Dear Friends,
A few days ago we got a chance to sit together and
clarify all our positions regarding the current military operation in
Bara in particular, as well as fighting religious extremism in
general.

In a highly illuminating discussion, we managed to overcome our
differences (which were minute in any case) and agreed on the
following points that I would like to highlight:

1) First and Foremost, we agreed upon the fact that religious
extremism is an extremely retrogade force that has to be fought to
DEATH. This MEANS MOBILIZING ALL THE RESOURCES AT OUR DISPOSAL TO
MOUNT A RELENTLESS STRUGGLE ON ALL FRONTS; POLITICAL, SOCIO-ECONOMIC
& MILITARY TO END THIS MENACE. The process of the decline and
eventual death of religious extremism will invariably lead to the
creation of greater democratic spaces for democratic politics, and
will create an even greater space for socialist politics if
Communists are able to be at the forefront of this struggle. We
should therefore wholeheartedly support the death of this doctrine of
hate in complete unity.

2) THE MILITARY OPTION: Some commentators feel that the military
option is a bad one IN GENERAL; such an opinion can only arise if one
holds one or a combination of the following views:

a) THE VISION OF THE TALIBAN IS ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND WE SHOULD
SUPPORT THEM INSTEAD: Such a position is a result of complete
confusion over the meaning of Imperialism. Imperialism is in essence
a set of fundamental economic relations between the ruling classes of
the core capitalist countries and those of the periphery. I recommed
the article by Samir Amin entitled 'Political Islam in the Service of
Imperialism' (available at the Monthly Review website) for all those
who beleive that the Taliban represent an anti-Imperialist force. In
short, only a political culture based on the broad unity of the
popular forces (especially the working masses) with the aim of
breaking or atleast mitigating the exploitative relations of
Imperialist capitalism can be called Anti-Imperialist. The Taliban's
project of exclusion based on religion, their dismal treatment of
women is absolutely anti-thetical to the forces needed muster an Anti-
Imperialist Movement. They are opposed to modernity in all its forms
and are stuck in primordial and medievialist times. THEY ARE ANTI-
WEST, ANTI-MODERN but NOT ANTI-IMPERIALISTS! The TALIBAN have to stop
being the TALIBAN for any alliance with them!

The confusion on this point is really a confusion between form and
content; People feel that just because the Taliban are 'Fighting' the
American and Nato forces, and since America and NATO represent
Imperialism, on face value, anyone fighting it is Anti-Imperialist.
By the same token, we can call German Fascism Anti-Imperialist since
it fought British and French Imperialism, or why it did so and with
what vision becomes immaterial. Likewise, the Taliban have only in
mind a tribalist, anti-modern, medievalist and highly repressive
state rather than a state that can fundamentally alter the state of
Subordinate relations between oppressor and oppressed nations, which
is the essence of Imperialism.

b) WE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF FIGHTING THE TALIBAN: THis amounts to
complete capitulation and we might as well give up all hopes of
democracy, let alone socialism and hand over control to the Taliban.
The Taliban can go on wreaking havoc on the helpless citizens of NWFP
and the Tribal areas, slitting throats and burning down schools and
all we can say is that their should make peace deals. Ofcourse talks
should be pursued, but only with those who recognize the
democratically elected government of the country, do not go around
breaking peace deals, disarm and resort to peaceful propogation of
their ideas. Since the Ideology of the Taliban does not recognize the
state to be 'Islamic' and calls for a 'JIHAD' against them, we doubt
that they would disarm and become peaceful, as they have proven time
and again. Therefore, the policy should be; PURSUING PEACE WITH THOSE
WHO LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS & MILITARY ACTION AGAINST THOSE WHO BREAK
PEACE DEALS.

Also, we should make it clear to the government that no PEACE DEAL
should be made with any group engaged in violence, NOR Should any
peace Deal be made that subordinates itself too much to the interest
of these militant groups (I have in mind primarily the Taliban, but
we know that there are a number of other groups, some even hostile to
one another that are operating). This means that if the condition put
forward by these groups is the Implementation of 'TALIBAN STYLE
SHARIA' then the government should reject such a peace outright. We
already suffer from 'Zia style Islamization' as it is, We can't slip
further. Also, part of the ANP vote is also for a more tolerant
version of Islam, if not Secularism, and the ANP should stick to
desires of its constituency. The Taliban, who hold little popular
support compared to the ANP MUST not be allowed to force the
government to capitulate through bullets and bomb jackets.

