Will the PML-N hold the bull by its horns
In an unprecedented turn of events, Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif was recently sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Pakistan. Sharif, 63, is the only political leader in Pakistan to take charge of the premiership for a third term. In his first address to the parliament, Sharif briefly addressed some major national challenges: from drone strikes to the law and order situation in Karachi. However, to the dismay of our terrorised populace, the newly elected Prime Minister failed to state a clear counter-terrorism policy against ongoing terrorism, which has claimed the lives of 35,000 people including 5,000 security personnel. Not to mention that the monetary cost of terrorism is in billions of rupees, as public and private properties have been destroyed in the hundreds of suicide attacks.
For those who followed the political campaign of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the party’s strategic silence on an issue as serious as terrorism did not come as a surprise. Let us recall the massive TV ads, social media campaigns, print, and door-to-door campaigning of PML-N in particular; it had everything from Metro Bus Service to bullet trains, while a serious issue like terrorism scarcely received attention. One may argue that PML-N was able to secure a majority in the recent elections by simply relying on the electoral strength of Pakistan’s most populated province, Punjab. And unlike the other three provinces, situation of terrorism and sectarian violence in Punjab is not among the top issues. However, things are not as peachy and pink as they appear on paper, and while Punjab’s terrorism problem may not be as serious as the other provinces, it is still very serious nonetheless.
Punjab has been the breading ground of banned sectarian outfits Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) for decades. This is the same LeJ that has time and time again claimed responsibility of massive sectarian attacks in Karachi, Gilgit Baltistan, Peshawar, Lahore and Quetta. Back in the 1990s, Punjab, especially Jhang, was a major battle ground of sectarian violence which spread elsewhere. Presently, no part of the country is safe from this terror. To add insult to injury, PML-N’s beloved city of Lahore has not been spared the horrors of sectarianism and terrorism in the last five years either. In 2010, the city witnessed a major suicide attack in Yom-e-Ali procession, claiming 18 lives and injuring more than 150 people. More recently, the popular eye surgeon Dr Ali Haider was brutally killed along with his 12 year old son for being Shia.
Interestingly, PML-N’s leadership has always been mysteriously silent or dubious on the issue. In 2010, Shahbaz Sharif publically urged Taliban to spare Punjab from their terror plots. According to Punjab’s Chief Minister, both Taliban and PML-N opposed former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, this common stance should have been enough incentive for the Taliban to stop carrying out terror attacks in Punjab. The abovementioned public address later on received major criticism in the media, until the story vanished in thin air a couple of days later. Regardless, gradual decline in terror attacks in Punjab was seen after that controversial address. On the one hand, PML-N gives the credit to Shahbaz Sharif’s vigilant governance, which controlled the situation without needing to launch any major operations against terrorists or making any notable arrests. On the other hand, rival political parties and critics point fingers at PML-N’s political alliance with AhleSunnat WalJamaat (ASWJ), the political wing of the former Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP), formed after it declared a banned organization in 2002. For some reason, renaming an organization is enough to allow it to function normally and participate in politics.
PML-N’s strategic political alliance with ASWJ is not a new phenomenon. PML-N leader and Minister Rana Sanaullah publicly campaigned in PP-82 on February 20, 2010 with ASWJ leader Ahmed Ludhianvi for the PML-N candidate. At that time, the then Governor Punjab Salman Taseer had criticized the act. However, with the crucial support of ASWJ, the election was eventually won by Azam Chaila. Not that the PML-N is the only party in Punjab that has used such alliance. According to ASWJ’s media cell, their leader Ahmed Ludhianvi has produced a list of 25 PPP leaders who won their seats in the 2008 polls due to ASWJ’s support.
So while party politics are muddled with secret and public alliances with distasteful terrorist organizations, our original questions begs to be answered: what is PM Nawaz Sharif’s counter-terrorism strategy? Will it include rejecting elements, the same elements that the party has been aligned with over the period of time, elements that have contributed towards terrorism and sectarianism in one way or another? These are very serious questions for Pakistan’s national security, but were hardly addressed in ruling party’s election campaign or their leadership’s recent public addresses.
A look at page 85 of the PML-N party manifesto lists a number of lists of propositions that appear insufficient. The PML-N neither suggests the use of force to disarm or eliminate terrorist organizations that are capable of massive attacks on both civilians and military forces, nor does PML-N clearly state its policy to engage Taliban in peace talks despite the confidence TTP has previously shown in the elected Prime Minister. However, their counter-terrorism plan does include educational and health reforms to create job opportunities for skilled workers, and create healthy environment in troubled areas. How any of this is going to stop the TTP or LeJ or SSP or ASWJ from carrying out terror attacks in Pakistan remains a mystery.
So far PML-N has made all the right moves. Their decision to empower Baloch and Pakhtun nationalists in the troubled province of Balochistan and allowing PTI to form a government in KPK is respectable. But it’s high time the country’s new leadership quit beating around the bush and holds the bull by its horns. A visible counter-terrorism policy will be a good start. In an unsafe Pakistan whose fragile economy spiraling downwards from bad to worse, a counter-terrorism policy is a necessity for our nation’s survival.
Ammar Yasir is the co-founder of teabreak.pk, Pakistan’s largest blog aggregator and writes about Pakistan’s socio-political issues. He blogs at www.ammaryasir.com, and tweets @ammaryasir