Pakistan

It has been over eight years, soon after 9/11, that America invaded Afghanistan. America has over hundred thousand troops and Britain has over fifteen thousand. Other NATO countries have also contributed troops in single digit thousands. The invasion was undertaken as the perpetrators of 9/11, Al Qaeda organization, led by Osama Bin Laden was in hiding in Afghanistan. Prior to invasion America had demanded the handing over of Osama Bin Laden and his accomplices from Mulla Omar led government of Taliban. Mulla Omar denied the said demand. Despite a lapse of eight years, NATO forces have neither been able to capture Osama Bin Laden or Mulla Omar nor have they been able to neutralize Al Qaeda. Only a few months ago Obama sent around seventeen thousand troops to Afghanistan. The present American military commander has been demanding reinforcement by another forty four thousand troops for last few weeks.

The News International dated Tuesday, October 06, 2009 writes,

It's indeed very encouraging to know that after the suicide attack on one of the UN offices killing around half a dozen people.

It has been over seven years that America invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of Al Qaeda who according to them masterminded 9/11 attacks. History of Afghanistan bears testimony to the fact that no invader has ever been able to reign in the Afghans. The achievements, if any, of US and NATO troops to date also indicate the same. Afghan government and the foreign troops are restricted to a couple of cities and the rest of the country is under control of Taliban, allies of Al Qaeda.

There are indications that sooner or later Americans intend leaving Afghanistan. It's doubtful that this departure would take place after eliminating Taliban and Al Qaeda. So, once foreign troops leave, Taliban will be back in control of Kabul and will be running Afghan government. Having alienated Taliban, how Pakistan is going to deal with Taliban led government?

The divide betwen pro Taliban and anti Taliban is becoming clear with everyday passing. Certain Islamist parties and their leaders are playing a double game. They consider the activities of Taliban as a reaction to the government fighting America's war and demand that the government should take a firm stand of its own rather than fighting Taliban on behalf of America. Do they want America to invade Pakistan like it invaded Afghanistan?

The recent suicide attack resulting in killing of Anti Taliban religious scholar Dr Sarfaraz Naeemi is a clear signal from Taliban to all other religious and political leaders who condemn the activities of Taliban and declare these to be against the teachings of Islam. Some system will have to devised to protect these leaders and scholars. It will not be possible for the government to undertake this protection. Respective organizations which are headed by these seminaries will have to arrange security of their leaders.

But, what about the security of the common man. The common man, too, will have to arrange for his security by himself. How? It is the vigilance on part of each Pakistani wherein lies the security of not only the common man but that of the entire nation. The neighbourhoods of Taliban are asleep. If they were not, howelse could recruitment, training, planning and preparation of suicide persons and vehicles go unnoticed?

All public and private sector educational institutions have been closed two weeks earlier than their usual schedule. Summer camps, planned by most of these institutions, too, have been done away with. All this has been done in view of the prevailing security situation caused by Taliban. It's more of a reactive rather than a pro active approach. Loss of a couple of weeks of academics may be bearable. However, it's worth considering as to how we are going to proceed after Summer vacation. Is the threat to our security likely to minimize or is it going to be the same or is it going to increase further? The present trends indicate further deterioration in the security situation. Whatever be the situation we should be planning for the worst. So, the question is as to whether we are going to close our educational institutions indefinitely or we are going to face the threats pro actively. It is this period of three months which needs to be judicially utilized to plan and put the plans in place if we want education to go on after Summer vacation.

A number of government officials, including the top man, Mr. Zardari, have stated over last many days that military operation will also be carried out in Waziristan. Following these statements people in Waziristan have started leaving their homes and migrating to other places nearby. It appears that the right lessons have not been learnt from the ongoing Swat operation which is yet to be over even militarily. In case of Swat operation, surprise was achieved against Taliban at the cost of locals being caught unaware and becoming Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in millions. In Waziristan , the locals have started migrating. Taliban, too, must be making good use of this time to either prepare for the expected military operation and fortify their positions or disperse and move away to other areas or maybe a combination of both.

