Next level
It is increasingly beginning to look that while the military is in good control of its part of the operation, the civilian government is starting to get caught behind the curve a little too often. Nothing could prove this more forcefully than the assassination of Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada last weekend. Clearly he was the most serious, at least among the Punjab government, about finally getting the National Action Plan (NAP) up and running. And he, according to reports, was behind efforts to get the Punjab government to change its attitude towards certain militant organisations and their patrons.
The matter of security provided to him has also become a reason for controversy, with good reason. Even if, as the government says, he was not in favour of excessive personal security, it was still the government’s responsibility to provide its sitting home minister with bare minimum security. Clearly there were no metal detectors or checking of people. That the government was aware of threats to Khanzada’s life only make its position weaker. Also, the immediate official reaction has not won many admirers. People thought, especially in light of the ongoing operation, that the government would come down with full force with the party that took responsibility. Yet till now there is more talk than action.
The government needs to realise that the enemy’s strike pattern is changing. Granted, the military operation has disrupted its ability to strike as before. But it has since adjusted its modus operandi. Now, clearly, senior government officials have become fair game, especially if they take NAP too seriously. The fight has been taken to the next level. This evolution in itself should be enough to snap the ruling party out of its slumber. It has long resisted taking action in Punjab, partly because the right wing forms the bulk of its vote bank but also because it feared violent reprisal attacks. But now that the fight has come on its own, the government must finally adjust. All it needs to do is put the action plan into action. That, however, runs into problems of political will.
