Making the state fight militancy

When Swat found itself overrun by the Taliban in 2008 and 2009, the state again didn’t seem too bothered. Instead, parliament voted on the Swat ‘peace’ deal, allowing the Taliban to enforce their idea of law and order on a piece of Pakistani territory. Malam Jabba, Pakistan’s only ski resort for citizens, was razed by the Taliban. Just a few hundred miles away, Peshawar itself stood a different city from that of a decade ago, or even a few years ago.

Yet, just how much blame can be apportioned to the state as an entity that exists beyond its citizens and hence doesn’t care about the security of those very citizens who legitimise it? Pakistan is still a democracy, even with all the rampant corruption and nepotism. So, have we failed as well, meaning that if the state is failing, its constituents, ie us, must be as well? Treating minorities as second-class citizens isn’t just what the state does, it’s what we also do as well, as a society.

By allowing the religious right to influence politics even in the minutiae, we allow by proxy the state to violate the fundamental rights of minorities. When even the educated elite propagate conspiracy theories and buy into anti-Hindu propaganda, elucidated by the likes of Zaid Hamid just where does that then leave our politicians? Can we really be surprised if we continuously hear mention of a ‘foreign hand’? After the Data Darbar attack, there have been multiple protests, most of which have questioned the ability of the PML-N government in Punjab to provide adequate levels of security for the province. Two relationships are particularly called into question here; the PML-N’s increasingly perilous relationship with the SSP, and the ISI’s role vis-à-vis the Taliban.

With Rana Sanaullah’s traipse in Jhang where he met when the head of the SSP Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, the PML-N and SSP relationship found itself in the spotlight. Regardless of whether his purpose of meeting the SSP was purely electoral or otherwise, the SSP remains a banned, terrorist outfit and the seeming endorsement of the group by a leading PML-N figure is astonishing. It beckons the question regarding the integrity of the PML-N concerning its ability to govern and provide security for Punjab’s residents. Though the SSP may not be directly involved in the attacks on Ahmadis or Data Darbar, the PML-N cosying up to them has surely created an environment where like-minded groups would feel emboldened.

Ultimately, it’s up to us to put pressure on our politicians and the state — not simply by protests but by adopting ideologies that aren’t ensconced in violence. And for that we need to be all on the same page regarding the imperative for fighting terrorism and militancy head-on.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2010.