Undertaking military operation in Waziristan on the lines of Swat operation will be unwise on part of the government and the military. It will stretch out the military. With reaction time having been provided to Taliban, results of the military operation are not likely to be as good as of the expected military victory in Swat region. And, last but not the least, we will have millions of more IDPs. IDPs of Swat were not armed as there is no tradition of carrying personal weapons in Swat region. IDPs of Waziristan, are going to be armed as by tradition, every local owns and carries weapons. The unrest in the camps of Swat IDPs is being borne by unarmed IDPs with some sort of forced as well as voluntary patience. It is not going to be the case with armed IDPs of Waziristan. It will be worth considering if the locals of Waziristan are organized into armed groups, called as lashkars, supported by the military and launched against Taliban as has been done at few places. However, it has to be ensured that these lashkars don't start equalling personal scores against locals. The menace of having millions of IDPs is too big to undertake another military operation. The government and the military need to find other ways to deal with Taliban. To kill one dirty fish, one doesn't have to empty the pond. There is need to home onto on the dirty fish only by gathering accurate and real time intelligence which has been a total failure to date.

Military victory is in sight, but we are paying a very heavy price for the same in terms of over 22.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Scarcity of resources, poor governance and management, looting and plundering, and a number of other ills prevalent in our society and our government, it is no less than a dream that these IDPs will ever be able to fall back to their homes as satisfied citizens. Most of these are going to find themselves deprived off their house hold belongings and their means of earnings. Some others may have to even reconstruct their houses destroyed by bombing during the battle. The life is going to start afresh for them confronting heavy odds. There is a need for our government to plan the resettlement of these IDPs in an orderly manner so that the military victory against Taliban is also converted into a social and political victory by winning the hearts and minds of the IDPs. If the same is not done, the seeds of another kind of Talibanization would be sown to grow quickly and pose similar threat some other time in the near future.

Pakistan army deserves to be complimented for recovering the kidnapped students and staff of Cadet College Razmak within hours of the sad incident. Taliban kidnapped the students and staff, travelling in buses, on their way home for Summer vacation. It happened about twenty miles away from Bannu yesterday evening. Army quickly came into action. The speed with which it was able to trace and recover all kidnapped unhurt within twelve hours is highly commendable. Despite the fact that the situation of security is very bad and Taliban are executing the killings and kidnappings at will all over Pakistan, it is reassuring that all is not lost yet an that we can beat the menace of Taliban.

Freedom of media, freedom of speech and lack of coordination among army, provincial and federal governments are adding fuel to the fire in terms of the miseries faced by IDPs of Swat region. Watching different government officials' statements on the electronic media, hundreds of IDPS left their tents in the refugee camps and started moving towards their homes only to find barricades stopping them and soldiers telling them to get back. There have even been instances where IDPs reached their homes to find Taliban welcoming them and mistreating them. Such irresponsible statements have come from supposedly responsible officials including Mr. Rehman Malik, Federal Home Minisiter. It's a pity. If government can't alleviate the miseries of IDP, we should, at least, not add to their sufferings.

America is inducting another 20,000 troops in Afghanistan. Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Yousaf Raza Gilani has very rightly and timely expressed the reservations against this move. This induction is likely to intensify the hunt of Al Qaeda and Taliban by the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan pushing the terrorists in larger numbers to Pakistan increasing its existing problems of security and insurgency.

Our Islamist parties, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam Fazlulrehman Group, and even not so Islamic Tehreek-e-Insaaf continue to make hue and cry to stop the operation in Swat region and resort to negotiations with Taliban by an all parties committee. Where were these parties once Taliban started violating the Swat agreement? If these parties were genuinely interested in peace, they would have contacted Taliban on their own. Why did these parties not condemn the barbarous crimes committed by Taliban a fortnight short of Swat operation? The people of Pakistan have, through, their open support of Swat operation has marginalised the pseudo Islamist parties.

Government has announced increase in the head money of Fazlullah, the leader of Taliban in Swat, and four of his accomplices. There are dozens of other Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders, including Osama Bin Laden and Baitullah Mahsud, whose head money is more than enough to make a fortune. The latter two are yet to be captured despite lapse of many years. Raising head money has not worked to date and is not likely to work this time. Government has to find some other means to capture or kill the Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders!

