A shotgun marriage

Or a change of heart

Years of stupor and inertia have been replaced with a collective sense of urgency to root out terrorism with ruthless use of state power. Is it a shotgun marriage brokered by the ubiquitous military or a real change of heart, only time will tell.

The army chief General Raheel Sharif’s presence at the eleven-hour marathon session of parliamentary parties clinched the issue of formation of military courts to try terrorists. The general assured his interlocutors that the special courts manned by military officers would exclusively be used to try hardened terrorists.

Formation of military courts coupled with lifting of the ban on the death penalty sends a strong message to those who have no qualms in indiscriminately inflicting death and mayhem on the Pakistani society. There have been worse terrorist incidents in the past, sometimes even inflicting more loss of life. But the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar proved to be the proverbial last straw.

Perhaps the body politic and society have belatedly reached the conclusion that enough is enough. It was the senseless killing of so many innocent children that jolted them from their deep slumber.

What made erstwhile apologists of the Taliban starting from the prime minister himself and his team, and right across the wide political spectrum change their worldview about militancy? Till now the mantra was: if they do not bother us why bother with them?

Formation of military courts coupled with lifting of the ban on the death penalty sends a strong message to those who have no qualms in indiscriminately inflicting death and mayhem on the Pakistani society

Their priority of the rulers (like in the past as well) remained spending on grandiose infrastructure projects that they could showcase to sate their already inflated egos. Resultantly, even short-term measures like allocating funds for NACTA (National Anti Terrorism Control Authority) were conveniently swept under the carpet. Misplaced priorities as well as ideological reasons were the major cause for this criminal negligence.

So far as Imran Khan is concerned, he had never hid his proclivity towards the TTP, nor his reluctance to support a putsch against them. His concerted dharna spiced with shut downs and mammoth public meetings against the Sharifs sapped the energy of the nation as well of the government. During the period little attention was paid to other equally or perhaps more pressing matters.

It was only parties like ANP, the PPP and MQM that kept raising alarm bells against exponential rise in homegrown terrorism. And these parties have paid a price. The PPP lost Benazir Bhutto at the hands of terrorism and the ANP Ilyas Bilour and quite a few others.

In this context political parties assembling under one umbrella against terrorism and speaking in unison almost sounds surreal. What has bought about this sea change is an interesting phenomenon.

The difference lies in change of the military’s approach towards terrorism. Under General Raheel Sharif it has adopted a scorched earth policy towards the TTP. Can one man’s resolve bring about such a transformation in the narrative and a redefined political correctness?

It is not only the political elite that has changed, but also the military itself. Under the six year long reign of General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, it lost quite a few of its men including serving generals and in some cases their progenies at the hands of terrorists. But the general remained steadfast in refusing to launch a putsch against the TTP militants holed up in North Waziristan.

A flawed and obsolete strategic paradigm dominated the military’s thinking during Kayani’s stewardship. The absence of a scorched earth policy to root out terrorism resulted in souring of relations with the US and virtually with all our neighbours.

General Sharif has been clear-headed about his priorities from day one. He was not in favour of any delay in launching an operation against the terrorists. However, the politicians wanted to take their sweet time playing a charade in the name of talks with the Taliban.

The Peshawar mayhem proved to be a game changer for the military as well as the civil society. It sent a very wrong message. If the military cannot protect its own children how can it protect the nation at large?

It was a monumental intelligence failure as well. After the event it transpired that a meeting of TTP terrorists was held within Afghanistan near Pakistan’s border in early December in which the operation to attack the Army Public school was finalised.

The ISPR (Inter-Services Public Relations) has vehemently contradicted a report that there were at least four terrorists outside the school at the fateful day. They managed to make good their escape.

It is rather hard to fathom that that such a ferocious attack took place without co ordination from outside. Notwithstanding its public posture, surely the military must be engaged in a probe of its own about what went wrong and where?

But the question still plaguing the minds of the commentarati is that whether there has been a real change of heart right across the political spectrum. Cliché ridden rhetoric laced with platitudes that, “we will not rest till terrorism is rooted out” and “extraordinary times need extraordinary decisions” are simply not enough. They should also be willing to walk the talk?

The difference lies in change of the military’s approach towards terrorism. Under General Raheel Sharif it has adopted a scorched earth policy towards the TTP

Terrorism is a monumental problem that requires multifaceted strategies in the short, medium as well as the long term. The obvious danger is that as soon as the dust settles the ruling elite will lose interest and will be back to business as usual.

Extraordinary steps not only mean nibbling away civil liberties in the name of combating terrorism but also changing the whole approach towards governance.

For example, there is urgent need to reprioritise budgetary allocations towards education, health and other social sectors. Does the government have the resolve to change the madrassah culture and reorient curriculum hijacked by the mullahs since the days of General Zia-ul-Haq who ruled Pakistan in the name of Islam for more than a decade?

The provincial governments and religious parties have a crucial role to play in the field of education. The JUI-F and Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia — the body affiliated with the Deobandi School of thought — have already deplored the anti madrassah sentiment.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, (JI) in coalition with PTI in KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), insists upon retaining the education portfolio. Does Imran Khan have the political will to reform the curriculum with JI in charge? This is a difficult proposition.

Of course in order to bring about a sea change in the present discourse the ball squarely lies with the federal government. The prime minister’s present team and his own lacklustre performance do not instil much confidence.

The ruling party will have to change its spots drastically and without losing more time. Wallowing in its own ethos for decades it is admittedly a different proposition.