This Is a Fight to the Finish
By Ras H. Siddiqui
CA
This writing has no happiness behind it. All the cheer from watching the sporadic wins of Pakistan’s Cricket Team in their recent series against New Zealand has just evaporated. As of this moment 132 children are dead in Peshawar, along with 9 school staff in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s history.
In my books such an act claimed by the “religious” extremists is nothing less than blasphemous, much more so than the mistaken words of a former pop star who has publicly asked for forgiveness. That this occurred on December 16 th, on the coattails of Malala Yousafzai’s Nobel Peace Prize Award ceremony, does not escape one’s attention either. This date in December already had a big negative attached to it for Pakistanis because it was on December 16 th that the original country of two wings was separated with the birth of Bangladesh after months of a bloody civil war and surrender in Dacca.
Approximately seven years ago another tragedy hit the country. On 12/27/2007 one of the most famous female politicians of her time and two-time Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Rawalpindi by terrorists. At the time this scribe wrote that the assassination of Shaheed Benazir was an attack on the federation of the Pakistani state itself. Today I would like to extend that further and opine that the federation in Pakistan is still under direct attack and is now fighting a war for its survival. And the worst part about this current scenario is that the attacker is not another country in the region but a phantom enemy with many identities and supply chains quite successfully hiding under the camouflage of religion. This adversary is vicious and strong enough to send its “soldiers” who are willing to die in the process of killing their own co-religionists and countrymen. And their efforts include targeting women and children. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s elimination was their first major calling card. They did not succeed with Malala but continue to believe that they can challenge the state apparatus with impunity.
The question that comes to mind now is what needs to be done? One is sure that this is being asked in the corridors of power in Pindi and Islamabad. And let it be known that the whole world is watching closely. Can the Pakistani state respond and establish its writ in spite of this mass murder? Does the country have in it the power to counter this menace that has been breeding within its borders and in Afghanistan? The answers may lie in taking a holistic approach to the problem and not in knee jerk reactions. Publicly hanging terrorists alone will not do the job and bombing N. Waziristan to pulp will be extremely counterproductive.
This is not and never was a war against Pashtuns but what is required is a deep understanding of their way of life. Not all Pashtuns are Taliban but a significant majority of Taliban happens to be Pashtun (aka Pathan). Afghans as a whole and Pashtuns in particular were once used as cannon fodder against the Soviet Union and in the process armed with sophisticated weapons and trained militarily by the Americans and Pakistanis and who knows who else. Everyone already knew that the Pashtuns are fierce warriors and value their independence and way of life. It is not surprising that Pakistan today, even after 67 year of its existence, has not officially incorporated the “Tribal Belt” or FATA (almost exclusively populated by Pashtuns) into the state and has left it autonomous.
The deadly cocktail of extremist religion, tribalism, sophisticated weapons and the injection of outsiders on both sides of the border have resulted in this growing threat not just to Pakistan but to the region today. The militants are currently under pressure along the Durand Line from the American-Afghan Army presence on one side and the Pakistan Army on the other in a “hammer and anvil” situation. They have already made “horrible examples” of many perceived informers or collaborators from the tribes which inhabit the area, to the point where the local populations that they hide within are too afraid to reveal their presence. And unless we can get these populations on our side, success will be elusive. Carpet bombing everyone will recruit more terrorists. Seeking revenge is a Pashtun tradition.
The answer lies in a surgical operation to remove the extremist cancer from within what is possibly the largest tribal society in the world. That means that the Pakistani state needs to think hard and not act like a bull in a china shop. Only super powers have that luxury because they can do what they want and then leave the scene. The Pakistan Army cannot do that. The holistic approach has to be at least 60% political engagement and compromise with the Pashtun tribes and 40% military action against extremists. Pakistanis should not repeat 1971 where it was 5% political maneuvering and 95% military action with disastrous results.
Last but not least let us not underestimate this vicious enemy, one which has to be overcome if Pakistan is to remain a part of the civilized-free world. These savages have killed our children this time possibly to provoke an all-out war against the tribes. Desperation is setting in and that is why they have hit the softest target they could find. The lives of these innocent children taken from us should remind everyone that extremism needs to be fought militarily, politically and socially. The enemy is deep inside Pakistan and this is a fight to the finish.
