Terror requires a tough response

PML-N’s first month in office was tough for several reasons: forming the federal cabinet, putting together a coalition regime in Balochistan, announcing the federal budget, and taking a stance on the treason case against Pervez Musharraf and reopening money laundering cases in Switzerland.

But the challenge that could prove lethal for the government is the surge in terrorist attacks. On June 3, an MPA of the KPK Assembly was shot dead in Hangu. In subsequent violent protests, eleven persons were killed. In a breakthrough later on, Islamabad Police arrested the MPA’s killers. On June 15, in three organised terrorist attacks the Quaid-e-Azam Residency in Ziarat was destroyed, and in Quetta, fourteen people (including the city’s Deputy Commissioner) were killed in Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University, and Bolan Medical Complex.

The terrorist attack on June 18 was the bloodiest single attack wherein a suicide bomber blew himself up during funeral prayers in a graveyard in Shergarh, Mardan, killing twenty eight people including a newly-elected MPA, and injuring fifty-seven others. June 21 was the worst day. Fourteen persons were killed and thirty injured when a suicide bomber blew himself in a Madrassa in Peshawar. In Karachi, an MPA of the MQM and his son were gunned down near a mosque and two persons were killed and twenty others injured in an attack on an Imambargah.

On June 23, terrorists (reportedly 18) wearing the uniforms of Gilgit Scouts stormed the Nanga Parbat base camp of a group of foreign mountain climbers in the Himalayan valley, and tortured and killed all nine of them, as well as their Pakistani guide and cook.

On June 26, in truly-shocking act Justice Maqbool Baqar of Sindh High Court was targeted while being escorted to his office. That blast killed nine people including five security personnel, and badly injured Justice Baqar and fourteen others, of which six were policemen.

On June 30, according to initial reports, in two attacks on military convoys (one in Badaber and another in Miran Shah) 22 soldiers and civilians were killed, and forty-six others were injured. It was feared that, despite all efforts, some of the critically injured may not survive. The same evening, a suicide bomber blew himself in Quetta’s Hazara locality that has been the target of religious extremists. As per initial reports, twenty-eight people had died. While the injured were being counted, the fear was the number of casualties will rise.

These attacks (fortunately, none in Punjab) targeted Karachi, the KPK and Balochistan, and forced many to wonder about what was going on. Whatever the reason be thereof, the fact is that this scenario is hurting the image of Pakistan when it badly needs global support.

Prior to this spate of terrorist attacks a positive development was IMF’s agreeing to meet Pakistani officials in Islamabad (this time not in Dubai), to discuss the modalities of extending another loan to Pakistan (hopefully) before the expiry of the current loan.

These terrorist acts surely hurt the IMF negotiators’ confidence, which gave rise to more suspicions about the perpetrators of these terrorist acts. Chaos in Pakistan, that frequently disrupts its economic activity, prevents it from generating the repayment capacity that lenders look to.

Nor do such tragedies inspire investors to invest in Pakistan, or foreign countries to open their markets wider for (uncertain) exports from Pakistan. This developing scenario defies what was expected after a pro-business PML-N regime took over the government in Pakistan.

Given these expectations, attacks on foreign tourists and a judge of the high court were overly discouraging, and a worrying aspect of terrorism is that security personnel are being targeted, which will weaken the commitment of the front liners therein. The reason there for is that, besides training the police in combating terrorism, no federal or provincial regime ever bothered about key operational aspects ie adequacy of detective and protective gadgetry, bullet-proof personnel carriers, modern telecom facilities and helicopters for the security services.

This neglect went on despite the fact that beginning 2005, terrorism became a far bigger threat. Even after the deadly attack on the procession accompanying Benazir Bhutto after her arrival in Karachi, and later her broad daylight assassination, things didn’t improve.

This neglect is the result of posting cronies (usually incompetent) in senior ranks, who focus on serving vested interests, not on their legal and professional obligations, and no government lifted the citizen-police ratio to enforce and maintain order in a chaotic country like Pakistan.

This was highlighted in a detailed 3-part article (published in December 2009 in Business Recorder) based on facts and statistics as of end-November 2009, and comparative figures obtained from Scotland Yard. The exercise showed huge deficiencies in Pakistan’s police force.

At a time when citizen-police ratio in a law abiding city like London was 155:1, the citizen-frontline police ratio (police numbers covering inspector to constable ranks) in the Punjab was 540:1. In Karachi it was 450:1, in KPK 396:1, in Balochistan 194:1, and in Sindh it was 191:1.

In a chaos-ridden Pakistan, these ratios should be four times their current levels and huge inadequacies in other areas pointed out above, had to be remedied; but, compared to these failures, criminal gangs (some backed by political parties) have grown, and are well-equipped.

They have lethal arms, ammunition and a variety of explosive devices that they use freely, posing a threat that the law enforcers now find hard to counter. This is a scenario that demands an organised deweaponization campaign, which the government is reluctant to carry out.

This reluctance creates doubts about the sincerity of the government in office; harsher reactions accuse it of involvement in crime. This state of affairs is hurting Pakistan, and the damage caused may become irreversible if immediate steps are not taken to contain crime.

What the government must do first is to quickly increase the front-line strength of the police force; an option it can consider is hiring the retired but fit members of the armed forces – a lot that is already trained, and can do a far better job in combating terrorism.

An organised deweaponisation campaign – the need of the hour – cannot be conducted purposefully without a large force that is trained in this kind of operations, and also feels secure with the protective gadgetry provided to each of the front-line officers and soldiers.

It is time the government took this issue seriously and sought help from its “strategic allies” (ask Britain and the US for a few thousand bullet-proof jackets and helmets, and 50 bullet-proof vehicles). Surely, these ‘strategic allies’ would do so, if not for free then on 10-year credit terms. The fact that terrorists routinely kill the innocent (including those praying in mosques) manifests that they don’t care either for humanity or for faith. You can negotiate with humans, not monsters; you must fight them to the end – though painful, that’s the only option you have.