Flexible borders, non-state actors and the destiny of Pakistan

There is so much criticism of our “non-state actors� nowadays that you’d think that those against it have just discovered it. Let’s remember firstly that all countries use non-state actors for their purposes, especially the spokespersons of the international community, the US and the UK. It would be redundant to go over the list since everyone and their uncle knows what kind of horrible and hypocritical things the west has been up to for decades.

The fact of the matter is that the use of non-state actors is a reality and a part of the great game that no country can afford to ignore. Talk of abandoning the use of such instruments is only good for polite discussion in your living room with other arm-chair generals, or the editorial pages of a disconnected (from reality) newspaper such as Dawn, but they are not practically implementable on a national level.

The only questions that really matter revolve around the effectiveness of our instruments and whether they are actually being used for the benefit of our country. I would argue that our unofficial policy has great potential and there are sound reasons for this. At the moment we are constantly hearing about Pakistan breaking up, or some province separating from the federation. This is in stark contrast to our strategic depth policy which if evaluated objectively, actually has unofficially expanded our territory during the time we pushed it most. During the peak of Taliban rule, it could be argued that Afghanistan was an extension of Pakistan. Rather than the Durand Line, our border could rightly have been said to be at the Northern end of Afghanistan rather than the south.

In response to a question asked of Mullah about regarding Pakistanis who cross the border to join the Taliban, he said, “there is no nationality in the Taliban�. Now I am not arguing that we could become subservient to the Taliban, far from it. I am arguing that Pakistan can apply the Islamic ideology properly and there is absolutely no question that the Taliban and every other Islamic movement would have to respect the rule of Quran and Sunnah, i.e. Sharia. Before Kemalists argue that there are many different interpretations of Sharia…let me preemptively correct them by saying that differences in opinion are on minor issues and not fundamental issues such as murder, taxes, property ownership, minority rights, etc. Only fringe groups disagree on the fundamental aspects of Sharia…and such differences exist in every ideology.

Also preemptively in response to a predictable comment as to why on earth we would want Afghanistan- because after Afghanistan we can aim our eyes at the next country north. Also because the energy corridor, natural resources, and a common religion/ideology mean synergies, rationalization of resources, and of course, greater power on the international stage. Right now we’re worried about Indian embassies in Afghanistan, Karzai’s abusive comments towards us, and Brahamdagh Bugti’s terrorism against us. We one change in policy we can wash away all of these enemies of Pakistan and retake Afghanistan for good. India simply cannot compete with us in Afghanistan if we bring our Islamic ideology to bare on the situation. In fact, we can create more trouble for India within India’s own borders than they can ever imagine….they have more than 200 million Muslims and plenty of groups who’d be on our side. China may complain about it and would get alarmed, but would have to accept the situation for fear of destabilizing their Xinjiang province which would be on our borders. The reason Samuel Huntington wrote the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ is because he clearly understood the power of this ideology….do we?

Another preemptive strike I will undertake is at the issue of ethnic division. The argument will likely be that we cannot even unite among the current ethnic groups of Pakistan, let alone add more people "who probably hate us" to the mix. I will say that they don't hate Pakistanis, but the ruling class which they consider to be hypocrites and insincere. In the mosques or in Islamic organizations there is no ethnic division for the most part...these differences are however acute in the secular parties which are mostly formed on ethnic lines. It is only the Islamic ideology that has the potential to eliminate these divides. Furthermore, we would have to imagine something like a statue of liberty at the Karachi Port in that we must be willing to accept any and all regardless of language or color or even religion as long as they respect and embrace our ideology.

Not only do I believe that a proper implementation of the Islamic ideology would bring peace to Pakistan, but we could do something that is unthinkable today…expand our borders. Unofficially Afghanistan was part of Pakistan for over a decade. We could and should make our non-state actors official members of our armed forces, openly and wholeheartedly accept and proclaim the Islamic ideology and gradually absorb Afghanistan into Pakistan. Obviously the secular class will scream that this is ridiculous, unrealistic and will paint a different picture…but is it not a fact that almost all Central Asian countries have strong Islamic movements that seek a pan-Islamic state? In Uzbekistan the state is using the military to suppress Hizbut Tahrir, the largest Pan-Islamic party in the country. They are fearful because of swelling in the ranks and popularity of the Islamic movement which we would be foolish not to embrace….it meets all of our strategic objectives and is also in line with the founding of Pakistan.

Pakistan can play the critical role in the formation of a nuclear armed pan-Islamic state that starts in South Asia and expands into Central Asia. The Hindus wouldn’t dare attack us….it would be instant suicide for them. The US would threaten and do everything it could to destroy this process, but if it reached a critical mass, the US would put its tail between its legs and accept the new status quo for fear of a real crusade that actually would take the fight to them rather than to defenseless peasants in remote Afghani valleys.