Beitullah Mehsud Claims Responsibility for Manawan Police Attack

Police arrest one of the gunmen of the Manawan Attack

On Tuesday, media outlets reported that Beitullah Mehsud, the head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the Manawan police academy in Punjab province, which killed at least 13 people, including at least eight recruits and instructors, and wounded more than 100. Mehsud reportedly told Reuters by telephone, “Yes, we have carried out this attack,” asserting that it was “in retaliation for the continued drone strikes by the U.S. in collaboration with Pakistan on our people.” According to BBC News, the TTP leader also claimed responsibility for two other recent deadly attacks – a suicide attack on a security convoy in Bannu on Monday and the attack on the Islamabad police station on March 25. He noted these attacks would continue “until the Pakistan government stops supporting the Americans.” Other media agencies reported the militant head also threatened to attack Washington, warning, “Very soon we will take revenge from America, not in Afghanistan but in Washington, which will amaze the entire world.”

Mehsud’s announcement seem to adhere to Interior Minister Rehman Malik‘s statements yesterday, when he said the perpetrators of the Manawan police academy attack had “rented an apartment in Lahore but came from Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas in the west.” According to GEO News, Malik noted the assailants had planned the attack in South Waziristan, and that one of the captured gunmen was an Afghan national. However, prior to Mehsud’s announcement today, the NY Times had reported, “It seemed just as likely that the attacks had been perpetrated by Punjabi militant groups, like Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was blamed for the attacks last year in Mumbai, India, or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian group that recruits in southern Punjab but in recent years moved to the tribal areas to train alongside Al Qaeda.” The LeT was also suspected in a hauntingly similar attack this month on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Monday’s attack on the police academy was the second major attack in Punjab in a month. Both attacks aimed to highlight the powerlessness of the government and its security forces, although yesterday’s incident was “resolved” by paramilitary troops, who struck back quickly, surrounding the police academy and fiercely attacking the militants. The government called the resolution of the eight-hour siege a “relative success.”

After following the news yesterday and today, what ultimately disturbed me was not that the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack, but that there were so many potential perpetrators. Beitullah Mehsud’s announcement reminded us of how many groups are operating in Pakistan’s periphery, and how easily they can coordinate with one another. Although they may be separate organizations, the line between them has become increasingly blurred. In February 2009, the Long War Journal noted that there have been “numerous reports of joint operations between the Taliban, Al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network, Hizb-i-Islami, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, and other terror groups.” And, although the Lashkar-e-Toiba [LeT] has historically had a more localized agenda [fighting in Kashmir], analysts after the Mumbai attacks noted the organization has evolved to become a greater, more overarching threat, one that has bought into the AQ vision. The Tehreek-e-Taliban meanwhile is a loose alliance of about 13 Islamist militant groups based near the Afghan border, with reported links to the Afghan Taliban. According to Reuters, “While some of the groups are fighting for implementation of a puritanical Taliban-like order, others are involved in criminal activities such as smuggling and kidnapping.” Mehsud is Pakistan’s most-wanted militant, and the U.S. has publicized a $5 million award for his arrest, [see CHUP’s past post on him].

What is frightening is that these groups are no longer confined to Pakistan’s tribal areas; in fact, that has been the reality for some time now. Their operations are bleeding into our country, they are threatening our citizens, and they aim to destabilize our state further. The recent political turmoil in Pakistan, [which may have eased [temporarily] today with the restoration of Shahbaz Sharif as Chief Minister of Punjab] only further exacerbated the power vacuum in the nation – ultimately making us more vulnerable to such attacks. By targeting relatively safe cities like Lahore, these organizations aim to entrench the perception that nowhere in Pakistan is safe. By targeting our police forces [besides the Manawan attack, there was also the Islamabad police station bombing and last week’s attack on a mosque near a tribal police checkpoint], they are not only highlighting the weaknesses in our security structure, but are intimidating members of these forces. The NY Times quoted one angry young recruit yesterday, who told the news agency, “I’m not joining the police…I love my life. No one wants to be here anymore. We’re taking off our uniforms and going home.”

