Rescuing Pakistan from the Taliban

Pakistan is a Islamic country therefore comments made by STEPHANIE13 (hardly a Muslim name) sound irrelevant. He/ She is talking about Muslims killed in Indian riot in the state of Gujarat. The fact are: 2 bogies of a train were burnt in the state of Gujarat by Muslim Fanatics killing 70+ Hindu pilgrims. What happened after that was not justified but was basically fanned by the Muslim fundamentalists.
Now to talk about the real issue.... How can the Americans trust the Pakistanis. As recently one of their Generals whose phone was tapped by the CIA was quoted as telling his colleague/s that Taliban is a strategic ally for them. Also during the Bush tenure Pak army received around 10 Billion dollars as aid. Obama had recently cited that most of this was diverted towards upgrading the armed forces to fight the Indians and not Taliban. How can any nation trust the Pakistanis.

Pakistan is a Islamic country therefore comments made by STEPHANIE13 (hardly a Muslim name) sound irrelevant. He is talking about Muslims killed in Indian riot in the state of Gujarat. The fact are: 2 bogies of a train were burnt in the state of Gujarat by Muslim Fanatics killing 70+ Hindu pilgrims. What happened after that was not justified but was basically fanned by the Muslim fundamentalists.
Now to talk about the real issue.... How can the Americans trust the Pakistanis. As recently one of their Generals whose phone was tapped by the CIA was quoted as telling his colleague/s that Taliban is a strategic ally for them. Also during the Bush tenure Pak army received around 10 Billion dollars as aid. Obama had recently cited that most of this was diverted towards upgrading the armed forces to fight the Indians and not Taliban. How can any nation trust the Pakistanis.

Most of the comments I can read here are pathetic and somehow sound very "Taliban-like", since they show a dramatic lack of education and knowledge. Being a Muslim doesn't mean you're a terrorist. Don't forget that most of the victims of terrorism live in Muslim countries, ie Pakistan, Iraq, Algeria, Afghanistan or India. In India, more than a third of the victims of the Bombay attacks were Muslim. They were just normal people, like you and me, and their main aim in life is to earn a living to feed their family and to pay education for their kids. And who cares here for the thousands of Muslim mothers and kids who were raped and slaughtered by Hindu fanatics in Gujarat in 2002? Barbarism is universal and does not belong to any religion or country. Any religion can be used by terrorists. Being French and a Christian, I'm fully aware of all the barbaric things our ancestors did "in the name of God" in the past.
Unfortunately, the media focuses so much attention on Osama Bin Laden and his stupid followers that people tend to believe that Muslim = terrorist. They probably don't know any other Muslims.
The main problem of Pakistan is not the muslim faith, it's the lack of education and a weak government. Pakistani people deserves as much peace and freedom as American people. Dear Mr Ahmad, I congratulate you for speaking in the name of the Pakistani people. You're not just some kind of superficial "pop singer", and for that, you deserve praise. I sincerely hope that your voice will be heard.

Pakistan is a failure as result of its own actions. Every nation infected with Islam is a failure. The U.S. should only do what is in its interests and no more.

the only way for there to be freedom in islamic countries is to outlaw islam.

What we need to do is turn away from India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and bomb Afghanistan into oblivion. Let the Taliban and the Hizbollah, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hamas and Palestinian Authority shoot all the bullets into the air they want. I don't care. Let's take care of this without all the time and money into rebuilding what we destroy. The Iraqi war is our deficit. Let's not be martyrs to victory.

Asslamo alaikum..

Well i think Salman Ahmed shared thing over here with us according to his understanding and what he heard on TV and read in newspapers who always portray a picture that Pakistan is a failed state and which is dream of USA,Israel and India and it shall be a dream only...

There is nothing worst conditions as Mr. Salman Ahmed trying to prove it we live in Swat valley where now Government of Pakistan took the right step the to bring the peace in valley and if Salman Ahmed knows little about history of swat valley then he will never say like this about swat and for your kind information the Shariah Lawa that Government implemented now were already in practice in Swat valley when it was an state and these laws were the demand of the people of valley and Government just fulfill the will of people if the people of valley have no problem with shariah law and through this law peace can bring in valley then what is problem with the rest of world, and we shall also say to USA and their allies that they stop bringing peace by war and adopt the way of dialogue in Afghannistan if they have the guts to learn from their mistakes and from history and stop thinking and over acting and stop teaching us the lesson of democracy after what he did in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and all these Taliban and other groups only comes in action because USA attacks and false war against terrorism in which Pakistan is also suffering .. but Pakistan will be winner in all condition, US stop thinking about us but think about himself in Afghanistan where Taliban always keep them busy lol if USA and their allies with all kind of resources cannot stop Taliban in Afghanistan then how Pakistan can alone stop them..

I would like to suggest for author that before speaking about any matter he should try to learn the real things rather blindly throw words.

Salman Ahmed is singer and he thinks whole culture is singing and whole art is singing and if some one ask the common people in Pakistan about Salman and his so called culture of music then result will be different from Salman ahmed and i think few people know salman Ahmed and his singing so he should practice his knowledge in singing and use his energy there and leave the taliban and .. for rest of world Pakistan is a country not fact . yes we have lots of problems but conditions are not so worst so you people do not waste ur energy use it some where else..

