Pakistan in the globalised world: ‘Dismantle LeT before it dismantles society’

French scholar talks about Islamabad's 'selective approached' in combating terrorism.

KARACHI: “Dismantle Lashkar-e-Taiba’s network before it dismantles the very fabric of Pakistani society,” warned Jean-Luc Racine. “Dismantling it is the only way to strengthen the on-and-off composite dialogue with India.”

Racine, director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, spoke at the Area Study Centre for Europe in Karachi University on Monday on how the world looks at Pakistan and the challenges it faces in the globalised world.

Speaking about the sporadic composite dialogue between India and Pakistan, he explained that no issue can be looked at in isolation. “It is not just a question of Indo-Pak dialogue but something beyond that.”

Degradation of the situation in Pakistan is also because of the fact that “the traditional mujahideen groups in Peshawar were supported by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in the past and now they have gone against them”. This is by far the biggest challenge that the country is facing at the moment, he said.

The LeT network which is gaining strength by the day, can be dismantled by getting in touch with like-minded groups working from within the country, Racine suggested. Even as Pakistan bleeds profusely with the rising number of suicide attacks, a man in the audience asked how many deaths it would take to satiate the demands made by the United States to “do more”.

“The increasing demands of the US and other western countries urging Pakistan to do more are based on doubts raised by observers as a selective approach is used in dealing with militants,” he answered. The “selective approach”, he explained, meant that no real action has been taken in North Waziristan and the Haqqani network has not been dismantled either. “Believe me, no one, anywhere in the world, wants to see any more bodies of Pakistanis.”

A few years ago, no one in the West was interested or bothered about the LeT but 9/11 changed all that.

There have been a number of incidents which have brought militant groups to the forefront for the government, creating a paradigm shift in dealing with them. The recent killing of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer being hailed by Jama’at-ud-Da’wah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed is one such obvious example.

Changing gears, he was asked why the European Union was taking a long time to grant Turkey membership. “The EU probably expanded itself too quickly and some issues were not addressed properly. Before enlarging the union, the rules of the game need to be addressed. But if a referendum was organised to discuss the membership of Turkey, the answer would be no from all quarters.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2011.