The fog of peace

Many narratives led to the decisions taken at the APC. These narratives have resulted in what one could call the fog of peace, since they have misguided many and created nothing but confusion.

The main narrative that has been propagated is that in the past ten years, war operations have achieved little. The reality, though, is that military operations have cleared out the majority of all Fata agencies of terrorists, except North Waziristan. These agencies had been overrun by TTP groups who were running mini-states there, terrorising the tribals in the process.

Except for North Waziristan these mini-states have been eliminated. The TTP groups are now on the run, employing hit-and-run guerrilla tactics but schools, markets and life in general are slowly returning to normal for the tribals. The army operation in Swat was extremely successful and the difference between what Swat was like pre-operation and what it is today is day and night. Again bothering to read accounts of the people of Swat – a simple Google search – would provide much clarity.

The army has managed to clear and hold most of the territory held by the terrorists up north. However, civilian follow-up in terms of administration is lacking. The focus should be on improving this rather than propagating narratives of military failure and calls for withdrawal of the military. A transition timetable for civilian takeover should be there but that still doesn’t mean that the army has to be withdrawn completely. Those areas can have army cantonments like any other part of Pakistan.

The same narrative also argues that if army operations were so successful why do suicide bombers manage to blow up schools, buses, mosques and churches? This barbarity has little to do with the success or failure of military operations and more to do with our criminal negligence in upgrading our counterterror apparatus comprising the police and intelligence agencies. We need to upgrade our counterterrorism capabilities rather than giving out misplaced and deadly drivel about the military being a failure.

And has anyone ever considered the alternative – what if the army wasn’t there? The TTP would be enjoying near-complete autonomy, giving refuge to and training militants and making life a living hell for the locals there. Has there been collateral damage? Yes. But do people prefer TTP rule instead? No.

This brings us to the following narrative: tribals in Fata support the TTP and Al-Qaeda and are against the Pakistan Army, hence talks and using jirgas will create a wedge. Are there tribals who support the TTP? Yes – as do many Pakistanis in the state apparatus, media and civil society. If the state creates, trains and proliferates such elements for many years obviously there will be a disastrous impact on our society.

But to say that the majority of the tribals have taken up arms against the army and the state is absurd. The overwhelming majority of the locals are held hostage by the TTP. Most of the tribal Maliks and elders have been systematically killed by the TTP over the last decade. So which jirgas of elders are our politicians talking about? The jirga comprising people scared to death of the TTP?

As for those who say that this is a war against the Pakhtuns, they need to think again. This is a war against extremism and our self-created monsters that have a clearly-defined agenda. All those who believe that some injustice is being done to our so called ‘gumrah’ brothers should read up on the aims and objectives of the TTP. This war requires military action but most of all better police work, better laws, better functioning of governments and courts.

The extremists are in Karachi, Punjab and all major urban centres. Fata just happens to be a part of Pakistani territory where historically the writ of the state has always been weak. The place has now become home to all kinds of militants.

Another point commonly raised is that the choice is between carpet bombing or talks. People who think this or like this are lucky that they can break down things into such simplistic terms. Rather than making this is an anti-war/pro-war debate, it would be useful to think of this as a struggle against extremism and enemies of humanity. It is also about enforcing the state’s writ.

Then there’s the ‘give peace a chance’ narrative and the notion that history began after 9/11. First off, numerous talks have been held with the militants. The government and the army have both held talks through jirgas as well. They have finalised agreements with groups, tribes, jirgas – you name it. And each of these deals has been violated by the other side. So peace has been given plenty of chances. It’s an all-out state operation that has never been given a chance except for Swat in 2009.

Many say the TTP is a response to Gen Musharraf sending in troops to Fata, becoming part of America’s war and US drone strikes. Is Fata some other country? I think not. Second, if the TTP is aggrieved with the US war how come it is attacking and killing Pakistanis and not crossing over the border to join the fight there? How come the Haqqani network and the Afghan Taliban are not striking at Pakistanis for the same reason? And if the TTP are international agents, why are we saying they came about in response of the drone strikes then? Finally, how can taking Pakistani lives in response to an American drone strike make sense anyway?

If we want our sovereignty to be respected we have to make sure that all those elements planning attacks against us and the world are uprooted from our territory because if we don’t someone else will. Finally this extremism was created by us. We have been on the slippery slope all our history. The must read Munir Commission Report of 1954 predicted all this. We just applied steroids to the problem in the 80s and now the monster is out of control.

We have to tackle the situation and talks at this moment of weakness and confusion will only make the militants stronger. The good news is that we have the capacity to defeat them. But our army wants the public’s support. No army can fight when its dead go unnoticed and un-honoured.

This could all be turned around in one government’s term. Whether it’s the TTP, the BLA or any other armed group, Pakistan is non-negotiable. If talks could achieve this I couldn’t be happier but since they can’t, armed rebellions have to be put down with force.

The writer is a director at a consulting firm. He tweets @jerryshah. Email: jarrar.shah@gmail.com