Regards

Regarding Taliban

While he is right on the culture aspect, he is wrong on not applying force. No mention of the Shia/Sunni rift in development which will bankrupt the country if Karachi Shia bug out from fear. Karachi pays 95% of the taxes and is half their economic activity. The global recession will nearly destroy their one positive export industry, textiles. Saudi Arabia has given 6 billion in oil loans and has built thousands of Wahabi style madrassahs that preach the fundamentalist terrorist fake jihad Islam. Their graduates can't get a job having no skills other than to join the Taliban. A government that fools itself into thinking war against the Taliban is too costly will fall to those same forces over time. For the people there riled over women and children being killed along with terrorist leaders in our drone attacks, read the part of the Quran that says families of the innocents harmed (911, London, Bali, etc.) can take a proper revenge.

vjg3 Author Profile Page:

I believe the title of this article should have been; Rescuing Pakistan from Islam.
However title of this topic should have been...
"Rescuing world from Pakistan - Origin of Islamic Terrorism"

vjg3 Author Profile Page:

I believe the title of this article should have been; Rescuing Pakistan from Islam.

In fact title of this article should have been...
"Rescuing world from Pakistan - the origin of Islamic Terrorism"

I believe the title of this article should have been; Rescuing Pakistan from Islam.

It's the religion, stupid.
Dispense with religion and the hateful preoccupation with ethnic differences, and you have no more religious wars--which essentially means no more wars of any kind.
It's no more difficult to understand than that.
Putting this proposition into effect is another matter. Even our beloved president still believes in fairies, ghosts, spooks . . . gods and thinks that religion is essential to human development and progress (when the opposite is glaringly obvious).
So we have a long way to go. Perhaps the instant dissemination of information via the Internet will bring an end to this nonsense. Do I hear $100 computers for everyone?

Its really very unfortunate that religious fanaticism was allowed in Pakistan by Pakistani elite who left their nation ignorant,Pakistan is a country where over 40 million people can't read or write,Pakistani elite and ARMY ALWAYS USED RELIGION FOR THEIR advantages and now when ignorant Taliban are looking for power in ISLAMABAD ,its proved that religion and politics never works.Even JINNAH the founder of PAKISTAN was a drinker,cigar smoker and secular used ISLAM for separating Pakistan.Educated Pakistanis are secular and LIBERAL class in Pakistan has been crushed by cruel dictator ZIA long time ago who used Islam as his slogan for not loosing power.

While one wants to sympathize with Pakistani artists, they are but a small percentage of Pakistan’s Islamic population without any power to influence which way Pakistan turns in the future. Islam religion has lot more influence, one may say, exclusive influence on Pakistani society. Pakistan was created because Muslims did not want to live under Hindu rule as Mohammad Ali Jinnah had said at the time. Pakistan’s unity mainly depends on ‘hate India’ psychology that Pakistan has developed since its inception. Even now Pakistan dreams of establishing Muslim rule over Hindu India even if some Pakistanis will deny it. It is hard for India to be sympathetic with Pakistan under such circumstance.

Pakistani government created Taliban movement. Bruce Riedel, Obama’s appointee to conduct an inter-agency review of US policy towards Af-Pak said in an interview on 1/29/2009 that ''In Pakistan, the jihadist Frankenstein monster that was created by the Pakistani army and the Pakistani intelligence service is now increasingly turning on its creators. It's trying to take over the laboratory.'' So Pakistan is reaping the fruits of seeds it sow and not even US can save Pakistan from itself.

Sorry to repost with my other ID, but had a feeling WAPO was blocking my earlier ID:

Salman is making it out to be worse than things are in Pakistan, sure there are a few problems, but which developing country does not have the same problems. India has worse problems in Assam, Kashmir, Punjab, and in other places, rioting is failrly common in India, and it is not in Pakistan. I recently was in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawer and Karachi, pretty much all over Pakistan, business was flourishing, beautiful freeways, new air conditioned Mercedes buses, more cars on the roads as never before, people doing so well. Listening to Salman one would imagine Pakistan is a Somalia, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to our friends in the Global arena and hard working Pakistanis, Pakistans economy is growing at a solid pace even as the world is in a recession, every man woman and child in Pakistan wants to succeed and wants the country to succeed, schools are bursting at the seams, everywhere i went from the NWFP most conservative corners like Bannu on the edge of Waziristan to Lahore, children are thirsting for education and parents are making sacrifices to put them in school. I saw a vibrant, dynamic, intelligent nation on the move. Not even bombs or the fanatics threats have fazed people, nightlife is one of the best in the world, go to Lahore and people wake up at 10pm, restaurants serving the best fare in the world from all over the world is found here, expats from China, Russia, Africa, Far Eat, Europe are working in every field imaginable and one would think there would be no expats.

Pakistan is a strong, Nuclear power, a nation that builds its own, military trucks, jeeps, tanks, fighter jets, missiles, even cruise missiles, boats, its ready to recieve a $70 Billion loan from its friends in the US and the Middle East, the Arabs are investing in Pakistan as never before, so for all the noise the Taliban made in Swat they got their back sides handed to them by the army who barely used its regular forces to dislodge them, the same in Waziristan, these are criminals from Afghanistan, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Africa etc coming in and the locals are being armed by the thousands to take up arms against them, a few skirmishes are good for every nation, it keeps the swords sharp and keeps the nation battle ready.

God bless Pakistan, it will be around for a very long time.

Salman is making it out to be worse than things are in Pakistan, sure there are a few problems, but which developing country does not have the same problems. India has worse problems in Assam, Kashmir, Punjab, and in other places, rioting is failrly common in India, and it is not in Pakistan. I recently was in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawer and Karachi, pretty much all over Pakistan, business was flourishing, beautiful freeways, new air conditioned Mercedes buses, more cars on the roads as never before, people doing so well. Listening to Salman one would imagine Pakistan is a Somalia, nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to our friends in the Global arena and hard working Pakistanis, Pakistans economy is growing at a solid pace even as the world is in a recession, every man woman and child in Pakistan wants to succeed and wants the country to succeed, schools are bursting at the seams, everywhere i went from the NWFP most conservative corners like Bannu on the edge of Waziristan to Lahore, children are thirsting for education and parents are making sacrifices to put them in school. I saw a vibrant, dynamic, intelligent nation on the move. Not even bombs or the fanatics threats have fazed people, nightlife is one of the best in the world, go to Lahore and people wake up at 10pm, restaurants serving the best fare in the world from all over the world is found here, expats from China, Russia, Africa, Far Eat, Europe are working in every field imaginable and one would think there would be no expats.

