Fight against mindset

For last few days. Pakistani politicians and media have been questioning the wisdom of a statement Imran Khan made in public which shall otherwise be considered as state secret. In a recent interview, Khan told that he was informed by ex-Army Chief Parvez Kiyani in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s presence that if army attacked the terrorists’ hideouts in North Waziristan, the success rate of such an operation would be only 40%. It’s obvious whether an army is ready or capable to take on its enemy or not, it will never accept the reality at a public forum; otherwise, it could have devastating repercussions on its soldiers’ morale. However, the way Khan has been advocating Taliban’s cause for the last few years, we shall not expect much from him which could boost army’s morale, or it could just be an example of lack of deep understanding of such issues by Khan.

After the backlash in the parliament and media, there are now host of interpretations of what the ex-army chief informed Khan, such as whether Kayani was talking about success rate in entire Pakistan, or Kayani was not in favour of high hopes to be associated with the operation. Regardless of these interpretations, whatever way we see this private dialogue among Nawaz, Kayani and Khan, one thing is sure: merely an operation in North Waziristan is not the solution as it’s already too late. Taliban have deeply entrenched all over Pakistan — they are now surrounding big cities such as Peshawar and Karachi, enjoying an in-built support mechanism from religious and sectarian parties, they are having hideouts in slums, shanty towns, seminaries, even in universities hostels. They are already on offensive, as is evident from one after the other attack on security forces throughout the country.

It’s true that in case of attack on North Waziristan, of which right-wing religious and sectarian parties are vehemently opposed, chances of backlash against civilians and security forces in major cities are very much there. Therefore, unless we make our cities safe, force Taliban out of their hideouts and safe havens, merely an operation in North Waziristan will not bring the desired results.

But we know this is not going to happen as we are fighting not only against a shrewd enemy but against a wicked mindset. This mindset provides ideological, political, technical, moral and financial support to Taliban. Changing or even influencing such mindset is not a matter of weeks and months, somewhat spread over decades and centuries. Do we have time for that long, or we better take a backseat and get ready to be something of the past. It won’t be that long as suicide bombers are not only in abundance but are also in a hurry to reach the promised paradise.

MASOOD KHAN

Jubail, Saudi Arabia