An attempt at finding method in madness

On the Taliban, the new peace-with-India initiative and the PML-N government refusing to get its act together

With a lot of fanfare top civil, military leaders renewed their offer for peace talks with the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) and vowed to use force only as a last resort. But in response to this white flag by the state, in no mood for pussyfooting, the terrorist outfit decided to use force as the first resort.

The Taliban has made good its threat that it was ready for a fight with the ‘dollar hungry’ government planning military action against them. Within hours of the maiden meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security (CCNS) chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by the top brass, the TTP made its intentions amply clear.

In the wake of the Taliban jibe of daring the government to ‘happily launch a military operation’ against it, the country has been engulfed in a fresh spate of terrorist attacks. Especially the audacious attack on a security post in Taliban infested N. Waziristan shows the bravado and surefootedness of the TTP in attacking the Pakistani military.

Meanwhile, like in most other matters of the state, the PML-N government despite now being in power for over six months is still delusional about its national security policy. The military six years under Gen Kayani had assiduously stuck to its obsolete security paradigms. As a result every victim of their wrath offered the proverbial other cheek to the terrorist outfits.

Now under a new chief, our security forces would hopefully get their act together. The DGMOs (Director General Military Operations) of Pakistan and India are finally meeting on Tuesday. In tandem the Sharif brothers have gone out on a limb to improve relations with New Delhi in recent weeks. This sends a positive signal.

It appeals to common sense – a rare commodity amongst the ruling elites – that only by making our Eastern borders relatively secure, our security forces can concentrate on the existential threat along ourWestern borders and the adjoining badlands. This conventional wisdom did not dawn upon our khaki and civilian leadership or has been deliberately overlooked in the past.

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‘Like in most other matters of the state, the PML-N government despite now being in power for over six months is still delusional about its national security policy.’

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Instead of claiming to be in touch with the TTP leadership and stubbornly following a policy of appeasement towards the Taliban and other terrorist outfits the government should be providing a leadership role. In any case the militants are not in a mood to give any brownie points to either the military or to the civilian leadership ostensibly sympathetic to them.

Known for his proclivity towards the TTP, Imran Khan was in for a rude shock himself when the terrorist outfit snubbed him for trying to launch a polio vaccination campaign contrary to their wishes. They have asked him to stay away from the anti polio campaign or ‘face the music’.

Imran is in alliance with the Jamaat e Islami. Hence his pandering to the mullah lobby by condemning the hanging of Jamaat e Islami Bangladesh leader Abdul Quader Molla is perfectly understandable.

But why on earth did interior minister Nisar Ali Khan had to go out on a limb condemning the hanging? To add insult to injury, the ruling party readily supported a resolution in the National Assembly condemning the hanging.

The Pakistani foreign office and advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz on the other hand have correctly maintained that being an internal affair of Bangladesh the matter did not concern Pakistan.

The damage had been done. Our proverbial bull in a china shop attitude rarely resists the temptation of punching above its weight. In the process relations with Dacca have been unnecessarily and inexorably damaged.

But is there a method in this madness? Some say the PML-N wants to maintain its support base by pandering to the right wing obscurantist lobbies. Mian Nawaz Sharif since his return from exile in 2007 portrays somewhat of a liberal persona, while his brother Shahabaz Sharif and cohort Nisar Ali Khan appeal to their sizeable conservative vote banks.

Running with the hare and hunting with the hound worked quite well for the PML-N while in opposition. But now that it is in power at the centre as well, And it is becoming increasingly untenable to maintain this balancing act.

Choudhry Nisar Ali had gone hysterical on the killing of Hakimullah Mashud. But condemning Washington in the strongest possible terms could not have been done without the quiet blessings of his political bosses. Nonetheless it did not sit well with Washington.

Mian Nawaz Sharif in his persona looks more presidential than prime ministerial. He is doing what strictly speaking the president should be doing – ribbon cutting and making speeches.

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‘The prime minister should use the National Assembly’s august forum to unfold his policies and clear the confusion that is engulfing the body politic like the current dense fog all over Punjab.’

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So far as the parliament is concerned the prime minister seems completely detached from it. Dealing with the parliamentarians has been outsourced to the interior minister.

Nisar Ali has warned his colleagues in the cabinet as well as the ruling party parliamentarians to attend the National Assembly sessions more regularly. Otherwise they would be taken to task, he claims.

Why should the parliamentarians heed to Nisar’s advice when the prime minister consistently stays away from the National Assembly and the Senate? In a parliamentary system, the parliament is the repository of all power.

It is also an equaliser in the sense that all including the prime minister, the first among equals, are its elected members. But it seems the prime minister considers rubbing shoulders with the parliamentarians – not only of the opposition variety but his own as well – an unnecessary irritant.

Unfortunately a sanctimonious and arrogant attitude of the ruling party towards the opposition pervades the national assembly. This self-righteousness is anathema to parliamentary democracy.

It has happened twice in the past few months that the opposition has boycotted the proceedings of the parliament over rude remarks made by Nisar Ali Khan. To apologise and withdraw one’s offensive remarks happens all the time in parliaments. However, the interior minister perhaps suffering from a severe bout of narcissism refuses to budge.

But the very fact that the enfant terrible of the PML-N gets away with this kind of behavior shows that perhaps he has the blessings of the supremo, the prime minister. Assuming that this is the zenith of political correctness, other cabinet members are emulating the example set by their senior colleague.

Resultantly there is confusion most confounded in the policy-making echelons. It’s high time that Mr Sharif gets his act together. For starters he should take a leaf from the book of discredited former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who rarely missed National Assembly sessions.

The prime minister should use the National Assembly’s august forum to unfold his policies and clear the confusion that is engulfing the body politic like the current dense fog all over Punjab. An ensuing debate would help it in pursuing well-devised, clear-cut policies.

The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.