Where there isn’t a will

Why we need a unified stance

My father, a former Inspector General of Police, often gets invited to television shows for his expert opinion and analysis on the prevalent law and order situation in the country and how best to tackle the threat that terrorism poses against us. On more than one occasion, on television and in his opinion pieces, he has expressed his dissatisfaction and frustration at a lack of political will on the part of all concerned to take this issue head on. It won’t resolve the issue overnight, he says, but it would be the first step in the right direction. I have often wondered why our political and military leadership has failed to develop a unified stance against terrorism. Surely any sane and responsible individual must be against violence and killing of innocent civilians. Why then have we failed to find consensus on an issue which should be as clear as the light of day? Why do some of us still appear to be sympathetic towards those who not only disregard the writ of state but also actively seek to target our troops and take great solace in mutilating their corpses? Why do we not have a unified stance?

Never has this division or lack of fortitude on the part of our political forces been more apparent than in the past couple of months at the height of the election season. On one hand, we have had targeted bombings and gun attacks carried out on a daily basis by the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) and its affiliates, mostly against the more liberal parties on our political horizon. This has forced the PPP-P, the ANP and the MQM to limit their campaigns in order to avoid unnecessary exposure to their candidates and supporters. But even that has not been enough. This past Friday an ANP candidate for the seat in the National Assembly was gunned down along with his five-year-old son as he was leaving the mosque after attending the Friday prayers. The same day, a worker for MQM also lost his life in a separate attack.

Naturally, such circumstances do not set a level playing field for these parties and if they sought postponement of polls to better prepare themselves they would be justified. Or a much direr scenario could have seen them boycott the elections altogether which would have thrown the legitimacy of the entire process into doubt since these parties will still be major players come election day. Yet the leadership of these parties continues to stand defiant in the face of such threats and appears more resolute than ever to reach the May 11th finish line.

On the other hand, we have parties that not only seem too busy throwing rhetorical punches at each other as their campaigns go on unabated, but also have never had a clear enough stance on terrorism and violence. Even when they have condemned attacks carried out by TTP and Co, the condemnation has been muffled at best. In some instances, they even appear to appeal to the good sense of the Taliban not to carry out attacks in the province they govern since they too share TTP’s ideology such as opposing the USA; or completely deny their existence in their province to begin with; or just request them to halt their bombing expeditions to give them time to build a new country; or better yet, completely absolve them from the assassination of a former prime minister of our country, in the process discrediting two independent investigations carried out by two credible international bodies.

This by no means implies that the likes of PPP-P and MQM have not catered to such elements. Where the PML-N arranges a seat adjustment policy with the affiliates of TTP or awards tickets to them, we also hear that candidates from the PPP-P enjoyed the support from the same outfits when they sought to contest elections last time around; where we see stipends being allotted to leaders of banned sectarian outfits by the Punjab government, we also see the government of Karachi allowing the same leaders to address gatherings in the metropolitan while the entire country mourns the killings of Hazaras. The same leaders are also seen sharing the stage with the Punjab president of the third political force as he tours with the caravan that was the Difa-e-Pakistan Council. In this sort of an environment, where all parties seek to please all and sundry for the sake of a couple of extra ballots, is it any surprise that we lack the will to have a unified stance?

And what about the other players on the scene. The fact that we have not had a single significant conviction of any known terrorist in the recent past reflects poorly not only on the judiciary but also our law enforcement and investigative agencies. At least we see the Chief of our Army Staff making all the right noises. Gen Kayani’s speech on the day of commemoration for martyrs not only signaled out his intent by owning the war on terror, but it also sounded out a message to all those who seek peaceful talks with such elements that negotiations are not the way forward. Couple this with TTP’s own belief that every time they are asked to come to a negotiating table is a political win for them should remove all doubts as to what the unified stance needs to be.

The great Mao Tse-tung in his essay ‘On Contradiction’ writes that ‘at every stage in the development of a process, there is only one principal contradiction which plays the leading role. Hence, if in any process there are a number of contradictions, one of them must be the principal contradiction playing the leading and decisive role, while the rest occupy a secondary and subordinate position. Therefore, in studying any complex process in which there are two or more contradictions, we must devote every effort to finding its principal contradiction. Once this principal contradiction is grasped, all problems can be readily solved.’ While discussing Mao’s philosophy, a renowned intellectual once expressed his opinion to me that he believed that the principal contradiction that Pakistan faced today was the stance that needed to be taken on the issue of the Taliban. Once we are on the right side of this principal contradiction, all else will begin to fall in to place. The fact that there was a coaster lying on his desk which read that ‘I stand for everything that the Taliban hate’, I assumed what side of the principal contradiction he stood on. And I tend to agree.

The writer is an advocate of the high courts, a guidance and career counselor and a public-speaking coach. The views expressed here are his own. He can be contacted at [email protected]