Pakistan is a strong, Nuclear power, a nation that builds its own, military trucks, jeeps, tanks, fighter jets, missiles, even cruise missiles, boats, its ready to recieve a $70 Billion loan from its friends in the US and the Middle East, the Arabs are investing in Pakistan as never before, so for all the noise the Taliban made in Swat they got their back sides handed to them by the army who barely used its regular forces to dislodge them, the same in Waziristan, these are criminals from Afghanistan, Chechnya, tajikistan, Africa etc coming in and the locals are being armed by the thousands to take up arms against them, a few skirmishes are good for every nation, it keeps the swords sharp and keeps the nation battle ready.

God bless Pakistan, it will be around for a very long time.

For all Muslims out there- Here is a Five Step Program for Deprogramming/"Deflawing" Islam:

Using "The 77 Branches of Islamic "faith" a collection compiled by Imam Bayhaqi as a starting point-- In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true "faith" (iman) through related Qur’anic verses and Prophetic sayings." i.e. a nice summary of the Koran and Islamic beliefs.

"1. Belief in Allah"

"aka as God, Yahweh, Zeus, Jehovah, Mother Nature, etc." should be added to your cleansing neurons.

"2. To believe that everything other than Allah was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah Most High created these things and subsequently they came into existence."

Evolution and the Big Bang or the "Gib Gnab" (when the universe starts to recycle) are more plausible and the "akas" for Allah should be included if you continue to be a "creationist".

"3. To believe in the existence of angels."

A major item for neuron cleansing. Angels/devils are the mythical creations of ancient civilizations, e.g. Hittites, to explain/define natural events, contacts with their gods, big birds, sudden winds, protectors during the dark nights, etc. No "pretty/ugly wingy thingies" ever visited or talked to Mohammed, Jesus, Mary or Joseph or Joe Smith. Today we would classify angels as fairies and "tinker bells". Modern devils are classified as the demons of the demented.

"4. To believe that all the heavenly books that were sent to the different prophets are true. However, apart from the Quran, all other books are not valid anymore."

Another major item to delete. There are no books written in the spirit state of Heaven (if there is one) just as there are no angels/"pwtfft"s to write/publish/distribute them. The Koran, OT, NT etc. are simply books written by humans for humans.

Prophets were invented by ancient scribes typically to keep the uneducated masses in line. Today we call them fortune tellers.
Prophecies are also invalidated by the natural/God/Allah gifts of Free Will and Future.

"5. To believe that all the prophets are true. However, we are commanded to follow the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) alone."

Mohammed spent thirty days fasting in a hot cave before his first contact with Allah aka God etc. via a "pretty wingy thingy". Common sense demands a neuron deletion of #5. #5 is also the major source of Islamic violence i.e. turning Mohammed's "fast, hunger-driven" hallucinations into horrible reality for unbelievers.

Accept these five "cleansers" and we guarantee a complete recovery from your Islamic ways!!!!

LOL...the taliban now want a 4 day cease fire in another region...now they want to expand already..soon they will want their own little country and then pakistan will be in a world of hurt and more deaths will be in the millions.

Mr. Salman Ahmad you have spoken from your heart on the issue of the threat of Talebenization in Paksitan . This threat is real , not only for Pakistan but the entire region. I have been writing about it . In not too distant future this will become a greater threat in the region , like it is for Paksitan and Afhanistan at this time . I had similar warning for my friends in Paksitan on my visit to Karachi in 1996. Talebenization issue is of immense importance not only for Pakistanis , but must be attended to , and appeal to all decent , open minded , secular people any where . India should cooperate with Pakistan on this issue . I believe it is about time that India and Pakistan start working on an institutional framework to help each other from terrorists attacks . India and Pakistan have a long way to go in fighting corruption in their security and police police forces . The principal fighting force for almost all of their terrorist problems . Both countries need help from the U. S. and NATO countries to improve up on various aspects of their police and security systems .

Mr. Salman Ahmad you have spoken from your heart on the issue of the threat of Talebenization in Paksitan . This threat is real , not only for Pakistan but the entire region. I have been writing about it . In not too distant future this will become a greater threat in the region , like it is for Paksitan and Afhanistan at this time . I had similar warning for my friends in Paksitan on my visit to Karachi in 1996. Talebenization issue is of immense importance not only for Pakistanis , but must be attended to , and appeal to all decent , open minded , secular people any where . India should cooperate with Pakistan on this issue . I believe it is about time that India and Pakistan start working on an institutional framework to help each other from terrorists attacks . India and Pakistan have a long way to go in fighting corruption in their security and police police forces . The principal fighting force for almost all of their terrorist problems . Both countries need help from the U. S. and NATO countries to improve up on various aspects of their police and security systems .

Isn't too late to come up with these sentiments when the government is alreading compromising its writ and gradually capitulating to the expanding influence of radicals in Northern Pakistan ? Over the past few years, we have observed two consistent trends: growing rhetoric and bombings of innocents and at the same time uncanny growth in the power of the radicals. It is only a matter of time now when Islamabad falls to this menace. That, if happens, will turn out to be another self fulfilling prophecy of modern era of international relations.

