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U nited States Action |
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Media Reports on Pakistani Islamists Conceal Their Anti-Freedom Ideology November 7, 2007 http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/pakistan_media_and_islamists.php Pakistan: Media Reports on Pakistani Islamists Conceal Their Anti-Freedom IdeologyBy Jeffrey Imm
In the media coverage of Pakistan President Musharraf's declaration of emergency and martial law, Islamists objecting to his emergency declaration are being portrayed as defenders of Pakistani freedom, when in fact they represent Islamist anti-freedom ideologies. While there are certainly other genuinely pro-freedom individuals who object to Musharraf's emergency declaration, media sources are combining reports of anti-freedom Islamists' criticism along with other democratic opponents of Pakistan President Musharraf, and in the process, lending undue credibility to Islamist Pakistanis. This is starkly reflected in the media reporting on such figures as Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Hamid Gul. Both of these individuals are Islamists within Pakistan, who seek to undermine any remaining pluralism and freedom in Pakistan and replace it with an anti-freedom Islamist ideology. What media reports fail to point out is that such "repressed" Pakistani Islamists as Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Hamid Gul and their supporters are likely to want to see someone like Osama Bin Laden lead Pakistan. Islamist Qazi Hussain Ahmed Regarding Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the November 5 Washington Post views him as "head of a conservative religious party", and reports Qazi Hussain Ahmed's calls against Musharraf as: "It's time to take a stand. It's a now-or-never chance, and people should come out on the streets and throw out this military dictator." The Washington Post reports that "[h]undreds of the party's activists had been arrested as of Monday morning, a party spokesman said". The Washington Post does not identify the organizations or the ideology that Qazi Hussain Ahmed and his political parties represent. In fact, the "conservative religious party" that Qazi Hussain Ahmed leads is Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), which is also part of the Muttahidah Majlis-e-'Amal (Council of United Action) (MMA) -- that he also leads. Neither are merely a "conservative religious party", but are Islamist political organizations, with reported support of Jihad by their leaders and some of their members. Qazi Hussain Ahmed has been reported as a sympathizer and defender of Osama Bin Laden. One media report stated "Qazi Hussain Ahmed has earlier made flattering comments about Osama bin Laden, and his party, Jamaat-e-Islami, also has hailed al-Qaeda members as heroes." Qazi Hussain Ahmed views that the 9/11 attacks were "specially designed to crush Muslims all over the world under this garb". In his own party's media news ("Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) Media News"), Qazi Hussain Ahmed "has warned the government that unrest in the country would assume serious dimensions if it assisted the United States or any agency in arrest of Osama bin Laden." In May 2003, South Asia Intelligence Group reported potential links between Qazi Hussain Ahmed, JEI, and Bin Laden: "US intelligence officers posted in Pakistan have reportedly been making detailed enquiries into the likely links of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) of Pakistan headed by Qazi Hussain Ahmed with Al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden". Regarding Jamaat-e-Islami, the Christian Science Monitor reported that Pakistan's Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisel Saleh Hayat has alleged links between JEI and Al Qaeda stating "[a]ll of the activists and terrorists who have been apprehended in recent months have had links to the Jamaat-e-Islami, whether we have arrested them in Lahore or here or Karachi....[t]hey have been harboring them." Prior to the Musharraf emergency declaration, the Pakistan Daily Times reported that Jamaat-e-Islami has been petitioning the Pakistani Supreme Court to halt all Pakistani military action in the Tribal Areas. As GlobalSecurity.org states of Muttahidah Majlis-e-'Amal (MMA) political coalition: "it venomously attacked the Musharraf government for having betrayed the Taliban and sided with the US in its supposed 'war against Islam'. They...speak in favour of the militant groups banned by the Musharraf government Leaders under the MMA umbrella have issued fatwas of death on Americans and have denied the 9/11 attack by Osama bin Laden. The four parties are opposed to the present fiscal system and want it Islamised together with a complete enforcement of 'shariah'." Regarding Hamid Gul, the November 4 London Times reported his comments as "one senior official" stating that "General Hamid Gul, the former head of Pakistan's military intelligence and a long-time opponent of Bhutto, said Musharraf's state of emergency would have no impact in the war with Islamic militants. 