December 16, 2014 was marked by grief and outrage. In the aftermath of the massacre of innocents at the Army Public School in Peshawar, the nation resolved to take the fight against terrorists to its logical end. Two years on, the existential threat is pushed back with the help of sustained military operations. But the battle for hearts and minds drags on. Progress on intelligence gathering/sharing and timely action on available tips to prevent more attacks is not that encouraging.
Weaknesses in the system have just been highlighted by the Qazi Faez Isa commission, set up after another horrendous attack at Jinnah Hospital, Quetta in August 2016. Their report is a stark reminder of the inadequacies of governments and lethargic administrators. The impact of the commission’s findings could be far-reaching. Even before the Isa commission’s report landed, it was evident that, while we had come out of the phase when terror masterminds could plan and execute frequent attacks at will, they were by no means out of business.
Thankfully, the purveyors of death can no longer easily recruit adolescents with promises of going to paradise where hooris would be lining up to receive them. However, the cold-blooded murderers that they are, the networks know how to combine rewards hereafter with compensation herein. The jihadi narrative is still a potent force. Both state and society have to join hands in minimising chances of young minds falling prey to these recruiters. Bold measures to prevent marginalisation and alienation in the unemployed youth by offering them opportunities are likely to succeed more than tall claims and sterile rhetoric.
Looking at the fracas after the PTI’s return to the National Assembly and the PPP’s runaway bill on the Panama leaks in the Senate, one is tempted to think that defeating terrorism is way down in the priorities of the two main opposition parties. They are engaged in dangerous brinkmanship. The prime minister meanwhile is busy inaugurating new road projects and using opportunities thus provided to impart lessons of elementary geography such as Pakistan being a splendid gateway to Central Asia.
Nawaz Sharif has regularly evoked this vision since the 1990s when the Central Asian states gained independence. Thanks to the progress on the CPEC and Gwadar, he sounds ever more optimistic about Pakistan’s pivotal position as a trade and energy corridor.
What the government spokespersons seem to overlook is the fact that this country of ours is already the sixth largest in the world in terms of population, and is the world’s tenth military power.
Pakistan can become a gateway but that would only have a small impact on our economic or social well-being. We must focus on what we can provide for our masses in terms of jobs, educational and health facilities. Investment under the CPEC will contribute to economic progress but please cut out the gateway hype. Talk to us about providing safe drinking water rather than mesmerising us with chimeras of trade routes to other countries when our own exports are sliding down.
The high-sounding spin about the CPEC becoming a game changer for three billion people has not led to enthusiasm among most Pakistanis because their own human development indices are stagnant. Their debt burden keeps rising and will rise further with the CPEC project. Tax revenues are down and you wonder how the country is going to cope with the growing mountain of debt.
The major opposition parties are doing no better with their dramatics. A smooth transition having taken place in the army’s high command, the political class has gone back to its favourite games with a vengeance. Rather than taking the government to task for its financial management, the opposition has come forward with more theatrics, hoping that pressure tactics would force the government to call fresh elections before completing its five-year term.
The dismal state of the economy is visible in the federal capital. Well-planned and properly maintained, Islamabad could have been a source of pride for the rest of the country had it also showed some productive activity. The capital city has only two industries: the NGOs and the various think tanks that produce voluminous reports and journals. Occasionally, they break the monotony with candle-lit vigils and solidarity walks. More interesting though has been the large-scale protest industry, often closely associated with the opposition parties. While the NGOs have suffered from a clamp down on their offices in residential areas, marches and rallies too have taken a hit after the government cordoned off the Red Zone.
Security threats from terror outfits were partially responsible for isolating federal institutions and the diplomatic enclave from the rest of the city. The security measures were further enhanced after Tahirul Qadri’s attempt at a peaceful revolutionary march and the PTI-PAT dharnas of 2014. Their forced entry into D-Chowk resulted in mob rule with vigilantes controlling entry to the secretariat, parliament and the Supreme Court. As a result, the PTI was strictly forbidden to penetrate the city much less the Red Zone in its latest assault on the capital in early November.
Now that the terrorist threat to the capital has receded and the PTI has returned to parliament, can we hope that all sides have learnt their lessons?, Can we hope to give the area its old, peaceful and pleasant look by removing the ugly container lines cutting off D-Chowk? Among other things, opening the area might just bring a modest revival of the fledgling protest industry.
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