IS — a surfeit of evidence

A detailed report published in this newspaper on February 6 lays out with convincing clarity the reality of penetration by the Islamic State (IS) into Pakistan. The report primarily focuses on IS activity in Punjab but the group has a presence to a greater or lesser extent in every province of the land. Trenchant denials as to this have come from the government but any further denial will be absurd. The IS is present in Pakistan and pretending that it is not is a dangerous folly. The environment in Pakistan is exactly right for the IS to take root and flourish. A marked tendency in the general populace towards tacit support or tolerance for an extremist mindset, coupled with a flux in the existing terrorist groups is fertile soil. The highly selective application of the National Action Plan over the last year has provided a cordon sanitaire around south Punjab, effectively protecting the essential resources that the various extremist groups maintain there.

The foot soldiers and field commanders may have been driven into Afghanistan, but the brains, the strategists and planners, sit safely behind the walls of their madrassas. The failure to breathe life into the National Counter-terrorism Authority has contributed to the absence of a national countervailing narrative to that offered by extremist groups. For their part these groups are undergoing shifts driven by those in their ranks who are dissatisfied with the relative quiescence of some of them, and for who the IS is an attractive option. It has a global reach, is dynamic, rich and generous to many of its supporters and is above all oriented along sectarian lines that chime with the poisonous mindset that is fostered by malign neglect both federally and provincially. It is small wonder that young radicalised Lahori girls are ending up in Syria, fighting for the IS. More than 100 people have left Punjab for Syria — and those are just the ones the authorities know about. It is going to be extremely difficult to counter the IS now and in the future. The door was left open. By design or accident? Who knows.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2016.

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