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Awami National Party is licking its Self-Inflicted Wounds
Awami National Party is licking its Self-Inflicted Wounds |
Things couldn’t get any worse for the Awami National Party. The hereditary dynasty of Pashtun Nationalists is a victim of its own demise. The recent humiliating defeat at the polls, a pro-Islamist party as the victor and a growing contempt for the Pashtun Nationalist cause even among ANP’s own constituency are merely the symptoms of a far greater problem it is facing.
While the newly elected party is getting comfortable in what used to be ANP’s throne, the propaganda machine of the ANP is busy setting up a smear campaign against its rivals. From wild speculations of an allegedly secret partnership between the TTP and the PTI, to preposterous claims such as accusing PTI of being too liberal, or even worse, promoting immorality, the ANP propaganda machine does not shy away from any of it.
The latter is ironic because prominent ANP politicians from the Bilour family are known for their share in the so called “entertainment” industry in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Bilours run movie-theatres playing cheap Pashto smut to a predominantly illiterate male population where chubby females dressed in tight glittery garments bounce around the screen to the beats of exciting Push-pop (Pashto pop music) seducing male actors toting guns and wild moustaches posing as gangsters and criminals. That’s women’s emancipation ANP style.
It is unfortunate that the ANP is out of the office. However, the reason for the humiliating defeat is a tenure marked by corruption, mismanagement of public property, divisive policies, and worst of all, losing a disastrous counter-insurgency to the Taliban. Ever since the ANP and PPP’s victory in 2008, the coalition of the two parties did not fail in being consistent in breaking promises and deteriorating the already catastrophic situation of a country in war with itself. The list of disastrous policies of the ANP and PPP coalition can only be documented in a series of books. Instead of naming them all, let us examine the ones that can be primarily attributed to the ANP. But first, a brief politically incorrect introduction of Awami National Party.
Awami National Party is a movement that takes its inspiration from popular political ideologies and movements from the late 19th to early 20th centuries in Europe. Marxism and Nationalism mixed with a strong dose of Radical Romanticism inspired many Western educated and semi-educated secular-minded individuals to carry the red banners of ANP into the 21st century. The party’s founder is the Bacha Khan’s family, a prominent land owner’s family from Charsadda area. Bacha Khan’s family is known for preserving close ties with the Soviet-Union and India through-out the 20th century. The original name of the party was Da Khudai Khedmatgaran (servants of God). A name chosen by the founder in order to compete with a growing Islamist environment in the North West Frontier Province of then, British India. Later on, when more secular ideologies were popularized, the movement abandoned the notion of God from its name and rhetoric and replaced it with a new deity: Pashtun Nationality.
Cronyism
Like any other political party inspired by Marxism, ANP is no different in appointing people based on kinship ties, tribal affiliation and other non-merit criteria to public offices. As a result, the entire political apparatus and public service under ANP leadership in KPK was rife with corruption. Incompetent, and often, infamous degenerates known for immoral behavior and lack of piety were appointed to offices of management in public institutions.
In cronyism, ANP managed to outdo its ideological kin from the other side of the Durand Line, the now dissolved Hizbe Demokratik Khalq Afghanistan in appointing the most incompetent and immoral people in public offices. It is noteworthy to mention that one of the contributing factors to a growing insurgency during the Communist era in Afghanistan was the fact that corrupt and incompetent people would get appointed to public office resulting in alienation of the population and driving them to the rebels.
Corruption
True to their Marxist ideology, the ANP public officers have wasted no time in purchasing luxurious mansions in the Gulf States, Turkey, India, and for the more prominent ones, North America and Western Europe. One can only imagine where they got the money from. Aside from their wise decisions in investment in real estate, the ANP have successfully achieved to make a name for themselves as one of the most corrupt political entities in history of Pakistan. This is a quite remarkable achievement because Pakistan is, after all, one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Dealing with the Taliban
Bacha Khan, the prophet of Pashtun Nationalism preached peace. He is, after all, known as the “frontier Gandhi”. Unfortunately, the ANP is by no means, a peaceful organization. From hiring contract killers to eliminate political rivals, to lobbying in Washington for more arms and weapons in the war against terrorism, ANP does not shy away from spilling a fellow Pashtuns blood. This violent and bloody policy of ANP reached its peak when ANP rounded up criminal gangs and rivaling tribes in the volatile regions to eradicate Taliban. What turned out to be a policy to fight terrorism, was in reality nothing more than a staged scenario to convince the Obama administration to pump more dollars into the already over saturated corrupt Pakistani government.