Although it was an improvement that Pakistan’s elite forces were able to swoop in and prevail yesterday, [considering that during the Lahore attack, the assailants got away], the real victory will come when these incidents are not just quelled but actually prevented. Let’s hope that with one political crisis averted, that can now happen.

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Breaking News: Pakistan Police Academy Attacked

AP Image, Paramilitary troops moving into Police Academy

Media outlets are reporting that a police training academy near Lahore was attacked by gunmen today, killing 8 and wounding many, although BBC News reported there has been “no official confirmation of the casualties.” GEO News reported, “According to sources, unknown attackers threw hand grenades at the Police Training School in Manawan after which exchange of firing began between the armed attackers and the police which still continues.” Dawn noted in its coverage that incident took place between 7 and 8 am Monday morning, [PST] when trainees were participating in their morning parade. The news agency cited eyewitnesses who estimated that “ten attackers carried out the attack, and at least eight explosions have been heard so far.” BBC added, “TV pictures apparently showed several police officers lying on the ground covered in blood.”

A police official told news agencies that elite troops have now been called to the scene. What’s really frightening is that gunmen can just walk into a training school and perpetrate such attacks. With Zardari just now lifting Governor rule in Punjab, will the vacuum of power lead to further chaos?

CHUP will continue to provide more information as further details come in.

UPDATE 1209 [EST]: GEO is reporting that the gunmen are firing kalashnikovs inside the training center, noting they walked into the academy and initiated the attack. A bomb blast was heard, which was followed by grenade launches. The firing that started after is still continuing. GEO is reporting 15 dead and 18 injured.

UPDATE 1215 [EST]: GEO is reporting that paramilitary forces [rangers] has now arrived on the scene. A security official told Reuters that 10 police officers had been killed and 50 people wounded.

UPDATE 715 [EST]: Media outlets report the police academy has been “retaken” by Pakistani security forces, although Dawn noted that official confirmations on the development have not yet been made. BBC News reported that television footage showed paramilitary troops celebrating on the roof of the compound. Dawn added, “Earlier, the Associated Press said four of the gunmen who attacked the academy in the Manawan area on Lahore’s outskirts were killed, while a fifth was in custody.” Government official Rao Iftikhar also stated earlier that about 11 of the gunmen remained holed up at the top floor of a building in the compound, and they were holding some 35 police hostage. The BBC reported that up to 40 people were killed, and 80 injured, “but the situation remains confused.”

UPDATE 735 [EST]: Bloomberg cited Punjab governor Salman Taseer, who stated, “We condemn the attack,” adding that the gunmen appear“well trained and equipped with automatic weapons and hand grenades.” [Other sources noted the gunmen were better trained than the police academy trainees!] Television reports cited witnesses who said the method of today’s raid was similar to the March 3 attack on a bus carrying Sri Lanka’s cricket team in Lahore.

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Obama Announces New Afghanistan/Pakistan Strategy

Image: NY Times/Reuters

President Obama unveiled his new Afghanistan strategy to reporters today, after a “careful policy review” led by Brookings Institution‘s Bruce Reidel. In his speech, Obama asserted the situation “is increasingly perilous,” and sought to answer the questions, “What is our purpose in Afghanistan?” and “Why do our men and women fight and still die there?” The President emphasized that Al Qaeda and its allies are in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the organization is still planning attacks on the United States from its safe haven in Pakistan. Ultimately, the President stated that his administration’s purpose is to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat AQ” in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, and prevent its return to either country in the future.

