Daily Times

In a market place near the ‘Osama residence’ in Abbottabad, a visiting journalist asked a young customer in a shop for his comments about the operation on May 2, 2011. The young man said: “It is all Obama-Osama drama.” This young man reflected the prevailing mood of cynicism and disbelief related to the operation. The SEALs’ helicopters took off from Abbottabad but left so much dust behind that perceptions became hazy.

Was Osama actually killed? Was he really alive up till now? Where is the evidence? Why was he not captured alive? Why was he not photographed dead? How could our airspace be violated? How come the radars did not work? How is it possible that our secret services did not know of his presence for five years? Questions, questions, and even more questions.

Most people tend to forget that the chief symbol of all al Qaeda activities was killed and that he had remained the most important figure in the world of terrorism for over a decade. Instead, they are bewildered by the questions that the ‘operation’ left behind. The violation of sovereignty by the US bothers those who have forgotten the violation of sovereignty committed by Osama and his clan and the killing of 35,000 Pakistanis thereafter. There were two important statements made that should have cleared some mist. These were not given the weightage they deserved.

One was by our prime minister. It was on the floor of the house that he admitted that the chief of army staff (COAS) had called him after midnight and had informed him of the intrusion. The COAS cannot order any further action unless authorised by the president of Pakistan. The US operation can be presumed to have taken place by covert permission or by silence. This clearly settles the sovereignty question. The major hue and cry on the issue has been made by Osama sympathisers. It is an irony that fateha prayers were offered by some MNAs for Osama bin Laden, but not for a son of the soil, Salmaan Taseer. All such people, who showed concern about sovereignty and underplayed the fact of Osama’s capture, are those who have an element of sympathy for him and like to paint the Osama operation as a ‘bad’ thing. Additionally, they look for political mileage by embarrassing the government.

The other statement was by ex-President Pervez Musharraf. He said it all. He indicated that the ‘rogue’ elements in the armed forces and ISI may have hidden information on Osama from reaching the decision makers. Therefore, Osama was helped to stay in Abbottabad unnoticed for five years. This is a very dangerous reality. Osama supporters and people with his mindset are entrenched in a major section of our society. This was the reason that an open admission was not made of the covert permission; it was because of fear of a backlash. The government wanted to let things cool down and let the ‘leakages’ do the job.

Indeed, it is a matter of concern that even the armed forces and ISI are infected with such rogue elements. This seems to be the truth because even the army headquarters were attacked by terrorists who had obtained inside information. There are several incidents that prompt strict investigations to cleanse the ISI and armed forces of the dangerous cells of saboteurs. Such people have been indoctrinated into believing in a ‘brand’ of Islam that has caused the greatest damage to the real, peaceful message of Islam delivered by the Prophet (PBUH).

It is beyond comprehension that a house was built for Osama, and he resided in it for five years, along with a large family, and remained completely unnoticed! Come on, have a heart. How can this be? There is no doubt about the involvement of those who were supposed to have spotted him. The chief of the ISI came clean by admitting failure. That was graceful. But this admission should be the beginning of a thorough clean up. It should be done ruthlessly and immediately because such individuals are the real enemies of the sovereignty of the country and its people. These covert supporters of terror have done much damage and will continue to do so unless eliminated.

A survey conducted by an English daily shows some shocking results. It has reported that 50 percent of Pakistanis are unhappy with the elimination of Osama bin Laden. The pro-Taliban propaganda machine has cleverly associated the Osama elimination with the violation of sovereignty and has thus ensured that the Osama operation becomes unpopular. It has also hit the armed forces because they are the ones who cleaned up Swat and South Waziristan. The Osama/Taliban network has tried to gain a mind-war victory. This success will last for a while unless the mist is cleared. It is good that the armed forces took the initiative of talking to parliament. It was a well thought out and honest action, which restored the respect of our valiant forces to a large extent. But more needs to be done in the direction of de-radicalisation of the services and of the establishment in general. The cancer will not be removed unless this operation is done. Islam’s fair name has been exploited to the hilt by power seekers and terrorists. This country contains an overwhelming majority of people who are Muslims and have been led by the claimants of expertise in religion. Unfortunately, some so-called leaders of Islam use suspect versions of religion, like Qutubi or Salafi Islam, to serve their power pursuits. The result is a worldwide bad name to true Muslims.

For the purpose of stressing my point, I repeat that the Osama bin Laden operation should not be mixed up with the sovereignty issue. Sovereignty gets challenged every time the government goes out with a begging bowl. It also gets violated when foreigners enter in large numbers and terrorise the nation with suicide bombs.

The pro-Taliban mindset is the greatest enemy of our nation and its sovereignty; this is what we need to fight against, with full power.

The writer is a culture and media management specialist, a researcher, author, director and actor