For once, think long-term
The prime minister’s genuine desire to bring peace through talking not fighting, his appeasement of the enemy for the greater good, and his belief that ‘the misguided lot’ first holed up in FATA and now spread across the country can be cajoled into becoming good citizens, are all appreciated. But failing a clear, long-term, multi-pronged strategy, there is little likelihood of terrorism being contained beyond temporary ceasefires. The Taliban phenomenon grew into its present state-threatening form over decades. And however much clichéd it might sound, the solution will also take a long time coming. But the long drawn process will not start till the right initial steps are taken.
The government’s foremost problem is one of counter narrative. Just like it took long years of (very expensive) religious indoctrination to fine tune these soldier-cleric militias, it will take a protracted process of humanising them so they can be accepted back into mainstream society. Without such programmed education, the process of talks can yield immediate term results at best, amounting to a band aid solution of sorts to a very deep cut.
Ironically, the militants have been far more tech savvy, leveraging popular media – radio, internet, facebook, twitter, etc – to take their message to the people, employing the indoctrination model that created them on society at large, and with quite impressive results. Those with slightly long-term memory will remember how the popular press referred to present TTP commander Mulla Fazlullah as Mulla Radio and Mulla FM in the days leading to the Swat operation.
Significantly, even if the government’s likeness for accommodating militant elements reflects the painful realisation that military action will be too costly for the nation to bear, there seems little concern for preventing future generations from falling prey to militant extremism. Islam is a very touchy subject, especially in the periphery where education levels are abysmal – little surprise for a country that allocates under two per cent of the budget to education – and the madressa system holds sway. As repeatedly argued in this space, most innocent rural dwellers simply do not appreciate the existential crossing point between orthodoxy and religious militancy. And the Taliban have done an impressive job of cultivating this lot to their advantage. The problem is particularly pronounced in Punjab of late. The southern stretches of the province have become militant havens, and the writ of the state is fast diminishing in some of the country’s most prominent population centres.
There is an urgent need to build a national narrative. It must be clear that while we pass through testing times, and the state prefers to give the carrot a chance over the stick, there will be very strict terms to follow. And fool proof mechanisms will be put into place to ensure future generations will not fall prey to extremism and militancy. For that the government will have to work at many levels. But unfortunately, for now it seems that not only has it not formulated a long term strategy, but seems to disagree on the central need of building one.