All across the Pashtun belt, armed groups of mainly criminals were sent out to violate people’s homes arresting harassing mainly innocent civilians. Reports of violence, pillaging and lynching were ignored by the Pakistani and international media. Instead, Asfandyar Wali Khan and other prominent ANP leaders appeared in pictures and videos with armed criminal gangs praising them for their bravery in ANP’s own little war on terror. Armed men enjoying the backing of the KPK administration would move from village to village to settle scores with rival tribesmen, humiliating them, taking their cattle and other valuable possessions, and in some cases executing them. The so-called extremists they have would get their hands on were in reality, clerics and their students known for being critical of the government’s policies. As a result, most of those clerics and their followers were forced to choose the side of the insurgency. Religious figures, mainly settles from Afghanistan would end up behind bars without due trial. Some students of seminaries were executed on sight and reported as terrorists.
Aside from the excessive use of unnecessary violence, the ANP regularly took the stage to mobilize its supporters against Islamists. During such rallies insults were hurled at scholars and clerics and symbols of piety in Islam were mocked.
The divisive policies of the ANP increased its already existing hostility with the conservative and religious segment of the Pashtun society. The TTP responded to the ANP’s undeclared war against them and harsh anti-Islamic rhetoric by targeting ANP leaders. Within a short period of time, the two political organizations hailing from the Pashtun belt turned into one another’s worst enemies.
This hostility got only worse, when the Obama administration increased the use of drone strikes against the tribal areas. The ongoing war there, forced the conservative and religious population of the tribal area to leave and settle elsewhere as internally displaced population (IDP’s).
Knowing perfectly well, that drone strikes kill more civilians than actual militants, the ANP showed tacit consent to indiscriminate killing of fellow Pashtuns. In fact, after the assassination of several ANP dignitaries by militants, the supporters of ANP appeared in both mass and social media supporting the drone strikes as a method for eradicating extremism.
The success of PTI in the last elections is for a large proportion, can be contributed to the policies of the ANP. Although dogmatic and fervent supporters of ANP might disagree, they cannot deny the fact that entire rhetoric of PTI is based on everything that went wrong during ANP’s tenure. Therefore, the insults, the accusations, the smear tactics and propaganda ANP is employing against PTI are only worsening the current desolate state ANP is situated in.
Things couldn’t get any worse for the Awami National Party. The hereditary dynasty of Pashtun Nationalists is a victim of its own demise. The recent humiliating defeat at the polls, a pro-Islamist party as the victor and a growing contempt for the Pashtun Nationalist cause even among ANP’s own constituency are merely the symptoms of a far greater problem it is facing.
While the newly elected party is getting comfortable in what used to be ANP’s throne, the propaganda machine of the ANP is busy setting up a smear campaign against its rivals. From wild speculations of an allegedly secret partnership between the TTP and the PTI, to preposterous claims such as accusing PTI of being too liberal, or even worse, promoting immorality, the ANP propaganda machine does not shy away from any of it.
The latter is ironic because prominent ANP politicians from the Bilour family are known for their share in the so called “entertainment” industry in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Bilours run movie-theatres playing cheap Pashto smut to a predominantly illiterate male population where chubby females dressed in tight glittery garments bounce around the screen to the beats of exciting Push-pop (Pashto pop music) seducing male actors toting guns and wild moustaches posing as gangsters and criminals. That’s women’s emancipation ANP style.
It is unfortunate that the ANP is out of the office. However, the reason for the humiliating defeat is a tenure marked by corruption, mismanagement of public property, divisive policies, and worst of all, losing a disastrous counter-insurgency to the Taliban. Ever since the ANP and PPP’s victory in 2008, the coalition of the two parties did not fail in being consistent in breaking promises and deteriorating the already catastrophic situation of a country in war with itself. The list of disastrous policies of the ANP and PPP coalition can only be documented in a series of books. Instead of naming them all, let us examine the ones that can be primarily attributed to the ANP. But first, a brief politically incorrect introduction of Awami National Party.
Awami National Party is a movement that takes its inspiration from popular political ideologies and movements from the late 19th to early 20th centuries in Europe. Marxism and Nationalism mixed with a strong dose of Radical Romanticism inspired many Western educated and semi-educated secular-minded individuals to carry the red banners of ANP into the 21st century. The party’s founder is the Bacha Khan’s family, a prominent land owner’s family from Charsadda area. Bacha Khan’s family is known for preserving close ties with the Soviet-Union and India through-out the 20th century. The original name of the party was Da Khudai Khedmatgaran (servants of God). A name chosen by the founder in order to compete with a growing Islamist environment in the North West Frontier Province of then, British India. Later on, when more secular ideologies were popularized, the movement abandoned the notion of God from its name and rhetoric and replaced it with a new deity: Pashtun Nationality.
