Too Little, Too Late

By Amir Zia
January 27, 2014
The News

The powerful military establishment that appears more focused and serious on taking on the challenge of terrorism remains constrained because of weak and divided civilian partners.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has finally indicated it will use force against select bands of the local Taliban militants after months of indecisiveness and inaction. The mantra of peace talks has not been abandoned, but going by reports of the January 23 meeting between top civil and military leaders, it seems that ‘surgical strikes’ against these al-Qaeda linked militants are now on the cards following the recent surge in terrorist attacks across Pakistan.
The government has also amended the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance, allowing security agencies to keep suspects of terrorism and “enemies” of the state under detention for an indefinite period. The Sharif government has also hinted at lifting the moratorium on the death penalty – placed by the former PPP government and being seen by devout Muslims as against the tenets of Islam and the country’s constitution.
Are these the usual fire-fighting measures taken whenever there is a spike in killings and violence, or does the civil-military leadership really want to address the root cause of the problem and pursue a holistic strategy to counter terrorism and reestablish the writ of the state and supremacy of the law? Perhaps it is too early to gauge the government’s mid- to long-term resolve and intentions on this crucial issue, but the cautious approach of the top leadership underlines the fact that one should not accept any swift, broad-based and decisive action against these non-state actors, who are determined to bring down the state of Pakistan.
The Sharif government has reluctantly inched towards the ‘fight and talk’ mood from the ‘peace talks’ frame of mind only after militants carried out a spate of high-profile attacks on security personnel, media workers, polio vaccinators, and ordinary citizens. In doing this, the militants not just upped the ante of violence, but for the first time threatened to target national and international media organisations and leading journalists in an organised manner. For this, the local Taliban militants again circulated a controversial edict, from which some of its leaders distanced themselves only a few months back. The list of targeted media persons and organisations, however, has been revised and expanded.
This has created an unprecedented atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in those segments of the society and urban centres which had considered themselves by and large immune from the terrorist threat.
The elusive militants enjoy an upper hand and initiative in this conflict as they have successfully managed to dominate the national narrative and terrorise dissenting voices against the backdrop of a weak and defensive response from the state institutions.
However, given the highly polarised and ideologically divided state of Pakistan, even the recent symbolic steps taken by the government of making amendments in the law and its vague intentions of carrying out action against militants are all set to intensify the emotional debate, sharpen the friction and trigger bitter criticism both from the right-wing and religious-minded segment of the society as well as the westernised liberal urban elite and human rights organisations. 
While the twin ghost of religious extremism and Al-Qaeda inspired terrorism poses the gravest internal challenge to Pakistan’s existence, the main political players and stakeholders have miserably failed to reach a consensus on how to tackle the situation.
There are influential political and religious groups with pockets within the civil and military establishment, which sincerely believe that the war on terror is not Pakistan’s war despite the fact that more than 50,000 people have been killed by the militants since early 2002. Ideologically, these groups and individuals remain sympathetic to militants and share their worldview, though they may not necessarily agree with the tactics of terrorism and killings of fellow Muslims. These forces are socially conservative and politically anti-west.
Even the ruling PML-N mainly banks on the conservative and religiously-minded vote bank. Many PML-N stalwarts do not want to take on the sectarian extremists and the Al-Qaeda linked militants groups and tend to believe that the tide of extremism and terrorism would fizzle out on its own. They want to keep violence and terrorism in check by the combined application of select use of force and a policy of appeasement.
The country’s secular political parties, non-government organisations and the liberal element advocate stern action against extremists and militants, but many of them remain highly sceptical about the role and intentions of the country’s armed forces in dealing with this challenge. They also are deeply divided over the tactics and modalities of any operation against militants and abhor the resumption of the death sentence and other tough measures, which they see as undermining human rights and transforming the country into a ‘security state’.
In the overall scheme of things, the secularists and liberals appear to be fast losing ground to various shades of fundamentalist and right-wing political forces that have a greater hold on society. (However, the religious forces too are politically and ideologically fragmented.)
The powerful military establishment that appears more focused and serious on taking on the challenge of terrorism remains constrained because of weak and divided civilian partners. The planned drawback of the US/Nato troops from Afghanistan and Pakistan’s perceived desire to maintain proxies in the land-locked state to counter the Indian influence there also hamper an all-out effort against the loosely intertwined militant groups.
The biggest collective failure of the civil and military leaders is that they have been too slow and lacklustre in their response to this challenge.
One expected a better performance from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the start of his third stint in power, but he dragged his feet on all the key issues. Instead of taking a lead and giving direction to the nation in confronting extremism and terrorism, he tried to hide behind the cover of All-Parties Conferences, which failed to come up with a rational analysis to this challenge or suggest a practical strategy to bring peace and normalcy in the country. No wonder, the APC-suggested recipe of peace talks remained a non-starter.
However, an effective response does not mean the use of military option as the one and only preferred choice. It also entails a wide set of initiatives in which finding a common ground between various political forces, Islamic schools of thought and stakeholders on a minimum set of points is foremost.
The support and backing of leading ulema and clerics – especially those belonging to the Deobandi school of thought – is vital for peace as many militants adhere to this puritan version of Islam. At the same time, the government needs to reform the education system, particularly the ungoverned seminaries, which are seen as the breeding ground of militancy. and introduce rehabilitation programmes for militants. This cannot be done without increasing investment in the social and education sectors.
The state and its institutions must show zero tolerance toward all armed groups affiliated with the mainstream political and religious parties, and outlawed groups. The legal political parties can play a role in building this consensus if the ruling party itself shows determination and starts playing by the book. 
The military establishment also needs to rethink and redefine its strategy and goals according to the changed global and regional paradigm. The Cold War-era strategy won’t work now. There has been a realisation within the army on this issue since the days of former president Pervez Musharraf when he aligned the country in the US-led war on terrorism in early 2002, abandoned support to the Afghan Taliban and stopped insurgents from going into Indian-held Kashmir.
It is now time to go another step forward and address the international concerns regarding Pakistan by enforcing the writ of the state and ensuring that the territory it is not being used to foment violence and terrorism in the region or around the world.
The lesson of history is that the state threatens its existence when it fails to resolve its internal contradictions.