At the same time, Obama promised neither to write a “blank check” nor to “blindly stay the course” if his risky new strategy does not achieve its ambitious goals. Instead, he affirmed that we cannot succeed with “bullets and bombs alone,” adding, “We stand for something different.” The President therefore called upon Congress to pass the bipartisan Kerry-Lugar bill, which would authorize $1.5 billion aid to Pakistan every year for the next five years, as well as a bill that would create “opportunity zones” for exports. According to CNN’s Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, this conditional aid would offer an incentive to the Pakistani government and military to crack down further on the militants. For Afghanistan, Obama announced the U.S. “will send 4,000 more troops to train Afghan security forces on top of the 17,000 extra combat troops that he already ordered to Afghanistan shortly after taking office.” The NY Times reported, “For now, Mr. Obama has decided not to send additional combat forces, they said, although military commanders at one point had requested a total of 30,000 more American troops. Even so, the strategy he endorsed on Friday effectively gives Mr. Obama full ownership of the war just as its violence is spilling back and forth across the border with Pakistan.”

Obama’s speech was based in rhetoric, and therefore wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, [actual benchmarks for both Afghanistan and Pakistan are slated to be released soon]. However, the newly elected U.S. president did consistently frame Al Qaeda and its allies’ goals as contrary to those of the Pakistani and Afghan people. Not only that, but he likened the needs and desires of Americans to those of Pakistanis, noting they all wanted an end to terror, access to basic services, and an opportunity to live their dreams within the the rule of law. “The single greatest threat to that future,” he added, “comes from Al Qaeda.” President Obama further asserted,

Nearly 3,000 of our people were killed on September 11, 2001, for doing nothing more than going about their daily lives. Al Qaeda and its allies have since killed thousands of people in many countries. Most of the blood on their hands is the blood of Muslims, who al Qaeda has killed and maimed in far greater number than any other people. That is the future that al Qaeda is offering to the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan — a future without hope or opportunity; a future without justice or peace.

The U.S. President also pledged to help Pakistan with its economic crisis and support its institutions. He also promised to help lessen tensions between India and Pakistan by engaging in “constructive diplomacy” with both nations. A trilateral dialogue among Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States, led by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sec. of Defense Robert Gates will also be held regularly, and the United States will work to enhance intelligence sharing and military training along the Pak-Afghan border.

All in all, I liked President Obama’s speech. However, I am still cautious and skeptical. I appreciated how he addressed the Pakistani people [he obviously knows that the war against militancy can only be won if the Pakistani people support it], and asserted support for our economic crisis, as well as the importance of improving relations with India. His rhetoric demonstrated an understanding that Pakistan’s problems cannot be solved through military means alone. However, because the goal of disrupting, dismantling, and defeating Al Qaeda is so broad, I am anxious to learn what methods will be used to achieve that strategy. Will that involve more U.S. drone strikes with collateral damage, attacks that threaten to create more sympathizers for Taliban and AQ militants? Or will the Pakistani military and police be trained to take further ownership of the fight [to the U.S. liking]? The U.S. government has to begin redefining their approach to Pakistan. However, if these attacks continue, it may damage their ability to successfully undertake this new strategy.

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Suicide Bombing at Mosque Kills 48

AFP Image, Body being carried from the blast scene

Breaking news today: Media outlets are reporting that 48 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque near the town of Jamrud in the Khyber agency in northwest Pakistan. Tariq Hayat, the top administration official in Khyber, told the AFP, “Forty-eight bodies have been pulled out of the debris and many others may still be trapped under the rubble…More than 70 people were wounded. There may be many more dead…The bomber was present inside the mosque and blew himself up when Friday prayers began.”

BBC News’ Barbara Plett reported that the mosque is near a tribal police checkpoint, “and was crowded with about 250 worshipers, including many police.” The news agency added, “Pakistan’s security officials have recently concentrated forces in the Khyber region, and especially the Jamrud area, to fight militants attacking convoys carrying supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan.”

The blast followed a string of attacks that have recently occurred in the country. On Monday, a police officer was killed in a suicide bombing at the gate of a police station in Islamabad, and yesterday, a suicide blast killed 11 people at a restaurant in the tribal region. CNN reported, “That attack was most likely part of the ongoing fighting between militants loyal to Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and members of the Turkistan tribe.”