The only solution to the Taliban is to destroy them. There is no making peace with those monsters.

Salman is & was alegend in his fied, no doubt; but i fail to understand,, why he chose to write on such a complex, tricky & articulate matter, in the first place; & for haven's sake how come The Post allowed so much space to a poorly written piece based on little, wrong or incomplete information of the writer on the very subject he chose to try his luck.
It has become a fashion in our so called westrenised minority to belittle their country, culture, religion & social values on one or the other pretext. Their only purpose & intention is to get attention in the westren media & social circles by whatever means they can apply.
Mr.Salman is probably not aware of the ground realities & the geostrategic, geopolitical & regional constaints in which both Americans & Pakistanis are fixed. The extreme complexities of the situation which have litterally baffeled the top notch of US defence hirarchy, were definitely not in the mind of Mr.Salman while writing his piece. Defence secretary Roberts Gates wished for a similar deal, like the one with Taliban in Swat, with Taliban in Afghanistan. Alas, this dream coud'nt be materialised forthwith. Special envoy Holbrooke severely criticised the deal with Talibak in Swat. This was perhapes the first ever fumble at such high levels. Such differences were eminent & a matter of routine among the allies in NATO but never so with in the US administration.
Americans are seriously thinking to review their Afghan policy. In other words they may be pondering over, respectable ways & means, to get out of the Afghanistan, as quickly as possible. It has otherwise also been proved that the war in Afghanistan coud'nt be won with force alone. This fact has been acknowleged by all the stake holders to the conflict. Mr.Salman should also try to understand.

While I agree whole-heartedly with Salman about the dangers of captulation to the extremist by the federal government of Pakistan I must disagree with his assesment that Pakistan has been held together for the past 60+ years by culture and not religion. Much like Israel, Pakistan was created for the Muslims of the subcontinent. The four Western provinces that constitute Pakistan today do not even share a common language (I grew up in the Punjab). NWFP, the global hot-spot for Jihadi/extremist activites today DID NOT even want to be a part of Pakistan in 1947! Pakistan has been held together by the Army and to a lesser degree, Islam. There is a lot of mistrust and hostility between the four provinces. So to say that we Pakistanis tolerate each other because we love the diverse music, langauages, culture, etc. is to live in a dream world. Like Europe, Pakistan should have been divided into several smaller countries.....but now of course it will take a bloody civil war to accomplish that!

Many Indians have only a single view of Pakistan - as bigots. These people have never really known the rich culture and common heritage with Pakistanis.

Artistic exchanges between the two nations is vital in keeping some link. A lot of Bollywood veteran song and script writers were Muslims who chose to stay in India and enrich India.

I guess both parties (people, not politicians) in this age-old hostility are looking for a thaw - but who will be the first one to toss that compliment?

Pakistan and Taliban are two sides of the same coin.
To rescue the world (and of course Pakistan) from Taleban, one will have to melt the coin.

Why to ask others to help when you yourself can be a big savior. Music is equally powerful and can reach to the uneducated ones. Dont say that you cant reach to the masses because you dont have sponsor, album sales or etc. You can, certainly you can!!!

Its 'Junoon' in you which will bring/attract others to eradicate the nuisance for ever. You have to begin it. Let us know, how you tend to do it.

To obtain freedom for your rights and women's rights from Taliban please stop asking for help from the rest of the world. Learn to stand up to them, learn to go to jail, even lose your life and fight for what you believe in. That is how ordinary people in India and America fight for their beliefs everyday. Mr.Ahmad you maybe a good musician but you are a cowardly human being.

So why exactly will allowing Pakistani artists into India to make money help 'detalibanize' Pakistan? Any idea of how this would play with the ones who lost kith and kin in Mumbai?

The Taliban was created by the Pakistani Army/ISI under Benazir Bhutto's regime. They still control the hordes. All along, Pakistanis have asked someone or the other to help (preferably by sending money) clean up a mess they've created.

Save yourselves if you think you're worth it. The world does not owe Pakistanis, Pakistani artists or Pakistan a living.

That wicked man Bush must be held accountable for his failure to kill all taliban and al queda. The taliban and al queda are more evil than Hitler and unless the world rises up and extinguishes them it will end in nukes. One way or another the taliban and al queda and all who hate Israel WILL BE exterminated.

I was laughing reading the first sentence - Not religion but culture is the glue of Pakistan? Yap.. i do agree .. the culture of terrorism and killing. Good writing.

Any culture, religion, tribe, or country that allows girls and women to be treated as they are in Muslim countries (and in some non-Mulsim countries) as property to be physically and sexually abused cannot come whining about the unsavory elements in their society. (The poor girls and women are brainwashed into believing that they deserve what they get and that it's the right way to live.)

Personally, I am fed up with the whole lot of them. I know it's politically incorrect but when people treat females as Muslims do they get no sympathy from me.

The Pakistanis (along with other Muslim nations) have tolerated extremism when it suits their purposes.

Unfortunately, this is not going to change. As for the US or NATO or anyone other country trying to change them, no Muslim is going to abide by anything a Christian suggests unless he/she thinks he/she will benefit from it. The only reason why Pakistan is our "friend" is that they are getting money from the US. There is not a single Muslim country that is a friend to the US -- they are only interested in our money. When that's gone, so is their so-called friendship.

So, suck it up, buttercup. Your religion and culture created the problem -- deal with it!

When will Playboy publish its Women of Pakistan issue?