Policing Woes

By Amir Zia
Monday, January 20, 2014
The News

Our men in uniform are not always on the wrong side of the fence. They do give sane advice to our elected representatives – in this case, it is not to play favourites in the police force and allow its leadership to decide transfers and postings

The tussle between the Sindh government and top security officials over transfers and postings in Karachi Police is now an open secret. The provincial government wants to appoint favourites on ‘lucrative’ slots – a move that has strained its ties with many senior security officials and is seen as jeopardising the ongoing operation against criminals and terrorists in the megacity. 
If the Pakistan People’s Party bosses could have their way, Karachi’s Additional IG Shahid Hayat Khan and all his DIGs would have long been sent packing. Many other ‘untrustworthy’ SSPs, SPs, DSPs and SHOs would also have been shunted to secondary positions to open way for the PPP loyalists. 
The Sindh government’s most recent move to replace the Karachi DIGs came at a time when the police force was still attempting to recover from the shock of Chaudhry Aslam’s assassination in a massive suicide bomb attack on January 9.
“Even on the night of 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal (January 13-14), when we were busy with security arrangements, the PPP ministers were pushing for the replacement of DIGs”, a flabbergasted senior police official confided to this scribe. “When there is so much uncertainty and so much political interference, effective policing obviously becomes a more difficult job in a dangerous city like Karachi.” 
It was nothing less than an intervention from the khakis that blocked the PPP provincial government’s push to place its men on senior police positions – at least for the time being. The concerns of the security officials were conveyed in a more matter of fact and terse manner to Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah by none other than Major General Rizwan Akhtar, the DG of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), in a highly publicised meeting on January 16.
However, the Sindh government managed to appoint at least one of its loyal SSPs in Malir and replace several SHOs, much to the dismay of the police and Ranger’s hierarchy.

Bone of contention: 
Currently, the PPP’s elected representatives are at loggerheads – both overtly and covertly – with the men in uniform (of all shades) over appointments of police officials in Malir. The PPP simply wants to bring in its own DIG and other police officials into this district, where land encroachments, theft of sand and gravel and all sorts of crime dens offer a multi-million rupees worth daily racket in the form of bribes to the corrupt.
When so much is at stake, it is understandable that secondary issues of fighting crime and terrorism and the morale of the police force fail to appear on the radar of the provincial government. The chief minister and his team know which side of the bread is buttered. They have aligned their priorities with their lord and master.