For a suicide bombing to occur at all is horrific, but to strike a mosque while people are praying is truly atrocious. GEO Television cited residents of the Jamrud area, who said “militants had earlier threatened to blow up the police post next to the mosque,” although there had been no immediate claim of responsibility after today’s attack. Hayat told GEO, “It’s surprising, those who claim that they are doing jihad and then carry out suicide attacks inside mosques during Friday prayers…They are infidels. They are enemies of Pakistan. They are enemies of Islam.” Al Jazeera’s correspondent Zeina Khodr, however, pointed to something different when she noted, “But the political agents are saying that, and I quote, ‘no Muslim could carry out such a crime  suggesting that foreign hands were responsible'”

CHUP will post more details on this story as they come in.

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Everyone Poops

My friend, who works for the Water & Sanitation Program at the World Bank, passed along a short animated film they just produced on sanitation issues [read: poop] in Pakistan. Aside from my joking title, [a throwback to the fantastic children’s book, Everyone Poops] sanitation issues are a very serious problem in the developing world, particularly in rural and slum areas. According to statistics released by the Joint Monitoring Program, 90% of Pakistan’s urban population use improved sanitation [i.e., a toilet or a pit latrine], while 4% use shared [a toilet in a community that’s shared]. Only 6% defecate in the open. In contrast, only 40% of the country’s rural population use improved sanitation, 5% use shared, and 10% use unimproved sanitation [i.e., a hole in the ground]. This means that 45% of Pakistan’s rural population defecate [poop] in the open.

The film below explains exactly why this issue is so important, particularly from a public health perspective. Open defecation free, a term used in the cartoon, refers to when 100% of a community/village/town do not use the bathroom outside, [the most ideal scenario is to use improved sanitation methods, but the basic standard is not defecating outside]. However, as an article about sanitation in a small town in Pakistan also noted, becoming open defecation free requires more than just building toilets – raising awareness is also key. As the animated film below shows, change can occur when communities are empowered to become involved in the process. That way, change is more permanent than transient, and sanitation issues are properly addressed in the long run.

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What Are They Really Thinking…

We all know a picture is worth a thousand words, but how often do you look at [candid] photos of our Pakistani politicians and wonder what they’re really thinking?

WordPress very conveniently added the “write your own caption” function recently, and I just couldn’t help myself. The photo is of PM Yousaf Raza Gilani and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif at Tuesday’s reconciliation meeting in Raiwind [Image from Dawn]:

Nawaz: Damn Gilani. Why won't my hair plugs swoop like that?

If you could write your own caption, what would it say?

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Happy Pakistan Day!

Image credit: Islamabad Metblogs

Pakistan has always been a focal point in the news media, but I feel like some pretty hefty stories and statements have surfaced in the last few days. Here are the ones I found most noteworthy:

• David Kilcullen, U.S. CENTCOM adviser to Gen. David Petraeus warned, “The Pakistani state could collapse within six months if immediate steps are not taken to remedy the situation.” Kilcullen told the Washington Post Sunday, “Pakistan has 173 million people, 100 nuclear weapons, an army bigger than the US Army, and al-Qaeda headquarters sitting right there in the two-thirds of the country that the government doesn’t control.”
• Pakistan was also raised in an interview with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright on Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher [click to 3:20 in the clip below]. She noted, “For me, Pakistan has everything that gives you an international migraine. It has nuclear weapons, corruption, poverty, extremism…[Bill Maher interjects: “Crazy Muslims”]…well it certainly has enough of those, and also a weak government…”
• Dawn also reported that Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram suggested that Pakistan is “perilously close” to becoming a failed state and that its government is “pretty disfunctional today.”
• Speaking of our government, an article in Friday’s Foreign Policy ranked President Asif Ali Zardari as the world’s fifth biggest loser [just to give some context, Bernie Madoff was number three and Josef Fritzl was first]. The FP’s David J. Rothkopf wrote, “Locked in a bitter struggle with opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, Zardari showed his weakness by capitulating to demands to reinstate Pakistan’s former Chief Justice per Sharif’s demands…He’s on the ropes, his opposition is gaining strength, and meanwhile fraught, dangerous, complex Pakistan is hardly being governed at all.”

