The writer hosts a show called ‘Capital Circuit’ for News One and tweets
@FarrukhKPitafi
It was a welcome relief to listen to our chief of army staff speak so vociferously in support of democratisation and against terrorism. To an outsider, an army chief commenting on political matters might be incomprehensible but a student of Pakistani history, acquainted with the anatomy of our civil-military relationship, can appreciate the true potential of this watershed moment. And if there was any doubt about the army’s resolve to fight terrorism, it was cleared in a heartbeat. It was a befitting rejoinder to the apologists of terrorism who keep insisting that it is not our war.
However, as we gingerly approach the polling day, fear mounts that our counterterrorism agenda may come in direct conflict with the democratic process, as our two major political parties have time and again shown aversion to the war. And other major parties keep bringing up crimes of the past as the sole cause of our present-day woes. Call them crimes if you will but to this scribe, they were and still are desperate moves of a desperate state. It is a measure of our bewildered sadness, perpetual isolation and tragic history that we have not been able to confront the demons of our past and pledge renewal.
But the lives of 40,000 martyrs cannot just amount to nothing. Battle-scarred as we are, we cannot afford to become a prisoner of the Stockholm syndrome and end up bonding with our own assailants. War fatigue is one thing but not to notice the existential threat posed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is downright criminal.
Yet, let us not trivialise the programmes of the parties hinted above. These parties have presented good answers to a number of national questions. It is only in this crucial sector that they have been reluctant to advance some cogent solutions. There is a serious chance that these two parties may adopt a more prudent course of action against terrorism once they rise to power. But with only seven days remaining in the elections, I implore the leaders of these parties to not let petty thugs of the TTP define who they are. The TTP have already dealt a deathly blow to these parties’ campaigns by implying that there exists an understanding between them and the terrorists. The people of Pakistan, after all, are not fools and can identify the enemies of this country. They also value the blood of their 40,000 brethren killed by the terrorists. The party, viewed as an apologist of terrorists, I am afraid, will not be given the mandate to rule the country, no matter how many people attend its public gatherings.
We also need to appreciate the genuine desire to bid farewell to arms and build peace. But peace cannot come when negotiated from a position of weakness. In order to bring the enemy to the dialogue table, one first has to bring it to its knees and squeeze it so hard that it fails to see any other option but to throw in the towel. Leaders of major parties may not think much of each other but to a common voter, they are all national leaders of huge stature. If they really want to do justice to the expectations of their constituents, they need to take ownership of this war and bring it to its logical conclusion. If you don’t want to listen to folks like me, pay some heed to the chief of your own army. And the army also needs to value those who categorically support its struggle.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2013.
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"We also need to appreciate the genuine desire to bid farewell to arms and build peace" well, I agree with this statement. As far as this statement is concern, "These parties have presented good answers to a number of national questions," here I partially disagree with the account. PPP, MQM and ANP pretended to be under attack from TTP right now, and they think they are not getting the full chance to contest the elections, just because of the TTP threat. Sir, would you like to remind me about their efforts to fight against terrorism for last five years. Why do you forget to mention Wikileaks about these parties' silent support to drone attacks in FATA. Why do you just simply ignore that they failed to initiate political process (reconciliation) after the military operations in the trouble areas of FATA, where most parts of the TTP are still fighting against our army. I think, rather to bring TTP and other terrorists on their knees, they brought the whole political process to its knees and squeezed it, now they are crying for not getting true participation in the elections due to TTP's threat, who threaten to attack their rallies and jalsas. Although, there are some heinous attacks on their candidates and election offices, which I condemn; however, it does mean the elections should be cancel. Right Now, these "so-called victim" parties have no national answer to this existential threat to the nation, as they have spend more than five years in doing nothing to root out terrorism from Pakistan. One example, the anti-terrorism bill in parliament, which got approval at the end of their term. It's high time to give untested parties a chance to get us out of this trouble, rather the fully tested parties.
A column well written, buckup Pitafi Sb.
' Peace can not come when you negotiate from a position of weakness '.......... and every day it gets worse, very soon the negotiation option will disappear.
A beautiful and thought provoking article written by Farrukh Khan. The political wings of terrorists organisations, out of fear on the one hand and opportunism for grabbing power by hook and by crook, on the other, have a field day to hold public meetings in the the whole country. Is it fare to tie opponent's hands and then call them to wrestle with them. These apologists of terrorists are happy with the treatment meted out to the three political patties, the top one is ANP, to keep them out of elections. Every democrat will condemn to deprive certain political parties to participate in electioneering freely, while the blue eyed parties of terrorists have the licence to enter the corridor of power. Isn't it rigging, isn't it against justice isn't it a genuine case for interference by the superior judiciary, if the caretaker govt. is not capable or showing less interest to control the precarious situation. The fare, free and transparent election requires a level playing ground to be provided to all the political parties by the caretaker govt. and election commission of Pakistan.