Imran Khan's Press Conference in Peshawar on June 24 2013

Imran Khan finally set his foot on the soil of Peshawar after keeping his supporters waiting for a whole month after the elections 2013. Let alone that one would have expected him to to delve a little deeper into the issue of extremist violence and terrorism in the three provinces of Pakistan, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, his press conference ignited several questions in the minds of common mortals of Peshawar. Mr. IK chewed the old gum of relating terrorism and violent extremism to the presence of NATO/ISAF forces in Afghanistan and drone strikes by the US in the tribal belt of Pakistan even after losing his two MPAs to terrorism recently. Let us remind ourselves a few hard realities. 

First, NATO/ISAF sent their forces in 2001 while:

1- The banned Tahreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) that brought the whole Malakand Division to a standstill in 1994 after making session judges hostage in Matta Swat was formed in 1989--1992 in Malakand Division. A fatwa of Jihad and compulsory military training was issued by the leader of TNSM back in the lat eighties after the Soviets had already withdrawn from Afghanistan.

2- The banned Sipah-e-Suhaba Pakistan (Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is the SSP's offshoot who is on a killing spree in different parts of Pakistan) was formed in 1985 in Jhang.

3- Lashkar-e-Tayyiba which is said to be involved in Mumbai attacks came into being in 1990. The LeT reportedly provides all sorts of ideological, technical and financial support to scores of militant organizations in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

4- Jaish-e-Mohammad, reportedly, involved in terrorism in different countries of the region, was launched in 2000.

Second, the first Drone strike in Pakistan was carried out in 2004 while:

1- The first stoning to death event took place in Orakzai Agency in 1998 (Reference Dawn Karachi) which means that militant organizations had already established their writ in different parts of Pakistan, especially the tribal belt.

2- The first attack on a Pakistani military convoy took place in 2002 in Waziristan.

3- The predecessors of Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansar-ul-Islam had already established their brand of religion in parts of Khyber Agency before any drone strikes was carried out.

One would like to suggest to the PTI leadership the following literature for reading:

1-   Abbas, Hassan. Pakistan's Drift into Extremism: Allah, the Army, and America's War on Terror. London: M. E. Sharpe, 2005.

2- Ali, Tariq. The clash of fundamentalisms. London: Verso. 2002.

3- Aziz, KK. The murder of History. Islamabad: Vanguard. 2004

4-  Hussain, Khadim. The Militant Discourse. Islamabad: Narratives. 2012

5- Hussain, Zahid. Frontline Pakistan. Islamabad: Vanguard. 2007

6- Marwat, Dr. Fazal-ur- Rahim. From Muhajir to Mujahid: Peshawar: Politics of war through aid. Pakistan Study Centre, University of Peshawar, Pakistan, 2005.

7- Saleem, Ahmad and A.H.Nayyar. The Subtle Subversion. Islamabad: SDPI, 2006