The old man of the mountain lived and died some 11 centuries ago in Iran. But the legend of terror he left behind is still alive in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
To understand the radicalization of the youth in the area that spreads over the borders of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, one must know how this old man brainwashed the village youth in 11th century Iran, said Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi at a discussion with a group of Sri Lankan journalists who were on a tour to Pakistan, courtesy the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, a government-funded think tank.
The old man, the turbaned and bearded minister was referring to, was Hasan bin Sabbah. The English word "assassin" has its roots in a movement which he ran from his secluded mountain fortress, the gardens of which were shown to his hashish-addicted followers as paradise. The word assassin came from Hasan or hashish. Many believe it was the latter - with hashishin becoming assassin.
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| This handout photograph released by Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations, on August 10, 2009 shows Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani (2nd R) briefing Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (L) on the recovered arms from Taliban militants in the troubled Swat Valley. AFP |
Hasan bin Sabbah was born in Persia (Iran) around 1034 and grew up to be a scholar, alchemist, mystic, ascetic, political manipulator and murderer. He broke away from the mainstream Shiite Islam and formed the Nizari Ismaili sect. He was also a classmate of Omar Khayyam, the great Persian poet and philosopher.
Hasan bought the fortress, called Alamut - the eagle's nest - for a paltry sum, by tricking the owner into the transaction.
His new sect won many recruits. They were taught what Hasan called the Ultimate Truth. His philosophy was: Nothing is true, everything is permissible.
The recruits, who were mostly youth, were introduced to hashish. When a recruit woke up from his slumber, still in a state of hallucination, he was taken to Hasan's paradisiacal garden, where pretty young women (Hasan's houris), supposed to be virgins, gave them tongue massage and much more until they reached orgasm.
After this experience, they were sent to a dungeon where they would long for the paradise. At this point they were brainwashed and groomed to be suicide cadres — who were known as 'Fedayeeens'. Prior to their suicide mission they were sent to the garden one last time to enjoy sexual pleasure.
In addition to several languages, the recruits were taught the art of killing and the use of the poisoned dagger. They were also taught the art of disguise. They appeared as monks, soldiers and merchants and knew how to fake beliefs and devotion to every major religion of that era. Hasan's recruits killed the Persian Sultan, his prime minister and made two attempts on the life of Saladin, the great Muslim warrior sultan. In 1192, two of Hassan's recruits who appeared as Christian monks killed the King of Jerusalem, Marquis Conrad. M.J. AKbar in his book the Shade of Swords describes the incident as the 9/11 of that time.
Hasan's power, influence and the fear he instilled in the minds of his opponents were such that the Seljuk emperor who conquered Persia was compelled to enter into a pact with the order, granting the sect a degree of autonomy in the mountainous area.
Hasan died in 1124 at the age of 90. His order survived for some 100 years during which it underwent substantial reform. His fortress was finally conquered by Halaku Khan, son of Genghis Khan. Today, the philanthropist Aga Khan leads the Ismaili sect of Shiite Islam.
Wes Moore, author of Hasan bin Sabbah and the Secret Order of Hashishins, (www.disinfo.com) says "The secret order that Hasan bin Sabbah created had a significant impact on all subsequent cults and secret societies. During the Crusades, the Hashishins fought both for and against the Crusaders, whichever suited their agenda. As a result, the Crusaders brought back to Europe the Assassins' system, which would be passed down and mimicked by numerous secret societies in the West. The Templars, the Society of Jesus, Priory de Sion, the Freemasons, the Rosicrucians, etc — all owe their organizational efficiency to Hasan."
Minister Kazmi said today's Taliban, like the Hashishin sect followers, were living in area notorious for drugs. "If a person cannot find the luxuries of life, he seeks refuge in drugs. It is the people who resort to drugs to escape from reality and who are living in dreamland that become easy prey to the Taliban. Poverty, unemployment and lack of education and recreation for the youth are some of the factors that have aggravated the crisis," Mr. Kazmi said.
He said the Taliban presented a distorted picture of Islam, like Hasan's followers. "The militants have hijacked Islam, but they have deviated from Islam," he said.
Mr. Kazmi said the so-called militant groups were made up of misguided people, criminals who want to take advantage of the situation and foreign agents who are enemies of both Islam and Pakistan.
"Islam says killing one innocent person is like killing entire humanity, but these suicide cadres have distorted this Quranic injunction," he said. "When a suicide cadre who recently appeared on a Pakistan TV channel was asked why he did not consider that killing innocent civilians was a grave sin, he answered that everyone who is not a jihadi (holy warrior) is permissible to be killed."
While we were discussing the Taliban crisis with the minister, the IPRI, our host, was holding a seminar on "de-radicalization of the youth".
Pakistan is not a radicalized society. The Taliban or the so-called jihadists do not have the clout to call for even a one-day nationwide strike. So why was there a need for a seminar on de-radicalization?
IPRI chief Dr. Maqsudul Hasan Nuri told us that their research showed a dramatic increase in radicalization of the youth. "Most of the suicide cadres are in the age group of 12 to 20. Sometimes, the militants use children as young as nine on suicide missions. So there is an urgent need to address the issue," he said.
Senior IPRI official Rashid Ahmad Khan said he saw one of the major factors that contributed to the radicalization of the youth was the collapse of the public education system. "Some 40 percent of our youth in the troubled areas do not go to school. They find refuge in the jihadi ideology," he said.
Another official, Ahmad Rashid Malik, endorsed his view and said he believed that more democracy and education could successfully tackle the issue.
To our question whether Pakistan was fighting America's dirty war in the North Western Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Mr. Malik said that soon after 9/11 many people saw the war on terror as war on Islam, but now the trend had changed. "We believe this is our war. We have to de-radicalize our society," he said.
The Pakistani government seems to be winning this war but has paid a high price.
The reported death of Beithullah Mehsud, leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban or Pakistan Taliban in an air attack last week and reports of infighting among the remnants of the Pakistan Taliban point to the success of the military operations.
Pakistan's Inter-Service spokesman Col. Baseer Haider Malik told us that in more than 120 military operations carried out against the Taliban this year, some 6,000 militants had been killed while some 1,770 Pakistani soldiers were 'martyred'.
His superior, Brigadier Syed Azmat Ali said these figures showed Pakistan's commitment to eradicate terrorism from its soil. His remarks came as a response to allegations from NATO commanders that Pakistan was not doing enough in the war on terror. Some went to the extent of accusing elements in Pakistan's intelligence of collaborating with the militants.
Brigadier Ali said these allegations were being made to pressurize Pakistan but the Pakistan military's success on the ground had silenced its critics.
(Next week, Balochistan burning).
The writer visited Pakistan on a sponsored tour, courtesy the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, a think-tank that comes under the Prime Minister's Secretariat. |
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