Will we overcome?

Either by design or inadvertently, institutions have been working to promote the cause of militants

Pakistan has gone through many trials and tribulations in its history of 67 years. It experienced widespread massacre and mayhem at the time of Partition in a frenzy of communal hatred. It has fought three major wars with India where aerial bombing, artillery salvos and tank warfare have killed thousands and maimed hundreds. Of late, Pakistan has suffered the horrendous onslaught of home and foreign-bred militants wherein they have targeted major military installations, bombed bazaars and have not even spared hospitals. While these attacks continued, our civilian and military leaderships never came to grips with reality. Their responses betrayed a sense of self-denial or half-baked expedient solutions. Pervez Musharraf had his theory of ‘good and bad Taliban’. General (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, after having conducted the military operations in Swat and South Waziristan, sat on his laurels. Imran Khan, until recently, never raised his voice against the TTP and even termed them to be merely ignorant. Chaudhry Nisar referred to them as “brothers” and Shahbaz Sharif was satisfied as long as they spared Punjab. If it was not for General Raheel Sharif, we would still have been debating the merits and demerits of launching the all-bracing military operation.

It was, however, this mindless savagery of targeting innocent children and teachers at the school in Peshawar that has sent shockwaves around the world as an affront to humanity. This horrendous act was aptly described by someone to truly have diminished us all. Maybe for the Taliban, it was not new to kill children because if one would recall, the Afghan Taliban have been using small children in large numbers to clear mines in order to save their bulldozing equipment for more important missions. As though the machines were more precious than the lives of children. Moreover, it is now such a routine for the TTP and other radical organisations to use young boys to carry out suicide missions that we have become totally de-sensitised.

The question is, where do we go from here. The military leadership that has all along spearheaded the counterterrorism and counter-insurgency policy is once again calling the shots. In a major departure from past policy, General Sharif has resolved to eliminate terrorists of all hues and will not differentiate between the good and the bad Taliban. The prime minister and all major political parties have endorsed his stand although it is sad that it has taken so many years to understand the dangers inherent in pursuing this warped policy of tolerating and even harbouring the ‘good Taliban’.

How can people be sure that this time the civilian leaders share with the military the resolve to get rid of militancy and extremism in Pakistan? The sheer number of deaths and injuries that people have been suffering at the hands of the TTP and other militant outfits should have shaken those in power long ago. With more than 50,000 dead according to some estimates and thousands more injured and losses over $100 billion, the government has yet to finalise its security policy and relies mostly on the army to take the lead. The Committee on National Security is not fully activated and Nacta is a still-born entity. Having found ways of protecting itself, the political leadership remains woefully ambivalent about the safety of its fellow citizens.

There are several areas where the government and the political leadership will have to act. On the ideological front, the mindset of the nation needs to be completely changed. It is not something that can happen overnight. So far, no strategies have been applied to win the hearts and minds of the people. Neither has there been any serious effort at developing a society that breeds tolerance and shuns the use of religion to spread hatred and divisiveness. Attempts at introducing counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation programmes have fallen by the wayside. Until now, none of the governments — military or civilian — have developed any ideological responses to terrorism and extremism. On the contrary, militants seem to be far ahead in propagating their ideology as is being reported by research institutes. The number of pamphlets and videos that these organisations are bringing out far exceeds those which come out from the government and civil society. Many of our politicians have until recently been making highly favourable remarks towards the TTP. For this, successive governments have to take the blame. In countering terrorism, there is a major role of parliament, politicians, media, clergy, federal and provincial governments and the civil society. If we look at past record, it seems most of these institutions have been oblivious to fulfilling their responsibility. Either by design or inadvertently, they have been working to promote the cause of militants and their priorities have been lopsided. The media has been devoting most airtime to dharnas and has hardly discussed issues related to security and the sacrifices being made by our armed forces. In fact, TV and radio channels have frequently been giving space to spokespersons and apologists of terrorist outfits. The civilian government has practically outsourced most tasks related to combating militancy and radicalism to the military.

The clergy has been speaking against militancy only when requested by the government or after a tragic incident. There are several amongst it who are brazenly siding with militant organisations. A classic example of this is Maulana Aziz of the Lal Masjid. This only indicates that the state has become feeble or is in cahoots with him. The other brazen manifestation of the government’s ineptitude was the release order of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the horrific Mumbai incident. Although he has been detained by the government under the Maintenance of Public Order, at this hour of trial when the world stood with us we sent such a negative message that portrayed the fundamental contradictions and confusion in state and society. To rise from these ashes and to pay a genuine tribute to our fallen children, we surely cannot continue by merely sharing our anger and fears. Something more concrete has to be done.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2014.

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