Long on words, short on action

A cause for concern for the N-league

While the country is literally burning at the hands of the terrorists, our political elite is engaged in a war of words – quite oblivious to the clear and present danger.

The enigmatic interior minister Ch Nisar Ali is quintessentially long on words and short on action. He has put the entire blame of the monumental security lapse at the Jinnah terminal Karachi on the shoulders of the Sindh government.

According to him the Sindh government had been warned six times about the security loopholes at the cargo/VIP terminal of the Karachi airport. The Sindh government has washed its hands of accepting any blame by glibly claiming that responsibility of the airport lies with the federal government.

Both the Sindh chief minister and the interior minister are right. It was an enormous security lapse for which the federal and the Sindh government cannot absolve themselves of the blame.

Nisar Ali Khan has been boasting for over a year now of his seamless security plans. But NACTA (National Counter Terrorism Authority) that he announced with much fanfare is yet to be functional.

It exists only on paper, thanks to the legal wrangling of officials of the interior ministry itself. So far as the octogenarian Sindh chief minister is concerned he is too busy serving his masters to even notice security lapses in the name of VVIP culture.

In the process Karachi, with a population of over 10 million inhabitants, has become a haven for mafias and terrorists of all hues and colour. The MQM supremo Altaf Hussain, not entirely above board himself, has been correctly warning for years about the megapolis being infested with Taliban sleeper cells.

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has accepted responsibility for the attack on Karachi airport. It is almost surreal that Uzbeks, who stick out like a sore thumb among Pakistanis because of their distinctive ethnic features, could move with impunity in Karachi, armed to the teeth.

Notwithstanding the dire warnings and criticism of the international commentarati as well as our own, need for introspection on the part of our leadership, both civilian and military, cannot be over emphasised here.

Obviously it is not possible without local help. The gunmen who attacked an ASF (Airport Security Force) training camp the very next day they raided the Jinnah terminal escaped into Pehlwan Goth, a shanty town next to the airport. Obviously the area is a safe abode for terrorists

In this sense it is also a monumental intelligence lapse on part of the premier military intelligence apparatus whose job description is to nab the terrorist before they strike. But unfortunately they were also caught napping or perhaps too busy.

The reaction of the international media to the Karachi carnage is predictable but nonetheless noteworthy. Indian as well as western commentators surmise that the jihadists that Pakistan’s Deep State had nurtured over the years as a cornerstone of its India centric security paradigm have turned against their erstwhile mentors.

Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, who over the years has metamorphosed from being a card holder Jamaat-e-Islami to a born again liberal writing in the Indian Express, claims that the Pakistani establishment has deliberately disregarded Jinnah’s call to keep religion out of the business of the state. He advises Prime Minister Sharif to embrace Jinnah’s vision of India-Pakistan ties.

Notwithstanding the dire warnings and criticism of the international commentarati as well as our own, need for introspection on the part of our leadership, both civilian and military, cannot be over emphasised here.

It is being claimed ad nauseum in the media that the military and civilian leaders are not on the same page. Even PkMAP (Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awaji Party) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, a leading government ally, while taking part in the debate on the budget in the National Assembly has cited clouds threatening democracy.

He has urged the two Sharifs (Nawaz Sharif and General Raheel Sharif) to give a clear message to the world that Pakistan is a democracy and its military and civilian leadership is on the same page.

If the military and civilian leadership is not on the same page, where lies the rub? Apparently three issues are cited as the major bone of contention between Nawaz Sharif and the COAS, whom he handpicked only six months back.

Firstly, the government’s policy of procrastination on a full-fledged operations against the TTP and its asinine insistence for talks from a position of weakness is cited as a major source of friction. Secondly, it is widely claimed that that the government went back on its promise to let former dictator Musharraf go abroad once he was indicted.

It’s nothing personal, but the military simply cannot brook one of its former chiefs being booked for high treason. The last straw is the ISI’s spat with Geo television network. It is claimed that the government tilted in favour of the media group rather than defending its premier intelligence chief.

On all three counts Sharif, in the last few weeks, is seemingly making efforts at damage limitation. Although Sindh High Court allowing Musharraf to go abroad is still subject to appeal, but now it is more likely that he will be allowed to travel to meet his ailing mother in Dubai.

This will give a face saving to Sharif that his government indicted him, but the former strongman has been allowed by the courts to leave the country. Such a deal is not anathema to our political culture. After all the Sharifs cut the mother of all deals with Musharraf in December 2000 to be exiled en masse to Saudi Arabia.

Despite rampant terrorism devouring the state, the government’s approach towards combating it obstinately remains tentative.

Geo channel has been put off the air for 15 days by PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Authority) on a complaint filed by the ISI through the defence minister. Khawaja Asif, notoriously famous for his acerbic comments against the military, now belatedly claims after the damage has been done that he believes the punishment to the news channel is too late and too little.

Despite rampant terrorism devouring the state, the government’s approach towards combating it obstinately remains tentative. Of course long and frequent meetings between the civilian and military leadership indicate that there is some agreement on the COIN (counter insurgency) strategy between them. But the prime minister is somehow still unable to lead from the front.

He has made numerous forays abroad. But what stops him from visiting the tribal belt to buck up the troops? His critics claim that he wants to maintain a back channel with the TTP to keep Punjab relatively safe from their wrath.

Probably the criticism is misplaced. However, lack of initiative bordering on a vice regal style of governance is somehow becoming a hallmark of Sharif. Apart from mega projects like bullet trains, motorways and Chinese funded coal fired projects, nothing excites him. It seems sometimes he is simply burnt out.

People in Pakistan are used to leaders who are visibly busy doing their mandated job. His opponents, slowly but perceptibly coming out of the wood works and coalescing against him, are filling the vacuum created by his aloof and withdrawn style.

Only in one year after the general elections the opposition has ganged up against him. The PTI chief Imran khan, who still claims he is committed to democracy, has had extremely successful rallies in the heartland of the Sharifs. This should be cause for immediate concern for the PML-N and its leadership.