Let me just note that none of these statements are very suprising or new. In fact, ever since Newsweek’s infamous cover story deemed Pakistan “The Most Dangerous Place on Earth“, similar labels have been thrown about, sometimes with gleeful abandon. However, maybe because it’s Pakistan Day, maybe because I read the aforementioned stories in quick succession, but I was left feeling especially indignant today. I often wonder if Pakistan would be as singled out by pundits and the media if it wasn’t such a strategic U.S. security issue. It is not that I don’t agree with several of the assertions, [in fact, I was quite amused reading the FP Zardari ranking] – I have acknowledged our weak governance issues, our economic problems, and the danger of rising extremism frequently on this blog.

However, there is a major difference between highlighting the negatives and focusing solely on the negatives. Pakistan is a nation that has many positives – and they pertain mostly to our people. In the past few years, our media has become increasingly influential – and for the most part sees themselves as a check on the establishment. And, despite how you may feel about its outcome, the Long March showed what a stronger civil society can help accomplish in Pakistan. Technology tools like Twitter, Facebook, and the overarching blogosphere have also created a new class of citizen journalists. As for me, I am constantly inspired by the people I have interviewed and the organizations I have spotlighted. What is both amazing and overwhelming is that I really never run out of positive figures or work to highlight. Pakistan is far from perfect, but amid the chaos there are still pockets of light that keep me optimistic. Happy Pakistan Day, everyone.

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U.S. Drone Attacks to Target Balochistan?

A few days ago, the NY Times reported that President Obama and his national security advisers “are considering expanding the American covert war in Pakistan far beyond the unruly tribal areas to strike at a different center of Taliban power in Balochistan, where top Taliban leaders are orchestrating attacks into southern Afghanistan.” Senior administration officials told the news agency that recent high-level reports on Pakistan and Afghanistan have “called for broadening the target area to include a major insurgent sanctuary in and around the city of Quetta,” since Mullah Omar has reportedly been operating in and around that area for years.

Image, NY Times

The U.S. has continued their policy of drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas, [a drone attack last week killed 22 people], but now say the missile strikes have pushed Al Qaeda-linked targets south towards Quetta, “making them more vulnerable,” noted the Times. The news agency added in its coverage,

Many of Mr. Obama’s advisers are also urging him to sustain orders issued last summer by President George W. Bush to continue Predator drone attacks against a wider range of targets in the tribal areas. They also are recommending preserving the option to conduct cross-border ground actions, using C.I.A. and Special Operations commandos, as was done in September.

Not surprisingly, the Times’ revelation incited much anger in Pakistan, with officials and politicians calling further strikes “counterproductive” and “provactive,” warning that it will spark further backlash in the country. Although Abdul Basit, a foreign office spokesman, stated, “We have seen the report. It appears to be speculative and we cannot comment on speculations.”  The Guardian quoted him adding, “As we have been saying all along, we believe such attacks are counter-productive. They involve collateral damage and they are not helpful in our efforts to win hearts and minds.” Munawar Hassan, the secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami echoed, “The United States has no message of peace for the world, they can only talk through arms and armaments.”

An increased U.S. military presence in Pakistan will not bode well for anti-U.S. sentiment in the region, and stands to complicate Pakistan’s own war on terror, something I have noted again and again on this forum. Moreover, although the government appears to be speaking out against this policy, I question how sincere their protests are, given the recent revelation that the U.S. has allegedly been launching drone attacks from an air base in Balochistan, [see past CHUP post]. Are the government’s protests genuine this time or merely an effort to distance themselves from this policy and save face?

For the U.S. to criticize the Pakistani military for not conducting an adequate counterinsurgency strategy is, to me, like the pot calling the kettle black. Striking tangible targets may kill a few militants, but it ultimately increases sympathizers for AQ and Taliban-linked militants. Moreover, hitting militant strongholds is like playing Whack-a-Groundhog – they inevitably shift their power base elsewhere, as we have seen in the case of Balochistan. If you want to defeat Al Qaeda, you have to weaken their support base, something I’m not sure either the U.S. or Pakistani military has adequately done.