Who is at fault?: 
Let’s swallow this bitter fact that many of our elected ones have failed to learn any lesson from history. They tend to repeat the same old game, which landed them in trouble and tarnished and damaged the democratic forces so many times in the past. Civilian politicians, especially representing stakes and interests of the feudal class and the tribal elite, simply cannot resist the temptation of abusing power, bending rules and indulging in corruption. Despite being elected, they abhor acting in line with the democratic spirit, which blossoms on pluralism, playing by the book, and respect for the law. 
And let’s admit that our men in uniform are not always on the wrong side of the fence. They do give sane advice to our elected representatives – in this case, it is not to play favourites in the police force and allow its leadership to decide transfers and postings.
This counsel is more pertinent in these present tough times when Karachi – despite the ongoing crackdown on criminals and terrorists – is again on the brink. Apart from the traditional ethnic, political and sectarian forces, which have a long history of indulging in violence and bloodletting, the Al-Qaeda-linked local Taliban have solidly entrenched themselves in many Pakhtun-dominated neighbourhoods of this city.
The Taliban militants are now making their presence felt here in more than one way. They have expanded their network in the country’s financial and industrial hub and are mobilising funds through a string of bank robberies, kidnapping people for ransom and extortion. According to the police, approximately 70 of its officials have been killed by the Taliban militants in the past year or so. Because of the indecisiveness of the federal government and the mantra of ‘peace talks’, these militants have increasingly been emboldened in recent weeks. 
The irony is that the civilian leadership seems unable to grasp the gravity of the situation and continues to indulge in money-making ventures as if these are the normal times of yore. The killings and bloodshed hardly impact their lives.
In Karachi, the Taliban threat is very real, but the eyes of the provincial government leaders are set on appointing the handpicked police officers on coveted positions to serve their narrow vested interests. Agreed that in the police force of today no one can be branded holier than the other when it comes to corruption. Still, at a senior level, the team leader – in this case it is the additional IG Karachi – should be allowed to pick his team.

Ending political interference: 
The recent rift over appointments in the Karachi Police brings an old issue to the forefront – freeing the police force from political interference. When police officers are hostage to the whims and wishes of ministers and political bosses, they can hardly perform their duty in an independent and impartial manner.
This is not the problem of the Sindh province alone, but of all of Pakistan. This institution needs to be freed from all sorts of political interference and must be autonomous and independent.
The barometer of political interference in Sindh police affairs can be gauged from the fact that in a little over a year’s time, Shahid Hayat Khan is the fifth officer to hold the position of Additional IG Karachi. Only one officer out of the last four before him managed to complete six months in the office.
Shahid Hayat, who was appointed on this position on Sept 12 last year, is himself struggling in the wake of bitter opposition from the political quarters. Even if he survives on this position, the Sindh government wants to make sure that he becomes as ineffective and toothless as possible. To achieve this goal, the Sindh government wants to bring PPP cronies on senior positions in the police force.
In this tussle, it is the men in uniform and not the PPP’s elected representatives, who are taking the right position. 
The 2002 Police Order says that the cadre appointments in police should be for a three-year period, but the elected ones have again slapped the colonial era police system in its place. No wonder senior police officers manage to survive in their positions for barely three to six months, while the station house officers for less than two months on an average.
As things are moving, it is hardly expected of the PPP’s Sindh government to make the right choices of strengthening this key institution and framing laws to ensure independence and impartiality of the police force. Perhaps then we have to rely on the interference of the federal government and the behind-the-scenes advice and counsel of the men in uniform to keep the provincial government a little in line. At the same time, the media and the civil society have to make reforms and independence of police force their own cause.

Heroes And Villains

By Amir Zia
Monday, January 13, 2014
The News

The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends. 
 
