And now the difficult part

Walking the talk

Ironically, the massacre in Peshawar has jolted the nation from its deep slumber. Or has it? It is perhaps too early to call.

We will know as soon as the dust settles whether it is going to be business as usual or a new narrative will replace the outmoded one? The one that has relegated Pakistan to a state where largest number of people in the world die at the hands of terrorism.

Paradoxically, thanks to the flawed policies of our successive civilian and military leaders, over the years Islamabad has also earned the unsavoury distinction of being the largest exporter of terrorism. The massacre of 142 children in Peshawar by the Taliban has mercilessly driven the reality home that the hydra headed monster of bestiality is devouring the state that created it in the first place.

It was indeed ironic to see politicians including the prime minister himself shedding crocodile tears on the stupendous tragedy at the meeting of parliamentary heads summoned by him. Most of them are part of the problem rather than the solution.

Nonetheless the meeting, despite the cynicism being hurled about its proceedings, was a clean break from the past. It ended on some kind of a positive note.

For starters, it was agreed that the war on terror was our war and not America’s or foisted on us from across the borders. Even avowed Taliban sympathisers and champions of negotiating with them — the likes of Imran Khan, JI Amir Siraj-ul-Haq, and Interior Minister Ch Nisar Ali Khan – agreed that a distinction between good and bad Taliban could no longer be made. Implicitly all Taliban were declared bad.

Whether the freshly minted National Action Plan Committee, as the name suggests, will come out with an action plan or will prove to be another committee for inaction, we will soon know.

The interior minister heading it, however, does not instil much confidence. Being an avowed Taliban sympathiser and champion of talks with them, he is certainly not the ideal person for the job.

Our wily politicians have cut deals with terrorist organisations, especially in the Punjab, for their own short-term gains and physical protection

Nisar Ali Khan is known more for his convoluted mindset and being the enfant terrible of the PML-N government than for his negotiating skills. Added to this, his record as interior minister, to put it mildly, is rather patchy.

He is being widely criticised for not coming up with the much-touted National Security Policy for now over a year. Similarly NACTA (National Anti Terrorism Authority), thanks to turf wars and lack of funds, has proved to be stillborn.

It is alleged that the military does not want any civilian control over its intelligence set up, mainly the ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) and MI (Military Intelligence). Nonetheless, reportedly as a compromise it was decided that the prime minister would head the authority.

The interior minister, however, wanting to head it himself never allowed it to take off. Another report claims that the finance minister simply refused to release funds for the proposed authority.

The kind of national and international approbation the Peshawar massacre has engendered demands some kind of ownership hitherto lacking from our civilian leadership. Admittedly the government is so weak that it is perennially looking behind its back for guidance from the GHQ.

Conversely the military under General Raheel Sharif is engaged in Zarb-e-Azb. The existential war against terrorism is a clean break from its checkered past. But without a national narrative supporting the operation against terrorists of all hue and colour, it simply cannot succeed.

Our wily politicians have cut deals with terrorist organisations, especially in the Punjab, for their own short-term gains and physical protection. They will now have to walk the talk. Will they, is a 64,000 dollars question.

General Raheel Sharif did the right thing to dash to Kabul on the very next day of the massacre, taking with him concrete evidence about Mullah Fazlullah being the mastermind of the dastardly attack. Unfortunately, despite expression of good intentions, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is in no position to hand him over to Pakistan.

The top terrorist is ensconced in the Kunar province outside the reach and control of the Afghan government. Perhaps the ‘Radio Mullah” can only be killed by a drone attack. In this context General Sharif’s meeting with the ISAf commander in Kabul is more significant.

Understandably a kind of cathartic hysteria has overtaken the nation in the wake of the national tragedy. Calls for public hangings of all those sent to the death row for terrorism are being made by erstwhile opponents of the death penalty — the ubiquitous civil society.

Of course, lifting the ban on the death penalty being carried out can help. But it will hardly deter the terrorists who use suicide vests to inflict mayhem.

To walk the talk, concrete short term and long term measures are needed. Will the likes of the Sharifs, and Imran Khan (in coalition with Siraj-ul-Haq) in KP, take the leap?

The manner in which the state takes it from here will be a test case about not cherry picking amongst the terrorists

So far as the military is concerned, it is no longer making a distinction between good and bad terrorists. It is essentially a correct position to take, as a terrorist is a terrorist — come what may.

The main accused in November 2008 Mumbai attack Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi getting bail from an anti-terrorism court was ill timed. By deciding to book him under MPO (Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance) the government has sent the right signal. The manner in which the state takes it from here will be a test case about not cherry picking amongst the terrorists.

Notwithstanding the cynicism expressed by the usual suspects amongst the commentarati and the defence establishment, a large swath of Indians including the Modi government have expressed a lot of good will and sympathy.

This needs to be built upon to improve relations with our belligerent neighbour. Both sides will have to climb down from their stated positions in order to resume the stalled dialogue.

With an existential war on terror on our watch, keeping the pot boiling in our backyard is not an option. Pakistan’s diplomatic road show is hamstrung for various reasons. The time has come that Sharif, instead of looking for transient political gains, should appoint a full-fledged foreign minister with a clear-cut and proactive policy mandate.

Imran Khan, by announcing to end his concerted campaign against the PML-N government, has demonstrated a statesman like quality despite his past recalcitrance. The Sharifs should give him his supreme judicial commission to probe the flawed 2013 elections. They should not renege on what had already been agreed upon in previous rounds of negotiations.

The resolve expressed in the meeting with top brass at the GHQ, chaired by the prime minister, needs to be dovetailed with evolving a consensus across the political spectrum. A combination of scorched earth policy against the terrorists along with unified political steadfastness will send the right message to the enemies of Pakistan.