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Mukhtar Mai Gets Hitched

Mukhtar Mai

On Sunday, media outlets reported that Mukhtar Mai married Nasir Abbas Gabol in Muzaffargarh district in Punjab. Mai told the Associated Press, “When you get married, you have to have faith in your partner and his family. I will try to cooperate with them…You know, I never said that I would not marry, I said that these things – relationships – are in the hands of Allah. I said if I got a good man I would get married. Now, as I thought fit, and with the agreement of my parents and other people, I’ve got married.”

Mukhtar Mai gained international recognition and became a symbol for gender empowerment when she spoke out against her 2002 gang rape, an act ordered by her village council as a punishment for actions attributed to her younger brother. Not only has she written a best-selling autobiography since then, but she also opened a school and a chain of women’s crisis centers in Pakistan. She is a heroine for the numbers of women who are oppressed and abused, and in 2005, was officially honored as Woman of the Year by Glamour Magazine in a ceremony in Washington. A film about Mukhtar Mai’s journey, slated to be produced by Jay Roach, is also reportedly in the works.

In a telephone interview with the NY Times today, Mukhtar, 37, said her new husband “is a police constable who was assigned to guard her in the wake of the attack and who has been asking for her hand for several years. She is his second wife.” She told BBC Urdu, “Eighteen months ago, he sent his parents to ask me if I would marry him. I declined because I knew he was already married and I didn’t want to ruin his first wife’s life.” Gabol reportedly did not take this rejection well and “threatened to divorce his first wife. He also tried to commit suicide,” Mukhtar added. According to the BBC, “His sisters are married into his first wife’s family – and in a tit-for-tat move they were threatened with divorce too if Nasir Abbas divorced his first wife. Nasir Abbas’s first wife and his two sisters approached Mukhtar Mai and pleaded with her to marry Nasir Abbas.” It was her concern for Gabol’s first wife that moved her to relent on her previous decision. She told the Times, “I am a woman and can understand the pain and difficulties faced by another woman…She is a good woman.” In the end, reported the Times, “Ms. Mukhtar put a few conditions on Mr. Gabol. He had to transfer the ownership of his ancestral house to his first wife, agree to give her a plot of land and a monthly stipend of roughly $125.”

What’s interesting about this story is how Mukhtar Mai managed to challenge taboos even in her decision to get married. Not only is it rare for victims of rape to marry in Pakistan, [in very traditional parts of the country, rape victims are encouraged to commit suicide] but Mukhtar Mai is seven years older than her new husband. Not only that, but based on her interviews with the BBC and the NY Times, it seems that Mukhtar was very much in control of her destiny – dictating terms of the marriage, and ultimately making the decision to wed the lovestruck police constable. So,  a big congratulations to Mukhtar Bibi, we hope you continue to break stereotypes and speak out against female oppression in Pakistan.

Good related reading: NY Times’ Nicolas Kristoff‘s column on the Mukhtar Mai case, as well as Mukhtar’s blog at BBC Urdu.

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Kashf: The Lifting of the Veil – An Interview with Ayesha Khan

Produced by Indus Valley Productions, Kashf- The Lifting of the Veil is Pakistan’s first English-language feature film in 30 years. The movie explores Sufism – the mystical side of Islam – through the eyes of Armaghan, who was born after an oath his mother made to a Sufi Pir when she was childless. Armaghan’s mother promises the Pir, who blesses her, to let her son ‘walk the Sufi path’ when he grows up. However, he returns to Pakistan from America after 25 years, unaware of the secret about to change his life. According to the film’s website, Kashf “is a story of universal relevance exploring humanity’s basic questions of who we are, and why we are here.” The movie has been shown at several film festivals, including the Santa Fe Film Festival, where it was nominated for “Best Editing,” in 2008 and is currently on a screening tour [join the Facebook group to see how/when you can watch the film]. Below, is CHUP’s interview with Kashf’s incredible director, Ayesha Khan:

Q: Congratulations on the recent success of your film, Kashf – The Lifting of the Veil, and the critical acclaim it has received! What has the creative journey been like from writing the short story on which the screenplay is based 15 years ago to showing it before audiences today? Do you feel like the film would have been received differently then than now?

