Pakistan and Terrorism

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11 - the day that changed the future of this world - the Pakistan government did what was unthinkable - to advertise its support for the fight against terrorism. This incident is humorous for two reasons - the first reason being that no country has ever (in my knowledge) advertised its efforts for a holy cause, and the second and the most obvious reason is that it is the country which is the breeding site of most of the terrorist activities that are taking place today.

I would not blame today’s Pakistan government wholly for the situation there. Much what is there today is the result of the policies and practices of previous governments. The chief cause of the presence of terrorists on the soil of Pakistan is that it has been through many wars. The war of East Pakistan that lead to the formation of Bangladesh, three wars with India, and the Soviet-Afghan war. All these wars have led to the nurturing of so-called independent fighting groups by the government for achieving strategic goals. These groups are used for proxy wars and they are ideology driven self-sustained groups.

Pakistan has been long since obsessed with Kashmir. It occupies much of it illegally and considers it as its own part. No leader of Pakistan has considered Kashmir part of Indian territory. There have been numerous terrorist groups trained for the sole purpose of liberating Kashmir from India. General Pervez Musharraf had confessed that Pakistan Army used to train militant groups for fighting Indian fighters in Kashmir. The benefit of having such militant groups instead of the the Army is the deniability. If these militants are caught or killed, they cannot be associated with either with the government or the Army. Thus Pakistan gets a clean chit and the fight can continue.

The war of Afghanistan in 1991 also brought many religious extremists from all over the world to South Asia. Many of them have settled in Pakistan and have been operating since then. This has led to a mixture of terrorist groups, some home grown, some imported from Taliban in Afghanistan. And after 9/11, al-Qaeda leaders have also settled in Pakistan after US started war with Afghanistan.  

Another reason for the violence in Pakistan is the sectarian and religious conflict, mainly between Shia and Sunni supporters. Few Islamist policies enacted by the previous governments have added fuel to the fire of religious conflicts. The result is the birth of highly influential religious leaders who can bend the crowd to their willing.

The violence in Pakistan today is the mixture of the home grown terrorist groups and religious leaders. There are instances when these two merge and give rise to a single terrorist group. The Pakistan intelligence group Inter Services Intelligence, or famously known as the ISI, still gives intelligence and arms support to terrorists who share a common ideology. The Pakistani government still recognizes some terrorist groups as religious bodies. And the idea of tackling terrorism is limited to having talks with these groups.

The lesson which the Pakistani government should now learn is that terrorism and violence have no demarcations. You cannot recognize one terrorist group and hope to dismantle the other. Terrorism has to be viewed from a single agenda. It has lost much in achieving its national goals via the road of terrorism. It is true that Pakistan has lost more people in terrorist attacks than any country ever. It is true that numerous political figures have become victim of this terrorism. It is true that Pakistan is fighting Al Qaeda terrorists since US has put pressure on it. But what is also true is that substantial amount of US aid for fighting terrorists has gone in nurturing those terrorist groups which it recognizes for fighting personal wars. No amount of justification can justify the use of training militants and using violence to achieve what they consider national goals.

The advertisement in Wall Street Journal dates 9/11 has drawn much flak in the US. The people have ridiculed Pakistan’s efforts of fighting terrorism. Any common man would ask only one question - how can a country that is sponsoring terrorism, fight terrorism? The answer is not so simple. The problem that Pakistan faces today is not easy to tackle. Even if Pakistan government stops sponsoring terrorist groups today, it has a long way in fighting terrorists.

If Pakistan stops giving support to the terrorist groups and starts fighting these militants, there is hope after all. It can not only save its own Security Forces and civilians, but it can send a blow to these terrorists and save many people of the world. Pakistan is currently not fighting for the safety of 7 billion people, but it can bring peace to these people if it wants. Yes, its true, only Pakistan can do it.

