SPY EYES

Jamaat-i-Islami Ameer Syed Munawar Hassan recently declared former TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud a martyr, thereby sparking a debate that has plunged the nation, and the Army, into an existential, ideological muddle.

Martyrdom, the ultimate sacrifice in the way of faith, is a tricky business….especially with so many Muslim claimants to the honour. Who gets to decide who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter?

Jamaat-i-Islami has a history of unfortunate dalliances with controversy. Its founder Maulana Maudoodi sincerely felt that the Muslim leadership was not theologically grounded enough to create an ‘Islamic’ state. From opposing the creation of Pakistan to rabble rousing in support of theocratic legislation, Maudoodi went all out to make himself heard. The credit for the 1950s’ riots against Ahmedis also goes to the JI. The ‘guardians’ of faith sought to choke and stomp over those of ‘deviant’ faiths.

The reasoning behind the JI chief’s statement, abhorrent as it seems, should however be examined. The JI has played the role of a moral compass for Pakistan since inception. Far from pushing it to the fringes of political visibility, the JI has instead been used to cement rhetoric that has historically served the Army’s image of waging jihad.

By categorically equating religion with duty, using religious terminology to differentiate between good and evil (kaafir vs momin), the Army lost out when the JI found a higher claimant of religiosity- the TTP.

From an ideological, barely political, leftist party, the JI’s evolution into a right wing, violence endorsing, TTP apologetic bloc says a lot about the state of Pakistan’s society. The JI chief speaks for the party’s hundreds of thousands of followers across the country and sets the stage for the next ideological shift within the party. This is dangerous and should be checked before it assimilates into the JI’s larger ideological vein.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif thankfully put paid to all the confusion about who could be called martyrs when he visited the Army General Head Quarters, Rawalpindi, on Tuesday for the first time in 14 years. Clearly the issue of ‘martyrdom’ is very important to all Pakistanis because he assured that: Those who have fought for Pakistan, the ghazi (living) and shaheed (martyrs), have sacrificed their today for ensuring a better tomorrow.

I personally believe that the Army should have cast off its reliance on religion to grant itself legitimacy. Its duty is to defend the country against external (and in this case) internal foes. Neither Hassan nor Fazul Rehman has the authority to grant heaven or condemn someone to hell- we must understand that.

Clearly the religious bloc has cast its lot in with the terrorists. That is treason. The government’s response should have preceded (not followed) the Army’s statements in this regard. Nisar’s virulent anti-American rhetoric, in the aftermath of Hassan’s mouth-off, leaves a bad taste with anyone who has heard the contents of the JI chief’s statement. A round of apologies seems to be in order, starting with the JI and JUF chiefs.