Top civil and military leaders are showering tributes on the slain super cop of Karachi Mohammad Aslam Khan, aka Chaudhry Aslam, who was martyred in a suicide bomb attack by the local Taliban militants in Karachi on January 9 along with his two other colleagues. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif praised his bravery and condemned the terror attack. Army Chief General Raheel Sharif lauded his services and said that the whole nation remains united against terrorism. 
This horrendous attack has saddened the nation in general and citizens of Karachi in particular. Regardless of the controversies that swirled around Chaudhry Aslam all through his career, he was a brave-heart. He became a larger than life character in his lifetime for the single-mindedness and zeal with which he fought criminals and terrorists alike. At least five assassination attempts, including a bomb attack at his house in September 2011, failed to dampen his spirits. He courted danger and risked his life on a daily basis and never seemed to cower under pressure.
For criminals and terrorists, he was a living nightmare – a merciless officer who used to turn up the heat on them. Human rights groups may object to his style and method, but ask a common citizen of this crime and violence-plagued city and you will find great support for officers like Chaudhry Aslam.
While many politicians, including those in power and the cheerleaders of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Taliban, confused the issue of terrorism by calling it a foreign war and begged for talks with the enemy of the state and the people, Chaudhry Aslam was amazingly clear-headed about his mission.
“If the state shows its scared then it loses the right to call itself the state”, he was quoted as saying in a story carried in this paper. “As long as I am alive in Karachi, I will never let that happen.”
In this day and age of uncertainty and muddled thinking, Chaudhry Aslam’s certainty and clarity of mind needed more than simple courage. He acted on what he believed.
Prime Minister Sharif has rightly called him courageous. But isn’t the prime minister’s statement highly paradoxical and ironic? Why? Because the PML-N government believes in talks with an enemy that is committing brutalities against this nation almost every single day. Yet, there are politicians, including PML-N stalwarts, who are ready to forget and forgive all the heinous crimes and acts of terror committed by the Taliban. They believe in appeasing the Taliban by offering them talks and remain reluctant to fight the war against terrorism and extremism which are consuming our society from within. Should we call this policy a tribute or betrayal to the blood of our martyrs? 
It is the extremists who are calling the shots and proactively pursuing their agenda – from attacking sensitive defence installations and killing security officials to blowing up schools, bombing places of worship and murdering polio vaccinators. But the civilian government remains directionless in confronting this life and death internal challenge faced by Pakistan.
Chaudhry Aslam is not the first officer who has been martyred in the line of duty. Sadly, he won’t be the last one either. He has been lucky that the entire nation rose to pay tribute to this brave officer. However, the sacrifices of others, who went down unsung, are no less important.
Among the recent victims, we have a 14-year-old boy from Hangu, Aitizaz Hasan. He was martyred while challenging a suicide bomber targeting his school. The list of such courageous men, women and children is long and getting longer.
Still many politicians and religious leaders in this Islamic republic – from Imran Khan to Munawwar Hasan – have the audacity of calling this conflict a ‘foreign’ war. They mourn the deaths of terrorist kingpins like Hakeemullah Mehsud with greater emotion than the martyrdom of those killed for Pakistan.
How one would like to see Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan now take up the floor of parliament to condemn the martyrdom of Chaudhry Aslam and Aitizaz Hasan as he did in his emotional outburst of grief over the killing of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a US drone attack.
When the battle lines and the distinction between heroes and villains are so blurred in the minds of decision makers, Chaudhry Aslam and the like – despite all their bravery and conviction – can only win tactical victories. The war can be lost if timid and weak leaders are in-charge. Yes, the army of lions can collapse like a bubble if the leadership is in the hands of jackals.
Our men-in-uniform are performing their duty with courage despite all the grey shades that have been included by our politicians in the theatre of war that is now Pakistan. The conduct of the civilian leaders offsets and undermines the courage and sacrifices of our security officials.
Have thousands of our brave soldiers, army officers and policemen given their lives in vain if the rulers want to strike a deal with militants who want to use Pakistani territory to foment terrorism and violence within the country and across the globe? What about all those civilians killed in terrorist attacks and suicide bombings? Will their families get no justice? Will they be content that Maulana Samiul Haq and a few others like him have been assigned by the government to try to bring the Taliban on the negotiation table despite knowing that they reject Pakistan’s constitution and democracy?
Compare the bravery of Chaudhry Aslam and others, who fought and died for Pakistan, with that of the PML-N leaders in the way they shrunk back from lifting the moratorium on death penalty after receiving threats from militants wanting to save death row terror convicts from being executed.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother and aides must rethink the choices they have made so far and the road not taken. It is heartening that they are acknowledging the courage of our fallen heroes, but it is high time that they must also take some heart and provide the ideological leadership that is needed to fight and win this internal war. The civilian leaders need to confront the extremist narrative that has seeped into popular discourse, and provide a counter-narrative by taking ownership of the conflict.
The double-talk of trying to win a peace deal with extremists and terrorists and queuing up to express sympathy for victims of terrorism won’t work. It is simply a self-defeatist and hypocritical approach. It is nothing but a shameless betrayal to the blood of all our martyrs and an insult to their families and friends. These heroes need to be paid tribute to by the actions of our rulers and not by the compromises they make with their killers. Let’s fight this war to end war.
Tailpiece: The assassination of Chaudhry Aslam raises questions about the direction of the much-celebrated operation against criminals and terrorists in Karachi. There have been hundreds of arrests and many criminals shot to death since the start of the operation on September 5, but aren’t our law-enforcement agencies – by design or default – ignoring the vast ungoverned territories of the city where the writ of the state remains non-existent. 
There are many low-income neighbourhoods that have been virtually taken over by the Taliban. The Pakhtun secular Awami National Party has long been forced to pack up its operations from these areas. More than 50 ANP workers have been killed. Here, Taliban courts now decide matters, settle disputes and collect funds. The law-enforcement agencies are unable to make their presence permanent in these localities and at best can conduct hit-and-run operations. These are the very places where killers of people like Chaudhry Aslam rest, regroup, reorganise and plan their future ventures.
Any operation against such terrorist safe havens is directly linked to the federal government’s decision on how it plans to fight or not fight this war on the broader level. The few Taliban fighters arrested here or killed there will remain fire-fighting measures in which Chaudhry Aslam’s absence will be felt a lot.

