Author: Irfan Husain
Publication: Dawn
Date: April 18, 2009
URL: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/irfan-husain-sleepwalking-to-disaster
When faced with a frightening civil war and
reeling from repeated blows from a ruthless and determined foe, how does our
government react? It puts the country's clocks forward by an hour. I suppose
this is one of the few things it can do to show it exists at all.
The rest of us can be excused for doubting
the presence of an administration, given the slide and drift we have been
seeing over the last year. As the Taliban have made rapid inroads, and now
strut about with greater impunity - to say nothing of immunity - than ever
before, it has been painful to watch how ineffective the PPP-led coalition
has been.
When her widower, Asif Zardari, signed that
infamous instrument of surrender known as the Nizam-i-Adl, Benazir Bhutto
must have turned in her grave. Whatever else she might have been accused of
in her lifetime, even her worst enemies concede she was a courageous fighter.
And although the original demand for Sharialaw in Malakand surfaced during
her tenure in 1994, I doubt very much that she would have surrendered the
state's writ as easily as this government has done.
Another major politician who would have thoroughly
disapproved of the turn of events in Swat and elsewhere is Khan Abdul Wali
Khan. The late father of ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, a member of the ruling
coalition, was an avowed secularist. His National Awami Party was committed
to Bacha Khan's democratic ideals and struggled to keep religion separate
from politics. The sight of his son cravenly handing over Swat (with the NWFP
to follow) to the Taliban would have broken the tough old Pashtun leader's
heart.
To their credit, a handful of politicians
did not roll over as the Nizam-i-Adl was propelled smoothly through the National
Assembly. My old friend Ayaz Amir made sure this law did not pass without
some serious doubts being expressed. And the MQM lived up to its secular credentials,
although I would have been happier if they had resisted rather than boycotted
the proceedings. By contrast, the PPP succumbed and feebly maintained the
party line of surrender.
But the deed is done, and we are left to face
the consequences of the government's gutless display. However, we must also
accept the fact that we are where we are because the army refused to fight
the Taliban in Swat. It can be argued that due to this lack of military resolve,
the provincial and federal governments had few options. But surely, given
political will, the administration had enough resources at its disposal to
confront around 5,000 militants.
This resounding defeat is the cumulative result
of years of pandering to extremists. Partly, this happened because the army
thought it expedient to use them to further its agenda in Afghanistan and
Kashmir. But mainly, it is due to the massive confusion about the true nature
of the threat. After my column ('The high cost of defeat') appeared in this
space last week, I must have received at least a score of emails accusing
me of, among other things, not wanting a dialogue with the Taliban. Several
readers asked why I did not wish to treat the militants as errant brothers,
and reason with them.
I wrote back saying that if any brother of
mine went around blowing people up, and chopping off the heads of innocent
people, I would want him locked up and tried for murder. No society anywhere
advocates negotiations with known killers, whatever their stated motives.
This exchange goes to the heart of the muddled
thinking that has thus far characterised our response to the Taliban threat.
TV channels are full of so-called religious scholars and conservative pundits
who have tried to justify the deal, assuring us that it would bring peace
to Swat. While the gullible might buy this line, I paid more attention to
a recent statement by Muslim Khan, the Swat Taliban spokesman. He is quoted
as saying that "Muslims should take up arms instead of laying them down".
Thus, he has already broken a key provision of the deal that called for the
militants to disarm.
Asif Zardari has declared that the deal brings
Islamic justice, and not the Sharia, to Swat. Tell that to the women who can
no longer leave their homes without their husband's permission and to the
thousands of young girls deprived of an education. And just to remind the
government who's in charge, Maulana Sufi Mohammed has declared that under
the deal, those militants who terrorised Swat during their year-long campaign,
cannot be tried for the murders and other atrocities they committed. So much
for swift justice.
Over the last year, as the Taliban have edged
closer to seizing control of the state, the country's rulers have been indulging
in irrelevant power plays. First it was about the reinstatement of the chief
justice; then it was the Punjab government being sacked; and now the government
and the opposition are squabbling over the implementation of the Charter of
Democracy. Meanwhile, Gen Kayani is travelling the globe instead of seeing
to the country's defence.
And as the economy falters and stalls, the
rest of the world is being asked to rescue us yet again. We are telling the
Americans that we will not accept any strings to their assistance, while the
Friends of Pakistan are being told that the country will collapse without
a bailout. In some ways, we are holding a begging bowl in one hand, and a
raised middle finger in the other. If we had a third hand, it would be holding
a gun to our head. In fact, this is now our preferred negotiation mode.
It would help a lot if the government had
a coherent plan to combat the militant menace. In fact, Pakistanis as well
as the international community would welcome some sign that somebody in the
government is doing some serious thinking. So far, we have been fed with clichés
and idiotic waffle. Perhaps this absence of any sensible policy is even scarier
than the continuing inaction. It seems the government is sleepwalking its
way to disaster, with our leaders more interested in scoring political points
than doing their duty, and fighting the Taliban threat.
We have been told that somehow, the government
will separate the 'moderate' Taliban from the really bad guys and talk to
the former, while using force against the latter. I wonder if the abandoned
and terrorised people of Swat can tell the difference.
- irfan.husain@gmail.com
