Cooperation is the key
The Operation Zarb-e-Azb has succeeded in vacating most of the North Waziristan Agency and is likely to be wound up in the next few months. The country has to deal with urban terrorism now. This is a highly complicated operation and needs total cooperation between the army and the civilian governments at the centre and the provinces.
A National Action Plan (NAP) was jointly formulated by the political parties and the armed forces to win the war in the cities. Speaking to Russian magazine Sputnik, DG ISPR conceded that only a part of the plan has so far been implemented while the rest remains stalled due to ‘political challenges’. There is a need to correctly define the political challenges. The major challenge is the pressure from the religio-political parties which are strongly opposed to any government regulation or external oversight of the madrassas. They also reject any revision of the mainstream educational curricula to remove hate material and introduce tolerance. The army has to support the government in blocking the two major sources of the spread of extremist ideas.
There has to be full cooperation between the army and the civilian governments at the centre and the provinces. Similarly, Rangers and Police, and military and civilian intelligence agencies have to work together rather than work at cross purposes. Terrorists will have a field day if a tug of war was to ensue between governments led by the mainstream parties and the establishment or if there is disregard for civilian institutions by the military-controlled intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
The civilian institutions have to play a major role in the war against urban terrorism. What one sees happening vis-a-vis the delay in setting up of NACTA indicates a trend which is not healthy. The arrest of a policeman by Rangers after raiding a police station and his subsequent release is also an indication of the malaise. One also does not expect military commanders to issue statements with political implications.