The Great Divide

By Amir Zia
Monday, January 6, 2014
The News

Calls for the division of Sindh or attempts to decide matters – from local bodies to the controversial quota system – purely on the basis of brute numbers have all the potential of pushing the province towards a cycle of conflict and disorder.

The Pakistan People’s Party’s political wizards must be congratulated for outsmarting their former ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), on every front and forcing it to take an extreme position where this urban-based party now appears to be standing all alone.
MQM leader Altaf Hussain’s call for the division of Sindh province and his rhetoric of turning this demand into a slogan for a separate country if the Urdu-speaking people remain denied of “their rights” underlines the growing desperation within his party ranks and its dearth of viable options to political goals. After remaining a PPP ally for almost five years and then trying to act as a formidable opposition in recent months, the MQM finds itself at a dead end on all issues close to its heart.
To begin with, the PPP is in no mood to give a strong, powerful and autonomous local bodies system in Sindh where it runs the provincial government with a comfortable majority. The PPP’s intentions to get a desired mandate in Karachi are reflected in its efforts to change the constituencies ahead of the local elections and continued tinkering of the local bodies laws.
The controversial rural-urban quota system in Sindh, the oppressive provincial taxation system, which targets mainly the urban centres and exempts large land owners and feudals from paying taxes on their agricultural income, and dispute over the allocation of development funds remain the other key issues polarising politics of this multi-ethnic province, though the MQM has not been able to put it effectively in the context and take the urban dwellers belonging to other ethnic groups into confidence on issue-based urban politics.
The ethnic fault lines and divisions sharpen further as major political parties are at loggerheads with one another to safeguard or expand their control in the country’s financial and industrial hub of Karachi.
Unfortunately, most major political parties, overtly or covertly, are playing the ethnic card, which possesses the inherent danger of igniting widespread armed conflict among various communities, nationalities and ethnic groups living in this province. Karachi and Hyderabad have seen trailers of bloody mayhem and chaos on ethnic lines scores of times since the mid-1980s.
The province has all the ingredients that can explode anytime as the main political players and stakeholders have failed to develop a consensus on any of the major issues in a democratic spirit which thrives on pluralism and acknowledging and celebrating the political and economic rights of all groups and segments in society.
Efforts to bring harmony in Sindh’s politics through a working arrangement between the rural and urban political forces failed to give the desired results as the PPP-MQM ruling coalition (2008-13) ended on a bitter note after almost five years of partnership. The PPP-MQM relationship was marred with distrust and back-stabbing.
Even while being partners, the workers of the two sides never hesitated from resorting to tit-for-tat killings in the urban jungle of Karachi. The PPP took the MQM for a ride through sweet talk and endless rounds of meetings, but ensured that its partner never got what it was vying for – an effective local government system seen as a must to run big cities like Karachi. In that sense, the PPP politicians appear more astute and savvy compared to their MQM counterparts.
The former PPP-MQM ruling coalition passed the Sindh People’s Local Government (SPLG) Act, 2012 in the provincial assembly with a thumping two-thirds majority toward the end of the five-year term on October 1, 2012. For the MQM, the victory proved to be just on paper as there was hardly any time left for the holding of the local elections.
All through its term, the PPP kept its urban partner uneasy and on a tight leash in Karachi by supporting the Peoples’ Amn Committee of Lyari, which was allowed to operate its vast extortion racket with impunity and confront the MQM’s muscle power blow by blow in various strategic commercial, industrial and financial neighbourhoods.
