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Can Nawaz Sharif find the missing E?
Dr Haider Shah
Before the general elections held in May 2013, I had referred to a newspaper article written by Bruce Reidel, the strategy advisor to President Barack Obama on Afghanistan, in which he had critically examined the importance of 2013 for Pakistan and had predicted that Mian Nawaz Sharif might create history by returning to power. I, therefore, flagged up the missing E in the public pronouncements of the party as its manifesto revolved mostly around Energy, Economy and Education. The economy is the result of many determinants. No doubt, energy and education are very important determinants but we cannot ignore the importance of a stable and peaceful environment as a prerequisite for economic progress.
If one has been following Sharifs discourse over the last few years one can notice repeated mentioning of burying the past and making a new beginning. This Charter of Democracy-inspired political sagacity has helped the mainstream political parties respect the space and mandate of each other and we hope that a new era of parliamentary democracy has firmly set in. But we did not make mistakes in the realm of politics alone. We need to rethink our foreign and law and order policies as well. Our obsession with ensuring a Pakistan-friendly government in Afghanistan and imposing a solution on the Kashmir issue has given rise to various forms of extremism in the country. In Pakistan, the state has intentionally used a ****** discourse in the syllabus, media and training facilities to raise a demon that is now at the throat of the creator. It is a useless discussion who created the ****** monsters. The principle is simple. Even when the dearest pet goes wild, one has to put it to rest.
A great leader is one who can make the right decisions at the right time. Only a few leaders are able to change the course of history. The historians of tomorrow will judge Sharif either as the Kamal Ataturk of Pakistan who laid the foundation of a new Pakistan by finding a regional solution to the shared problem of terrorism, or he would be condemned as a leader lacking in vision and foresight who despite clear public support failed to turn a security state into a welfare state. Sleeping over grave existentialist threats is not a policy at all. Just as the government geared into action on the energy issue from day one, there is a need to show similar urgency in the case of the extremism problem. I am not suggesting that tanks should have started rolling towards the tribal areas the day after the new government took the oath of office, but some timeline for tackling extremism should have been shared with the nation.
Neither an ill-planned operation is the solution of militancy nor can negotiations alone redeem us from this difficult situation. What is needed is a comprehensive anti-terrorism strategy that does not rest on any ideological belief or a preconceived notion. The plain facts are that there are a few militant groups in the country who are based in ungoverned spaces and openly challenge the writ of the state. In Balochistan a small force comprising some disgruntled Baloch rebels is calling for independence. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Karachi and some parts of Punjab and Balochistan, jihad-inspired militants under the overall command of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are busy in a bloody insurgency against the state. In Karachi small groups of criminal gangs enjoying political patronage are adding another dimension to the already complex law and order situation. The insurgency of Baloch nationalists is region-specific and can be resolved with a political settlement. The religion-inspired insurgency is, however, more complex as it has ingredients of anti-US ****** warriors, sectarian killers, idealist obscurantists who wish to first destroy the existing state along anarchist lines and then establish their imagined ideal society.
A comprehensive strategy would require a holistic approach where the government can use negotiations and military operations as part of a counterterrorism strategy. At times it is argued that as the US is negotiating with the Taliban in Doha we should also negotiate with the Taliban. It is conveniently forgotten by such claimants that the Afghan Taliban were ousted in a country where there was never a constitutional government. They are, therefore, a stakeholder in any future arrangement of Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban and sectarian hatemongers have never ruled our country. They can be offered a chance to return to mainstream society but the offer should be time-specific and should not be for more than two months. If the offer is wasted then a comprehensive anti-terrorism policy be pursued with no ifs and buts. If India has not surrendered to the Naxalites despite a decades old insurgency, why should the state surrender to a handful of terrorists in Pakistan?
Mohammad Ali Jinnah had promised in his maiden speech in the Constituent Assembly that Pakistanis would enjoy religious freedom in a progressive and thriving Pakistan. Can Sharif prove himself a genuine successor of Jinnah? For that he will have to pursue his vision of a thriving and peaceful Pakistan by asserting his authority on all institutions of Pakistan that matter in decision-making. Sharif can be a strong candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize if he establishes peaceful and friendly relations with the neighbouring countries, especially India and Afghanistan, and delinks our foreign policy from ****** elements. The energy crisis affects everyone and so does extremism. Like energy, extremism can also not be defeated with a business as usual approach. The Prime Ministers first major task is, therefore, to find the missing E of extremism that seems to be lost in the conflicting statements of various organs of the state.
The writer teaches public policy in the UK and is the founding member of the Rationalist Society of Pakistan.
