counter terrorism policy

Sheema Mehkar

Dear Mr. Khan,

Before I proceed, please honor my request to call you Khan Sb like majority does. Khan Sb, without any hesitation I declare to be a proud supporter of PTI. On May 11, 2013, I casted my first ever vote to Imran Khan; for believing in all what PTI made me dreamt. Khan Sb, I accept, I haven’t done anything substantive for PTI to prove my adoration and respect for you. I might be standing far away from reality, with the most ignorant mind and incompetent soul. I am obligated to admit it here because many would question my right to say whatever I am going to say. Others might comment as if you don’t know and (Ah!) it is easy said than done. Khan Sb, I also seek pardon in advance as I never talked to anyone big like yourself. All this may sound gushy nonsensical rhetoric and probably no one on this planet would ever understand it. But, Khan Sb, you surely will understand. I am very sure of that.

Unlike many, Khan Sb, I am privileged to reside in the safest zone of Islamabad. I am blessed not to experience any loss of my dear ones in any terror blasts. Other night, a mere thunder made me fell off the bed subconsciously imagining if it’s a bomb blast outside and I am about to die. Khan Sb, we have reached at a verge of ‘agony’. Pakistan is sinking in the flood of terrorism and extremism; you know more than I do that where we are heading to. So, let me jump to the conclusion. Khan Sb, prior to the elections PTI claimed to be the only party well armed with ‘Counter Terrorism Policy’. Condemnations are becoming futile. Sympathies now get scars deepen and breed more hatred. People now prefer politicians to stay mute instead of uttering callous statements and making fake promises; they have stopped believing, Khan Sb. With huge disappointment, the same condemning statements are dragging PTI in parallel to the other parties and significantly your kind self to other politicians. The later aspect is a bigger woe as people really want to believe in you, Khan Sb. But, if the course remains the same; I worry, it might not last long, Khan Sb. For a second, I, like million others, can’t doubt your intention and integrity. But, Khan Sb, time is very cruel. It doesn’t weigh one as who has good intentions, but, who ‘did’ and who ‘didn’t’. The question is not that you don’t want or you can’t or you will not, but, when??

What if APC for yet another time will prove a fiasco? What if COAS will not agree in holding ‘closed-door-meetings’ with you? What if truth will never be told to you? What if Government will not come up with any strategy? That means we should stop hoping that somebody will save us? A deep-seated confusion persists on the subject matter, driving everyone’s head go spun. Khan Sb, I tell you, people vouch for your words. So, are you sure you are as clear on it as you are on the issues like rigging and governance in KPK?, I dare to ask. People are least concerned as whose war is this, what ‘behind the stage’ is going on and how complicated things are; they want one thing, ‘a solution’. They are ready to sleep with empty bellies, but, not with empty homes. Yes, I second, unless the complete truth is known strategies can’t be made. If nothing else, bring to us the policy that PTI claimed to have. Begin it with “as per the available information and truth…”, we will understand, Khan Sb. All this is not for a political sixer, but, those searching for a clue and direction may take guidance from it; even if it is of minute help.

Khan Sb, you made us believe in “Iyyaka Na’budu Wa Iyyaka Nasta’een”, ‘will’ we can witness, clearly, your bona fide demeanor is a testimony to that. Now a ‘substantive struggle’ beyond ‘…we strongly condemn’ rhetoric is awaited. I strongly wish some extraordinary upshot from the Government, but, all the expectations are decaying with each passing day. Khan Sb, people look up to you as their last hope and hopes bonded to you are too strong to die. But, there exists a fact: emotions are indigent of physical achievements. The clock is ticking and we are dying. Khan Sb, please save us!

(Sheema Mehkar is a Business Graduate from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Currently she is working in an educational institution as a Faculty Development Program Officer.)

Also published in The Frontier Post

More than 41,000 Pakistanis have been killed in terrorism related violence since 2003, including more than 2,000 casualties only in the first four months of 2012. Yet, apart from military operations in Swat and FATA, Pakistani state has not yet come up with a holistic counter-terrorism strategy; a strategy broad enough to include counter-extremism aspect in order to counter the dangerous narratives which motivate people to commit terrorist activities. Some government initiatives such as the inception of National Counter-Terrorism Authority could not be materialized probably because of the lack of political will from the state actors.

Khudi invited experts to discuss these issues and to make recommendations as to what role the government, international community, civil society, activists and the intelligentsia can play in dealing with the multi-faceted problem of terrorism.

Khudi team explained “The Blueprint for a National Counter-extremism Strategy”, highlighting five components of the strategy:

1) Counter-insurgency

2) Counter-terrorism

3) Counter-radicalization

4) De-radicalization

5) Integration

Lt General (R) Talat Masood, a renowned defence analyst, criticized Pakistan’s foreign policy from Afghan War onward in terms of patronizing jihad and harbingering international militants. Khawaja Khalid Farooq, the head of the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), took a defensive stance about the failures of law-enforcement agencies, owing to the absence of a supporting legal framework.

Muhammad Amir Rana, the Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, took on the extremist narrative prevalent all over society as the primary cause of failure of counter-terrorism policy. He added that the state does not seem sincere in tackling with non-state actors and that there should be zero-tolerance for all sorts of militant organizations involved in terrorism.

Khalid Masud, former chairman of Council of Islamic Ideology, pointed to the responsibility of religious scholars in countering the spread of extremism. He said that religious scholars need to develop consensus on the justificatory paradigms behinds acts of terrorism which include issues of “Takfir” and “Khuruj”.

The talks were followed by intensive questions and answers session. But owing to complexity of the problems, great many questions are still unanswered.