I did an earlier post on the fifth column which I urge readers to see. This post covers the same subject but in a little more detail on how they operate. The fifth column of Pakistan promotes self-hatred to such a level that would constitute treason by law in most other countries. Their tactic is to defame Pakistan under the false guise of secularism and freedom of expression.
They try to appear as educated intellectuals and use their celebrity status to try and make people believe their word is the truth when it's a pack of lies especially when they provide no evidence to support it.
Well known examples of these are when most notable fifth columnists such as Pervez Hoodbhoy and Ahmed Rashid accuse the Pakistani government of being behind terrorist attacks in India and training terrorist outfits, they provide not a single specific training location, nor do they mention who exactly is conducting the alleged training exercises.
Ahmed Rashid is a well known book seller and a celebrity in the Western and Indian media due to his Paki-bashing publications. Often he is cited as a source for terrorism having it's roots in Pakistan just as he was cited by Matt Waldman when he created a bogus report on Pakistan training Taliban insurgents by simply repeating claims of Taliban detainees himself. When questioned by a BBC reporter on weather the claims of the Taliban detainees could be trusted, Waldman jumped to cite Ahmed Rashid as if the man's word is unquestionable.
Pervez Hoodbhoy is often considered the ringleader of the fifth column. He has a strange double standard of denying accusations against India being a sponsor in the Baloch insurgency while on the other hand blaming the ISI for being behind terrorist attacks in India without providing any evidence.
It is not just outright lies he promotes against the Pakistani state amongst his other pro-Brahmanist peers, but also implants his false ideas into the minds of Pakistani youth.
Hoodbhoy and the rest of the fifth column also have a tactic of putting on a false sense of persecution as "defenders of truth."
Anyone who tries to challenge them is depicted as a Zaid Hamid loving Islamic fundamentalist who can't accept the truth and is simply brainwashed by state sponsored propaganda.
Though I have not seen it, there are widely circulated claims of a video in which both Pervez Hoodbhoy and Imran Khan are at a talk show and Hoodbhoy is asked by Imran weather he is with or against Pakistan.
Imran tries to expose Hoodbhoy for who he really is which is when Hoodbhoy reacted by accusing Imran of physically assaulting him. This is the kind of false persecution Hoodbhoy often puts on.
There was also another case in which I read of Ayesha Jalal. Ayesha Jalal is another fifth columnist who studied in America and uses her American certification as "proof" of her knowledge of the truth.
She often publishes falsified history of the subcontinent being "partitioned" by the British and is often paraded by the Indian propaganda media against Pakistan.
There was a quote I read somewhere by her of when asked why many other Pakistanis don't study history like her, she claimed that Pakistanis don't like history because they can't accept the truth.
What's recognizable amongst the fifth columnists is that they tend to mix facts with their lies to make their message appear more truthful. Weather it is Pervez Hoodbhoy making brief mentions of Pakistan's overpopulation crisis or Ayesha Jalal pointing out that Pakistan joining America's war in Afghanistan was to avoid isolation as the whole world sided with America right after 9/11.
This makes it only more difficult and confusing for those who are not well read enough in history and politics.
Even more recognizable traits of the fifth column is their constant condemnation of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and try to depict it as if it was built for nothing. They ravage on and on about the country's nuclear program and make it appear as though demonic. Never once do these people talk about other countries' nuclear programs.
Only when pressured through questioning about why they stay silent on India's nuclear weapons program (which is the main reason behind Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and it's expansion), they claim they are against it, yet never utter a single word of protest against it otherwise the way they protest against Pakistan's nuclear program.
The fifth columnists of Pakistan also try to protect themselves and their reputation by creating human shields of brainwashed Pakistani youth.
With some popularity and 'drones' (people who blindly follow a person or ideology they admire without question) they appear themselves and their opinions to be widely accepted hence any kind of intervention by the government or other is seen as an attempt on suppressing modern thinking and free speech.
Anyone who tries to counter them is projected by their followers as an Islamic fundamentalist. Good examples are the way Ahmed Qureshi and his compatriots have tried to expose Pervez Hoodbhoy and his hive of fifth columnists who use Islamabad University as their base of operations.
But because of Ahmed Qureshi's previous links to Zaid Hamid, he is constantly branded as an ISI agent though I see no evidence of that.
