SPIEGEL ONLINE - November 8, 2007, 02:55 PM URL: <http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,515958,00.html> http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,515958,00.html
THE 'TALIBANIZATION' OF PAKISTAN Islamists Destroy Buddhist Statue By Yassin Musharbash When the Taliban destroyed two Buddhist statues in Afghanistan in the spring of 2001, there was an international outcry. But similar incidents are now occurring in northwest Pakistan, where radical Islamists recently blew up a sculpture of Buddha in broad daylight. An Afghan local stands next to a rock effigy of the Buddha partly destroyed by militant Islamists. <http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,1012566,00.jpg> AP An Afghan local stands next to a rock effigy of the Buddha partly destroyed by militant Islamists. The phenomenon is new and disconcerting. Even the Pakistani government describes it as "Talibanization:" Parts of the country are now in almost exactly the same situation as neighboring Afghanistan was when the Taliban were still in power there. This is especially the case in the formerly peaceful Swat region, where a militant Islamist leader has even proclaimed an "emirate." And just as in Afghanistan, the Islamists' hatred is directed, in part, against the traces left by the ancient Buddhist civilization in the region. Islamists inspired by the Taliban recently destroyed an important Buddhist sculpture 40 meters (131 feet) tall and about 1,300 years old in the north-western part of the Swat Valley, reports Vishaka N. Desai, the director of the US-based Asia Society. Drills and Explosives In her article, which appeared in the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper on Tuesday, Buddhism expert Desai reports that the Islamists were able to act without any interference from the local administration -- in broad daylight. Their first destruction attempt left the sculpture undamaged; the second damaged the Buddha's face, shoulders and feet. The culprits had used large machines to drill shafts into the historic monument. They then filled the shafts with explosives and detonated them. Desai, who is Indian, also reports that while Pakistani newspapers criticized the desecration extensively, the international press hardly took notice of the incident. And yet it was not the first of its kind. As recently as September of this year, gunshots were fired at a rock effigy of Buddha in the same region. In March of 2001, when the Afghan Taliban laboriously blew up two enormous Buddha statues in Bamiyan, a district in central Afghanistan, there was an international outcry. The Taliban justified the destruction by saying the sculptures were idols and "un-Islamic." Taliban leader Mullah Omar said at the time that "Muslims should be proud to destroy idols. Our destroying them was an act of praise for God." Only the Beginning? Now Desai is warning that other Buddhist cultural legacies in Pakistan could also be destroyed: "There are vast numbers of important Buddhist sites in Swat and other areas of northwest Pakistan," she writes. "At this point, all of them are under threat of destruction, thanks to the influential voice of the Islamist leader Mullah Fazlullah." Mullah Maulana Fazlullah is currently the strong man in the Swat region, notwithstanding his youth: He is only 28 years old. He thinks of himself as part of the Taliban movement and accepts only one authority: Mullah Omar. He has even proclaimed an "Islamic emirate" in his area of influence, and he commands a militia estimated to comprise some 4,500 men. FACTS ABOUT PAKISTAN The Founding of Pakistan Pakistan was created out of the largely Muslim parts of British India in 1947. At first it consisted of two parts -- West and East Pakistan -- separated by a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles). But the divergent parts of the country lacked a common national identity. East Pakistan declared independence in 1971, becoming the country of Bangladesh. The Kashmir Conflict Since its creation, Pakistan has been involved in two major wars (1947- 48 and 1965) against its neighbor India. Both wars were caused by disputes over the border region of Kashmir. The Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu (as Kashmir was called at the time) originally opted to become part of India. Still Pakistan gained control of the western and northern parts of the region. Both India and Pakistan consider Kashmir part of their territory. The conflict last escalated in 1999, when major military clashes involving several hundred casualties took place. The clashes led eventually to the most recent military coup in Pakistan, which brought the country's current president, General Pervez Musharraf, to power. The referendum proposed by the United Nations (UN) in 1948 was never carried out. Military Dictatorships Pakistan has experienced a military dictatorship four previous times in its history. The first military coup occurred in 1958, following a protracted domestic crisis. General Ayub Khan seized power and attempted to boost the weak economy by means of Five Year Plans. He resigned in 1969, following student protests and a general strike. His successor Aga Mohammed Jahja Khan imposed martial law at first but later allowed for political parties and elections. He lost power when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was elected president in December of 1970. Popular unrest in 1977 was followed by a military coup under General Zia ul- Haq. He banned political parties and trade unions and imposed martial law. His regime, which relied on the military, remained in place until 1988 and initiated the process of Islamization in Pakistan. In 1999, following further clashes over the Kashmir region, General Pervez Musharraf seized power in a military coup, ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Musharraf seized direct control of the judiciary and ousted Islamists from the military. Islam By virtue of its 1956 constitution, Pakistan became the first Islamic republic in the world. Islam is the state religion, although the constitution also guarantees freedom of religion. Ninety- six percent of Pakistanis are Muslim. The president is also required to be Muslim by law. Since the creation of Pakistan, tensions between various groups concerning the role of Islam within the state have dominated domestic politics, with Islamist tendencies repeatedly coming to the fore. For example, the dictator Muhammad Zia- ul- Haq introduced Shariah, or Muslim religious law. In 1997, Pakistan was the first state to recognize the extremist Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Support for the Islamists in Pakistan has increased in recent years. President Musharraf is confronted with a newly vigorous Islamist opposition: Islamist party alliances have seized power in the Baluchistan region, which borders on Afghanistan, and in the north- western border region. Military operations against the Taliban and al- Qaida militants driven out of neighboring Afghanistan and assisted by regional tribal elders have occured repeatedly in these areas since 2003. Thousands of radical Islamists from Pakistan are fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan. At the same time, the Musharraf administration has become one of the most important US allies in the struggle against terror. Civilian Governments Pakistan's population repeatedly pinned its hopes of achieving freedom and democracy on the civilian governments in the country's history. During the first years following independence from Britain, the country struggled with major economic problems and the migration of millions of Muslims from India to Pakistan. The first genuinely democratic phase lasted from 1971 until 1977. But Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto developed an increasingly authoritarian leadership style. Accusations of malpractice and corruption were levelled against him. Massive protests over electoral fraud led eventually to the military coup under General Zia- ul- Haq. Bhutto was executed. In 1986, his daughter Benazir Bhutto returned from exile. Two years later, she won the election following Zia- ul- Haq's death in an airplane crash, the exact causes of which remain unclear. Bhutto ruled from 1988 until 1990 and from 1993 until 1996. But she also disappointed the hopes the Pakistanis had placed in her. She was charged with corruption in Pakistan and later with money laundering in Switzerland. Her two- time successor Nawaz Sharif, the head of the Muslim League, is not remembered positively either. He ruled between 1990 and 1993 and between 1997 and 1999. Pakistan carried out its first subterranean nuclear weapon tests under his rule. Sharif was deposed by Musharraf's bloodless coup in 1999. He was subsequently also convicted for corruption and fled the country. Like Bhutto, he hopes to take power again during the next elections. 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