A challenge of ‘governance’

I was asked to write a piece on our external relations “as they panned out during the outgoing year” but with the exceptionally painful and heart-rending Peshawar tragedy on December 16, one of the worst massacres in our history — and there have been many that have taken place on our blood-soaked soil — any such attempt on my part at this sobering moment would have made no sense. My thoughts and prayers, as indeed those of the entire nation spontaneously go to the bereaved families in their hour of supreme grief. We mourn with them the loss of their near and dear ones and curse the perpetrators, as well as their abettors in this heinous atrocity.

Coinciding as it did with another exceptionally painful day in our history, this grievous incident has shaken the entire nation, setting off an emotional outpour brimming with anger and frustration. It immediately reminded me of another terrible day in history: the 9/11 tragedy. I was there in New York on that unforgettable day. “Bloody Tuesday, act of war, carnage, catastrophe, heinous crime, and an unprecedented tragedy in American history” were some of the headlines used the next day in American media to describe the terrorist attacks against the US on September 11, 2001. One could see the world’s sole superpower overwhelmed by visible anger and frustration.

But one could also see it losing, not even a breath, in determining the nature and scale of its response. No wonder, the ghastly disappearance of the twin towers from Manhattan’s sky line was to change not only world history but also the global geopolitical landscape. The belligerent mood in Washington was evident in its first call to the world.

Foreign nations were given an immediate ‘black and white’ choice in their relationship with the US. “You’re either with us or against us” was the message, loud and clear. The Bush Administration, while grappling with the emergency, vowed to “hunt down and punish the perpetrators of the terrorist act and those who harboured them”.

At the diplomatic front, it was quick to mobilise international support by reaching out to world leaders. Besides enlisting Nato’s participation in this campaign, it got strong resolutions adopted overwhelmingly the very next day, i.e., September 12, in the UN Security Council and the General Assembly, paving the ground for legitimisation of US military action against terrorists and their hideouts in Afghanistan. What followed is history. But this kind of elaborate and effective response could come only from a superpower that is unrivalled in its global outreach and power. No other country in the world could have responded with the same speed and power in a similar situation.

On our part, the only concrete and quick response to the Peshawar tragedy did come from our armed forces in which they not only killed the terrorist assailants but also rescued nearly 1,000 hostages, the overwhelming majority of whom were young students at the Army Public School. At least 141 persons including nine staffers were killed by the assailants. In this hour of adversity, ostensibly one good thing to happen was the coming together of the politicians as a mark of solidarity with the victims and support for the armed forces. Imran Khan called off his months’ long sit-in and offered to stand with the government in dealing with the emergency situation.

At a hurriedly-convened multi-party meeting in Peshawar, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the politicians could not go beyond their known luminosity. They just established a committee headed by the interior minister to come up with a national action plan or a strategy within seven days. It’s a deja vu scenario. We have seen many All-Parties Conferences (APCs) in the past which produced no strategy or roadmap other than anodyne statements or mere desk-thumping in assemblies. The outcome of APCs in October 2008 and July 2013 on the same issue backed by parliamentary resolutions never saw the light of day. It is just dustbin history now. It is now time for action, not plans.

The armed forces are already doing their job valiantly by rooting out foreign and local terrorists and eliminating their sanctuaries. The nation now looks towards the government to also play its role in this decisive battle of our life. Without concrete ‘governmental’ action, we cannot achieve the ‘ultimate objective’ in freeing the country of violence and terrorism. At the political level, there is no visible governmental effort to deal with the scourge of terrorism and against the known individuals or groups engaged in acts of violence and terrorism. We are yet to see a multidimensional counter-terrorism strategy involving deterrent, preventive and developmental approaches.

A vigorous governmental campaign was needed to purge society of extremism and obscurantism through long-term and immediate measures, ranging from internal security to socio-economic initiatives in the affected areas. The country’s sole counter-terrorism authority (Nacta) has yet to be appropriately reinforced with requisite equipment and other resources, including the needed legal frameworks to be able not only to fight the insurgents but also to detect and prevent others from joining their ranks. The government should also have already been ensuring greater vigilance on the funding sources of groups and institutions that encourage terrorism in the country or across the borders.

Unfortunately, we see no such governmental effort at the policy or implementation level anywhere in sight. The only action the people saw in recent months was in the form of police action at the order of their political masters that resulted in pathetic Model Town, Islamabad and Faisalabad tragedies involving the killing of innocent civilians, not by terrorists or al Qaeda but by those responsible for public safety. We need our police to be the second line of defence in the ongoing counterterrorism drive. They must not be used for political victimisation or to suppress political opponents.

To eliminate extremism and terrorism, military operations alone would not serve the purpose. We can kill or capture any number of terrorists; disrupt their operations; destroy their organisations; but unless we prevent others from following their path, we cannot succeed in eliminating terrorism. We will have to go beyond retribution and retaliation and root out the causes that breed hatred and militancy. Our leaders will have to rise above their narrowly based, self-serving temptations and acquit themselves of their governance challenges. The ultimate responsibility to ensure good governance and the rule of law, and promote tolerance and communal harmony rests with the government, not with anyone else.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2014.

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