the 1980s when weapons and arms began to enter Pakistan through the anti-soviet war in Afghanistan.

Two of the largest and widely known gangs of Lyari are Arshad Pappu’s Gang and Rehman Daicait’s Gang. They once used to be on the same side but a conflict over profits caused Rehman and Haji Lalu, Arshad Pappu’s father, to split. This was a great setback for Lalu as Rehman took his supporters and contacts with him to form the Peoples Amn Committee in 2009.

The latest operation in Lyari was prompted by the murder of a Pakistan People’s party (PPP) leader, Malik Mohammad Khan a week ago.  The continuous state of insecurity has brought life to a standstill. Basic amenities of life like water, gas, electricity are not available. Meager food supplies and high  resistance against relief packages are a constant source of worry for the residents.  Exceptions for medical aid are not even made. It is reported that Edhi ambulances are forbidden from entering the zone in case their Baluch- ethnic drivers assist the criminals.

The violence stemming from gang wars has swollen to such great proportions that law enforcers are finding it difficult to quell the unrest. These gangsters have been using sophisticated weapons including rocket propelled grenades and some of their local inventions like the Awan, a combination of a grenade and a rocket launcher.  The police have returned fire by their Armored Personnel Carriers, which some believe are of little help as they frequently break down, are too large for the narrow lanes in Lyari and are not bullet proof. Other techniques like blocking mobile services in the area have also been used to disadvantage the criminals. But since they use walkie-talkies the only disadvantaged party are the common people who cannot communicate with each other.  Although rangers and paramilitary forces have been called to reinforce the operation, the deteriorating living conditions have forced many families to abandon their homes for safer neighborhoods.

The situation is not merely of a group of gangs involved in unlawful activities. The gangs themselves are struggling to control internal conflicts. One of the most notorious gangs, People’s Amn Committee, has witnessed a race amongst successors for its leadership. Rauf Baluch, who previously served as an advisor to  Rehman and his brother, was accused of tipping the police about the latter’s whereabouts in order to accede to his position. Rehman’s cousin, Akram Baluch was also interested in becoming the leader but his efforts were in vain. The gang is currently being lead by Uzair Baluch, who has not been as successful at uniting the gang’s members as Rehman was able to. CID reports claim that over 450 lives have been lost in the past 4 years from intra-gang conflicts. The death toll is even higher for disputes amongst  gangs like the Ghaffar Zikri gang, Faizu Dada gang, Rauf Baloch gang and Amjad Lashari gang.

What makes these rivalries even worse is political interference. Lyari is popularly known as the hub of PPP support. Party leaders like Nabeel Gabol and Rafiq Engineer have won through this constituency. In fact, PPP has won every election it has contested in Lyari since 1970 till 2008. It has kept a steady relationship with local gangs particularly the People’s Amn Committee. The gang’s leader, Uzair baluch, was reportedly appointed by PPP. Zulfikar Mirza,senior leader of PPP  has patronized Uzair baluch and Zafar baluch while Gabol has been on record for holding  a meeting with Uzair Baluch as recent as one to one and a half year ago. So one wonders what transpired between the two organizations that caused Gabol to accuse PAC for Malik Khan’s murder.

Some security analysts hold political parties responsible for the creation and development of militancy in gangs. PPP’s support to the Amn Committee is countered by MQM’s support to Arshad Pappu’s Gang and the Kutchi Community. Zafar Baluch recently attested to the fact that PPP armed the locals with weapons to aid their political rallies especially against MQM. These weapons are now allegedly being used against law enforcers. Both parties deny any involvement.

According to the Amn committee their rift with the PPP came about when the latter refused to help them in acquiring employment and achieving better living standards. Others believe the real reason to be the forced closure of the gang’s drug havens which affected their incomes. PPP leaders deny any involvement in illicit activities and pledge to stop all kind of criminals in the city.

The ethnic dimension of the violence is too distant an issue. The Baluch political parties have protested against the biased operation in Lyari which are targeting their community. They feel betrayed by the government for whom they voted for in the past. Protests have been carried out at various location like Nishter Road, PIB Colony and Malir. Shops were closed, roads were blocked, tires and effigies of PPP leaders were burned. But the Baluch Liberation Army’s (BLA) literature seized from some of Lyari’s gang members tells another story. The police believe BLA is using the help of Lyari gangs for their insurgency operations.

Law enforcement agencies are not free from allegations and scandals either. Numerous reports have been heard about the gradual success of police forces in securing parts of Lyari but many have been found to be an exaggeration. The efficacy of the police forces is questionable when about 15000 forces are deployed to take down only  few hundred  criminals. If gangsters are being caught and killed, the level of violence has not assuaged and neither has the public been given any proof of the  convicted or killed criminals. There are rumors which claim the police has joined forces with Arshad Pappu’s gang to take down members of the Amn Committee. At the same time, the weapons confiscated by the police are said to have vanished implying some underground deal. Many cases of corrupt actions have been heard against Chaudhry Aslam, the face of the law enforcement forces in Lyari. Some believe he yields more power than IG Sindh.

The situation in Lyari should be an eye opener for the government which at the moment is engrossed with new provinces and the fate of a convicted prime minister. Internal discontent is not intrinsic to Pakistan but the repetitive unwavering violence in Lyari should be taken seriously.

Irrespective of who is responsible in Lyari, the public is witnessing a change in their mood and probably loyalties. The well known hub of PPP may no longer be in the clutches of PPP. Extremely vocal and visible dissatisfaction has been shown regarding their leaders. The ruling party is already cornered on all fronts by the nation’s troubled economy, security and foreign policy situation. Internal divisions in the heart of its province may be the last blow for PPP.

More importantly, the perseverance of criminals and non-state actors to influence the state is dangerous. The ease with which internal peace can be disrupted makes Pakistan a prey to all kinds of possible schisms. The unlimited provision of warfare to criminals is already a sign of how much our unity has been eroded.

At the face of it Lyari’s grievances seem very simple- the right of employment, basic amenities and safety. Achieving these goals is not hard if the rulers and leaders of all the involved parties agree to put the interests of the public before their own interests. For the time being however, the unabated killings and siege in Lyari has to stop. The army has been quite adept at handling the violence in Karachi in the 1990s and more recently in Swat. A strong hand is needed to halt this violence but an even stronger will on the part of all political and social leaders is needed for sustainable peace.