The PPP’s duplicity and former interior minister Rehman Malik’s diplomacy ensured that the ruling party got what it wanted from the MQM to complete its term at the centre without conceding any ground and major hiccup. The MQM was forced to play on the PPP’s terms for what seemed to be its short-term vested interests of clinging to whatever crumbs of power offered to the party.
The PPP took no time to repeal the SPLG Act once the MQM walked out of the coalition a few months before the 2013 general elections, raising questions about the timing of its decision.
Since then, the PPP has made a string of changes and amendments in the local bodies system, making it literary ineffective and hostage to the whims and dictates of the provincial government. The urban representatives found themselves having no say in matters because of their small number in the provincial assembly.
The situation becomes more complicated given the fact that the PPP’s Sindh Assembly lawmakers mostly belong to the rural constituencies. On the basis of their majority, these rural area representatives are taking decisions on managing large cities without taking into account the aspirations of the urban population.
At one level, the PPP’s stance can be justified since in democracy it is the majority that decides. Hypothetically speaking, if the MQM wins all the provincial assembly seats in Karachi and Hyderabad, even then it will not be able to change the equation.
Therefore, the MQM supreme leader has suddenly upped the ante of his demand, which is all set to further polarise an already complex and highly emotionally charged situation. In doing this, the MQM has opted for a solo flight as all the other stakeholders – from the Jamaat-e-Islami to Sindhi nationalists, the Pakhtun-representative Awami National Party and the PPP – have joined ranks in opposing the demand of a separate province carved on ethnic lines.
This brings ominous tidings for the province and undermines efforts to bring peace, normality and rule of the law to Karachi where an operation is underway against militants and criminal mafias, which have held the city hostage in recent years.
The kind of political vision and statesmanship needed to resolve the festering issues of the urban and rural Sindh remain amiss as all major stakeholders are opting for brinkmanship and emotional posturing. But the situation calls for moderate and level-headed thinking.
Sindh and its urban centres will be better served if the rural and urban representatives, instead of taking the road of confrontation, make an effort to resolve the issues on the basis of give and take and build consensus in a democratic spirit that is inclusive and takes into account the diversity of the province. Calls for the division of Sindh or attempts to decide matters – from local bodies to the controversial quota system – purely on the basis of brute numbers have all the potential of pushing the province towards a cycle of conflict and disorder.
Given the current level of political heat and discord, the holding of the much-delayed census too has the potential to become another hot potato. But that would be a step in the right direction and help taking into account the changed provincial demography and deciding the representation in parliament and the provincial assembly.
Evading or brushing the problems under the carpet won’t serve the cause of Sindh. It is time for the political parties to take stock of the situation and move towards resolving the contradictions.
Ideally, the PPP, the MQM and the ANP – being secular and liberal forces – should be natural allies and work to promote ethnic and political harmony in the province for the economic uplift and betterment of the people. To do this, they have to raise themselves above their narrow vested interests and resolve the set of challenges thrown at them in a democratic manner. The people of Sindh deserve better and our politicians have to prove that they are worthy of their leadership.

A Year Of Transition

By Amir Zia
The News
Year-End Special Report: Passing On The Baton
Wednesday, January 1, 2014 




A policy seen by the world as appeasing the al Qaeda-inspired militants through offers of talks or inaction against them stands in conflict with Prime Minister Sharif’s vision of friendly and good ties with regional countries, including India and Afghanistan. It is a core issue that prevents peace in Pakistan and its economic revival and hurts its ties with the world powers and neighbours.


