How we can fight and win against the terrorists
The unimaginable tragedy that befell upon us in the form of massacre of our innocent school going children and teachers in the Army Public School in Peshawar cannot be described in words. It has deeply touched the hearts and souls of every human being not only in our own country but throughout the world. The condolence messages received from across the globe from heads of states and governments shows how the entire world felt about this dastardly act.
The resolve and the resilience demonstrated by the survivors of this cruel act manifests the mettle of which our people are made of. A surviving student displayed this resolve in the following words, “Our smile is greater than your guns.” A father in deep distress said, “I am proud to be the father of a martyr.” The barbarians involved in this act, no matter what their names and forms are, ought to know that this nation would chase their facilitators till they are exterminated from the face of our country.
Emerging from this tragedy, what positives had come out of it? First, the effort demonstrated by the political leadership by gathering on a single platform not only to condemn this act of the extremists but also to take concrete policy measures was encouraging in spite of the cynics questioning it as ‘more of the same’ stuff. It is further heartening to witness the way our current Chief of Army Staff is pursuing a strategy to clear the country of all manifestations of extremism. Second, a word of appreciation must be said about IK for ending his 126-day dharna in the wake of Peshawar tragedy. Third, to reinforce the unity shown on December 16, IK should rejoin the Parliament and continue to pursue his demand for a judicial commission to investigate the rigging allegations while at the same time pushing electoral reforms. Genuine democracy and democratic governance will help redefine our national mindset.
Not all but certainly some clerics are apologists for the terrorists and continue to pollute the minds of those who fall easy prey to their glibbest rhetoric. Their open opposition to the constitution of Pakistan has become a plaything for them. Such behaviour shouldn’t be condoned. In fact such forces seem not only promoting centrifugal forces but also facilitating extremist forces in the country. Therefore, our leadership both from the army and political spectrum, needs to vow not only to expose but also to deal with such elements according to the law of the land. Accepting the rule of law is the first necessary condition for redefining our national mindset. There shouldn’t be any exception when it comes to the enforcement of rule of law. Rule of law is an essential pillar of good governance. As such good governance practices embedded in our constitution, it is hoped, would also pave the way for redefining our national mindset in which respect for our constitution is ensured at the national level. While advocating this principle one is not arguing against amendment(s) to the constitution. It must, however, be done through a constitutionally mandated process. Those ideologues who publicly claim that they don’t accept the constitution must be dealt with according to the laws of the land.
Three elements, amongst others, will be important to establish the rule of law: Fairness of the judicial process, swift dealing with violent crimes and effectiveness of police to deal with those responsible for the breakdown of the rule of law. The second element of importance is political stability and absence of violence. This requires acceptance of the writ of state and its institutions for resolving political, ethnic, regional and religious and all forms of armed conflict. The third element pertains to voice and accountability.
Regrettably, however, in Pakistan accountability at different levels is the weakest link in our institutional chain. Effective institutional check and balance is needed to strengthen accountability of rulers. Whether we like it or not, the blasphemy law needs to be revoked. Historical evidence is copious to show that it promotes religious extremism. Violators of human rights need to be given exemplary punishment. The above are but a few elements of an effective governance system and, to me, these constitute the building blocks of redefining our national mindset. This is how we shall be able to fight social violence, control religious extremism and put brakes on the breakdown of law and order.
One fails to understand why the terrorists who had been awarded death penalty were being kept in prisons at the cost of tax-payers. Why did our rulers need to wait for the slaughtering of our innocent children to decide timely hanging of the terrorists? The government machinery is rightly being perceived to be slow and suffering from inertia. The time has arrived for our government machinery to think of the importance of speed in decision making in the present era of internet, smartphones and information technology revolution. The cost of slowness in the working of state institutions can be very high.
The government has to move swiftly on two fronts: reaching at an amicable solution with IK without dillydallying. There is a general feeling that our leaders are adept at formulating national action plan san effective implementation of such plans. It would be a national compulsion this time to underpin the action plan being formulated to deal with extremists and terrorists with an effective implementation strategy. For this all required resources, human, financial and technological must be mobilised and provided at the disposal of implementing agencies.
As an essential component of redefining our national mindset we must acquire expertise in how to implement our national decisions of high priority in a speedy and transparent manner.
Finally, the national unity witnessed in the backdrop of Army Public School massacre, one hopes, will not prove transitory. Disagreement over national policies, diversity of perspectives is the gold standards of a healthy society after all, if allowed to become egotistic and narcissistic tendencies, they could lead to deep scars on the national mindset.
