Our bane the terrorism

Real and present danger

Witnessing gore and mayhem at the hands of the ubiquitous terrorists has become part of our daily life. But despite becoming desensitised to violence over the years, sectarian and militant attacks in the main cities of all four provinces of the country last Wednesday literally came as a jolt for the whole nation.

Rampant terrorism and the manner in which militants are targeting Shias and their processions during the countdown to Ashura have shocked everyone who believes in a tolerant and pluralistic Pakistan. On the eve of the D-8 summit in Islamabad, a suicide attack on a Shia procession in the twin garrison city of Rawalpindi was the bloodiest.

It is obvious that the terrorists are on the rampage and despite the bravado expressed by our maverick interior minister, they are choosing their targets with impunity. Rehman Malik, instead of coming up with a coherent plan to curb the menace, seems to be fonder of making bombastic statements on the media.

Malik stating but the obvious is generally the harbinger of bad news. There is nothing profound about predicting in the aftermath of the recent massacres that the next few days of Muharram are going to be dangerous.

The efficacy of his recipes to ban the movement of citizens by proscribing use of motorcycles or restricting mobile phones services is questionable. There is no substitute for real time intelligence and coherently strategising. These superficial measures can hardly be effective to tackle the bigger malaise.

It all started after 9/11. Since then the US has engaged in two bloody wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, pouring untold miseries on the people of these two countries. Rampant instability in Pakistan is not only fallout of policies of past two military dictators Zia-ul Haq-and Musharraf, but also a direct consequence of America’s global counter terrorism policies.

At the expense of most of the Muslim world, Washington has been able to keep its soil terrorism free. This has not been achieved by banning tools of modern technology but by using them to its advantage.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said that “disrupting, decimating, dismantling and ultimately defeating Al-Qaeda remains the administration’s national security policy”. By declaring “the Homeland “a safer place to live for its citizens for all practical purposes, Washington is embarked on a cut and run policy in Afghanistan.

This leaves us to deal on our own with the Taliban and incremental number of drone attacks to eliminate them. Rampant poverty and rising unemployment, coupled with pro-Taliban elements in our midst, Pakistan will remain a fertile ground for the jihadists, and terrorism will remain our scourge.

Recently disgraced US General David Petraeus is credited with engineering the American withdrawal from Iraq through implementation of his so-called surge of troops policy. He applied a similar recipe in Afghanistan when he was commander of the US troops in Afghanistan. Now we are told by the US media, which was gushing and fawning over him, that the general was a big failure.

The post-US Iraq is in throes of violence. The quisling Shia administration established by the US occupation army has miserably failed. Similarly, it is being widely acknowledged that the Taliban have regrouped and consolidated in Afghanistan.

One does not have to be a rocket scientist to predict that the militants will continue to pose a real and present danger to the stability of the country. Iranian President Ahmadinejad in an interview has suggested a Pak-Iran-Afghan ulema moot to tackle terrorism.

Nejad, on a visit to Islamabad to attend the D-8 summit at a time when Shias are sitting ducks at the hands of the Taliban, has shown remarkable restraint by merely condemning terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. His proposal, however, can only bear fruit if the ulema of the three Islamic countries are on the same page. This is hardly the case. Pakistani ulema even amongst themselves are a squabbling lot.

In any case, terrorism in Pakistan is a multi-faceted problem with religious as well as geostrategic overtones. The civilian government should have taken the lead to form a cohesive strategy along with the military – a major stakeholder in the war against terrorism – to tackle the hydra headed monster.

If this means a major overhaul of our strategic priorities, this should be done now. There should be no confusion that fighting terrorism is an existential war for Pakistan’s survival as modern democratic Muslim country, never envisaged as a theocratic state by our founding fathers.

Notwithstanding the penchant of our strategic thinkers for “strategic depth”, even the military, which has lost many of its own fighting terrorism, can support a system based on a narrow and self-serving interpretation of sharia.

Karachi is a different kettle of fish altogether. It is indeed ironic to see Altaf Hussain, the MQM supremo, shedding crocodile tears over endemic violence in the metropolis. The MQM is part of the problem rather than the solution and so are the ANP and the PPP.

Incidentally, all three parties are coalition partners fighting for turf through their militant proxies. None of them are willing to rein in their armed outfits. That Karachi is also the hotbed of terrorists of all hue and colour is another complicating factor.

In this backdrop it is not at all surprising that the Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has ruled out military action in the city. He has rightly said that the army cannot take control of the city unless the government demands so.

In any case, why should the military clean the mess created by politicians themselves? He has lobbed the ball squarely into Zardari’s court. It is up to the president who happens to be the co-chairperson of his party to bring his coalition partners on board.

With elections around the corner, this is unlikely to happen. Elements in control of the city are not willing to let go, come what may.

In the meanwhile, Karachi, and for that matter the rest of Pakistan, will continue to bleed. With no one willing to upset the apple cart, or bell the proverbial cat, there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Even military rule is not an option. It never was but this time thankfully even the military knows it. The Sharifs and the PTI, notwithstanding tall claims with hardly any presence in Sindh, have nothing much to offer whatever the outcome of the forthcoming general elections.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today