Some may choose to describe the latest addition in the Pakistan military’s doctrine as better late than never, but in my opinion, this change has come too late to be effective. The revised doctrine verifies what people of a liberal bent of mind have been telling the military establishment for several decades — internal security challenges (as posed by religious extremists) constitute the major threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty. Now, India, which had been termed the top-most threat for decades, is no more the conventional enemy. The real threat is from an amorphous enemy that is part of this society but is bent upon endangering its very existence.
Problems started from the 1980s onwards with the production, training and equipping of non-state actors to fight proxy wars in neighbouring countries. After the Pakistan military’s u-turn in the post-9/11 world, these non-state actors went into auto-reaction mode with ideological, moral and material support from religio-political parties. Therefore, just declaring religious extremism a threat of a higher degree will not do anything as this war is not limited to Pakistan’s tribal areas; it has spread all over the country. Therefore, until we defeat the militants on the ideological front and dry out their financial resources, mere military action will prove to be a futile exercise. The Pakistani government, military, judiciary, civil society and media need to arrive at a common page to take the bull of extremism by the horns; otherwise, everyone should get ready to be stampeded by it.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2013.
