Obama’s uncomfortable message

US president is correct in saying that Pakistan needs to be more decisive when it comes to crushing extremist elements

It is rare that we find ourselves in agreement with the president of the United States, Barack Obama, but he is correct in saying that Pakistan needs to be more “decisive” when it comes to the crushing of extremist elements that are openly operating here. Moreover, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appears to, in part at least, agree with him when he said in London whence he had travelled after the World Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland, that implementation of parts of the National Action Plan (NAP) was “slow”. He reiterated the commitment to “continue operations against terrorists of all hues” — but a reiteration falls considerably short of concrete action.



There is a divergence between virtually all analysts and the government in that perceptions of just how effective the NAP is differ considerably. All are agreed that in purely military terms, the army has delivered at considerable cost in blood and treasure a considerable success. The air strikes and the ground operations have beaten back the extremists from all but a few pockets of resistance in the mountains of Fata. Many extremists have been killed, but much of their command and control has moved over the border into Afghanistan, there to live to fight another day — and attack Pakistan. The Charsadda attack was coordinated from Afghanistan, as was the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, and we cannot assume that these will be the last such events.

The operation in Karachi has done much to bring if not peace then a kind of equilibrium to the city, but this has run into the sand with a disagreement between the federal and provincial governments about just how far the mandate of the Rangers extends and does it allow them to tackle political corruption — something the PPP government of Sindh would much rather they left alone. And herein lies the crux of the matter and the sting in the tail of President Obama’s comments — the vast majority of the infrastructure that supports terrorism, extremism and indeed corruption remains completely untouched. Terrorists and extremists can be driven far from our shores, but the plug-and-play option remains.

Despite some fine words in support of NAP objectives, the plethora of extremist madrassas in southern Punjab is virtually untouched, and the promise to interdict money to banned and extremist organisations has yielded not much more than petty cash. The crackdown on the Jaish-e-Mohammad after the Pathankot attack appears to have slowed down and there are concerns about this stalling the peace process between India and Pakistan. The safe havens that the terrorists and extremists retreat to for rest-and-rehabilitation are still there. Among local populations they are well-enough known and so, presumably, they are known to the security services and the military as well. There is no secret about their existence; they do not even bother to pretend to hide in plain view.

For the ruling political party, the PML-N, the horns of a dilemma intrude on the business of eradicating extremist tendencies and terrorist groups. The PML-N vote bank, well to the right of centre, is the very territory wherein lurk those communities and individuals that provide succour and sustenance to those that would bring down the state. They may form a minority within the overall voter list, perhaps a sizeable minority, but the PML-N will not want to drive its voters into the arms of other democratic options — which in this case may include the religious parties.

If the prime minister and the party he leads is to “get serious” about tackling the terrorist threat, then they have no choice but to grasp the nettle, and to do anything else speaks of equivocation and prevarication, avoiding a prickly issue. The nettle cannot be selectively grasped, either by the civilian government or the security establishment, and if this country is ever to be released from the curse of extremism, then links with the past are going to have to be severed, old ideas and preconceptions adjusted to new and emerging realities. It will mean taking both risks and a leap of faith, by civilian and military actors, and the window of opportunity is not going to be open forever.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th,  2016.

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