Salman just wants President Obama to help him sell his songs and records. Can you imgagine how his sales will go through the roof, if President of the United States was to say a word on behalf of Salman's band, Janoon? Far from being Salman's agent, the President needs to help educate the so-called educated people of Pakistan who mentally belong to the stone-age just like the Taliban does, except of course they do not want to kill the innocent like the Taliban does. But still it does not provider logical front against Taliban's fanaticism because they themselves are sleeper fanatics.

I am surprised that nobody talks about the elephant in the room.

American (Western) culture is not only incompatible with that of the subcontinent (does not matter which country we are talking about) but also is also dangerous to the moral standing of young impressionable minds.

It is not only the Taliban that is against the crass display of sex that is the staple of western cinema and music. One has only to look at the topics that are celebrated (pedophilia) when handing out best Actress awards at the Oscars. One needs to listen to the lyrics of contemporary music.

These overt westernization offends people of all levels of education and social status. Some will oppose it violently, some will grumble. It is only a very small section of the chattering classes that will support it as artistic freedom.

People are afraid, and justifiably so, that western "culture" will poison theirs, and it will lead down the slippery slope to 70% out of marriage births that is the reality among the poor blacks in the USA

I have heard the group " Junoon " and may you continue to succeed. But, blaming others, as you will read in numerous blogs here is not the solution. Pakistanis have to realize themselves what dictatorship, anti-social elements of the Army and ISI have done to foister the Taliban in order to destroy the social fabric of Pakistan. Asking India to allow their artistes to perform there is an excuse. Pakistanis have to look inward and stop complaining that the USA and India are ganging up on them. They have to stand up to this threat because it is unthinkable that 12,000 Army troops fighting 3000 militants had to surrender in SWAT !

Salvation of Pakistan lies in the irrelevance of the Pakistan Army. India neither is interested in a conflict, nor interested in any piece of Pakistan's real estate. Then why this big army that controls almost everything...but concedes defeat to Taliban in Swat?
The sooner they get rid this obese "Institution", faster Peace will return to South Asia.
It is entirely between India and Pakistan.
Maybe we could decide the Kashmir issue later.

Dear Salman bhai,

i give you credit for trying to explains Pakistan's woes in a simple manner - to do it any other way makes the whole thing a seem like a spaghetti dish which can not be fully explained without opening the pandora's box of the Indo-Pak partition...so with that in mind..

i think the simplest explanation for Pakistan's continuing woes are more to do with very poor ledaership rather than Islam. Unfortunately the feudal mind set of the power owners has only ever produced leaders who have never earned their job on merit - this includes both past and present civilian rulers. As a result their desire to improve the stock of the 95% of the 160+ miln people is not really a priority. This does not absolve the military from its activities either who ultimately come from the same stock...

Its a sad commentary that apart for continually seeking financial help from "anyone" you are now outsourcing "self help" to outsiders also. Until the power base in Pakistan does not shift from "feudal few" to "urban more" the future of Pakistan will continue to be defined as perpetual crisis mode instigated by narrow minded incompetant thugs - only the story line will change

60 years on the tragedy is that the "accidental leadership" of the new Pakistan has continued to make a mess of state which they never really contributed much towards creating (now i'm opening the Pandora's box) - its a distraction to blame Taliban today because in the past it was either the Baloch, the Sindhis, the Bengalis, the Mohajirs, the Pathans, the Saraikis or externally the Indians, the CIA, the Arabs...the list goes on... the truth is that Pakistanis have never got up and said that "we maybe wrong" and lets fix ourselves first rather than find someone else to blame

the day Pakistanis feudals realise that its wrong to bury young girls alive or keep folks in bonded labour or have feudals run the country by buying votes then perhaps we can start to get to the true root cause.. alas i do not see this happening voluntary... its likely to come through a revolution of somekind (of what hue i do not know)

i am not being idealistic but merely pointing out that an internal dialogue must begin which should focus on the wrongs of the cultural rigidity and absolutism of the Pakistan society rather than constantly being on the defensive (and justifying all through the prism of Islam)...that misses the point.. the Taliban are a reaction of the society which has lost faith in its artificial and incompetant leaders and lack of rule of law - fix the root cause and they become irrelevant

My advice to you will be, given the public exposure you have, is to take a chance and ask tough questions within Pakistan which challenges the cultural taboos... rather than worrying about foreigners to come fix the house

i hope i haven't offended you, as i admire you music, but please look within for answers because their lies the key

Salaam...

The root of the problem is religion, more properly called 'superstition'. Of the world's 'great superstitions', islam is the most idiotic but only barely more so than christianity and judaism.

I am waiting for the day when we hold the Saudis responsible for the spread of Wahhabism.

Sir, stop this whining. Taliban, al qaeda, hamas, hezbollah, LET... and so many- all they have in common is Islam. Yes it is mainstream- otherwise you would have one or two (and one or two terror attacks in a year and not daily) but not so many.

Did you or educated/"moderate" Pak Muslims complain that after 1947, Pak declared itself an Islamic republic- an in-your-face insult to more than 25 percent non-Muslims( Hindus, Sikhs, Xtians..) living in Pakistan. Now it is less than 2 percent. Does anyone feel sorry for that fact? No.

Do Muslims really need 57 exclusive Islamic nations? What does it say to non-Muslims living there?

EAST and WEST Pakistan were created because Muslims refused to even try to live in harmony and religious tolerance with Hindus and others. Your article makes it sound like Pakistan is just one lovely pop-festival and is typical of the revisionist thinking that Paki supporters use.

You should be ashamed (whipped, to use your 'cultural' terms) and the idiot that let you author this nonsense should be fired.

Hooey!

The author claims Pakistan is being taken over by Taliban and other Jihadi nut cases. He preaches how India and US should solve the Pakistani problem. Instead of blaming everybody else for their misery, how about Pakistanis solving their own problems. Taliban is flourishing in Pakistan because majority of Pakistanis agree with them.

