Like in 1971, Pakistan today is again confronted with difficult
choices. Any wrong move or ill-considered decision by its government at
this stage can result in the repeat of the history of dismemberment of
Pakistan. It is time to call a spade a spade and not live in a fool’s
paradise.
Pakistan was created as an Islamic state and not a Muslim state.
All non-Muslims have equal rights in this country. All sects must
refrain from criticising one another. The army belongs to the state and
the country does not belong to the army alone. Thus, military takeovers
are a heinous crime which must not go unpunished. Democracy has been
uprooted too often and not allowed to reform itself through experience.
Our public seems to be quite tolerant of corruption, poor law and order,
inflation, poor health facilities, shortage of electricity and gas, bad
education, lack of civic facilities, inadequate housing facilities,
absence of clean drinking water and a host of other ills. However, they
are extremely intolerant of beliefs and views of other sects and want to
impose their own version of beliefs on others by force.
Pakistan’s security environment is a cause for serious concern. The
size of India’s armed forces continues to grow. New inductions of
weapons, equipment, aircraft and ships are continuing and cannot be ignored by Pakistan.
The combat ratio of conventional forces vis-a-vis Pakistan’s armed
forces is greatly in favour of India: the Indian Army is three times,
the Indian Air Force five times and India’s navy seven times that of
Pakistan — and the gaps are widening. Pakistan has enjoyed friendly
relation with Afghanistan in the past, but of late, ties have
deteriorated. The reason is the so-called ‘war on terror’ where Afghans
have become implicated because of unwise policies of the Taliban
government of the 1990s when it provided shelter to Osama bin Laden. The
Afghans are now fed up with 30 years of war and blame foreign powers
like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Pakistan for their woes. Despite the fact
that Pakistan has accommodated five million Afghan refugees for
decades, the educated Afghan elite in Afghanistan and abroad put all the
blame for their miseries on us. At present, Afghanistan is raising an
army of around 400,000 soldiers, financed and equipped by America. Such a
large force is out of proportion to the size of the country with a
population of around 30 million. Since threat perception is based on
capabilities and not intentions, such a large army on its western flank
is a source of concern for Pakistan.
Today, the internal threat to Pakistan is far more serious and lethal
than the external one. The so-called ‘war on terror’ has created a
serious insurgency situation inside the country. The fight against
terror cannot be termed war since it cannot be won by military force. It
is basically a dialectic of ideas, beliefs, convictions and
perceptions, which can best be countered by negotiations, discussions
and arbitrations. Lack of communication between the antagonists draws
them into an armed confrontation, which creates a climate of insurgency.
Non-state actors are another internal threat who challenge the writ of the government.
They operate as gangs, mafias and underground crime cartels. Karachi
today is in the grip of such elements. There are other elements who take
law into their hands in the name of religion. They are extremely lethal
since they are highly motivated and go for the kill even at peril to
their own lives. These are misguided youth who can be reformed through
indoctrination. Other than that, the weak moral fibre of law-enforcement
personnel, who are prone to accepting bribes for ignoring terrorist
activities, also magnifies the internal threat. We must try to improve
our ties with both Afghanistan and India. And as for Balochistan, the
killers of Nawab Akbar Bugti should be tried, Quetta airport should be
named after the Nawab and all missing persons must be traced, recovered
and rehabilitated.
Dictators have not allowed Pakistan’s political institutions to mature.
Repeated military takeovers and abrogation of constitutions by the army
have been the bane of our times. The problem lies with the people who
accept military hegemony and do not revolt against it. This may be due
to poor awareness of the advantages of democracy. However, one cannot
totally blame the public since the political leadership accepts military
coups initially and welcomes dictators with open arms. It is only after
the noose tightens around their necks that they start denouncing
dictatorship. Once democracy is restored politicians become hyperactive.
In their effort to grab power, they deride one another and don’t seem
to care too much about the very important issue of law and order. Thus, a
democratic rule leads to another military rule once the image of the
democratic government is tarnished. Therefore, the blame for military
takeovers is to be equally shared by the military and politicians and
both must be made answerable to the public for the failure of democracy
in Pakistan. The political opposition, for its part, also does not do
its job properly. For instance, policy matters are not debated
diligently by the opposition, nor are position papers written on
economic, defence, diplomatic and financial policies. Pakistan’s
enemies, from within and without, are taking advantage of this state of
affairs. Clerics of different sects have no tolerance for one another’s
views and are quick to label one another an ‘infidel’.
The way forward for Pakistan is that the civilian government should
directly take charge of the ‘war on terror’ and appoint a committee of
experts to direct the effort. The experts should be drawn from the
general public but should have requisite experience and knowledge to be
able to guide and steer the war effort. This war should have been fought
as an intelligence operation with the military standing by as a force
in being. The military should now gradually extricate itself and hand
over operations to the intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces.
The army, however, should be tasked to prevent infiltration from the
Afghan side by maintaining a fence line 10 kilometres east of the Durand
Line or as decided by the command. Fata should be declared a province
and its administration handed over to elected representatives. Since we
are a nuclear power, we must drastically reduce our defence expenditure
and divert the resources freed up accordingly to other uses.