Dr Haider Shah
Before the general elections held in May 2013, I had referred to a newspaper article written by Bruce Reidel, the strategy advisor to President Barack Obama on Afghanistan, in which he had critically examined the importance of 2013 for Pakistan and had predicted that Mian Nawaz Sharif might create history by returning to power. I, therefore, flagged up the missing E in the public pronouncements of the party as its manifesto revolved mostly around Energy, Economy and Education. The economy is the result of many determinants. No doubt, energy and education are very important determinants but we cannot ignore the importance of a stable and peaceful environment as a prerequisite for economic progress.
If one has been following Sharifs discourse over the last few years one can notice repeated mentioning of burying the past and making a new beginning. This Charter of Democracy-inspired political sagacity has helped the mainstream political parties respect the space and mandate of each other and we hope that a new era of parliamentary democracy has firmly set in. But we did not make mistakes in the realm of politics alone. We need to rethink our foreign and law and order policies as well. Our obsession with ensuring a Pakistan-friendly government in Afghanistan and imposing a solution on the Kashmir issue has given rise to various forms of extremism in the country. In Pakistan, the state has intentionally used a ****** discourse in the syllabus, media and training facilities to raise a demon that is now at the throat of the creator. It is a useless discussion who created the ****** monsters. The principle is simple. Even when the dearest pet goes wild, one has to put it to rest.
A great leader is one who can make the right decisions at the right time. Only a few leaders are able to change the course of history. The historians of tomorrow will judge Sharif either as the Kamal Ataturk of Pakistan who laid the foundation of a new Pakistan by finding a regional solution to the shared problem of terrorism, or he would be condemned as a leader lacking in vision and foresight who despite clear public support failed to turn a security state into a welfare state. Sleeping over grave existentialist threats is not a policy at all. Just as the government geared into action on the energy issue from day one, there is a need to show similar urgency in the case of the extremism problem. I am not suggesting that tanks should have started rolling towards the tribal areas the day after the new government took the oath of office, but some timeline for tackling extremism should have been shared with the nation.
Neither an ill-planned operation is the solution of militancy nor can negotiations alone redeem us from this difficult situation. What is needed is a comprehensive anti-terrorism strategy that does not rest on any ideological belief or a preconceived notion. The plain facts are that there are a few militant groups in the country who are based in ungoverned spaces and openly challenge the writ of the state. In Balochistan a small force comprising some disgruntled Baloch rebels is calling for independence. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, Karachi and some parts of Punjab and Balochistan, jihad-inspired militants under the overall command of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are busy in a bloody insurgency against the state. In Karachi small groups of criminal gangs enjoying political patronage are adding another dimension to the already complex law and order situation. The insurgency of Baloch nationalists is region-specific and can be resolved with a political settlement. The religion-inspired insurgency is, however, more complex as it has ingredients of anti-US ****** warriors, sectarian killers, idealist obscurantists who wish to first destroy the existing state along anarchist lines and then establish their imagined ideal society.
A comprehensive strategy would require a holistic approach where the government can use negotiations and military operations as part of a counterterrorism strategy. At times it is argued that as the US is negotiating with the Taliban in Doha we should also negotiate with the Taliban. It is conveniently forgotten by such claimants that the Afghan Taliban were ousted in a country where there was never a constitutional government. They are, therefore, a stakeholder in any future arrangement of Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban and sectarian hatemongers have never ruled our country. They can be offered a chance to return to mainstream society but the offer should be time-specific and should not be for more than two months. If the offer is wasted then a comprehensive anti-terrorism policy be pursued with no ifs and buts. If India has not surrendered to the Naxalites despite a decades old insurgency, why should the state surrender to a handful of terrorists in Pakistan?
Mohammad Ali Jinnah had promised in his maiden speech in the Constituent Assembly that Pakistanis would enjoy religious freedom in a progressive and thriving Pakistan. Can Sharif prove himself a genuine successor of Jinnah? For that he will have to pursue his vision of a thriving and peaceful Pakistan by asserting his authority on all institutions of Pakistan that matter in decision-making. Sharif can be a strong candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize if he establishes peaceful and friendly relations with the neighbouring countries, especially India and Afghanistan, and delinks our foreign policy from ****** elements. The energy crisis affects everyone and so does extremism. Like energy, extremism can also not be defeated with a business as usual approach. The Prime Ministers first major task is, therefore, to find the missing E of extremism that seems to be lost in the conflicting statements of various organs of the state.
The writer teaches public policy in the UK and is the founding member of the Rationalist Society of Pakistan.