If you want more details on the following episode, send an email to editor@spreadfreedom.com

"The Taliban were our friends and heroes when they
were fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The thousand years old mantra "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," was shining the
Taliban then. They were the Mujahedin Freedom Fighters - like the "Contras" the Freedom Fighters
in Nicaragua- but those titles have now changed from "Freedom Fighters" to "Terrorists" because they turned against the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan."
-----------------------------------

Your history is a little backwards. The U.S. wasn't phisically in Afghanistan until after 9-11-01 and the Taliban refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden to face justice. You can't blame the U.S. for having a grudge against the Taliban, under those circumstances.

The problem is not just the Taliban, but archaic mentality of most Pakistanis and I especially include educated Pakistanis. They have all been brain-washed by mullahs to the extent that even educated Pakistanis shy away from honest discussions. This handicap exists even in Pakistani diasporas in various parts of the world. In Louisville, KY, exists a group of a few hundred Pakistanis almost all of whom are accomplished professionals and most of whom are successful practicing doctors. They have a group email address. The other day, a fanatical member posted a fatwa saying that it was wrong to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day and also it was wrong to be a friend with non-Muslims. When I strongly objected to this assault on humanity in the name of Islam, another fanatic started to justify the fatwa. A handful spoke against it, but they castigated me more for being so open than condemned the fatwa. Suddenly, every one’s feelings started to get hurt, and the issue died. The fatwa still stands and every one in the group has promised to be polite to each other and not offend each other. So much for the abilities of educated Pakistanis to confront the Taliban and its like.

One huge disadvantage in countering fundamentalisms is that the causes of such beliefs are not well understood. All the informatioin available ougnt to be provided to everyone via all possible channels. If fear causes people to grab onto whatever presents itself as a certain refuge, that fear needs to be recognized and its source removed. Starvation? Unemployment? Powerlessness? Ignorance? All are suspect as causes. Let's get at the facts and start treating the disease.

I find it ironic the very Pakistanis that used the terrorist and the talibans as instrument of their state policy to bleed India since 1947 and Afganistan since 1980 are now being sucked by the same instrument they created. The irony you ask is the fact that now Pakistanis are giving suggestion on what needs to happen...the creator of death wants to play the angel of peace.. ha...ha...ha...guess what I am not buying!

If Pakistan wants peace it needs to two things...first and foremost cut the evil of terrorism from its roots (Army, ISI and the mullahs) and stop calling these terrorist freedom fighters when it suits your purpose. Second and the most important thing to do is stop the preaching of hate in your mosques and enforce secular education in the country be it on a tip of a sword.

Otherwise the only thing that I feel can cure this problem is complete annilation of Terrorism and Pakistan just as Nazism was defeated in Germany

Anything else is just sugar coating

When this eunuch scribbled these incoherent lines he/she was dangerously 'high' with an unusually large dose of a mixture that included cocaine, heroine, marijuana, crack, and cheap Indian booze! This is his 'habit'. He should be forgiven for wasting the readers' precious time.

It is only for religion, Pakistan was created sixty years back and it is the religion that is holding Pakistan. Pakistanis do not want to associate their culture the Indus Valley, they want to be a part of medieval Islam. The rise of Taliban is a manifestation of Islamic clerics to adopt Shariah practice.
The author wants the culture to be the glue yet he mixes with politics. How is uprising in Swat Valley and killings of Shia Muslims and uprising in Baluchistan are connected to Kashmir as he writes, he'll( Obama) have to tackle South Asian problems including the dispute over Kashmir.
If culture is secular, then Kashmir should enjoy secularity. India has as much Muslims as Pakistan and Kashmir has an elected democracy. The demand for the solution of the Kashmir dispute is to give water and power to Pakistan and military base to China. This is political, not cultural .
The author has enjoyed the hospitality and friendship of India and its people.
Please do not indulge in hypocrisy, duplicity, deceit to bring in the Kashmir issue. Pakistan is accepting and supporting the Taliban as it is their extra Army to spread their strategic goal in Afghanistan and beyond.
The world wants peace and harmony, not any hidden agendas to spread Islam.

It is all about the foundations of Islam. Correct these and the Taliban will be history.

A good start would be to nail the following synsopsis of the flaws and errors of Islam on doors of every Mosque :(for those eyes that have not seen)

Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven, warmongering, hallucinating Arab, who also had embellishing/hallucinating/ plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

This agenda continues as shown by the massacre in Mumbai, the assassinations of Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.

And who funds this muck and stench of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

Mr Ahmad's assertions are fanciful but irrational. Before writing he should have delved into the history of Swat and NWFF. Prior to amalgamation with Pakistan Swat enjoyed Islamic Judicial System, which Mr. Ahmad has labelled as SHARIA. Swatis were content to have prompt, cheap and expected justice unlike the Pakistani justice laded with corrupt, unjust and socalled sophisticated Legal System. It is not what Mr. Ahmad wants people have to give due regard to people's wishes. Swat's had their poets, musicians and artists who were cultured and tolerant rather than promiscuous and self-indulgent current pop stars, who believe in nothing else but the satisfaction of their ego, drugs, hype and psychological trips.

Mr. Ahmad is mouring the destruction of girls school, vitiation of arts, culture and women's rights; unfortunately, this tune does not suit him. Before writing, he should have done some research. Women are revered in whole of NWFP unlike in the modernised, advanced and sophisticated suburbia of Lahore or Karachi. Mr. Ahmad has not explained his concept of LIBERAL MUSLIM? All Muslims are liberal except they follow the tenets of Islam. They are not extremist, terrorists or die hards but fundamentalists.

