Guardians of God: Inside the Religious Mind of the Pakistani Taliban

by Mona Kanwal Sheikh

This book is an account of the emergence and key events related to the origin and expansion of Pakistani Taliban since 2001, with a focus on the role of religion in their actions, policies, and worldviews. The author brings to light rare insight into the ideological basis of Pakistani Taliban,
drawing upon first-hand research comprising participant observation, interviews, content analysis of organizational literature, and Talibani communications, such as recruitment videos, recorded speeches, leaflets and pamphlets, jihadi anthems, and press releases to the local media. The book
demonstrates how religion simultaneously appears as an object to be defended, as a threat, as the purpose of violence, as the source of rules and limitations on violent action, and as the source of motivational imagery and myths. Going into an analysis of just what role religion plays in violent
activities of this group, and how does it do so, the author shows that Talibani narratives are both secular and religious at the same time, contradicting a clear-cut divide between religious and secular motivations for violence. The book advocates against extreme positions that accord religion
either a primary or a negligent position in explaining the raison d'�tre of Pakistani Taliban. It makes a plea for more informed and empathetic approach instead of the purely militaristic stance towards extremism, which has only helped it grow in the past.

Genres: Terrorism, Nonfiction, Religion

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[ahmad afridi]

Some days back PM of Pakistan in an address to UNGA said that "People in the bordering areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan had a strong sympathy with the Afghan Taliban "not because of any religious ideology but because of Pashtun nationalism, which is very strong" This wasn’t the first time we heard such misconceptions (deliberate in this case). we have more popular reductionist views like branding TTP proxies of RAW and NDS forgetting altogether the aspirations they have from political Islam and implementation of Shariat which they think , was the objective of creation of Pakistan , If you want to call it fortress of Islam then proper Islamic system should be implemented instead of idolatry Westernized democracy.

They consider the modern Westphalian states as well as other divisions based on ethnicity , inconsistent with the vision of Islam , which is Ummah San frontiers. This opposition to Pushtun Nationalism is not only theoretically but on grounds an " anti-Pashtun Pashtun project gone out of hands in words of Afrasiab Khattak. They tried to eliminate symbols of Pashtun culture whether it be imposition of blue shuttlecock burqa in Afghanistan to replace a modest chaddar worn by rural women outside their homes; (that chaddar is still used by nomad women during their journeys ) Ban on singers and local music gathering in hujra's and resorts; carried out more attacks against Pashtun nationalist political party ANP members and leaders. Same opposition was shown by ANP members fighting them physically and ideologically at times when majority of today's ultra-patriots represented by Taliban khan were begging for talks.

This books address the above mentioned confusion and bust the propaganda by interviewing a few representatives from different organization working in different capacities with their umbrella organization TTP, and other institutions working as nurseries and powerful advocates of Taliban like Lal masjid in Islamabad and Jamia Haqqania akora khattak and Punjab based organizations , like SSP, LeT and JeM. One interview is with a TNSM follower, this organization provided a launching pad for militants outside FATA who later organized as TTP swat . Interview questions include hard questions like their justification of use of suicide bombers and using violence altogether , other discussion about their standings on different religious matters as well as writers own analysis. Although short but can work as an introductory book on creation of TTP their goals, justifications and decentralized way of working collaborating with multiple national and foreign militant organization. Many would object to this type of journalism ( approaching militants and mainstreaming their ideologies, she herself explained multiple times for this study), but lack of information leads to disinformation which result in miscalculated policies and events like stupid jubilations over Taliban coup in Afghanistan forgetting that the same allegations are against state of Pakistan .

[Salman]

This is a stupendous research based work of the writer just born in the world of writing. The writer's commitment provides a deep insight into the blemished world of the Taliban. The unbiased approach of this book makes it authentic to a level that everyone can go through it without being outrageous. It throws ample light on the hierarchy of Talibanization and what must be the possible strategy to deal with them has also been foreshadowed. After reading this book one can understand the dynamic structure of conflict among: Taliban & Military, Taliban & the West and tussle among different Taliban factions under the umbrella of TTP (Tehrik Taliban Pakistan). How religion is monopolized to retain power is a theme central to it. This secretive and unapproachable journey of the writer leads the reader to world where reality seem to be suppressed under the burden of myths and motivations. Anyone interested in the regional politics of the land, how it evolved over the years and why the reconciliation between the aggrieved parties is complicated, must give it a go. It tells the story of power struggle the seeds of which were sown after the inception of the country and how the state watered it and now trying relentlessly to root it out.

[Sanjay Banerjee]

Author is a researcher on international security in the Danish Institute of International Studies at Copenhagen. Through her field interviews of some leaders and rank and file of the Taliban and reading and analysis of their propaganda materials, the author reconstructs and tries to make sense of the motives of Taliban personnel and tries to place it in the context of secular vs religious organizations/state apparatus.