Nothing much to cheer

Lament of a jilted lover

Undoubtedly, in the past two years the Pakistani military has fought valiantly to eliminate terrorism on its soil. But have we not done it for our own survival and not as a favour to the ‘world’ or anybody else?

Ishaq Dar, ‘Samdhi’ and quintessential Sharif consort informs us that the ailing prime minister will be back home before end of Ramzan and would celebrate Eid with his near and dear ones at his Raiwind estate. Even if his doctors allow him to fly home from London after a quadruple heart bypass surgery, Nawaz Sharif will have nothing much to celebrate except being safely back home.

Despite the ruling party putting up a brave face, undoubtedly the country is in dire straits both externally and internally. Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa’s rather self-serving lament, that the world has abandoned Pakistan to handle and face terrorists alone, says it all. Why is the world coalescing around our adversarial neighbour, India, while leaving us to our own devices?

Undoubtedly, in the past two years the Pakistani military has fought valiantly to eliminate terrorism on its soil. But have we not done it for our own survival and not as a favour to the ‘world’ or anybody else? As the glass being half full or half empty, trouble lays in the fact that contrary to Islamabad’s worldview, the west sees Pakistan’s war on terror quite differently.

Relations between states are not like ‘yaar e ghar’ or ‘langotia’ (deep personal friendship) in the Punjabi sense but are transactional. Historically the parameters of Pakistan-US relations have revolved around real or perceived self-interest on both sides.

Islamabad has always considered American largesse –economic and military — to serve as a bulwark against India. Whether it was the heady days of US sponsored alliances SEATO or CENTO against Soviet Communism in the ‘50s and ‘60s or later during war in Afghanistan, Pakistan has always viewed relations with Washington through an India centric prism.

On the other hand Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon always were aware of Islamabad‘s deep-rooted real regional interests. Nonetheless, successive US administrations simply ignored it in the face of their own larger goals.

Unfortunately now that the chickens have come home to roost, Washington’s honeymoon is officially over. In withdrawal mode from Afghanistan, it seems no longer in the mood to molly cuddle Islamabad.

There seem to be few buyers of Islamabad’s claim that Afghanistan is simply a proxy of New Delhi, housing 24 Indian consulates to foment trouble in Pakistan. The US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson has plainly said that Indian role in Afghanistan is simply overestimated in Pakistan. According to him, there are only four Indian consulates in Afghanistan.

As an obvious snub to Pakistan, Olson who till recently was Washington’s envoy to Islamabad, thinks that rather than focusing on India’s role in Afghanistan, Islamabad should concentrate on its own security. Quite obviously the US has thrown out of the window Islamabad’s oft-repeated line that New Delhi has no role to play in Afghanistan, as it was Pakistan’s exclusive domain.

Washington has directly linked its military assistance to Islamabad with how swiftly it moves against the Haqqani network and other Afghan and India specific jihadist groups allegedly operating from Pakistani soil.

Advisor to the prime minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz laments that a former Pakistani envoy to Washington, now a scholar associated with a think-tank in the US capital, is lobbying against Pakistan’s interests. Without naming Husain Haqqani, Aziz has given him more credit or discredit than should be due to him.

In a riposte to the advisor on foreign affairs Haqqani suggests that instead of making him a scapegoat the government should review its failed policies. According to him past support for jhadists and false excuses at every turn have finally caught up with Pakistan. In any case, Washington’s relations with its non-NATO ally must be on a very shaky ground for Haqqani to be able to throw a spanner in the works.

Notwithstanding claims of Haqqani or Olson the need for a major policy review cannot be over emphasised. Last week’s murder of revered ‘qawal’ Amjad Sabri and abduction of the son of chief justice of Sindh in Karachi at the hands of terrorists, are ample proof (if any was needed) that we urgently need to set our own house in order.

But wallowing in self-pity, we are inexorably stuck in the grooves of our own self-serving mantra. Unfortunately there are few buyers of our victimhood lament.

Zarb-e-Azb is undoubtedly a big step forward; nonetheless it is an existential war against terrorism for our own survival. However, a lot more needs to be done to root out terrorists of all hues and colours without distinction. Pakistan‘s credibility, that it does not speak with a forked tongue, needs to be restored not through mere words but with actions as well.

For starters the government, instead of merely using the foreign office as a post office, should start asserting itself by appointing a full time foreign minister. The National Security Council although duly formed remains dormant. Its chief, Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua, is nowhere to be seen or heard these days. NSC needs to be reactivated serving as a forum for policy consensus between the khaki and civilian stakeholders.

More importantly the prime minister should do some introspection about his own future. Post his bypass heart surgery and general poor health he should decide to whom he will pass on the mantle.

Despite clever media management and carefully staged photo ops Pakistan is without a prime minister for the past month. On his return Sharif will perhaps realise that in the interregnum Ishaq Dar or his essentially bright daughter Maryam Nawaz have been unable to fill the vacuum.

The right approach should have been to summon a meeting of the parliamentary party of the PML-N to elect a new Leader of the House at least for the interim. Perhaps Sharif on his return after due consultation as the head of the party that carries his name should embark on this course sooner than later.

If still keen to hold the reins of power, perhaps he should also carefully examine the Zardari model by assuming the presidency at some stage. Heavens will not fall if he allows a non-Sharif to be prime minister and let his brother Shahbaz Sharif run the party’s support base in Punjab.

While in London Sharif should take a good look at his friend David Cameron’s decision to resign after the Brexit vote. The Conservative Party will elect a new leader to be prime minister or go for general elections in three months. This is because no one in Britain including the prime minister considers his office as the last bastion of democracy.

The opposition’s putsch to include Nawaz Sharif’s name as the primary suspect (and the ruling party’s insistence not to) in the Panamagate has created a deadlock. Obviously some in the opposition want to take matters to the streets post Ramzan to oust the PML-N government.

The ruling party’s efforts to molly cuddle Zardari and Bilawal, being too late and too little, have not borne fruit. That is why Sharif should do some original thinking in order to not get stuck in a political cul de sac. He does not have unlimited time at his disposal.