The immediate consequence of this victory, it is feared, would more likely than not, appear in the shape of a series of brutal blowback across the country , mostly in the densely populated cities where the terrorists have already established sleeper cells of well-trained and committed suicide bombers and die-hard commandos.
It is possible that our intelligence agencies and the police have already identified these sleeper cells and are in the process of neutralising them, hopefully as successfully as our troops are doing, smoking out and eliminating the terrorists in the on-going war for peace in North Waziristan.
However, even a total victory on this front is not likely to help the country eradicate the menace of terrorism for good.
Backed by lethal weapons and ammunition purchased from clandestine gun runners using the millions flowing in from dubious foreign and domestic sources, the misguided protagonists of a distorted version of Islam seem to have impressed the unknowing and terrorised many into submission.
So, it is only to be expected that our intelligence agencies would also trace the mainsprings of these sources and plug them for good.
But even this is not likely to effectively lessen the threat being posed to the very existence of Pakistan.
In fact, the actual existential threat facing this country comes from a fast spreading mindset of a kind sprouting like a torrent out of an ideology misrepresented by its proponents as Islamic and misunderstood to be so by the teeming unlettered millions.
We have reached this point of almost-no-return not by any accident or because of the shenanigans of external forces inimical to the very existence of Pakistan. It was a well-planned strategy conceived by a ruling elite driven by superpower ambitions that has brought us to this sorry state of affairs.
The fulcrum of this strategy was Jihad. We began using jihad as a foreign policy instrument soon after the CIA had vanquished the Soviet Union using this instrument successfully with the help of our ISI and youth drawn from the Muslim world. The madrassas set up by the CIA for the purpose were readily adopted by Pakistan and the students graduating from these madrassas were recruited for this jihad which was fought for 10 long years, one on the side of the Taliban against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan and the other in Indian-occupied Kashmir. This was the time when we also started playing tricks with our education system to turn the nation into a horde of intolerant bigots.
A number of studies have been conducted to probe these wilful changes in school syllabi and many appeals made by those who should know for reforms of the curriculum and the syllabi to bring them in line with the idea of Pakistan as propounded by the Quaid-e-Azam.
One latest study, Education Reform in Pakistan, released on June 16 by the International Crisis Group, while discussing the quality of education in the public school sector laments that it has remained abysmal, “failing to prepare a fast growing population for the job market, while a deeply flawed curriculum fosters religious intolerance and xenophobia”.
It also talks about the poorly regulated madrassas and religious schools “contributing to religious extremism and sectarian violence”.
“An over-emphasis in textbooks on Islamic interpretation, not just in religion classes but also in history, literature and the sciences, has been used to create a discourse of national identity that validates the politically dominant military’s domestic and foreign policy agendas.
In the opinion of the authors of the study the curriculum has been “used, for instance, to galvanise popular opposition to their main adversary, India, and support for jihadi proxies in Indian administered Kashmir and Afghanistan.
“An authoritative study of the revised 2006 curriculum found that books on social sciences ‘systematically’ misrepresented Pakistan’s history and included ‘distortions and omissions’ with history ‘presented in a way that encouraged students to marginalise and be hostile to other social groups and people in the region’.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (14)
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@Solomon2: Dear Solomon2, Are you sure you are not getting confused and that the Britannica pictures where actually showing the Canadian Government carrying out unthinkable acts whilst plundering Canadian Indians of all their possessions, the way Britain did in the Sub-Continent prior to independence?
@Naeem Khan Manhattan,Ks: " I wonder if the ruling elite will be calling on your door early in the wee hours of the morning."
Yeah, apparently that just happened, because right now links to this article have been eliminated from ET's Opinion page.
"I recall studying Sub-Continent economics fifty years ago and the general consensus was that it would never get off the ground. We were proved wrong and Pakistan/India economies have improved tremendously."
That doesn't sound right. Fifty years ago Pakistan was already a model for development; my ld Britannica has pictures of South Koreans visiting Pakistan for advice on agriculture.
I think Pakistan's central problem is what it always has been: ideology. Pakistan has tried harnessing the two-nation theory, Islamism, socialism, etc., all to keep the ruling classes happy. It didn't ask its citizens (subjects?) whether they wanted a central Pakistani government at all until 1971 and over half said, "no."