A Decade After

A decade has passed by since 9/11 – an event that changed the face of this world. 9/11 was one attempt to shake the world leader position US had assumed for half a century. It was the reply of Afghan War in 1991 that hurt the sentiments of fundamentalists, who wanted to free themselves from the shackles of being under the US. 9/11 was not only a terrorist act; it was an act of liberation for millions of jihadis and fundamentalists who said that “We are still free”. Osama-bin Laden was their Pope and jihad was their Christianity.

The incident opened the eyes of US to a problem it had long since chosen to ignore – fundamentalist terrorism. It chose to ignore the snow boulder that had steadily grown since the 1991 Gulf War: al-Qaeda. And when it hurt, it hurt so much that it left such a deep scar that is probably never going to heal.

The reaction was almost immediate and expected from a world leader. It chose to strike back (something which is impossible – strategically and practically for India to do). Invasion of Iraq began barely a month later in 9/11 with war in Afghanistan. One and a half year later Saddam Hussein was toppled in 21 days into what US thought was “War on Terrorism”. Thousands of American troops fought along with British, French and German soldiers. Small amounts of contribution were even given by New Zealand, Austria and Poland. Everyone did what the leader told. They thought it was better to nip in the bud. Saddam was ousted; Iraq was restored to be a democracy, story over.

Had this been the end of the story, and US had pulled its troops out of Afghanistan, the scenario would have been different from what it is today. It would have put fear into the mind of terrorists about the brutality of American troops. But US chose to carry on the war in Afghanistan with the Taliban. That was the first mistake made by the US. Taliban was a threat, and Taliban’s support to al-Qaeda was the reason that brought at least NATO troops to the Afghan soil, majority of whom were American troops (90,000). Pakistan was strategically important to the US – and this is what fostered a long term partnership between US and Pakistan. Pakistan had US on its leverage, and Pakistan played to its weakness. This was the second mistake of the US.

Taliban fought a brave war in the US, while key elements of al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban found safe havens in a country which had its pocket money coming from US – Pakistan. US funded Pakistan government, the government funded the ISI, and the ISI with the strategic advantage of Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders – possibly Osama Bin Laden himself, strengthened the Laskar-e-Toiba and went along to fulfil its dream to terrorize India.

Thus, what happened in India can be thought as a consequence of US’s ‘three mistakes’, the third one being the decision to come out of the Afghan war by 2014 with what they suppose is their victory over the Taliban. Of course the third mistake was bound to happen, as it was a direct consequence of the first one.

One good thing that happened between all this was the killing of Osama bin Laden and that too from Pakistan. US got the much needed tangible proof that Pakistan had been playing to its interests. The finding of number 1 international terrorist near a heavily protected Military base makes any deniability impossible. Pakistan knew he was there, and Pakistan had always wanted to protect him. It was a symbiotic relationship, protection of Osama against its strategic advantage and long experience in terrorism. Although Pakistan did suffer a lot from its own home grown terrorism due to some steps it had to take to keep the money flowing, but it was much less price to pay compared to what it had in its basket.

But US has to understand one thing – terrorism a modern Raavan, it cannot be be-headed and killed. Whether it is Osama bin Laden, Illyas Kashmiri or Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, killing of leaders won’t kill the ideology. The NATO troops are losing its ground in Afghanistan, Pakistan continues to offer safe havens to terrorists, and US, though it may appear it is winning, is losing the war. The US knows it and the terrorists know it too. There is no way Afghanistan government can stop the country from becoming a terror ground once again.

For me, the primary concern is to see where the scenario is headed for India. HuJI, LeT, JuD remain active in India primarily from Kashmir and PoK. India continues to be terrorized. The terrorists are now home grown. It is high time the leaders sit together, and bring a solution to terrorism that will put a check on its powers to conduct attacks. Terrorism cannot be eradicated, at least not in our generation. The best we can do is tackling it using intelligence and strategy and not just force.

One day remains to the 10th anniversary of the event that changed the course of this world. The US has readied itself for an imminent “unconfirmed but credible” threat. Let’s hope it does not come to that. “Let us all pledge to resolve to end terrorism so that our future generations would not have to experience the bloodshed and brutality that has horrified us and shook our lives. God bless the souls who have become the target to this madness. Amen.