I am also no fan of Imran Khan but his attempt to stand up to the fifth column only highlights his bad reputation by the drones of Pervez Hoodbhoy and others.
Pervez Hoodbhoy tries to appear as some wise old mentor by promoting physics and other science events. This in my view is nothing more than trying to increase his reputation. The fifth column claim they want the best for Pakistan but he (Hoodbhoy) and his fellow fifth columnists have openly stated especially abroad on Pakophobic seminars organized by various anti-Pakistan lobbies that they are against Pakistan and hate their Pakistani citizenship.
Hoodbhoy's drones try to make him appear as some wise inspirational hero very much like Zaid Hamid and his followers.
Anyone who tried to oppose Zaid Hamid before his scandal with the mullahs was suspected of treason.
Hoodbhoy and Zaid Hamid are nothing more than two opposite sides of the same coin. Pervez Hoodbhoy tries to fill Pakistanis with self-hatred and love for the Indian government's policies while Zaid Hamid during his popularity tried to fill Pakistanis with Wahhabi like Pan-Islamist, pro-Arab feelings.
A favorite base of operations for Pakistan's fifth columnists are educational institutions in Punjab which are probably the best in the entire subcontinent. This is where they try to gain an audience and solicitude our most brilliant youth to be their parrots.
Already Islamabad University has been hijacked by the fifth column as a base of operations and has the most known members including Hoodbhoy, Asma Jahangir and other notable fifth columnists who regularly speak there.
This again is very similar to Zaid Hamid and his campaigns to gain followers before his scandal where he'd speak conspiracy theories and spread religious hatred.
It is important for Pakistanis to be aware of their country's fifth column and how they work under the false guise of secularism. On the one hand they claim to be advocates of secularism, on the other hand Asma Jahangir meets with a Hindutva fundamentalist Bal Thackeray who is suspected of being behind the 2002 Gujarat Massacres.
This only harms the idea of secularism in Pakistan and gives a completely false impression of it, only causing people in our country to fear and resent it.
But as I mentioned before, when countering the fifth column and their propaganda, one has to be careful of not turning to Islamist elements such as those of Zaid Hamid's likes. Ahmed Qureshi made that mistake and that may have permanently damaged his reputation.
The truth must be the strongest weapon against liars and traitors, not another group of liars and traitors.
They try to appear as educated intellectuals and use their celebrity status to try and make people believe their word is the truth when it's a pack of lies especially when they provide no evidence to support it.
Well known examples of these are when most notable fifth columnists such as Pervez Hoodbhoy and Ahmed Rashid accuse the Pakistani government of being behind terrorist attacks in India and training terrorist outfits, they provide not a single specific training location, nor do they mention who exactly is conducting the alleged training exercises.
Ahmed Rashid is a well known book seller and a celebrity in the Western and Indian media due to his Paki-bashing publications. Often he is cited as a source for terrorism having it's roots in Pakistan just as he was cited by Matt Waldman when he created a bogus report on Pakistan training Taliban insurgents by simply repeating claims of Taliban detainees himself. When questioned by a BBC reporter on weather the claims of the Taliban detainees could be trusted, Waldman jumped to cite Ahmed Rashid as if the man's word is unquestionable.
Pervez Hoodbhoy is often considered the ringleader of the fifth column. He has a strange double standard of denying accusations against India being a sponsor in the Baloch insurgency while on the other hand blaming the ISI for being behind terrorist attacks in India without providing any evidence.
It is not just outright lies he promotes against the Pakistani state amongst his other pro-Brahmanist peers, but also implants his false ideas into the minds of Pakistani youth.
Hoodbhoy and the rest of the fifth column also have a tactic of putting on a false sense of persecution as "defenders of truth."
Anyone who tries to challenge them is depicted as a Zaid Hamid loving Islamic fundamentalist who can't accept the truth and is simply brainwashed by state sponsored propaganda.
Though I have not seen it, there are widely circulated claims of a video in which both Pervez Hoodbhoy and Imran Khan are at a talk show and Hoodbhoy is asked by Imran weather he is with or against Pakistan.
Imran tries to expose Hoodbhoy for who he really is which is when Hoodbhoy reacted by accusing Imran of physically assaulting him. This is the kind of false persecution Hoodbhoy often puts on.