'The terrorist campaign will become more intense, but the army cannot do any more under martial law. It's a suicidal action on Musharraf's part, Gul said." AP's November 5 report simply views Hamid Gul as merely a "critic of Musharraf". The London Times report fails to note that ex-ISI head, Lieutenant General Hamid Gul is a retired military official, whose career was pivotal in establishing the Taliban, in supporting Jihadist groups in Kashmir, and who is a publicly documented supporter of Jihad. In December 2001, during the U.S. initial war against the Afghanistan Taliban, the Asia Times reported that "Hamid Gul, nicknamed the 'godfather of the Taliban', is believed to be behind moves to help the Taliban establish a base in Pakistan's autonomous Pashtun tribal belt". As the Pakistan Daily Times has reported, Hamid Gul has been a "strategic adviser" to the Islamist MMA organization. Gul has stated that "God will destroy the US in Iraq and Afghanistan and wherever it will try to go from there. The Muslim world must stand united to confront the US in its so-called war against terror which is in reality a war against Muslims. Let's destroy America wherever its troops are trapped." UPI and the Washington Times have quoted Hamid Gul's interview in Pakistan's Urdu newspaper Nawa-e-Waqt where he stated: "The leadership vacuum created by the sad demise of (Palestinian) President (Yasser) Arafat can only be filled by Osama Bin Laden and (Taliban leader) Mullah (Mohammad) Omar, the real leaders that are the only dedicated individuals with the mass support of the Muslim world." BBC reported Hamid Gul's views on Jihad, criticizing President Musharraf for seeking to stop Jihadists and saying: "Who is Pervez Musharraf to say we should stop Jihad, when the Koran says it and when the United Nations Charter backs it up? Musharraf says: 'Stop the jihad, do this, that and the other.' No, no, no. He cannot. There is a clear-cut Koranic injunction." Repeatedly, this "godfather of the Taliban" Hamid Gul is used by western media sources in providing interviews and comments on Pakistan political issues, with no reference or context to his Islamist beliefs or his support for Osama Bin Laden and Jihad. There is no concern that Hamid Gul is using such western media sources to propagate anti-western and anti-freedom propaganda. The
London Times reported on July 15, 2007 incendiary comments by Hamid
Gul after the Lal Masjid conflict: "The government is trying to hide the
number of young girls killed. As the truth comes out that young girls
were gassed and burnt, riddled with bullets and killed, it'll be bad for
Musharraf." Then on
March 11, 2007, the London Times used Hamid Gul as a source on NATO
raids on the Taliban: "Last night Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, former
director of Pakistan's intelligence service, said he was preparing to
issue a writ in the Supreme Court to stop US raids. He claimed that
senior army figures were embarrassed at what they regarded as a breach
of sovereignty, and that continued breaches could result in Musharraf
being toppled." Gul's role as a Taliban supporter, pro-Jihadist, and
supporter of Osama Bin Laden was not provided for context in these
reports. As with the current media reporting on the Pakistan emergency,
such major omissions provide a platform for anti-freedom propaganda. Why Honesty in Media Matters For this brief example, I have used obvious figures such as Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Hamid Gul. That is not to suggest that these are the only Pakistani Islamists being whitewashed by media reports. Imran Khan, leader of Tehreek-e-Insaf party with "Islamic overtones", is documented as being against the "Zionist" "war on terror" that he views as being against the "Muslim freedom struggle". Nor are the major media sources reporting how members of Imran Khan's party have been documented chanting "Long Live Osama" (Bin Laden) just a few months ago. The use of such Islamist figures in Pakistan as "sources" for defending "freedom" or addressing national security issues by the media is a disturbing trend. The Washington Post, London Times, AP, and other media have the ready resources to qualify and provide context for comments by such individuals, but are choosing not to do this. There is a tendency among some of the left-wing media pundits to believe that the problems in Pakistan can be used simply to embarrass the Bush administration. That is a naive and short-sighted viewpoint. The growing Islamist sentiment in Pakistan is a threat to genuine advocates of freedom in Pakistan and to the world; this threat requires responsible journalism and reporting of the very real dangers inside Pakistan. Pakistan is a base for Jihadists to plot attacks in UK and Europe, and also to use Jihadists in Europe and UK to plot attacks on Americans.
Benazir Bhutto calls for the "marginalization of militants, fanatics
and extremists". That seems reasonable, but who is defining what those
terms mean? Without an honest assessment of ideologies behind the
Islamists opposed to Musharraf and his actions, there will not be a
clear definition of the moderates in Pakistan that Bhutto states that
she represents. An important step is to hold the media accountable when Islamists and
Islamist propaganda are given a ready platform by a free press. Another
important step is an honest assessment of the
Islamist public opinion within Pakistan and the degree to which
Taliban sympathy within Pakistan already exists.
November 5, 2007 - Washington Post: Pakistan Moves Against Opposition
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