As For the view that we are incapable of fighting the Taliban, well,
ITS SIMPLY NOT TRUE because our establishment has helped create these
monsters and knows how they think. The speed with which Mangal Bagh
resumed talks with the government after the operation showed that our
army knows how to fight this war. It is true that the government MAY
not want to completely eliminate these elements, since they have
always acted as 'Dogs on a leash', nurtured by the government and
mobilized against progressive forces. However, since 9/11 a certain
split occurred between these groups and American Imperialism, and the
Pakistani client state, under pressure from US Imperialism,
reluctantly decided to act against the monsters it had created in
unison with Imperialism itself. In that situation, the manner in
which the operatio in the tribal areas and Swat was carried out was
problematic; all the Taliban got away and innocent people were
massacred, many innocent people were picked up and sold to the
Americans as TALIBAN; We even mentioned that close to 900000 people
have been displaced from SWAT alone.

However, this was to point out precisely the conduct of the war
hitherto fought and not a call to stop military option altogether. It
was to show that the Musharraf government was unable to eliminate the
Taliban due to sheer incompetence and also due to the presence of
Religious Extremists inside the military-intelligence establishment
who do not want to keep the Taliban alive; As a result, Musharraf
simply went on to score cheap points with the Americans by attacking
this or that village, capturing many innocent people and selling them
to the Americans and the entire exercise became a grotesque 'numbers
game'. This is the reason why the Pakistani forces, initially viewed
as Liberators by the local population, quickly became enemies and it
even led to some sort of increase in support for the Taliban, who
found useful recruits in the hapless victims of the army's excesses.

This is why when we talk of MILITARY ACTION we do not mean F-16
attacks and heavy firing on villages, we mean precisely the Kind of
low-intensity warfare that the government is currently engaged in;
using locally recruited FC units aiming to isolate the Taliban from
the local population and elminating them. The DIALECTIC of attacks on
the population and support for the Taliban can only be resolved by
ensuring local population participation and the use of the FC troops
is a welcome sign. This must be couples with a political, social and
cultural assault on the Taliban's ideas, THE SEMINARIES that produce
such extreme views must be reformed, their funding should be
monitored and a long-term process of incorporating the Tribal areas
into the mainstream political culture should be initiated. The
legitimate question is, will the same government that helped create
the Taliban be willing to do all those things?

We have already mentioned that there are two trends in the
establishment right now: Those with the Taliban and those who want to
eliminate them. While the government has been nurturing these
elements in the past, they elements now seem to be aggressive enough
to warrant an attack from the government itself, albeit reluctantly.
The PPP has already given a detailed program of Madrassah reform,
disarming of these groups, incorporation of FATA into the mainstream
political process, as well as heavy investment in infrastructural
development in those areas. WE CONCEED THAT THE GOVERNMENT will not
be able to Complete all these tasks to the end, given its class
nature. However, given that A CONTRADICTION HAS ARISEN BETWEEN THE
EXTREMISTS, OUR STATE AND IMPERIALISM AND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THIS
STATE DO WANT TO ELIMINATE THESE GROUPS, what progressives need to do
is to mobilize people on the basis of holding the government to its
words of elimating religious extremism through a struggle on all
fronts. IF WE MANAGE TO MOBILIZE POPULAR SUPPORT FOR THE PPP's
program, they will be forced to carry the struggle without reluctance
but if we simply hide behind the idea that the government WONT
ELIMINATE THEM IF THEY DO NOT WANT TO. THEY WILL IF WE FORCE THEM TO
DO SO!

2) THIS IS AMERICA'S WAR: Well, yes and NO. The Americans were once
part of the nexus that nurtured these elements but now there is a
contradiction. Also, its not just Imperialism's war, it is now our
own. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT WHILE IMPERIALISM is conducting this
war for its own interests oil, gas and a neo-liberal (READ: neo-
colonial!labour regime, and its own methods; indiscriminate bombings
and massacres, we must do it on our own terms and our own tactics as
explained above. WE MUST REJECT ALL AGGRESSIVE MANUEVERS BY
IMPERIALISM such as the threat to attack our regions, and clarify to
the people that Imperialism created this monster and it will only
increase it if it stays. Again, the response should not be to fold
our arms and say, "Well, It is Imperialism's war and we can't support
it". SADLY, IT HAS BECOME OUR WAR NOW AND WE CAN ONLY WIN IT IF WE
MOBILIZE PEOPLE BOTH AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM. IT
CANNOT BE ONE BY HIDING BEHIND THE LABEL OF 'AMERICA'S WAR'

IN SHORT, THE ABOVE IS A CALL FOR A COMPLETE REJECTION OF RELIGIOUS
EXTREMISM AND ACTIVELY HOLDING THE GOVERNMENT TO ITS WORD OF
ELIMINATING EXTREMISM BY A STRUGGLE ON ALL FRONTS, WITH ITS SHORT
TERM AND LONG TERM GOALS IN MIND.

NO MORE TALK OF SUPPORTING THE TALIBAN AS ANTI-IMPERIALISTS!

SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT IN PROTECTING THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF
CITIZENS AND OPENING DEMOCRATIC SPACES!

LETS BUILD A PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT AGAINST RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM AND THE
CULTURES OF CRUELTY & HATE!

Ali Jan