Now that Islamic militarism ideology is running away from central government control, what is the correct ideological response? For the masses raised in such ideology, isn't it capitulation? What other, opposing, ideology can be set to battle the militants? Democracy seems out because the values that make it work - individual rights, freedom of conscience, rule-of-law, etc. - are rejected as un-Islamic. Socialism annoys property owners and doesn't work that well and has already been tried and rejected. Dictatorships Pakistanis are familiar with.
Could it be that the best solution is to go back to being a Dominion under the British Crown? In fifty years would we then see Pakistan as peaceful and prosperous as Canada is today?
I think that everybody from the author down have submitted excellent articles, but like me cannot cover everything, if in fact we knew what all the problems and/or answers where. However, we have to start somewhere. Lewis Carroll once said: "Begin at the beginning and go on until you come to the end; then stop". I think, whether we like it or not, Pakistan is still somewhere at the beginning in regard to stability due to having inherited huge problems from the British in 1967, and more recently from the Russians and Americans who may well have thought, albeit incorrectly, that they were wiser than the British, but have in fact created severe problems which now appear to have rolled over into Pakistan. Reading history, it is obvious that the Taliban/Pashtun groups gave the British Raj a severe headache, and subsequently did the same to Russia in Afghanistan and then America who had full Western support. Unfortunately, Pakistan, with more limited resources, has to pick up the pieces and confront a radicalized well trained group. To use a term in common parlance now-a-days it is called blow-back. Added to that is a virtual world economic downturn, particularly in the West, which shows no signs of recovery and a disruptive plan for world hegemony, all of which do not help Pakistan. I recall studying Sub-Continent economics fifty years ago and the general consensus was that it would never get off the ground. We were proved wrong and Pakistan/India economies have improved tremendously. However, although Pakistanis generally get enough to eat many are still suffering severe hardship. Thus, Pakistan has strong religious differences, economic problems and a virtual civil war on its hands, all of which lead to dissatisfaction and conflict. It may sound banal, but it is true to say that if a population is well fed, well clothed, well educated, have decent bathroom facilities, and a good lifestyle you rarely have revolts. I doubt if North Waziristan or outlying Pakistan generally have these items, and thus conflict will be the norm. The Pakistan military may well succeed in their North Waziristan objectives, but in asymmetric warfare the fighters just move on. .
@whitesky:
It is always worth trying to paint the sky white. But ignoring the facts will not provide security that every one needs, the whole of Pakistan has now been talibanised including its security forces, the citizens will live to see being targetted by the miliary and the police as well, more and more citizens not only the jounalist writers alone, will be identified as security risk and elimiated, the Pinochet era comes in broad day and replaces the ever cry of the lamenting citizen.
Rex Minor
Notwitstanding certain key elements of the article, and the authors knowledge about the radicals in the populace, the story about the Jihad and madrassas and Islam as well as well as the military operations have all been given undue and unnecessary importnce in their credibility. Facts are that Pakistan institutions as well as its poitical leadership and the security apparatus has been militarised over a very long period of time that endangers the entity itself. Not the Talibans, but the poilce force as well the country's frontier constablry and militias have all been militarised and placed under the control of the military. Their instinct to kill the enemy will now turn against its own citizens, and every act of the civilians which is critical of the Government will be regarded as high treason and disloyal act and will be so treated by force. Pakistan finds itself in the midst of an abyss
Rex Minor
A good article by M Ziauddin (author) although cautious did get it right in regard to what is a "decisive victory"? However, the author had it covered also by pointing out that blowback was inevitable. Obviously, it would be difficult to cover everything in a short article, but the author gave an excellent summary of the disparate groups within the Pakistan religous world. It would not have been difficult for the author to include similar problems within the Western world with an extra paragraph or so. For example, the Western world basically have three antagonistic religions which condition their children at a young age, and without going into details it creates serious problems which are becoming worse and worse as the years roll on. The West also have serious problems due to racial differences. Having traveled extensively though I am amazed that the vast majority of Muslims are generally peaceful and slow to react violently when mistreated with questionable behaviour. Pakistan is a slightly different case, possibly due to unstable boundaries on the East and West, the ever present Kashmir problem, the Taliban, and external Western mischief, but I would suggest that better than 80% of Pakistan people lead normal lives like everybody else. It should also be realized that the Taliban have kept the Western world at bay for 13 years. They are unique, tough, seasoned fighters who think differently, and will be hard to control.