There was also another case in which I read of Ayesha Jalal. Ayesha Jalal is another fifth columnist who studied in America and uses her American certification as "proof" of her knowledge of the truth.
She often publishes falsified history of the subcontinent being "partitioned" by the British and is often paraded by the Indian propaganda media against Pakistan.
There was a quote I read somewhere by her of when asked why many other Pakistanis don't study history like her, she claimed that Pakistanis don't like history because they can't accept the truth.
What's recognizable amongst the fifth columnists is that they tend to mix facts with their lies to make their message appear more truthful. Weather it is Pervez Hoodbhoy making brief mentions of Pakistan's overpopulation crisis or Ayesha Jalal pointing out that Pakistan joining America's war in Afghanistan was to avoid isolation as the whole world sided with America right after 9/11.
This makes it only more difficult and confusing for those who are not well read enough in history and politics.
Even more recognizable traits of the fifth column is their constant condemnation of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and try to depict it as if it was built for nothing. They ravage on and on about the country's nuclear program and make it appear as though demonic. Never once do these people talk about other countries' nuclear programs.
Only when pressured through questioning about why they stay silent on India's nuclear weapons program (which is the main reason behind Pakistan's nuclear weapons program and it's expansion), they claim they are against it, yet never utter a single word of protest against it otherwise the way they protest against Pakistan's nuclear program.
The fifth columnists of Pakistan also try to protect themselves and their reputation by creating human shields of brainwashed Pakistani youth.
With some popularity and 'drones' (people who blindly follow a person or ideology they admire without question) they appear themselves and their opinions to be widely accepted hence any kind of intervention by the government or other is seen as an attempt on suppressing modern thinking and free speech.
Anyone who tries to counter them is projected by their followers as an Islamic fundamentalist. Good examples are the way Ahmed Qureshi and his compatriots have tried to expose Pervez Hoodbhoy and his hive of fifth columnists who use Islamabad University as their base of operations.
But because of Ahmed Qureshi's previous links to Zaid Hamid, he is constantly branded as an ISI agent though I see no evidence of that.
I am also no fan of Imran Khan but his attempt to stand up to the fifth column only highlights his bad reputation by the drones of Pervez Hoodbhoy and others.
Pervez Hoodbhoy tries to appear as some wise old mentor by promoting physics and other science events. This in my view is nothing more than trying to increase his reputation. The fifth column claim they want the best for Pakistan but he (Hoodbhoy) and his fellow fifth columnists have openly stated especially abroad on Pakophobic seminars organized by various anti-Pakistan lobbies that they are against Pakistan and hate their Pakistani citizenship.
Hoodbhoy's drones try to make him appear as some wise inspirational hero very much like Zaid Hamid and his followers.
Anyone who tried to oppose Zaid Hamid before his scandal with the mullahs was suspected of treason.
Hoodbhoy and Zaid Hamid are nothing more than two opposite sides of the same coin. Pervez Hoodbhoy tries to fill Pakistanis with self-hatred and love for the Indian government's policies while Zaid Hamid during his popularity tried to fill Pakistanis with Wahhabi like Pan-Islamist, pro-Arab feelings.
A favorite base of operations for Pakistan's fifth columnists are educational institutions in Punjab which are probably the best in the entire subcontinent. This is where they try to gain an audience and solicitude our most brilliant youth to be their parrots.
Already Islamabad University has been hijacked by the fifth column as a base of operations and has the most known members including Hoodbhoy, Asma Jahangir and other notable fifth columnists who regularly speak there.
This again is very similar to Zaid Hamid and his campaigns to gain followers before his scandal where he'd speak conspiracy theories and spread religious hatred.
It is important for Pakistanis to be aware of their country's fifth column and how they work under the false guise of secularism. On the one hand they claim to be advocates of secularism, on the other hand Asma Jahangir meets with a Hindutva fundamentalist Bal Thackeray who is suspected of being behind the 2002 Gujarat Massacres.
This only harms the idea of secularism in Pakistan and gives a completely false impression of it, only causing people in our country to fear and resent it.
But as I mentioned before, when countering the fifth column and their propaganda, one has to be careful of not turning to Islamist elements such as those of Zaid Hamid's likes. Ahmed Qureshi made that mistake and that may have permanently damaged his reputation.
The truth must be the strongest weapon against liars and traitors, not another group of liars and traitors.