What an historical gem Mr. Ahmad has produced by referring to the Mughal Emperor Akbar - the despot. He was all powerful and whatever he said was done but not because of respect or love but fear.

Mr Ahmad should retrospect and comeup with something positive which could gel the communities. He is a good performer but has not produced anything yet which could be labelled as humanitarian, universal and all embracing. Please concentrate and produce something like NUSRAT ALI KHAN SAHIB - which could be acceptable to all and heal rifts, lift spirts and be encompassing.

Leave Taliban, Swat and Pakistan alone do something for humanity.

Sorry, Salman, but beating the drums of rock music
is not the same as beating the drums of war. You cannot rescue Pakistan from Taliban because Taliban is the Pakistani population with traditional Muslim values that go back to 632 A.D. And those values certainly do not include
western valued concepts or lifestyles - including your rock music. And this is the ax you are griding with this article. Can your rock band play in Saudi Arabia? How about another article on "how to rescue Saudi Arabia from the Wahabis
[the equivalent of Taliban] there?

The Taliban were our friends and heroes when they
were fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The thousand years old mantra "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," was shining the
Taliban then. They were the Mujahedin Freedom Fighters - like the "Contras" the Freedom Fighters
in Nicaragua- but those titles have now changed from "Freedom Fighters" to "Terrorists" because they turned against the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.

You cannot rescue Pakistan from its people, the Taliban. And nobody in either Pakistan or Afghanistan had asked the U.S. to come in and rescue them from the Taliban. The U.S. just wants a puppet regime in Kabul to sandwich Iran between two U.S. puppet regimes -Iraq and Afghanistan- and control in Afghanistan and Pakistan to create a buffer zone in Southeast Asia between Russia and China. And that is why the U.S. engineered the
ascendancy of Asif Zardari from a formerly convicted and imprisoned crook [known as Mr. 10%]
to presidency, because the honest former prime Minister Nawaz Shariff wanted to limit U.S.
influence in Pakistan.

But, if you really want to help the Pakistanis,
how about putting some of your rock music millions
where your mouth is, and help Pakistani victims of the war through the U.N. - or other groups associated with the U.N.- to provide more humanitarian aid to Pakistan?
Nikos Retsos, retired professor

While JoyinJuly is right, the situation has been made much worse in the last few decades by the establishment, with Saudi money, of tens of thousands of madrassas. Luring poor village boys with free food, often free lodging, and the only prospect of any education they will ever have, these mental slaughterhouses feature rote memorization of the Koran to the exclusion of all other subjects save the most viciously extreme interpretation of Islam, in which Christians, Jews, even other Muslims such as Shi'ites and non-fanatic Sunnis are re-defined as "polytheists" fit only for death rather than mere subjugation.

One achievable way to remedy this situation is to squeeze this revenue stream. The way to do that is for Congress to mandate that all new cars sold in America (sold, not made, so as to include imports) have a $100 modification enabling them to run not only on gasoline but also just as easily on any alcohol fuel. Each year 10% of the US auto fleet is bought new, and within 3 years there would be 50 million alcohol compatible cars on the road, enough of a market so that gas stations will begin offering it.

With consumers being free from unnecessary lock-in to oil only, and now enjoying choice and competition via alcohol fuel, the Saudis will not be able to repeat its tenfold run-up in oil prices from 1999 to 2008, nor lavish funds on extremist propaganda, mosques, madrassas, etc., that are radicalizing world Islam, and turning Pakistan among other nations into a roiling cauldron of frenzied hate.

For more information read the book "Energy Victory" by Robert Zubrin.

Remove first the beam...

FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

Well too late Pakistan. We dipped our toe into Afghanistan and went whole hog in Iraq. I support both but until the people of the Muslim Middle East wake up and take advantage of the freedoms regained in those countries to establish real democracy then I say no more. I am afraid that Islam is an ideology that cannot produce any freedom.

Dear Ahmad:
Let us face it but your prophet had clearly discouraged, if not totally and explicitly prohibited, all forms of art. Of all the musical instruments he allowed the use of tambourines and only in special events such as weddings or funerals. Although he criticized poets and poetry yet he had a private poet by the name of Hassan ibn Thabet who acted as his poet laureate. The fundamentalists amongst Muslims interpret “discouragement” as an all out “prohibition, and I believe that is what you are arguing against.

I tend to agree with the author that (all) the states (i.e. India, Russia,) United States and others who have constantly interfered with Pakistan's internal affairs for it own benefits, have to now recognise that things are biting back. The demons and ensuing unrest that they helped create and sustain, are now apparent for the world to see. Nor is Pakistan blame-free for allowing these events and situations to continue without taking into account repercussions on its population and that of its neighbours.

However blame-games will not get Pakistan or its equally unstable neighbours anywhere. India has a history of interfering in all its neighbours affairs, sort of like a regional big brother on par with the US behavior in the 70's in Latin America and it is evident from the 30+ terrorist attacks on its soil in the last year , out of which only one is linked to Pakistan.

Arguing about who did what is irrelevant at this point.

Im curious as to what the author thinks the alternative was for the government. As someone who is not terribly fond of the current ruling elite, how does he propose ending the bloodshed of innocent civilians over the last two years that was not even secret ? Walk into PIMS hospital in Islamabad any day and see how many limbless women and children languished in hallways for days. While a big fan of music, I think lost lives are a bigger cause than lost culture , for some time. We are not France.

Finally, as a Pakistani, I respectfully disgaree with the author with his opinion that Pakistan is united by culture. We are a country of myriad races and languages. Like it or not, Islam and the tolerance for difference has been the binding force that held together people of so many colours and cultures.

