EDITORIAL: Surely, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif realises that he’s not the first Pakistani head of government to claim “unprecedented cooperation” between the government and the military, the “exemplary institutional harmony” he repeatedly referred to during his address at the Ulema and Mashaikh Conference last week.
It wasn’t too long ago, after all, that Imran Khan used to make pretty much the same claim, before falling out with the establishment and getting into a bitter confrontation that continues to rattle the political and institutional foundations of the country.
It’s ironic, then, that both the army chief and the prime minister made veiled references to this destabilising hostility when they talked about the dangers of “digital terrorism” – though neither mentioned PTI by name – in a conference meant to address the rising TTP insurgency and assure everybody that the military stood ready to wipe out the “Fitna al Khawarij”. There’s no doubt the insurgency has risen its head again, and the security forces, for all their sacrifices, have largely been behind the curve as it steadily gained momentum following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
The first misjudgment was to count on the new interim government to handle TTP pockets in Afghanistan. The group had been reduced to scattered militias kept alive by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies as proxies against Pakistan ever since military operations on this side forced what was left of its network to consolidate across the Durand Line.
And depending on the Taliban to keep their word and sort out TTP turned out to be wrong. The second error was the incomprehensible policy to repatriate TTP fighters, on the orders of the federal government of the time, in order to let them assimilate back into society. The third mistake was to continue negotiating with them even as they continued their attacks. The list goes on.
We’ve long since come to the point where decisive action requires leaning much harder on Kabul. Yet, the government and the military still seem to go round the same circle of making requests and threats and receiving nothing concrete in return. As for dealing with targeted attacks and bomb blasts inside our borders while the problem in Afghanistan is sorted out, there’s a comprehensive blueprint in the form of the National Action Plan (NAP) readily available to the security forces.
All they have to do, unlike last time, is follow through on all the points and recommendations made in it. Perhaps the successes of Zarb-e-Azb and Rudd-ul-Fasaad made the government take its eye off the ball as TTP retreated across the border, because it’s clear now that at least some of its sleeper cells were never completely cleared and it retained the ability to strike again whenever it was able.
A good way of breathing fresh life into NAP could be to start with policy initiatives that were left incomplete last time, like enhancing cooperation and communication between the dozens of intelligence agencies that figure in the larger security machinery. These points would be high on the list of the military as it gears for a conclusive operation against the terrorists, no doubt, because this time it needs to put a lid on this menace once and for all.
It is not right, however, to lump this problem together with ongoing political instability, as was done at the conference. This particular problem has only grown to its current proportions largely because political parties across the spectrum have not yet gained the maturity to solve their problems through negotiations.
Even now, with the country falling apart so badly and even outsiders and investors crucial for our survival sweating over our political breakdown, neither the government nor the opposition is serious about moving forward through dialogue. Both sides stick to positions that only ensure that progress never takes place, and the whole country is suffering as a result.
In this way, the very people that bend over backwards for the right to rule over this country and represent its people have become one of the biggest factors in its rapid deterioration. Once they start filling the vacuum they have created themselves, they will also be able to reclaim some of the space that has been taken by the establishment. Until then, they will also be responsible for some of the threats this country is facing.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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