By Iftikhar Hussain Jazib
Noor Wali’s Tehreek-e-Taliban had martyred 84 thousand innocent Pakistanis, and around 6 thousands personnel of security forces had sacrificed their lives to eliminate terrorist threats from our motherland. We believe that it is a kind of disloyalty to the souls of martyred citizens if we suffix “Pakistan” with the name of this banned outfit, it would be termed as “Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami” in the article. Hopefully, everyone will use proposed nomenclature in same spirit for its actual depiction, deviated ideology and murderous rampage. Ironically, these mentally sick militants have also killed their own companions in complete violation of basic human values.
The 4th chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami, Noor Wali Mehsud is an articulate propagandist, however, his book, “Inquilab-e-Mehsud” (2017), indicates that the use of religious ideology is deceptive, he has heart and mind of a small tribal chieftain. In the quest of power mongering, he is disguising his terrorist outfit’s ideology to new ground realities emerging after US departure from Afghanistan. According to some estimates, there has been a sharp increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan leading to a 138% increase in casualties Since Afghan Taliban assumed power in August 2021. It is Mehsud’s violent leadership style that Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami is once again a formidable terrorist threat in Pakistan.
Since its inception, Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami has been prone to internal power games and infighting due to its crooked nature and tribal rivalries among its leaders. When Baitullah Mehsud was killed in 2009, a battle between Hakimullah Mehsud and Shehryar Mehsud started for leadership role. Putting the religious ideology on the backburner, both rival groups killed scores of their militants in the name of Jihad. Similarly, after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud in 2013, Mullah Fazlullah and Khan Said Sajna were engaged in a power struggle to grab the assets of Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami. In the ensuing clashes, once again the concept of Jihad was misused to put militants against each other. Noor Wali Mehsud has apparently controlled infighting among the commanders, however, this lull is temporary in the banned outfit. Recently, some of its commanders were killed along Pak-Afghan border in suspicious circumstances, raising fingers towards Noor Wali. The details of these power games, infighting and killings in Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami are the Tell-tales of abuse of the concept of Jihad for glorification of violence for personal gains.
The wealthy Arab militants were a major attraction for the leadership of Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami, they affiliated with Al-Qaeda to attain funds and Jihadi grandiosity. As this alliance was also based in material objectives, the leadership crisis in Al-Qaeda further divided militants in 2014. Al-Qaeda’s leadership crisis became serious when Dr Zawahiri decided to abandon Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, his commander in Iraq due to his unwanted operations in Syria in which thousands of operatives were killed. As a counter move, Baghdadi proclaimed himself a Caliph, mounting strange challenge for Al-Qaeda, as a branch with belief in Salafi Jihadi ideology was claiming to be the true representative of Osama bin Laden. For tackling DAISH, Al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban launched a glorification campaign for Mullah Omar but Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami once again proved that it has no ideological base. Some of its commanders and many militants joined ranks with DAISH and they were even ready to fight with Afghan Taliban to gain funds from DAISH’s illegal trade of Oil in Iraq.
As Noor Wali Mehsud is adopting Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami to emerging scenarios, reportedly, he is also closely working with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to complicate threats for Pakistan. When he was head of Sindh branch, Karachi was also suffering due to his rampant criminal activities. His militants were conducting bank robberies and he was involved in extortion of money and car lifting in the city. These facts are enough to open eyes of every Muslim in Pakistan who has little faith in his heart. We are living in the era of mass deception in the name of Islam and it has become obligatory upon us to adhere to Quran’s instructions to confirm the veracity of news before reacting to it. In this regard, the youth need to be cautious about terrorist propaganda on the social media and networking forums. The restoration of caliphate and waging jihad for persecuted Muslims could be ideal of every Muslim, however people need to be aware of persons like Noor Wali Mehsud who exploit Islamic ideology for their selfish agendas. The bottom-line is that we must reject those leaders and groups which glorify violence and terror in the name of Islam, jihad, Caliphate, Quran and Shariah.
In Pakistan, the Government and Security Forces are well aware of evil designs and deadly strategy of Tehreek-e-Taliban Ghair-Islami. Therefore, Pakistan Army and Law Enforcement Agencies are making utmost efforts to prevent people of Pakistan from terrorism and violent extremism. In view of these facts and observations, we must put our full weight behind Government and armed forces in fight against terrorist outfits. Every Muslim should reject leaders of these terrorist groups without any hesitation and we should only follow mainstream Muftis, Ulema and Islamic Scholars, who oppose terrorist movements and project real teachings of Islam.
Against this backdrop, Paigham-e-Pakistan, the unanimous Fatwa of thousands of renowned Muftis in Pakistan endorsed by Imam-e-Kaaba and grand scholars of Jamia Al-Azhar in Egypt is a guiding star for the youth. It asserts that suicide bombing is unlawful in Shariah and no individual or group could wage Jihad in A Muslim country like Pakistan, the terrorist must be punished for the murders and crimes they commit. Hence, this Fatwa has strengthened the hearts and minds of people of Pakistan and their security forces to deal with terrorist outfits with iron hands.
M.Phil international Relations from Quaid-e-Azam University, the writer is a freelance contributor.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
