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The Taliban attacked Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on Wednesday, killing more than 20 students, a teacher and security personnel. This came hard on the heel of a suicide attack near Peshawar’s Karkhano Bazaar in which 10 people were killed. Horrific it was—and is—because these attacks flew right into the face of everything that is there in the much-hyped National Action Plan (NAP).
After the APS carnage, a number of drastic measures were taken: a National Action Plan was charted out in an All Parties’ Conference to tackle the problem of terrorism quickly and more effectively. Military courts were established to dispense with terrorists, operation Zarb-e-Azb was formally owned by the political leadership of the country.
Commenting on the issue Professor Dr Faizullah Jan told DNA that the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, both military and civilian, put their heads together to fight the scourge of terrorism and extremism collectively.
“These developments gave a hope to the people of Pakistan, especially those of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, that the APS would be the swansong of the terrorists. Unfortunately, this does not seem to happen any time soon because of the following reasons,” he said.
“Even after one year, NAP has not been implemented. Different state institutions blame each other for its non-implementation. More distressingly, Pakistan and Afghanistan are finding it difficult to make a joint front against the common enemy. ”
When the two countries resolve to work together, spoilers on both sides throw a spanner in their works.
Terrorism, over the years, has morphed into a regional problem in South Asia. No country can win this war singlehandedly. Therefore Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, China, and Iran have to make a common front, instead of playing proxies against each other, Dr Jan added.
With changing ground realities, strategic interests of countries and nations change. So do enemies. Since extremism has become an existential threat for Pakistan and Afghanistan, it is time to get out of the rut of history and chart a new way.
He added that a peaceful Afghanistan can ensure peace in Pakistan, India and the entire region. Nations take tough decisions when the going gets tough. And no time can be tougher than the one we have been going through.
Renowned human rights activist Rubab Mehdi H Rizvi was of the opinion that in the last one month KP has had three major attacks killing more than a hundred people, which highlights the fact that the main issues KP and Pakhtuns face today are terrorism, low literacy and unemployment.
Students who lost their lives in the attack did not come from affluent backgrounds. They made it to the university on the basis of their parent’s life-long savings, through their own hard work, in the hope of a better tomorrow, said Rizvi, adding that they were the future of Pakistan.
She added that hopefully there will be many positive statements about unity and rejection of extremism. Time has come for the community to stop waiting for the government to put together an effective anti-extremism strategy, and to start confronting the issue internally.
Sunni-Shi’a alliance against attacks
Rizvi said the main axis of effort should be creating a strong Sunni-Shi’a alliance to reject such attacks. Even more important, religious leaders should begin to work on a strong simple narrative that explains how such actions are religiously, morally, and legally indefensible. Non un-Islamic, but anti-Islamic.
Attack on Pakhtun identity
Adding to what Jan stated, acclaimed historian and political commentator Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash said that the attack in Charsadda is clearly an attack on Pakhtun identity and culture. The attack on a university named for Bacha Khan attacks the very principles for which he stood for.
Bacha Khan’s message was simple: education and non-violence. He regarded that the evils of Pakhtun society — revenge, killings, illiteracy, etc, were the reasons for their backward state. Even before Gandhi began his satyagraha in India, Bacha Khan started his movement for non-violence, education and reform in the erstwhile NWFP. His vision was peace and progress and this is what the extremists attacked in Charsadda. This much should be clear to every Pakhtun now.
Dr Bangash opined that the attacks also clearly show NAP is having a limited effect. The clear reluctance to go after all kinds of terrorists is giving them space to consolidate, breed and attack. Hence rather than repeating the rounds of APCs and other such salutary events across the board action must be taken immediately.
Who is responsible for the attack?
The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak, on Thursday said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should raise the issue of terrorism with India and Afghanistan in plain words and urge them to take steps to check infiltration of terrorists into Pakistan.
“The Indian intelligence agency, RAW, was involved in terror activities in Pakistan,” said Khattak.
Agreeing with him, former interior minister and PPP leader, Senator Rehman Malik also blamed India’s intelligence agency Research Analysis Wing (RAW) for the attack on Bacha Khan University.
The former interior minister said that Indian defence minister had threatened to attack Pakistan after the Pathankot incident. “We strongly condemn the attack on BK University,” he added.
The PPP leader said the government should have taken stern security measures following attack on Army Public School, but it did not.
However, political analyst Raza Rumi thinks the Charsadda attack indicates that the capacity of TTP to launch deadly attacks remains despite the implementation of NAP and other measures taken by the government. It is also a reflection of Pakistan’s flawed security policies, whereby certain groups of militants are considered a threat while others are viewed as a means to seek leverage in Afghanistan and in Indian occupied Kashmir.
“The writing on the wall is clear. Pakistan will have to undo the entire jihad infrastructure if it wants to protect civilians from terror attacks,” said Rumi.
Agreeing with Rumi, Rizvi said TTP has claimed responsibility for the Bacha Khan University attack. They have threatened to continue targeting school, college and university students. Bacha Khan is a name synonymous with progress. This should be deemed as an attack on the vibrancy, the colours and the diversity of Pakistan.
“Where does one find hope though when the minister of defence asks for evidence against an ISIS glorifying mullah and the EX DG ISI Ziauddin Butt through an interview aired on 8th January 2016 calls jihadi organisation the fifth and sixth line of defence?” she asked.
Civilian government’s commitment to NAP
The commitment of the civilian government to NAP is questionable as its allocations for NACTA remain minimal compared to the infrastructure projects it has been investing in. The Islamabad metro and now the Orange Line in Lahore cost billions and NACTA does not even get the basic staffing required for functioning.
Rumi said in part there is also the civil-military divide at work. The army is leading the initiative thus far and the political government perhaps wants it to be seen as an army venture and avoid backlash from the militants.
Intelligence cooperation is a major issue across the world as the agencies are reluctant to share info with others. In Pakistan this is even more complicated as the leading Intelligence agencies are run by the military while civilian control is minimal. So the creation of a Joint Intelligence Directorate (JID) faces resistance within the state organs. Only the PM and army chief can resolve this issue.
Key hurdles faced by NACTA?
Four key hurdles are faced by NACTA. First, the resources it requires in terms of money and staff. Secondly, the leadership as it must be run under the prime minister for effectiveness and to have the clout needed across other branches of the government. Third, most of NAP implementation has to be done at provincial level so NACTA cannot dictate the provinces after the 18th amendment. Only its steering group under the leadership of PM can hold a dialogue with the provinces. Finally, the intelligence coordination functions where the ISI would need to agree on accepting NACTA as the counter terror lead and work with it.
The way forward is for the PM to show his leadership and build NACTA and coordinate military and civil branches and resources to mitigate such incidents in the future.
