By Mir Shahwani
These days, across Pakistani media and social networks, one can observe many political figures, individuals dressed in religious attire who are often referred to as scholars but in reality display considerable cunning, as well as television hosts and those who earn income through YouTube, suddenly becoming far more active than before.
At times they appear in the morning, at other times in the evening, and sometimes even at hours that are hardly suitable for public discussions. Yet despite this, they continue to appear on screens and deliver their remarks.
The reason for this is that, amid the current global tensions and turmoil, they have been given a coordinated plan. Under this plan, they attempt to divert public attention away from the real issues and redirect it toward matters that are, in essence, minor and ordinary. However, they present these issues as if they were major global crises or grave problems, in order to keep the public preoccupied and absorbed in them.
A simple example of this can be seen in these very individuals and the kinds of narratives they continuously promote through the media.
At times, they claim that Israel and the United States are using Iran merely as a pretext, and that their real target is Pakistan. At other times, they argue that Israel is India’s closest ally, suggesting that it could potentially coordinate a joint plan or agreement against Pakistan alongside India.
Sometimes they even assert that Pakistan is a major Islamic country and that Israel fears it greatly due to its nuclear capabilities, implying that Israel might, together with the United States, attempt some form of conspiracy.
Yet they also claim that Pakistan’s current government and military leadership have gained significant trust from the United States. These individuals take great pride in asserting that Trump has highly praised Pakistan’s military leadership. They also frequently argue that, compared to India, “Uncle America” has paid more attention to Pakistan and provided it with numerous facilities and privileges.
Considering these narratives, let us go back twenty to twenty-five years. At the time when the United States, along with over fifty other countries, launched an attack on Afghanistan, these same individuals were claiming that Afghanistan was merely a pretext, and that in reality, the U.S. sought to seize control over Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. They would wave their hands and tell the public that America and NATO aimed to politically, economically, and otherwise paralyze Pakistan. Their slogan at the time became widely known: that the United States and non-Muslim powers could not tolerate Pakistan’s Islamic identity.
Yet at the same time, these very people would also argue that when the U.S. carried out drone strikes in Waziristan and other areas, killing innocent Pakistani civilians, there was no need to be concerned. According to them, Pakistan shares a strong friendship with America, which provides us with aid beyond what any other power in the world could offer. Even when American aircraft targeted and killed Pakistani soldiers at Salala post, these individuals offered various justifications and explanations to defend U.S. actions.
These media activists and columnists would tell us that every motorway constructed in Pakistan, every road extended, and every large-scale construction project across the country was all made possible through America’s kindness and generosity. One well-known writer even went so far as to claim that thanks to the increase in U.S. aid, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had been able to repay all of Pakistan’s debts.
Today, when one listens to these Unsettling statements and the contradictory, sometimes absurd narratives, it is surprising, but the surprise does not last long, because their true purpose gradually becomes clear. Twenty to twenty-five years ago, when these individuals made such claims, their goal was to divert the attention of the Pakistani people from the historical betrayal Pakistan was committing against Islam and Muslims. At that time, Pakistan was providing military bases to the United States against a legitimate Islamic government and an oppressed nation in Afghanistan, turning its own territory into a poisoned dagger against Muslims.
For this reason, such philosophies and stories were created, to distract Pakistan’s patriotic population from the core issue.
And now, when the United States and Israel have unjustly attacked a Muslim country, Iran, without any legitimate cause, it would have been essential, in the name of Islam, to offer every possible form of assistance and support to Iran.
The problem, however, is that Pakistan’s military remains bound by its habitual conduct, seemingly unable to act without staining its hands with the blood of fellow Muslims. Consequently, under such critical circumstances, when Afghanistan declared its support for Iran, Pakistan’s military bombed Afghanistan to please the United States in exchange for a few dollars. Shockingly, these bombings were carried out using aircraft whose very names are associated with Islamic rhetoric and whose operations solicit funds from across the entire Muslim world.
As for the wars imposed on Afghanistan today, what these individuals say, or how they justify Pakistan’s role is an entirely separate matter. However, prominent and credible figures from the Islamic world, and especially from Pakistan, have clearly stated that this war is Trump’s war, with Pakistan’s military leadership merely providing the necessary fuel and support for it.
Maulana Zahid al-Rashdi, one of Pakistan and the Islamic world’s well-known personalities, respected both in scholarship and politics, told the rulers very clearly at the start of the conflict that this was a plan assigned by Trump, and that we are not your partners in it. Similarly, Muhammad Khan Shirani, a prominent political figure, makes near-daily statements asserting that this war is being conducted at the behest of the United States.
Even some government ministers openly admit that they are carrying out America’s mission. The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has likewise stated explicitly that whatever tasks the U.S left incomplete, we are completing them.
Religious scholars have repeatedly pointed out that the praise given by Trump to Pakistan’s military leadership is essentially a form of encouragement, designed to make them turn their swords against their own Muslim brothers.
Yet despite all this, some people still come forward and warn the public that Pakistan faces a great threat from Israel.
Brother! Why should Israel pose a threat? The very task Israel intends to carry out, and even the mission that both Israel and the United States sometimes approach with hesitation, which they themselves could not fully complete, you are personally stepping in to execute. How can there be a threat then? On the contrary, they are actually assisting you.
This is because these individuals have been given a specific plan, and in accordance with that plan, they continue to speak in contradictory and inconsistent ways, keeping Muslims distracted and unaware.