EDITORIAL : Changing the narrative

The decision of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to start withdrawing troops from Malakand Division by mid-October has been temporarily put on hold by the Peshawar High Court until the governments both at the provincial and federal level give constitutional cover to the hundreds detained in the regions internment centres. The internees, said the court, have been held under military laws, and that cover would be removed once the army returns to barracks from the region, leaving the fate of the prisoners hanging in the air. Referring to this potential vacuum while spotlighting the constitutional crisis that may ensue in case any hasty programme is followed to withdraw troops from KP, the court had also questioned the ability of the civilian law enforcement agencies, especially the police, to maintain peace as the army had been able to do in Malakand Division. That makes the overriding issue of replacing the archaic legal system with new laws even more important, essentially to strengthen the civilian law enforcement agencies. Under the circumstances, extraordinary laws are required to bring the situation under control. Any overambitious move could jeopardize the gains so far achieved by the army through unprecedented sacrifices as rightly eulogized in the National Assembly on Tuesday. The Assembly has passed a unanimous resolution condemning the attack on the army and calling on the government to recognize the armys sacrifices and give it full support This resolution has come in the backdrop of what is being seen as a muted condemnation by Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif on the martyrdom of Major General Sanaullah Khan Niazi, who lost his life in an IED blast in Upper Dir on September 15. The PM is observed to have neither repudiated the attack in strong words nor did he make any reference to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who had taken responsibility for the killing. If the urge to conduct talks with the militants sends the message of government taking a deferential position, the entire effort so far put into fighting the Frankensteins monster called the TTP starts sounding hollow.

The picture that emerges out of the present scenario is of governments (the KP and federal) groping in the dark with a wish to find the key to terrorism, which could prove a make or break factor of their existence in power. The situation is not simple and cannot be resolved by taking chances. Militancy would keep reappearing unless the source that creates these monsters is nipped in the bud. The Punjab government had recently sought intelligence reports on madrassas in Punjab, considered the breeding ground of militants. The preliminary findings had revealed that more than 500 seminaries of the total of 15-20 thousand are engaged in creating extremists. However, even those seminaries that are not put in the dangerous category are weaving a narrative around the minds and hearts of their followers about militant Islam. They have the potential to become the powder keg to explode into militancy at any stage. It is replacing this narrative with modern, secular and democratic values that could bring about a permanent and enduring solution to the present circumstances. How do we weigh the warnings and threats given by the Taliban, even though they are being pursued to negotiate peace deals by the government? They have, it seems, a plan to hold on to. They do not find their goals falling through once the present leadership is sacrificed to the cause. Unless this confidence, this cohesion and the clarity of purpose of the militants are broken, any achievement through dialogue or even crushing them by force would prove temporary and inconclusive. We have to cut the root that feeds the monster and for that the madrassas, be they in Punjab, FATA, Karachi, or elsewhere have to be cleansed of elements that are churning out blinkered, narrow and dangerous interpretations of Islam that are being imbued by their students. *

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

There are thousands of unregulated/ unregistered madarrasas in Punjab, imparting psy - military jihadist training.

The so-called Punjabi Taliban are anti-Shia and anti-any other sect, not conforming to their religious beliefs; are now part of the broader TPP; rather a major asset. Hafiz Saeed, the internationally notorious, UN declared terrorist is addressing mammoth crowds in Islamabad, without any let or hindrance. Noora and his party are electoral allies of TPP in Punjab. This unholy nexus between Noora and the terrorists is presumably keeping the peace in Punjab. It is germane here to recall CM Shabazs appeal to Taliban in 2011; that Punjab be spared, since his party and TPP hold identical world-view! And the fact that his govt has been paying a hefty stipend to the family of arch-TPP terrorist Malik Ishaque; while the latter was incarcerated. Similarly Hafiz Saeeds terrorist entity gets heavy largesse from the Punjab budget. Imagine!! Now visualize this scenario: after the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban would be relatively free to create more havoc in Pakistan; going by the recent history of ceding territory to TPP; the incumbency of Taliban lovers in KPK; the APC-manifested abject surrender; a coordinated TPP offensive in KPK/ FATA cannot be ruled out. What makes this scenario more ominous is; the rise of Punjabi Taliban in Punjab in coordination with their fellow-militants in KPK, for a final

push to roll-over the sorry excuse of a government/ state in the countrys heartland? The above scenario can be combined with a number of other plans being brewed against Pakistan by external powers. Some of my friends would term the above as pessimism or paranoia; but we need to wake up now; and smell the slowburning gunpowder. Up till now the death tally thanks to terrorism is 50, 000 civilian deaths and 5000 plus military ones. (Thousands have been grievously injured; loss of economy and private/ official property is in billions). It may be better to take a firm stand to eradicate this menace; instead of dying a slow death in a piece-meal fashion? After all, as Adam Smith put inalbeit in another context, that in the long run, we would all be dead anyway. So better die on your feet fighting; then rolling over on your back-sides. Naeem