At one level, there has been a change of faces in the three key institutions — the executive, judiciary and the army — but at the other, most problems that plague the country’s political, social and economic landscape remained unchanged.
The country witnessed its first ever landmark transition from one elected government to another in 2013. Beating all the conspiracy theories and the looming specter of the unexpected at the last minute, Pakistan went to the polls and gave its verdict. The pre-election sit-in by Tahirul Qadri and his followers failed to bring down the system. The al-Qaeda linked and inspired militants targeted liberal politicians, hindering their election campaigns even before they had begun reaching out to the people. But the game continued. The right wing political parties - from the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf -had a free-hand to hold rallies and public meetings and got the advantage. The only mishap that occurred was when the mighty Khan fell while being lifted to a makeshift stage in Lahore, sustaining head and back injuries.
A new parliament and a new government took charge, though the composition of its members overwhelmingly came from the same ruling elite comprising the landed aristocracy, tribal leaders, rich industrialists and businessmen and a handful of representatives from the middle and even fewer from the lower-middle classes. The PML-N got a clear mandate to rule the country for five years largely on the back of landslide support from the country’s most populous Punjab province. The Pakistan Peoples’ Party of Asif Ali Zardari was reduced to rural Sindh as its candidates got routed in the main battlegrounds of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Some political parties managed to cling to their vote banks, others saw their representation in parliament decimated.
Angry captain Imran Khan screamed of foul play, but the post-election game continued as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif started his innings with a lot of hope, but short of action on many key fronts including terrorism and tough decisions to fix the country’s battered economy. His initial months in power saw him batting cautiously in the day and age of an independent judiciary, free media and a deeply entrenched military leadership. But toward the end of 2013, it was the time for change of guards and faces in the mighty military establishment and the judiciary, which is likely to provide a freer hand to Sharif in 2014.
Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani hung his boots on November 29th after holding command of the seventh largest army of the world for six long years. He announced his own retirement and will be remembered as a man in uniform who made the country’s democratic transition from one elected government to another possible.
During his eventful innings as the army chief he called the shots on key foreign policy and security issues, kept the fight against terrorism going in fits and starts, despite a reluctant civilian leadership and equally suspicious western partners, especially the United States. He won the battle against militants in Swat, but the internal one-sided war raged on as the militants kept on the offensive and the state institutions suddenly appeared directionless and paralysed.
His leadership was tested when the United States killed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden by carrying out a raid deep inside Pakistan in the garrison city of Abbottabad in 2011, but he bounced back. He remained a hawk in guarding the military’s perceived security paradigm and strategic interests of the country, and tried to play the role of a watchdog while dealing with the elected representatives. He, however, did not upset the applecart and banked on behind the scene wheeling and dealing to keep the civilian leaders on a tight-leash.
Gen Kayaini passed on the baton to General Raheel Sharif, who faces more or less the same internal and external security challenges as that of his predecessor, but a more determined civilian leadership vying to establish its control on key policy issues. In 2014, the new army chief will have to wade his way through the minefield of the country’s highly polarized political landscape which stand divided and fragmented on most key issues - from terrorism to relations with the United States and neighbouring India. How he adjusts the military’s security and strategic vision with that of the civilian leaders remains only one of his many challenges.
On 11-12-13, Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry also bade adieu after playing a gritty innings. He will be remembered as the man who stood up to a military ruler, questioned the institutions and executive alike over their sins of commission and omission. In doing so, he became a darling for many and the most unloved person by those in power. He provided daily headlines and took suo-moto actions at the drop of a hat when he saw institutions failing to act according to the law and Constitution. He wrote a new chapter of judicial activism and championing popular causes. His legacy will serve as a yardstick for his successors for many years to come. The new Chief Justice Tassadaq Hussain Jillani will have to perform the Herculean task of living up to the legacy of the former chief justice as well as writing his own in the months to come.
While 2013 witnessed new faces adorn all our key institutions, many of the multi-faceted crises the country confronts lingered on.
