Radd-ul-Fasaad vs Zarb-e-Azb
There are many amongst the populace as well as in the media and within the state apparatus that are not willing to condemn terrorists in unequivocal terms. To blame it all on the ‘foreign hand’ is an easy escape route
Thursday saw Lahore in an utter panic mode, only a day after the military had announced operation ‘Radd-ul-Fasaad’ to follow ‘Zarb-e-Azb’. The new nomenclature for a military operation is an Arabic term meaning: rejection of subversive anarchic and seditious acts.
The declared objective of the operation across the country is to “indiscriminately eliminate the residual latent threat of terrorism”. One, however, wonders why such operations should be spelt out in Arabic and not plain Urdu? Imagine the Saudis naming their operation in Yemen in Urdu especially when General (r) Raheel Sharif is heading it.
In the wake of a fresh wave of terrorism across the country in the form of the so-called ‘Operation Ghazi’ — named by the militants — this was the need of the hour. Coupled with it, the Punjab government finally relented to give powers to the paramilitary Rangers to operate in the province. This is also indeed welcome.
The former military chief General Raheel Sharif launched Zarb-e-Azb in June 2014 with much fanfare. The civilian leadership took the lead in developing a consensus around it.
However, Radd-ul-Fasaad was launched through an official handout. It would have been a lot better if the prime minister had taken the trouble of addressing the nation if not the parliament. He should have informed the nation what was the need to launch a fresh operation when its precursor’s architect, the former army chief, had claimed that 90 percent of the job (of nabbing the terrorists) had been done.
Before allowing the Rangers, the provincial government had been in a constant state of denial about its inability to dismantle terrorist out fits in Punjab. According to its narrative the Punjab police and its counter terrorism department (CTD) was doing a fine job on their own.
The blast in an upscale DHA market in Lahore that claimed ten lives touched a raw nerve amongst the citizenry, especially the elite. What added to the uncertainty was the ostensibly mysterious source of the explosion.
Only late evening on Thursday did the provincial government come up with a definitive version that the source of the blast was gas cylinders stored in a building located in the heart of the market that caused the mayhem. Only a few believed that it was a mere accident and not a terrorist attack.
In addition to the sad incident, after an hour or so, one news channel followed by a few others broke the news that there had been another bomb blast in Gulberg, adjacent to a fast food outlet and a few educational institutions. This was fake news. But the kind of panic that ensued, especially amongst parents whose children were out there studying, is not hard to imagine.
Apart from the ubiquitous news channels the social media especially ‘Whatsapp messages’ warning citizens of terrorists abound in the provincial capital, also played a big role in unnerving the citizenry.
The whole city was engulfed in rumours as a result of the media trying to play its one-upmanship games in the ratings race. It is really sickening to witness the extent to which some electronic media outlets are willing to go to extract their pound of flesh.
PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) has issued notices to the erring media outlets. But the so-called regulatory body, being an appendage of the information ministry, has consistently failed to perform its mandated functions. It is long on collecting fines from channels on minor violations while falling much short of imposing even a modicum of code of ethics.
Undoubtedly Thursday’s incidents touched a raw nerve. It was perhaps the first time since Pakistan became a target of terrorism that relatively affluent areas of Lahore came under a real or perceived terrorist threat.
Schools and educational institutions were closed down indefinitely. And restaurants and shopping outlets in areas like the MM Alam Road — that some call the Oxford Street of Lahore where fashion boutiques and expensive restaurants are located — gave a relatively deserted look. Even if one goes by the official version, that no terrorist incident took place on the day, the hidden militants achieved their larger objective without firing a shot.
The terrorists’ main objective is to create uncertainty and panic through wreaking havoc. It seems that they have the initiative while the state is only reacting to their real or perceived manoeuvres.
What added to the uncertainty was that it took the whole day for the security agencies as well as the so-called forensic experts to come to the final conclusion that the DHA incident was not a terrorist attack. About the real source of the explosion throughout the day the officials kept on floating conflicting theories.
The question that begs an answer here is that how could someone be allowed to store gas cylinders in the heart of a busy market with impunity? In the presence of such virtual bombs those who visit or work in the busy commercial areas are like sitting ducks.
One wonders in the absence or shortage of natural gas this must be the common source of fuel for most restaurants. The ensuing risk to others in the process literally exploded in the open on Thursday.
Hopefully there are laws on the statute books to prevent such a tragedy. But for a provincial administration too smugly consumed by its own narrative imposing such regulations hardly matters.
A recent PILDAT (Pakistan institute of legislative development) report has given brownie points to the Punjab government for best governance as compared to the other provinces. The NGO has somehow developed a penchant for issuing such ‘surveys’ favouring the PML-N government from time to time. But ground realities are perhaps a better judge as compared to such politically motivated stuff.
The Thursday incidents have some dangerous portents. The terrorists are well aware of our vulnerabilities in large urban centres.
It is also an implicit tribute to the resilience of thousands that have been killed and maimed by the terrorists over the years to fulfil their nefarious agendas. The happenings in Lahore have exposed our soft underbelly in case (God forbid) terrorism strikes closer at home.
There are many amongst the populace as well as in the media and within the state apparatus that are not willing to condemn terrorists in unequivocal terms. To blame it all on the ‘foreign hand’ is an easy escape route.
In this context the Afghan government has asked Pakistan to reopen the border closed since the attack on the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine as it is causing hardships to ordinary people on both sides of the divide. Of course Islamabad will be unable to oblige unless Kabul stops giving a free run to Pakistan-specific terrorists operating from its territory.
Nonetheless, this issue needs to be resolved through bilateral talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kabul also has a catalogue of complaints of its own that can only be resolved through dialogue.