Cronyism
Like any other political party inspired by Marxism, ANP is no different in appointing people based on kinship ties, tribal affiliation and other non-merit criteria to public offices. As a result, the entire political apparatus and public service under ANP leadership in KPK was rife with corruption. Incompetent, and often, infamous degenerates known for immoral behavior and lack of piety were appointed to offices of management in public institutions.
In cronyism, ANP managed to outdo its ideological kin from the other side of the Durand Line, the now dissolved Hizbe Demokratik Khalq Afghanistan in appointing the most incompetent and immoral people in public offices. It is noteworthy to mention that one of the contributing factors to a growing insurgency during the Communist era in Afghanistan was the fact that corrupt and incompetent people would get appointed to public office resulting in alienation of the population and driving them to the rebels.
Corruption
True to their Marxist ideology, the ANP public officers have wasted no time in purchasing luxurious mansions in the Gulf States, Turkey, India, and for the more prominent ones, North America and Western Europe. One can only imagine where they got the money from. Aside from their wise decisions in investment in real estate, the ANP have successfully achieved to make a name for themselves as one of the most corrupt political entities in history of Pakistan. This is a quite remarkable achievement because Pakistan is, after all, one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Dealing with the Taliban
Bacha Khan, the prophet of Pashtun Nationalism preached peace. He is, after all, known as the “frontier Gandhi”. Unfortunately, the ANP is by no means, a peaceful organization. From hiring contract killers to eliminate political rivals, to lobbying in Washington for more arms and weapons in the war against terrorism, ANP does not shy away from spilling a fellow Pashtuns blood. This violent and bloody policy of ANP reached its peak when ANP rounded up criminal gangs and rivaling tribes in the volatile regions to eradicate Taliban. What turned out to be a policy to fight terrorism, was in reality nothing more than a staged scenario to convince the Obama administration to pump more dollars into the already over saturated corrupt Pakistani government.
All across the Pashtun belt, armed groups of mainly criminals were sent out to violate people’s homes arresting harassing mainly innocent civilians. Reports of violence, pillaging and lynching were ignored by the Pakistani and international media. Instead, Asfandyar Wali Khan and other prominent ANP leaders appeared in pictures and videos with armed criminal gangs praising them for their bravery in ANP’s own little war on terror. Armed men enjoying the backing of the KPK administration would move from village to village to settle scores with rival tribesmen, humiliating them, taking their cattle and other valuable possessions, and in some cases executing them. The so-called extremists they have would get their hands on were in reality, clerics and their students known for being critical of the government’s policies. As a result, most of those clerics and their followers were forced to choose the side of the insurgency. Religious figures, mainly settles from Afghanistan would end up behind bars without due trial. Some students of seminaries were executed on sight and reported as terrorists.
Aside from the excessive use of unnecessary violence, the ANP regularly took the stage to mobilize its supporters against Islamists. During such rallies insults were hurled at scholars and clerics and symbols of piety in Islam were mocked.
The divisive policies of the ANP increased its already existing hostility with the conservative and religious segment of the Pashtun society. The TTP responded to the ANP’s undeclared war against them and harsh anti-Islamic rhetoric by targeting ANP leaders. Within a short period of time, the two political organizations hailing from the Pashtun belt turned into one another’s worst enemies.
This hostility got only worse, when the Obama administration increased the use of drone strikes against the tribal areas. The ongoing war there, forced the conservative and religious population of the tribal area to leave and settle elsewhere as internally displaced population (IDP’s).
Knowing perfectly well, that drone strikes kill more civilians than actual militants, the ANP showed tacit consent to indiscriminate killing of fellow Pashtuns. In fact, after the assassination of several ANP dignitaries by militants, the supporters of ANP appeared in both mass and social media supporting the drone strikes as a method for eradicating extremism.
The success of PTI in the last elections is for a large proportion, can be contributed to the policies of the ANP. Although dogmatic and fervent supporters of ANP might disagree, they cannot deny the fact that entire rhetoric of PTI is based on everything that went wrong during ANP’s tenure. Therefore, the insults, the accusations, the smear tactics and propaganda ANP is employing against PTI are only worsening the current desolate state ANP is situated in.