the military operation will compel the extremist TTP and splinter groups to move to another protected place where they can not be identified . Terrorists of Uzbek origin will prefer to move to Afghanistan through porous border where they enjoy the sympathy/ endorsement of their ideology.Afghan security forces will not touch them so long they they do not involve in attacking afghan interests. (Uzbeki features are distinct from Pakistanis and therefore easily identifiable). TTP will try to hit back at some army installations/ crowded markets preferably in Punjab. any attack by terrorists in the urban area will fuel the sentiments further against them. At this juncture government may trace the sleeper cells for neutralization/. destruction.If Afghan forces (INSF) are able to restrict / control Taliban and marches towards stability Attacks from Afghan soil will be minimized and Pakistan too can expect relief from these extremists.
Nice Editorial but I suspect the Editor and I have a different definition of "decisive victory". From everything I have read the current offensive appears to be a repeat of the S Waziristan offensive who's only accomplishment was moving bad guys from one place to another. The 09 offensive was hailed as a "decisive victory" by the military but if that were true the current offensive wouldn't be necessary.
Excellent piece by veteran journalist Mr Ziauddin that hits the nail on the head. The militants are merely the physical manifestation of an ideology and narrative, gone horribly wrong. That the Education system was used as the vehicle for the kind of indoctrination seen, is a travesty of what Education really stands for. While the militants can be temporarily subdued, changing the mindset of the population, will not be an easy task. For change of mindset to be successful, some major shifts are very necessary :- 1] Welfare of the people should be made TOP priority for the Government, not military might or religious affiliation. 2] The Constitution should be purged of any reference to Religion and clauses that differentiate between sections of the population. 3] Repeal of the Blasphemy Law --- an archaic instrument of oppression. If point 3 is unachievable, Mullahs making hate speeches whether sectarian or religious, should be tried and convicted, depriving them of an illegitimate source of power. This is just a starter pack, better measures can be adopted as the situation evolves.
@author,
"In fact, the actual existential threat facing this country comes from a fast spreading mindset of a kind sprouting like a torrent out of an ideology misrepresented by its proponents as Islamic and misunderstood to be so by the teeming unlettered millions."
A very sensible article but, how can you be so sure that the "ideology" is misrepresented and misunderstood by the fundamentalists? How can you be sure that the interpretations of the "moderates" is the correct interpretation?
This article is so candid that I wonder if the ruling elite will be calling on your door early in the wee hours of the morning. I appreciate you calling spade a spade, I have not been to Pakistan for several years and I could tell just interacting with my family members who are educated yet their style of conversation is like they are from Saudi Arabia and living in S.Arabia. Some time I wonder why Pakistanis are so adamant by naming armaments after those who has been perished thousand years ago, don't we have some educators, scientist, artists and leaders who could be recognised. You are right it is all about the past glory which just does not coincide with 21st century and come to think about it, that glory also has had some very gory details. We are not less intelligent than any one else in the region or world but our elite has made us dumber by the years by force feeding us the stuff which should have been left to confines of the history. I think our past and present leaders are so myopic in their thinking that we could not consider them the STATESMEN, they don't have the ability to think of the future of the nation and the country, say 50years from now. Their motto is to live it up because tomorrow may not come for them. Thank you for bringing the ills of the nation and hopefully the younger generation will heed the advice and start thinking and revamping the whole education system to save the country from themselves.
The author is absolutely right ... any Military victory over the Taliban will only be tactical victory, which will neither defeat, nor eliminate the Taliban.
The issue is more fundamental ... the people of Pakistan will have to go to the basics and rewrite "Pakistan ka matlab kya" ... an ideology of Pakistan, that is not based on intolerance, hatred and of course jingoism against India ... !! ... Pakistan as a society will have to unequivocally condemn and disown all forms of violence, intolerance and hatred ... even against its sworn enemy India ... !!
Most honest analysis of what ails Pakistan. Are Pakistanis ready to for treatment ?? Highly unlikely...