Law and order in K-P

As elections edge closer, terror attacks are increasing. Till now, ANP and MQM candidates have been targeted. Under the dark shade of terrorism, electioneering can’t continue its business as usual. Pakistan needs an airtight security plan. The caretaker government has on numerous occasions made clear its top two priorities: maintenance of law and order and conducting free and fair elections. However, if this state of affairs continues, one wonders how free and fair elections will be possible without a peaceful atmosphere for voters.

If a democratic state is to be stable, we cannot have a “one man, one vote” system, under the duress of terror, for this would result in the disenfranchisement of a particular party. Respecting this reality is one of the hardest problems of democratic culture anywhere. But getting this right in Pakistan would mean a new start for terrorised parties. If those political parties which have not been threatened by insurgent groups have only a marginal interest in condemning the threats, it becomes a fundamental problem. This would further mean a shabby election without any credibility.

As we approach May 11, the security situation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) is devolving from incomprehensible to inexplicable. Reports about the law and order situation are focused on metrics; how many troops will be deployed on Election Day? How many platoons of the FC will be drawn back from the rest of Pakistan for K-P? How many blasts have there been? Few of these metrics bear much relationship to the deteriorating security situation, strengthening insurgency and weakening democracy. Attacks on candidates are rising, which could mean a fractured political contest in malnutritioned circumstances.

Some friends in the police think it is very simple: the security situation will improve when the political situation improves. That, of course, draws the question of how the people of K-P can run for office while running for their lives. If the state cannot protect people from the growing insurgency, they hedge their bets. In the circumstances, a population that is passive or intimidated by terrorists enables their success. This was what happened in Swat during Mullah Fazlullah’s reign and it is feared that this is what is happening now. When one cannot separate friend from foe, it is hard to win. Increasingly, insurgency and population are blending into one.

The insurgency that Pakistan is facing during elections is stronger than most other insurgencies in history because it exploits the remnants of the hard-hit state and has both leadership and direction. The resistance is an indigenous and determined affair — a foe fighting for its place in the “new Pakistan” but through illegal means. Despite insurgent attacks, Pakistan needs to take steps for the building of a new democracy. Every Pakistani is concerned about the subversive activities of insurgents, which has resulted in fearful excitement for the elections.

A new democracy means a fearless, routine life for the common man. However, a continued political gridlock is being witnessed between political parties at one end and the insurgents at the other. In the past, the Taliban complained numerous times that the previous government and political parties were not sincere about their offer of negotiations. Hence, they resumed their state-breaking activities. The ANP and the JUI took the initiative for the APC conferences but now they are focusing only on the elections.

Simply holding elections and empowering parties will not change the dynamics. Parties need to unite for negotiations with the Taliban and its affiliates with the same spirit that they demonstrated during the APC conferences in the recent past. They need to take part in the elections alongside negotiations with the Taliban. Similarly, Pakistan’s military establishment needs to change its counterinsurgency strategy before May 11. Any truce between the two sides to allow the elections to take place will pay in the long run. At the end of elections on May 11, a democratic Pakistan would demonstrate to the world and to its inhabitants that there is a middle path between authoritarian rule and radical conservatism. If not, a couple of military operations, like the ongoing Tirah operation, will keep the enemy on its toes and at bay, at least, until the elections.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2013.