Part-II Quantum noteFriday, February 01, 2008
Muzaffar Iqbal
Extremism comes in several hues and in various covert and overt forms, espousing a wide range of ideologies and beliefs, but, in the final analysis, all extremists are human beings who have strayed away from the Middle Path of Divine guidance. They become dangerous when they group together or when they achieve control of states, either through mid-night coups, as is the case in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and several other countries around the world, or through elections in which their real ideological extremism remains hidden from general populace, as happened in the case of George W. Bush and Tony Blair.
This kind of extremism is often not recognized as such; in fact, a Bush, Blair or Musharraf is more likely to deny that they are extremists, but since they are obsessed with calling everyone else an extremist, that excessive preoccupation betrays their own extremism. Of course, they also have the state apparatus in their favour and this imparts a certain degree of false legitimacy to what they say, but most people have become wise enough to disregard this false appearance and they recognized their claim to power as an illegal or immoral claim.
With the international tensions at all time high, extremists of this kind are compelled to make coalitions. These are supposed to be at the state level, but in reality such coalitions are at a personal level. Hence when a Musharraf or Hosni Mubarak needs a Bush or a Blair to rescue them, the latter rush to their aid. One cannot imagine a more dangerous alliance than this, because, on the one hand, it supports an illegal, immoral, and unrepresentative rule, and, on the other hand, it plays havoc with the lives of millions of human beings.
But Bush-Blair type extremists are neither interested in the suffering of millions of human beings living on the other side of the world, nor in the legality or morality of their actions as far as other nations and groups are concerned; they are driven by an overriding extremism which does not let them see other human beings as human beings; through their lenses, everything is black or white; there are only good guys, that is those who are on their side, and bad guys, who are to be “taken out”.
These extremists have the entire state machinery behind them. They speak the language of power and authority: we will kill them, we will crush them, we will destroy them. For instance, the most important moral imperative for the President of the United States of American on the day after September 11, 2001 was to speak of justice, of bringing the culprits to an internationally recognized court of justice where an internationally recognized judiciary process could have been followed, leading to true justice. But all that the world heard from the mouths of Bush and other extremists was war, destruction, and bombing them back to Stone Age. It is not difficult to understand why this happened: Bush and those around him, men and women who had formulated US foreign policy on injustice, cruelty, and war mongering are extremists.
Extremism cannot attain dangerous proportions without a steady supply of deadly weapons. The multi-billion dollar weapon industry thrives on wars and conflicts. There are big and small players in this trade. All big players are based in the United States. This state-industry-military complex needs constant strife in the world to sell its deadly ware, so that it can produce new, more lethal weapons and sell them to the other side and then go back to the first side and say: your enemy has such and such weapon, you need to have such and such. In addition, there are relatively small players — China, South Korea, Russia — who cater to the needs of regional conflicts and black market. Then there is the home-grown variety which relies on ball bearings, nails, and explosives to hit local targets.
As a frontline state in the US war of terror, Pakistan has become a thriving black market for weapons. As a result, it has also become the target of these weapons. Most of the violence in Pakistan is, however, linked to the policies of extremism of the current regime. It is, ultimately, a mid-night-coup-regime, despite the veneer it has put on. If one were to ask the person who established this mid-night-coup-regime: whose war are you fighting in Waziristan and Swat, the answer will be: we are fighting extremists. But these extremists did not exist before the coup leader signed up for the Bush’s war without a national mandate to do so, and since Bush’s war of terror is utterly misguided, flawed, illegal, and immoral, the ultimate responsibility for pushing Pakistan to the brink of disaster rests on those who have signed on the dotted line. Had Pakistan maintained a forceful neutrality in the post-9/11 era, there would be no violence of the kind that has emerged since then. Those who argue that there was no choice, and speak of the possible American aggression Pakistanis are inherently weak themselves and they underestimate the will and fortitude of the nation.
Past cannot be undone, but can a future government change the course? It seems impossible for several reasons: the chances of a representative government in Pakistan are almost non-existent; George Bush will make sure that his chum stays in the driver’s seat, no matter how.
In this scenario, the future seems bleak for Pakistan, at least until the end of 2008 when Bush will be history. Then, there may be a slight chance for Pakistan to find a different kind of leadership that is not driven by extremism. But states like America have numerous built-in safeguards for continuation of their policies; hence even if the unthinkable happens and a black man becomes the resident of that White House which has so far remained the house of tyranny and extremism, there will remain major hurdles for the new president of the United States to change the course of that country which has driven the entire world to in an unprecedented manner. |
Still, it was an interesting experience and maybe, just maybe, we might start doing it regularly.
