A parallel universe

For over a year, there has been mounting evidence of the presence of the Islamic State (IS) in Pakistan. It has a presence in every province to a greater or lesser degree, is not shy about advertising itself through its sympathisers who display the IS logo in their shop-windows and on the backs of their trucks, and nor shy about distributing leaflets seeking support — and donations. It does not organise popular rallies or similar mass events, nor run publicity campaigns through various media platforms — it does not need to. Its presence has been more than adequately documented both in print and pictorially to the point at which any form of denial as to its presence in Pakistan can only come from individuals or entities that have a reality deficit that borders on the purblind.

Thus it is that we learn from the interior minister that seminaries and madrassas are a “bulwark against terrorism” and that the IS “has no organised presence in Pakistan”. He went on to say that “terrorist organisations are using Da’ish as a façade to mount attacks in the country” — implying that any contact between the IS/Da’ish was notional rather than actual and operational, all in the minds of those who carried out terrorist attacks. To say that this flies in the face of what the Intelligence Bureau’s Director General, Aftab Sultan, told the Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control on February 10 is a considerable understatement. He told us, and we believed him, that the IS/Da’ish was “an emerging threat to the country”. One might wonder if the head of one of our leading intelligence agencies had got it all wrong and was in some way out of touch with the day-to-day realities of the terrorist threat. We rather doubt this.

Further revelations emerged. The people of Pakistan will doubtless be gladdened to know that the psychological war against terror was being won. What psychological war would that be, we wonder? There has been no unified or concerted effort to develop any kind of national counter-narrative to the extremism that is the seedbed of terrorism. The National Counter-Terrorism Authority that should be the lead federal agency developing policy and strategy to defeat extremism and terrorism remains stuck in neutral gear, underfunded and without a mandate to do anything beyond empty its own wastepaper baskets.

Further comfort is to be derived from the announcement that the government has evolved a consensus with the Wifaq-al-Madaris on the registration of madrassas, one of the knottiest problems enshrined in the National Action Plan. A statement is to be expected, more good news tomorrow — except that as we all know, tomorrow never comes. It would be helpful to know exactly what benefits are to be derived from the registration of madrassas, who is to regulate them and with what degree of transparency and oversight. Let the rest of us in on the secret of just how madrassas are “bulwarks against terrorism”. There can be no doubt that some of them are — but all of them? Everywhere? Do tell.

The IS/Da’ish does not operate like a traditional terrorist organisation, certainly in the context of Pakistan. Here, the IS is using the classic guerrilla strategy of ‘infiltrate, consolidate, attack’. It seeks sympathisers, builds networks and funding streams and plays to an audience already radicalised over decades. Existing terrorist groups find themselves an easy fit with the IS; and terrorism itself is never static but constantly evolving. In particular those groups that are oriented along sectarian lines find themselves happy bedfellows with the IS/Da’ish; and there is no shortage of them in Pakistan today. Many of them are ‘banned’ which makes little or no difference if they are allowed to openly operate and raise funds. These are the daily realities, obvious to anybody walking around with their eyes and ears open. There is a dysjunction between governmental perceptions and those of the common man which are difficult to reconcile with ground realities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2016.

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