Take it seriously
It is a matter of great concern that reports of Da’ish, or Islamic State, making inroads inside Pakistan are increasing by the day. Going by the press, there might already have been meetings between IS representatives and some of our home-grown militants somewhere in Balochistan. And, following the initial success of the NW operation, sections of the TTP have openly allied themselves with the caliphate now spreading across Iraq and Syria. Such issues must not be taken lightly. It took more than fifty thousand lives before Zarb-e-Azb was launched and Pakistan must not allow such elements anywhere near its frontiers.
The sudden rise of the Islamic State is important to understand. Its leader, Abu Bakkar al Baghdadi, was the former Iraq commander of al Qaeda. But since the Syrian civil war made way for extremists from across the world, Baghdadi led a breakaway faction that later drew condemnation even from AQ chief al Zawahiri for its brutalities. However, the shifting of the international jihadi centre from AQ to IS has more complicated reasons. It means, for one thing, that governments and agencies that fund and arm such movements find IS more useful now than AQ. In Pakistan, too, where the TTP conglomerate was initially bankrolled by AQ Arabs, it seems the old arrangement is not as lucrative as the IS connection. Clearly elements announcing support for IS have logistical, financial and ideological (if any) reasons for the shift. Now that the NW operation has degraded TTP’s sanctuary, militants must not be allowed another lifeline. Already their slipping into Afghanistan has compromised the effectiveness of the operation to an extent.
Recently in the US, Gen Raheel Sharif played down the IS threat in Pakistan. While there is merit in his calculation – the operation is going too strongly for militants to be able to reorganise anytime soon – the long term implications of the threat must still be addressed. In the immediate concerns of battle, the military must not lose sight of the fact that society as a whole has shifted considerably to the right over the last decade and a half. And there are considerable sections that are still easy prey to jihadist indoctrination. All these factors will have to be considered for Zarb-e-Azb to come full circle.