[NATION.PK] Almost a year after the launch of the grand military operation Zarb-e-Azb..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)...
in North Wazoo & other areas of FATA and almost six months after the adoption of the National Action Plan ( NAP) in the aftermath of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
tragedy, violence in Pakistain has shown no signs to subside. From the massacre of Ismailies in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
to murder of Pashtuns in Mastung and from targeting Shi'ias in different parts of the country to attacking Christians , the violence is still making headlines in the electronic and print media. Despite the government's claims of thousands of intelligence based targeted operations in various areas , the back of extremism is far from broken. Even government circles concede the fact that the process of implementation of NAP has run out of steam.
The talk of madrassah reforms has become a mere rhetoric. Whatever little reform was introduced by the previous government in curricula in Pakhtunkhwa has been effectively reversed by the provincial government under the influence of JI , without attracting any criticism from extensive political gamut or civil society.
After getting mired in judicial complications and loss of focus by the government, the law to try the hardcore Death Eaters who use religion to launch war against the state has lost relevance.
The busting of a gang of modern educated Death Eaters in Karachi has shocked many people as usual but not to the extent where a movement for removing hate materials from our education curricula is launched, convincing the state to take visible action.
Most of the proscribed organizations are indulging in public political activities unchecked by law enforcement agencies. Top leadership of TTP, the only proscribed organization being targeted by military operations, remains mostly on the lam. As long as they are not apprehended and brought to book, the threat of their regrouping will always be there.
The state apparatus, despite using large scale aerial bombardments, tanks and long range guns along with big number of troops in military action has not fully regained monopoly over legitimate violence in our society.
It is not to suggest that military operation in FATA has not had its successes or operation in Karachi could not hit criminal mafias in the mega city . Operation Zarb-e-Azb has destroyed important terrorist infrastructures and sanctuaries as a result of valiant sacrifices by the personnel of the LEAs and the people of the area. TTP leadership is on the run, losing its capacity to launch big attacks against state security installations . That is why it has tended more and more to attack soft targets.
Important criminal mafias have been busted in Karachi irrespective of their political affiliation leading to reduction in the number of extortions and murders cases .
But is it enough to rid Pakistain of deeply entrenched bully boy violence eating into the vitals of state and society?
Is Pakistain meaningfully closer to become a " normal state" in terms of getting rid of large scale violence?
In the abovementioned scenario, Is the cancer of extremism and terrorism going to be eradicated from Pakistain any time soon?
The answer is unfortunately an emphatic no. The fact is that the misguided state policies of 1980s and 1990s of turning this country into a bastion of international "Jihadist Project", have been the root cause of the problem. The US-led west wanted to defeat the Soviet communism at any cost and for them ends justified the means. They haven't shied away to repeat the same blunders recently in Iraq and Syria. But unfortunately for Pakistain , the military dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...that had already launched an " Islamisation " campaign in the country to perpetuate its despotic rule jumped at the Western band wagon and allowed bully boy ideologies and fighters from around the world to come and use Pakistain as a base for fighting in Afghanistan. The scope of religious militancy was subsequently expanded to Indian-held Kashmire .
Arabs, Chechans, Igors and krazed killer from several other nationalities had their own agendas pursued from their bases in Pakistain. This led to, somewhat ironically, our strong security state turning into a soft state where various krazed killer outfits functioned with or without our knowledge.
In Pakistain we all know about our four wars with India. But there is not any talk about the three wars which we fought in Afghanistan. The first one started in 1981 and continued till 1989 against the Soviet troops. The second one commenced in 1994 in favor of Taliban and against the Northern Alliance and continued till September 2001. The third one (recently confirmed by General Musharaf) started in 2003 in support of Taliban that has yet to come to a close.
Instead of allowing an honest and critical review of these policies to evolve a strategy for correction, the state institutions have consistently resorted to obfuscation , a culture that has deeply penetrated our society. Living in fiction and in a state of denial has become a way of life. But that is not all.
The deeply flawed governance based on culture of patronage and negation of merit has led to exclusion of weaker societal sections particularly of the young people making them vulnerable to radicalization. Social and political powerlessness of large sections of society has created space for krazed killer and sectarian ideologies penetrating Pakistain from the Middle East with the help of petrodollars. Our ruling elite has failed to implement part of the Constitution (from Article 8 to Article 39) that provides for the state's responsibility for ensuring social welfare and empowerment of the citizens both vertically and horizontally.
Almost 80 per cent of the annual budget is allocated to three things; debt servicing, defense and administration leaving no scope for focusing on the social sector. The crises of decline in the quality of public education system is the most dangerous for our future.
Undoubtedly, the involvement of hostile foreign agencies in destabilizing Pakistain must be playing a role but our misguided policies have also provided a conducive atmosphere to them. As state and society we must pause, take a step back and conduct an honest debate about the causes of violence that is devouring us.
We have to rethink our policies and go for bold reforms to arrest and reverse the rampant violence that is threatening the very existence of Pakistain. It may amount to entirely redefining Pakistain in order to transform it into a democratic, peaceful and prosperous society. We have to muster political courage to take the right course.