Global Focus

Kabul, Karachi & Islamabad Blasts: Who Done It?

Usman Khalid, Pakistan, Thursday 10 July 2008

There was a suicide bomber attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday, July 7, in which 42 persons were killed. The victims included the Indian Defence Attaché, Brigadier R. Mehta, and Press Attaché V.V.Rao. President Hamid Karazai and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (of India) pointed the accusing finger at the ISI of Pakistan. Even The Times of London could not restrain itself from editorially commenting that ‘rogue elements’ of the ISI are un-reconciled to the break with the Taleban. No intelligence organisation acts overseas without explicit government authorisation. There is no possibility that a segment of the military, which is under the discipline of military law, can tolerate let alone operate a ‘rogue’ within. The ISI surely keeps a close eye on the Taleban, as it must. But other intelligence organisations including those from India, USA, UK and Israel maintain contacts with them too. How else can they infiltrate them? How else could they have used them to target the Chinese in Pakistan and Sinkiang?


In Pakistan, such comments by the foreign press and politicians are seen to be a proof of the deep hostility of India towards Pakistan. The truth is that all the parties in the ruling coalition in Pakistan are seen by the public to be in the ‘pocket of India’ to a varying degree. That does not merely discredit politicians and politics but also democracy. The majority in Pakistan wants their Government to play an active role in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Most politicians privately admit they are unpopular because they fail to espouse the cause dear to the people. But they say the involvement in Afghanistan and Kashmir is too high.

The Taleban is not merely an organisation, it is a phenomenon. All of them are angry –with their government. The disenchanted young have been recruited by the ethnic minorities just as vigorously as by the ‘Islamists’. Musharraf has used both to his advantage to perpetuate himself in power. He is still in power and the war has widened. He is still using the same methods that he employed on 12 May last year when he used hooded MQM thugs to prevent Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry from leaving the Karachi air port to address the bar council. After the visit of Richard Boucher, US Under Secretary of State for South Asia, Musharraf felt secure enough to venture out of Islamabad to the MQM stronghold in Karachi. He was received by no one except the Governor, who is from the MQM. No wonder his visit culminated in seven bombs being thrown in Pathan colonies in Karachi by MQM workers from motorcycles on the same day as the suicide bomb blast in Kabul.


It could not have been a revenge attack to Kabul incident as it occurred later. But it clearly sent a message: India has intelligence assets in Karachi to counter the Taleban. It is more likely to be response to the suicide bomber, who killed 21 including 14 policemen in Islamabad close to Lal Masjid. That attack coincided with the large protest meeting to commemorate the first anniversary of the military attack on Lal Masjid. That message was for Zardari protégé, Rehman Malik, who is a former policeman and now the Minister of Interior in the federal government. He is in charge of the operations against the Pakistani Taleban. The press in Pakistan is full of gory pictures and stories but none appears authentic or comprehensive. It is on the Internet that one finds explanations that make more sense. One such story is under:

“Islamabad and Karachi bomb blast – perfect timings, innocent victims, known culprits – Musharraf & Altaf Hussain’s strike on PPP Government

“Within few hours after broadcast of Altaf Husain’s threat widely publicized on GEO and ARY, MQM terrorists strike in Karachi. There is no doubt it is planned and implemented by the Sindh Governor, Ishrat ul Ibad, after approval from Musharraf, who was in Karachi yesterday. MQM and Musharraf have agents in both channels; this is time to catch the culprits red handed in both media channels and some of the newspapers.

“Zardari is responsible for embracing the MQM fascists; he is also responsible for the present Civil Martial Law in country. The entire coalition consists of hypocrites who betrayed the peoples’ trust and who let down the Lawyers' movement. The PPP government is now facing the same fate as the PML Q. We are powerless, they say, we can’t save our country, sorry Pakistan! We are watching you burning and sinking, we know the culprits but they are so powerful and we are helpless.

“Within the last 24 hours at least 40 teenagers have been arrested by Peshawar police; another 20 teenagers were kidnapped by (intelligence) agencies in NWFP. At least 15 persons have been arrested at Karachi; surprisingly all are Pushtoon teenagers, students, arrested on the instructions of Rahman Malik.

“With NWFP handed over to the Pakistan Army, Baluchistan is under MI rule for the last seven years, it is the turn of Karachi to be put under the rule of Musharraf protégé, MQM’s Governor Isharat al Ibad. All this so that Musharraf can rule the country until his death.”

It has been just over a hundred days since Asif Zardari became the ruler of Pakistan. These have been days of confusion and inaction while the party hacks continue to hide their panic by display of supreme self-confidence that every thing is going according to plan. Fareed Zakria of the Newsweek has rightly pointed out that in the survival game, it is Musharraf who is calling the tune. Musharraf has made himself so useful to the US and the Zardari camp that they fear replacing him. The result is that everybody is mesmerised into inaction. With everyone frozen or neutralised, it is only the Taleban who are winning.