I wrote the screenplay for KASHF: The Lifting of the Veil in 2003 when I found the short story going through old papers.  In 2004, I came to Pakistan for pre-production and to check out the local scene.   There was such great energy with the media opening up and there was an option for a co-production with India.  However, due to funding issues, I had to return to NY and restart again in 2007.  When we re-started we made a conscious decision we would make this a Pakistani production, meaning cast and crew, except for Departments heads from NY to see if we could pull it off.

Quite frankly, I don’t think the film could have been made 15 years ago. As regards audience reaction – I feel the world at large as well as Pakistan is more ready for this film now.  Part of it is philosophical – a re-examination of our priorities as the human race, who we are, why are we here and who will walk with us… as the movie touches on these questions.

Q: Your film delves into the mystical side of Islam – Sufism. How prevalent was Sufism while you were growing up in Lahore, Pakistan? Is it more or less prevalent today?

The fact is that we all grew up with Sufi stories swirling all around us in Pakistan – whether we identified them as Sufi or not.  Bulleh Shah’s poetry was constantly recited by my grandmother, as well as bedtime stories of Mullah Nasruddin by my grandfather.  And of course, there were extended relatives who visited the mazaars [tombs].

It’s difficult to gauge how strongly it influences Pakistan today versus the past but one must keep in mind, unlike Wahhabism which is a recent phenomena, Sufism has been part of this land we claim as Pakistan since before the 12th century.  It permeates and enriches our culture and our identity in ways which are visceral and we should as a nation be determined to preserve that.  Despite the horrific bombing of Rehman Baba’s Shrine in Peshawar – I don’t think the Sufis are leaving anytime soon.

Q: A recent piece by BBC News posed the question, “Can Sufi Islam Counter the Taliban?” Do you think Sufism can counter the hardline Islam practiced by groups like Taliban and Al Qaeda? Do you think your film could have a place in this debate?

Personally, I feel it is the people of Pakistan who will counter the Taliban and only the people of Pakistan when they decide to do so.  Whether they are Sufi is beside the point and again compartmentalizes the issue.

It is up to the citizens of any nation to stand up for what they truly believe in and demand that any government elected by the people fulfills those promises.  The biggest recruitment ad today for the Taliban is unemployment, poverty, alienation and Wahabi proselytism (excellent read on this in A Necessary Engagement).  If the government was serious in its intent and reached out with a long term goal of education to people in Pakistan and providing means with which they could be economically viable, the elements at risk would themselves realize the fabulously coined label of Taliban are nothing but thugs who are hiding behind a façade of Islam which has nothing to do with the practice of Islam.

In the U.S., the movie is already creating a ‘perceptional shift’ in American audiences vis a vis Pakistan as it exposes them to something different other than bearded terrorists. For Pakistanis, I hope the initiation into the Sufi path as depicted in the film would remind us in the words of one of our reviewers “the paths to happiness and fulfillment (and God), though obscured or veiled, are many and findable, with effort and determination.” – Patricia L. Sharpe

Q: People have called films like Zibahkhana, Ramachand Pakistani, Khuda Kay Liye, and now, Kashf, a revival of Pakistani cinema. Where would you like to see the country’s film industry in ten years?

I would in all optimism like to see a new cinema emerging out of Pakistan telling our stories.  I would like to see Pakistani audiences preferring to go to see Pakistani movies first and foremost – and lastly, to see a film industry emerge competing not just on the international front but being backed by a distribution model within the country.

Q: Finally, what would you like audience members to take away from your film?

Hope…

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