Bubonic plague (black death) and Wahabist fanaticism hit the Indian subcontinent simultaneously by the mid 19th century. The plague claimed millions of lives in South Asia and China, and has kept reappearing from time to time, last in Surat. However, the fanaticism that rode over the back of the Wahabist brute has continued unabated ever since and has become an epidemic worse than the plague now in most parts of Pakistan and somewhat so in India. The whole of Sahel, North Africa, major parts of Central Asia, the Middle East and Afghanistan have been bitten by this flea and is choking almost the whole of the Muslim world. The rest of the world is seeing this ugly spectacle with mounting apprehension. Our northwestern frontier region had a particular appeal for these fanatics who kept crawling into these areas from mainland India, whipped up an uprising after disjointed uprisings among the tribes and invited disproportionate punishment from Sikhs and then from the British. In the process, it established the capacity of the mullah to incite rebellion here. Mullah Powinda, Mullah Hadda and Faqir Ippi in Mehsud-Wazirs, Mad Mullah in Swat and Mullah Sayyid Akbar among Mohmands-Bajaur were some of the well known fanatic instigators of the area. Therefore, it is no wonder that Sufi Mohammad and Mullah Fazlullah sprang up from Swat as that valley has a history of just such an eruption. It is also a well-known fact that Salafist/Takfiri muftis and mullahs have a mesmerising hold over most of the TTP rank and file, and their say is carried. These muftis sanction beheadings, death by shooting, suicide bombings, kidnapping for ransom, attacks on Christian churches, Shias, Ahmddis, security forces and innocent civilians. These men are in cahoots with their cabal in mainland Pakistan, chief among them are Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) followed by Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (F) and (S), Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkare-e-Jhangvi and some from the Sunni Tehreek. Of these, the JI is the most pernicious and a sponsor of many an extremist in the country. Major al Qaeda wanted men were found harboured by their activists in Pakistan, including recently arrested al Qaeda facilitators hiding in IJT held rooms in Punjab University hostels in Lahore. The JI’s defence of decapitated Hakimullah Mehsud as an anointed soldier of Islam and rubbishing the supreme sacrifice of thousands of soldiers killed fighting against aggression and terrorism in such a wicked manner is amazing. It is not only utterly dumb but also despicable. For them a genetic killer like Hakimullah Mehsud is more sacred than the soldiers who lay down their lives defending the country. This was the unkindest cut of all tthe JI could ever deliver, yet these men are unrepentant including their pestilential leader. He also had the audacity to demand an apology from the very soldiers whose most sublime sensitivity he so wantonly stabbed. How could they be so insensitive? Insensitive they are but there also appears a method behind this madness. With partition in place it was hoped that we would be rid of groups like the JI and Deobandis who opposed Pakistan tooth and nail but that was not to be. Not only the JI but also the JUI, Ahrar, Khaksar and all the mad monks moved into the fledgling country to play out their fantasies to our abiding regret and misfortune. Of these, the JI turned out to be a more malicious and astute organisation. They knew very well that people would never vote them into power and never did and therefore they had to seek shortcuts. Early on, they identified the Pakistan Army as the ideal vehicle and simultaneously got busy in destabilising the weak civilian governments by their agitation in the streets. They were the prime wreckers of Pakistan’s first draft constitution when it was withdrawn by the late Liaquat Ali Khan from the floor of the assembly for being not sufficiently Islamic. The JI tried to insert its redesigned ideology into the minds of the army high command, failing which infected a considerable portion the lower cadres. The army was looking for an ideological anchor to pivot her claim to power around, which the JI readily provided. Its height was reached in late General Zia’s time. Meanwhile, they were always the first to mount the bandwagon whenever the army took over, albeit with disastrous results. The East Pakistan debacle owes much to their coarse ambition. The JI was the one that declared late General Yahya Khan as the ‘soldier of Islam’ when he ordered the infamous crackdown in 1971. They were the first ones to become federal ministers in the Zia cabinet as he toppled late Bhutto. From then on, their insidious influence into the corridors of state power never really waned. They infest every department of the state, particularly the judiciary. They provided initial foot soldiers for the Afghan resistance against Soviet occupation, a conduit for money and weapons and middlemen between Pak-US-Saudi sponsors and the resistance leadership. This became the locus standi for the Zia-led regime to last the way it did. Their affinity with and pathways to TTP, al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban date back to those times. This longish back ground should explain why they are so upset with the drones decimating the TTP and al Qaeda leadership in FATA. They have no love lost for the breach of our national sovereignty or loss of innocent lives as a result. Mr Munawwar Hassan’s maddening frustration surfaced when he made his ill-considered statement. This is perhaps an indication of the end of their remarkably persistent seduction of the country’s armed forces. However, it is one of the best things to have happened to the country and the army. The country went up in protest over the JI’s stark disregard for thousands of men and officers who died defending their motherland. The army high command, though deeply disgusted, responded with a dignified rebuke. The JI trashed both reactions with unrepentant arrogance, and went on to snub the army for being political. It is good that they have stood by their historic folly once again. The Pakistan army would do well to sheer this leech off their back and offload this stinking baggage forever. They were in any case the most unlikely soul mates. The people of Pakistan have now seen the real face of these men and will decide to deal with them in their own time. Good riddance. (Concluded) The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan army and can be reached at clay.potter@hotmail.com