Asked for charge sheet

Head of PPP Media Cell

Pakistan foreign and security policies have come to the dead end even after bearing prohibitive cost both in blood and treasure in the war of others. We have lost seventy thousand lives, our economy is in tatters, extremism and terrorism suffocating the national life, our relations with the world are at the lowest ebb and our image in the international community is as offender tacitly engaged in against world peace and security. The international community’s recent indictment in Paris may prove as redemption in disguise for Pakistan because our state institutions continued the policies of dictator Ziaul Haq both within and without despite the civilians’ consistent persuasion to the contrary. Dawn Leaks was the recent manifestation of the same mindset that might have led to the clash of institutions leading to vitriolic political situation the country was embroiled in today.

There is no escape and the country has to face the challenges head on with clarity and commitment because half-baked policies have backfired, as always. The international community is not going to settle less than total de-legitimisation of proscribed organisations those are on the UN Security list as terrorist outfits based in Pakistan. The well-entrenched perception all around is that the country’s agencies have been supporting and retaining them to use as cat paw against the foreign and local anti-establishment forces. But, now that seems untenable because the world has decided to tighten the screws on them giving no more benefit of doubt. The pro-democratic forces may take it as redeeming feature those are keen to build pluralistic Pakistan at ease with itself and the world as per the vision of the Founder of the nation.

The successive civilian leaderships undoubtedly wanted to marginalise the non-state actors but could not because the powerful state institutions considered them as an asset but have proved eventually sickening liability. As one former IG police has maintained in his op-ed page article, ‘no non-state actor can exist without the support from visible and invisible state elements and certain external players’. Pakistan security and foreign policy may be largely now perceived as an instrument of isolationism reinforcing Einstein’s naivety. Ironically, the policy planners continued to suffer in the self-denial syndrome. Their scapegoating strategy had come to dead end along with the inventors/operators of the narrative. Those who did not learn from past mistakes, like in our case, were doomed to repeat the same thus paving the way to the hell, though with good intentions.

The assertion of Finance Adviser Miftah Ismail to the effect that putting of Pakistan in the ‘Grey List’ of FATF in June this year will not hurt the economy of the country is indeed delusional by any stretch of imagination. He is wrong. For, international financial institutions will not deal with Pakistan as business as usual but as a suspect subject to lengthy scrutiny procedures. Besides, the most disturbing aspect is the image of the country that has taken nosedive with massive ting of unforgiving ignominy. The adviser’s oversimplification may be described as the sheer hollowness of his sense of proportion. It is like rubbing the salt in the wound of the nation. Frankly, our abject failure to contain money laundering and open collection of funds by the terrorist organisations listed in the UN Security Council resolution did not give Pakistan pathway out of labyrinth this time.

The indictment of the world is indeed blot in the face of the formulators of the country’s security and foreign policies who have brought the country to this lamentable pass. They may be squarely responsible for putting the nation out in the open as one step behind to be declared as country surreptitiously engaged against world’s peace and security. Yes enemies are out there to embarrass Pakistan and what else is expected of them? Our mandarins facilitated them through their stupidity expecting the international community can be fooled while playing on the both sides of the street. We asked for it and we got it to the disgust of the nation. We need no foreign enemy because we have enough of them within our fold.Heart-achingly, Pakistan is starved of good news as bad news keep on pouring in quick succession. The embarrassment of grotesque scale is FATF decision to put Pakistan in its “Grey List” in June this year that may lead to a national embarrassment if the government’s Action Plan fails to convince the international community to implement the Security Council resolution in letter and spirit.

Earlier, Pakistan delegates successfully tried to win over the support of Saudi Arabia, China and Turkey to scuttle the motion but foreign minister’s premature tweeter against the FATT decision to release the outcome of Paris meeting proved as spanner in the works. In the next session, Saudi Arabia withdrew the support under pressure of the US and China followed clearing the way against Pakistan. It was akin to double jeopardy. In the first place, it was clear indictment against Pakistan for its failure to take obligatory steps to contain money laundering enabling the terrorist outfits to use it for the furtherance of their toxic agenda. Secondly, the government had also failed to stop the fund raising activities by the proscribed outfits those were on the terrorist lists of the United Nation’s Security Council. It may be self-explanatory to mention that the names of (FIF) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa appeared first time in the list of proscribed organisations issued by the government of Pakistan January this year.

How embarrassing for the Pakistani nation that the government failed to undertake the international obligation with matching seriousness. The whole world has put its seal of approval on charge sheet against the country. Our closest friends like Saudi Arabia and China also abandoned us high and dry. While our security and foreign policy planners telling the tale with lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The latest meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) under chairmanship of the prime minister was giving the impression of abject sense of total loss, and the body language of the participants was manifestly endorsing the narrative—fault is not in our stars but in ourselves. Browbeating by the international community in the shape of isolation is right here at our door steps.

According to the press release issued after the (NSC) meeting last week, it was underscored to shift the focus of the country’s policies to the region as new instrument of promoting national interests. Better late than never although much water has already flown under the bridges. Pall seemed had been finally lifted from the senses and understanding of the movers and shakers only after paying the prohibitive price at the altar of national dignity and image. Although, our over-extended security and foreign policy narrative had reached the dead end long ago demanding paradigm shift and deep introspection.

But the power be remained adamant, like always, held its guns only to push the country in the international dock as terrorism sponsoring country. The isolation of Pakistan has come to full circle that must have jolted the security establishment in particular that assumed at its own the role of an exclusive architect in the domains of foreign and security policies. According to Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, the domestic constituencies have hijacked the foreign and security policies those equate institutional interest with national interest. Nothing can be more hostile to the country. The civilian governments generally opted out keeping the survival strategy as their prime preference. Their attempts to reclaim their legitimate space were successfully foiled by the state institutions through their propped up proxies which were well known in the public domain.

Pakistan foreign and security policies of dictators and of the same mindset afterwards may be largely responsible for causing successive national faux pas for the country. The inspiring exception was the watch of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as the foreign minister and as prime minister when it was full of dynamism and as such broke new strategic grounds in the field those accrued immense strategic and diplomatic dividends to the country. The country was riding the wave of high esteem among the Asia African countries in general and in the Muslim world in particular, the highest point was the Islamic Summit in Lahore in 1972. ZAB’s laying the foundation and maturing of the country’s nuclear programme, augmented by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto with the induction of state of the art delivery system and Nawaz Sharif proving the credentials of country’s nuclear prowess in 1998, were the extraordinary achievements for making country’s defence full spectrum in the real sense of the word. It secured territorial integrity in absolute terms.

Pakistan had suffered no territorial loss since as earlier such losses were the despicable legacies of military dictators — dismemberment of Pakistan and Indian occupation of Siachin and Kargil debacle. Civilian Prime Minister Feroze Khan Noon added Gwadar - now jewel in the crown - in the landmass of the country. Nation’s highest tributes to the vision of the successive civilian leaderships that effectively pre-empted the outreach of India’s nuclear blackmail against Pakistan. Pakistan is safe because of the civilian elected prime ministers who made the defence of the country impregnable. Without nuclear deterrence Pakistan would have been a tasty morsel for India.

muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com