What is horrible that external elements have overtaken that culture of tolerance for each other and somehow created a frankenstein of faith that even those whose funding helped give birth to this deformed child cant recognise it anymore.

I look forward to reading ideas and solutions by this very talented author /musician

I respectfully disagree. The concept that light will filter down from the elites is backwards. It must filter up from the courage and heroism of the poor. There is only one solution and it will not come from the elites or the politicians. It will come from those of us that can see the pain and humiliation these people have been carrying for centuries and give them a chance to earn their respect. Locals and I started an organization like this in Pakistan called Little World Community Organization and it brings such hope that villages are begging us to help them but we don’t have the means. We won’t accept your donations, though, because donations carry the message that you are reaching down and that poisons the intention. We need people to reach across as friends and help sell products they are learning to make so they can support their own growth from poverty and teach us something about the human spirit. www.lwco.org

A number of very good points and very good recommendations. At the same time I have to admit that mucicians took it too far. Walking into Wazirastan with guitars, jeans and polo caps is not music or culture. To a local, it sounds more like a threat. We cannot remove a patient from a hospital bed and ask him to run at fifty miles an hour..it just does not work. But there are a couple of things I would like to add to what Salman had to say - to many in the US, the idea of helping Pakistan today may sound strange but it should not. Pakistan is paying the price for a war that it helped the US win two and haf decades ago. It was not Pakistan's war. Pakistan and its people got nothing but pain in return. Second, the US needs to help Pakistan improve its education sector. This is a segment that was roughly at par with India's but has declined greatly as a result of Pakistan's focus on dealing with the challenges resulted from the first Afghan war. Third, the US needs to help Pakistan develop its technology sector - in roughly the same way helped create India's IT sector. The nation is hard working but it had lost focus during the last two and half decades.

So let me get this straight..Pakistanis are turning into radicals because they don't have access to quality cinema. The fact that their government has been actively radicalizing it's own population has nothing to do with it.

Umm..ok.

"Pakistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, but culture -- not religion -- is the glue that binds people.."

You're kidding yourself. Sole reason for Pakistan foundation was Islam. Please familiarize yourself with the history.

Only reason Pakistan was kept together along all years was not the civic society in Pakistan as you claim, but by creating hatred towards India and issues like Kashmir. Since those issues are subsided, your country is falling apart.

And no, music can't save Pakistan, because Taliban don't like music.

"
Most Pakistani rock bands, artists and film makers are being intimidated to find other work. Some artists, like pop star Junaid Jamshed, have left music to become proselytizers for Islamic missionary movements.
"

This gives the impression that Junaid Jamshed joined the Tablighi Jamaat out of intimidation. This is untrue. He joined the Tablighi Jamaat voluntarily.

At the end of all articles by most Pakistanis is a plug for Kashmir. I guess leopards cant change their spots.

July:
Unfortunately, that juice of Taliban/AlQaeda/ISI is going to hit Indian borders by end of 2009 and India better be prepared this time to handle it. The worse case scenario would be the voting in of the Third Front led by anti-hindu communists and a PM of India in the mould of I K Gujral (the worst PM of India). 2009 and 2010 is going to be very very tough for India

One cannot make peace with the perverse, ever. It simply cannot work, ever. Pakistan will soon learn this first hand.

JoyInJuly
While it is true that Pakistan was conceived of as a nation for South Asian Muslims, a little knowledge of the people who founded it would disabuse you of the notion that it was a created by or for radical Islam. In fact, right win Muslims in Pakistan today denounce the founder of the country as an "agent" of the British. It's a conspiracy theory with as much reality in it as any other conspiracy theory, but it demonstrates the idea that the Founding Father of Pakistan were not practicing Muslims at all.
And at in the time before 1971, there more Muslims in Pakistan (East and West) than in India. So the majority did move to Pakistan.
What you say about ethnic elements battling it out in Pakistan does ring true. that is always the case in any country where linguistic identity battles for supremacy in national identity. Religion plays little part in that struggle.
There has been an increase in right wing Islamisim in Pakistan. This increased Islamization of Pakistan reflects a global increase in religiosity--including increases in right wing Christianity and right wing Hinduism. Perhaps, there is a cultural element to all religious movements.

That is a fascination feature of Pakistan. I just decry how a nation can be failed. Unfortunately, Pakistan has become so. I wish Salman Ahmad the success for his endeavor for a bright Pakistan in future. But I don't agree with his notion that the US can play the role here. Don't you remember its the US who injected Taliban into your border to fight Russian army? Its the US who does not understand anything but their own interest. You plea to the US make me laugh out loud. I cannot imagine your stand. You should rely on your own efforts. Any US engagement would just deteriorate the situation in this region. Because People don't trust the US. Even if the US come up with a good intention, it won't be succeed. Its a reality. Believe me. Try your own friend. You can just only blame the US for pouring millions of dollars in fighting Russian army in eighties using your own territory, risking your own nation... Best of luck friend.

The author's statements are all inconsistent with the truth. Pakistan was an Islamic fundamentalist concept, born of the conviction that Muslims cannot coexist with Hindus in undivided India. The majority of the sub-continent's Muslims rejected Pakistan and continued to live in India. Pakistan was never held together by music and all those fine things. Brute Punjabi domination over the Balochs, Sindhis and NWFP ethnic folks was the adhesive. The Bengalis successfully wriggled out to form, through much pain, a new nation called Bangladesh within 25 years of Pakistan's birth. Its curious that Pakistan now accepts that India "has a stake in peace and conflcit resolution in South Asia". Thanks but no thanks. You can stew in your own juice.