The al-Qaeda inspired and linked extremists continued to wage their war on the Pakistani state and its people. They continued to explode bombs, conduct terrorist attacks and kill security personnel and civilians as they did in the past. The response of the state institutions and the government also remained unchanged to all this bloodletting, the mutilated bodies of our civilians, severed-heads of our soldiers and bombed mosques, churches, schools and markets. They opted for mostly a wait-and-see approach, at times for some firefighting measures and largely applying the tried and tested policy of appeasement and conciliation with militant bands in the hope that the twin challenges of extremism and terrorism will just fade away. But the resolute and determined internal enemy has loads of appetite to continue to act as it has been acting all these years - no matter how many tears our Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan may shed over the killing of militants and their bosses in the “unwanted” US drone attacks and may plead and beg for peace talks. So in 2014, extremism and terrorism will continue to haunt this world’s lone nuclear-armed Islamic nation. With the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan under the command of hard-line cleric Mullah Fazalullah, aka Mulla Radio, incidents of terrorism are likely to intensify as the new leader will seek to prove his credentials and effectiveness. Despite the keenness of the civilian leaders to hold talks with militants, their tough conditions, antipathy to democracy and the Constitution and the continuing US drone attacks are unlikely to bring them to the table for any meaningful settlement.
The United States and its allies’ planned drawback of troops from war-ravaged Afghanistan, and their expectations from Pakistan to keep its routes open and safe to the land-locked central Asian state, have made the issue more complex given Imran Khan’s blockade of NATO supplies. This has not just strained Pakistan’s ties with Washington again, but also threatens the much-needed US assistance for the country’s ailing economy. The civil and military leadership will find itself on a sticky wicket in 2014 against the backdrop of the growing anti-US rhetoric of the right wing parties and the pressing need of good relations with the world power. Ironically, the emotional outbursts of some of the veterans of the Sharif government against the US drone strikes are not helping the cause of opting for a sensible and middle course on this vital issue.
A policy seen by the world as appeasing the al Qaeda-inspired militants through offers of talks or inaction against them also stands in conflict with Prime Minister Sharif’s vision of friendly and good ties with regional countries, including India and Afghanistan. It is a core issue that prevents peace in Pakistan and its economic revival and hurts its ties with the world powers and neighbours.
Connected directly to the challenge of Islamic militancy are the twin ghosts of religious bigotry and sectarian strife that remained among the constant themes, dominating headlines and our lives in 2013. The message of hate, intolerance, violence and confrontation kept emanating from many pulpits and unregulated seminaries. The narrow world view and the flawed sectarian interpretation of Islam espoused by many clerics sharpened the divide within the Muslim body politic as well as transformed Pakistan into a highly intolerant society where religious minorities felt insecure and even followers of one sect of Islam felt threatened and vulnerable from the other.
The year 2013 ended underlining this grim reality that this menace is consuming our society from within. Religion and growing religiosity have become a dividing rather than unifying force. In 2014, sectarian discord will continue to undermine and mar the true message of Islam that stand for peace and moderation in walks of life.
The issue of lawlessness and the weak writ of the state - reflected in rampant crime across the country, violation of even basic civic and traffic laws in major urban centres and the vast stretches of ungoverned territory from densely populated Karachi to the rugged mountains in the tribal areas - also remained largely unaddressed in 2013. The unholy nexus between politics and crime remained unbroken. Criminals and mafia dons continued to operate under the banner of various political parties and conveniently politicised crime and criminalised our politics. Pakistan will carry this baggage in 2014 as the politics of expediency, opportunism and vested interests reign supreme in the land of the pure.
The trial for treason of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf — who returned to Pakistan with high hopes only to be dashed because of his disqualification from the elections and hearing of a bunch of cases against him — will be an interesting sideshow that will keep generating media hype and debate that will often eclipse the real issues.
However, in 2014 Pakistan’s new civil and military leaders will find themselves in a far from enviable position because of the kind of mega complex challenges they are faced with. But one positive that emerges like a flash from these dark clouds remains that the country and its institutions are starting to learn to live with democracy with all its current flaws and weaknesses. It will be a test of patience, but the success would lie in keeping the course.
In this sea of troubles, another glimmer of hope is offered by the resilient, hardworking Pakistani people. Their spirits refuse to die despite all the terrorism, lawlessness, crime, economic woes, poor governance and bad leadership and that take their toll on their lives on a daily basis. They have shown the ability and capacity to bounce back from the brink and raise themselves again from the ashes to keep the Pakistani spirit alive. The year 2013 tested them to the utmost and 2014 will test them again, but the people of Pakistan know how to keep moving ahead and to perform miracles through their drive, hard work, entrepreneurship and ingenuity. They remain Pakistan’s best bet in 2014 and beyond.