In an interview attempted to find religious vindication, Hekmatyar whose political career is filled with propagation and promotion of extremism as usual defended a suicide attack against Hamida Barmaki, her husband, and her children, that was carried out by a member of Hekmatyar’s party. But yesterday, a bunch of suicide attackers stormed in his residence, trying to kill one of the most well-known extremism preachers; showing their leader how well they have learned the lessons. The assassination attempt on Mr. Obaidur Rehman Nizamani, the Pakistani ambassador, is also an incident of the similar nature. With the appearance of a typical Pakistani mullah, long untrimmed beard and shaved mustache, he represents a country where terrorism is the most precious political commodity that is cultivated, nurtured, and then exported to all corners of the world from Xingjiang province of China, to Caucasus, and from Arabian Peninsula to North Africa. The hatred that ensues this political commodity can even be spotted in some of the safest European cities from time to time. But now Hekmatyar does not feel safe in the heavily guarded compound of Pakistani embassy in a city that their jihadist henchmen “conquered” last year.
Like many other Afghan politicians, Hekmatyar had tightened his security by installing tall concrete walls around his residence and increased the number of body guards even before the arrival of Taliban. The walls were not meant to guard him against the wrath of war victims or the families of those he has killed all these years, but to counter his fellow suicide attackers (this method has been monopolized by extremist religious organizations in recent years) for whom Hekmatyar is a legitimate target and he has no doubt about it. Yet he wastes no time to justify when his men commit suicide attacks against his opponents.
Nobody benefits when extremism and terrorism prevails. Extremism survives by making sure there is an endless cycle of war. If there is no foreign enemy, extremists will fight among themselves and will self-destruct; because extremism has zero tolerance for variation while variety is the very bases of nature. Let’s consider the example of Taliban and ISK “which are two sides of the same coin”; any group, be it Sufi Muslims, Shiites, or those affiliated with Muslim brotherhood, including Taliban who are ISK’s main enemies, are considered legitimate targets. So the way out is to de-radicalize society, promote democracy, and tolerance. People like Hekmatyar, who promote extremism and justify suicide attacks, shape theirs and their children a dark future.
During all these years Pakistan has tried to label Taliban as bad and good. Those who operate inside Pakistani soil are terrorists and those who operate outside are Mujahids, who follow the path of God and are strategic friends of Pakistan. Now that Taliban are spinning out of control and it can be seen in the recent activities, Pakistan’s Military establishment and civil government of Pakistan try to remain calm and demonstrate that everything is under control. In the meantime, while pressuring Afghan Taliban, they negotiate with the Pakistani Taliban to abolish their activities inside Pakistani soil and move in harmony with regional strategic interests of Pakistan. But for thousands of Pakistani Taliban foot soldiers, and terrorists aligned with them, Afghan Taliban are a clear example of a winner, when one has a safe haven, and logistic routes to the front line. Now that Pakistani Taliban have all these advantages, will they give up dreams of Jihad and conquering Pakistan for little concessions?
The most important lesson one can learn from the revival of Taliban is that the prolonged rule of Taliban in the region leads to an inevitable terrorism spillover in the region.