The recent suicide attacks by Taliban in Lahore, Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan on the same day about forty eight hours ago are being viewed as losing and retreating Talibans' reaction to the military operation in Swat. Whether Taliban are losing the battle in Swat or winning remains an open question. Even if we accept the daily briefings of the military spokesman, Swat operation can not be called a success. Killing over one thousand and capturing a hundred or so Taliban, and in return having 2.5 million IDPs, losing around a hundred soldiers and unknown number of civilian casualties can't be called a success. The recent attacks are far more significant than mere reaction of the 'losing' Taliban. Yes, it is a reaction but it must be viewed as a strong reaction through which Taliban have let every one know that they are there all over Pakistan and can pick and choose the time and place of their choice to strike and are capable of hitting at more than one target simultaneously. To date Taliban have proved to be better planners and executioners of their evil designs. Government can not cite one example where it was able take a better toll of Taliban. Taliban are expanding their activities and with every day passing they are proving themselves to be a bigger threat to the very sovereignty of Pakistan. Where all can Pakistan afford to undertake military operations of the like of Swat operation?

Taliban are spread all over the country. One thing is for certain that these living beings live among us. Our intelligence agencies have failed us to date. It's time that we realize that we have to protect ourselves. This is possible. Comprising of honorary volunteers, we should form vigilance committees at each union council level. All citizens of the area should move about with their eyes and ears open. The citizens should report any unusual activity noticed by them to the vigilance committees who should in turn report the same to the local police administration and the FIA. Monitoring and follow up of these unusual activities by these committees and the administration will certainly help us all thwart the plans of our foes. Arrival of strangers in an area and undertaking unusual activities can not go unnoticed unless we all choose to close our eyes. And, if that has to continue, we deserve the treatment being meted out to us.

North America, the entire western world, Russia, India, Afghanistan, Iran and sundry have vowed to fight the menace of Al Qaeda and Taliban as they are the chief source of terrorism the world over. However, it is common knowledge and has become all the more evident during Swat operation that the terrorists are well equipped with sophisticated weaponry manufactured by the countries neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some of the weapons captured during Swat operation also have the manufacturing origin of America. Either this weaponry is being supplied by these countries contrary to their stated political stand of supporting anti terrorist activities or the terrorists are getting plenty of money to buy the weapons on their own, or may be, it is the combination of both. It appears that a big game of politics is going on in which all the aforementioned countries are directly or indirectly supporting terrorism in stead of opposing it for their respective vested interests. Having become a beggar state internationally, we can't point our fingers at anyone, and even if we do, we can't do anything beyond that. We need to put our own house in order in stead of expecting others to do things for us recognizing fully well that others would do what suits them and not us. We need to multiply our intelligence efforts to understand the plot, formulate a comprehensive policy and assemble our indigenous resources to deal with it,

The Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM), Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), The Pakistan People’s Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) and The Sindh National Party (SNP), otherwise foes among themselves, are resisting the settlement of IDPs of Swat Operation in Karachi on the pretext that it would disturb the ethnic demography of the metropolitan city which would lead to violence. It was least expected from MQM which mostly comprises of refugees from India at the time of independence of Pakistan. It very clearly exposes the true agenda and the narrow objectives of these political parties some of whom claim to have their spread all over Pakistan. Although not related to IDPs, we hear similar voices of discontent from Baluchistan. The constitution of Pakistan very clearly grants the right to its citizens to move about and settle anywhere in the country. The aforementioned negative approach is a clear violation of the constitution. There is a need to resolve the issue in the light of our constitution in stead of political expediencies.

Pakistan army took around the foreign media on a flying trip to the operational area in Swat. During this trip the media was also shown the caves and the bunkers made by Taliban. It is highly appreciable that the troops were able to capture these caves and bunkers, and other such like hide outs of Taliban.

In the recent past, particularly, since the Swat operation, US media is repeatedly showing its concerns about the shifting of Al Qaeda infrastructure in Pakistan. American government officials have also acknowledged the move of Taliban and Al Qaeda from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Similarly, the American media has become pretty vocal in its concern about the safety of Pakistan's Nukes. America invaded Afghanistan to chase Al Qaeda whom it thought was responsible for 9/11. If American targets i.e Al Qaeda and Taliban are being projected/perceived to have moved to Pakistan, what could be the next move of Americans, if Pakistan, in their opinion is unable to deal with the two targets?

Ever since the beginning of Swat operation, the media has started terming the unrest caused by Taliban as insurgency in stead of terrorism as was the case in the past. Government, too, has termed the recent Taliban activities as insurgency challenging the writ of state rather than terrorism. Counter insurgency, the operation against insurgency, is a far more serious business than fighting against terrorism. Let us hope that this seriousness of the government persists till the total elimination of Taliban and the likes. Our people and the government have to fight it out together. It's likely to be a long drawn battle.