Anti-Americanism in
by Pervez Hoodbhoy.
Dawn, 30 June,
2008
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The recent killing of eleven Pakistani soldiers at Gora
Prai by American and NATO forces across the border in
aggression," while Army chief, General Pervez Ashfaq
Kayani, called the attack "cowardly." The
dead became "shaheed" and large numbers of
people turned up to pray at their funerals.
But had the killers been the Taliban, this would have been a non-event. The
storm we saw was more about cause than consequence. Protecting the sovereignty
of the state, self-respect, citizens and soldiers against aggression, and the
lives of Pakistani soldiers, suddenly all acquired value because the killers
were American and NATO troops.
Compare the response to Gora Prai
with the near silence about the recent kidnapping and slaughter by Baitullah Mehsud's fighters of 28
men near Tank, some of whom were shot and others had their throats cut. Even
this pales before the hundred or more attacks by suicide bombers over the last year
that made bloody carnage of soldiers and officers, devastated peace jirgas and public rallies, and killed hundreds praying in
mosques and atfunerals. These murders were largely
ignored or, when noted, simply shrugged off. The very different reactions to
the casualties of American and NATO violence, compared to those inflicted by
the Taliban, reflect a desperate confusion about what is happening in
Some newspaper and TV commentators want
There is, of course, reason for people in
imprison, and kill anywhere in the world with impunity. All this while talking about supporting democracy and human rights.
Even Americans - or at least the fair-minded
ones among them - admit that there is a genuine problem. A June 2008 report of
the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs entitled "The Decline In America's Reputation: Why?" concluded that
contemporary anti-Americanism stemmed from "the perception that the
proclaimed American values of democracy, human rights, tolerance, and the rule
of law have been selectively ignored by successive administrations when
American security or economic considerations are in play."
Tragically for
This is a fatal mistake. The militants are using
A Taliban victory would transport us into the darkest of dark ages. These fanatics dream of transforming the
country into a religious state where they will be the law. They stone women to
death, cut off limbs, kill doctors for administering polio shots, force
girl-children into burqa, threaten beard-shaving
barbers with death, blow up girls schools at a current average of two per week,
forbid music, punish musicians, destroy 2000-year statues. Even flying kites is
a life-threatening sin.
The Taliban agenda has no place for social justice and economic development.
There is silence from Taliban leaders about poverty, and the need to create
jobs for the unemployed, building homes, providing education, land reform, or
doing away with feudalism and tribalism. They
see no need for worldly things like roads, hospitals and infrastructure.
If the militants of
Pakistanis tolerate these narrow-minded, unforgiving men because they claim to
fight for Islam. But the Baitullahs and Fazlullahs know nothing of the diversity, and creative
richness of Muslims, whether today or in the past. Intellectual freedom led to
science, architecture, medicine, arts and crafts, and literature that were the
hallmark of Islamic civilization in its golden age. They grew because of an
open-minded, tolerant, cosmopolitan, and multi-cultural character. Caliphs,
such as Haroon-al-Rashid and Al-Mamoun,
brought together scholars of diverse faiths and helped establish a flourishing
culture. Today's self-declared 'amir-ul-momineen',
like Mullah Omar, would gladly behead great Islamic scholars like Ibn Sina and Al-Razi for heresy and burn their books.
Pakistanis must not be deceived. This is no clash of civilizations. To the Americans,
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The author teaches at