Pakistan - The missing narrative

Arif Nizami

“Pakistan has become a country where mothers are afraid even to send their children to school.”

Of course it rings true as schools all over the country are shut down for security concerns since the dastardly attack on Peshawar Army School in which 142 children were massacred by TTP terrorists. But these words coming from the prime minister are a strong denouement of the sad state of affairs.

The job description of any government is to provide security to its citizens. Sharif, while speaking to Pakistanis in Bahrain, assured them that military courts had been established as a result of passage of the 21stamendment to ensure that such an incident never took place again.

The prime minister thinks that people who slaughter others do not deserve any sympathy. Of course he is right on all counts. But why has the stark reality only hit home now?

The inability to ensure physical safety of citizens, including children, is a collective and accumulative failure of not just the politicians but of all the stakeholders. In fact setting up of military courts is an admission of breakdown of the state structure under a democratic dispensation.

Military courts are a remedy of the last resort, applied only after the justice system and the prosecution process has completely collapsed. It is also an admission of lack of political will on the part of civilian institutions including the judiciary to deal a deathblow to the terrorists.

Claiming ad nauseam that extraordinary circumstances need extraordinary measures almost sounds like a hollow cliché. Terrorists of the TTP brand have been on the rampage for years now. But the state structure lacked the political will to deal with them not only because it did not have the physical capacity but also owing to its deeply flawed narrative.

Now, after a shotgun marriage brokered by the army, military courts are being portrayed as an omnibus panacea. But in fact they only scratch the surface of a multifaceted problem.

Military courts are a remedy of the last resort, applied only after the justice system and the prosecution process has completely collapsed

The spirit of unity and ostensible bonhomie demonstrated at the APC (All Parties Conference) of parliamentarians in the immediate aftermath of the Peshawar incident is fast dissipating. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman — after initially agreeing to the constitutional amendment at the APC and later refusing to vote for it in Parliament — is now on the rampage against military courts and the definition of terrorism under them.

Fazl has been able to galvanise a motley crowd of ulema, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, against perceived secularisation of Pakistan by threatening to stage a D-Chowk typedharna in Islamabad. Ironically, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani and the mullahs are on the same page, terming the amendment as draconian and undemocratic.

There is talk of a soft coup having already taken place. Admittedly Army Chief General Raheel Sharif has managed to get his way without much difficulty. This is being regarded as a reassertion of the military’s suzerainty over civilian matters.

No doubt partly owing to the collective malfeasance of our political elite, the military has become more and more assertive since the return to democracy in 2008. The military and its intelligence arm have been moving decisively to nibble away civilian authority since then.

Foreign affairs and security issues have long remained their prerogative. But under the new concord even domestic affairs are increasingly coming under their preview.

The traditional camel slowly but surely gaining more and more space in the tent is not a new phenomenon. It is a continuum of the Kayani doctrine under Zardari, perhaps now in a more assertive form.

Populist surrogates of the likes of Imran Khan, as a result of their relentless campaign, have considerably weakened the PML-N government. Poor governance and propensity to rule in a self-righteous manner through a cabal added to the woes of the Sharifs. The demon of terrorism proved to be the proverbial last straw.

Some people assert that the Peshawar incident has been politically beneficial for Sharif. On a superficial level it does seem that PTI, being forced to abandon its dharna and shutdowns, is now unable to press for its demand for setting up a judicial commission to probe real or perceived rigging in the 2013 elections.

The mullah lobby has dictated the agenda for far too long. Jinnah’s teachings that promote magnanimity and plurality have been de-emphasised

The newly remarried groom Imran is reportedly reconsidering his plans to resume his putsch against the government by January 18 if his demands are not met. The PTI instead has decided to hold large party conventions in major cities.

The Khan, perhaps, is surmising that the government’s optics will further deteriorate once the military courts and other anti-terrorism measures are in place in coming days and weeks.

How this will help PTI’s cause is not known. Perhaps the party is slowly but surely realising that under changed circumstances it is in no position to press for immediate elections.

In the meanwhile it is business as usual for the PML-N government. The prime minister is chairing marathon meetings on various issues, interrupted only by his forays abroad.

But there is no move to take the opposition on board. The PTI wants a judicial commission that will virtually guarantee fresh elections.

The government, no longer under any immediate threat, is not in a mood to oblige. Hence for the time being at least talks have broken down.

Meanwhile the religious lobby — perceiving that the new dispensation hitting themadrassas and their funding, as well as their militant wings — has decided to flex its muscles. These very forces that had opposed the idea of Pakistan are now lamenting that the 21st amendment is a conspiracy to convert Pakistan into a secular state.

Now is the time to galvanise all non-religious political forces. But unfortunately there are no moves by the ruling party to bring them on board.

Apart from military courts, other short-, medium- and long-term measures for a cohesive counterterrorism narrative are not even on the horizon. Mere lengthy and convoluted lectures by the interior minister will not get the job done.

Perhaps if the ruling Muslim League really means business it should be seen to adopt Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision. His speech in the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, preaching tolerance and pluralism, should be made the bedrock of its new narrative.

Ironically, the mullah lobby has dictated the agenda for far too long. Jinnah’s teachings that promote magnanimity and plurality have been de-emphasised by successive regimes — military and civilian both — owing to their transient self-interests.

Now that the military and the civilian leadership are on the same page to change the national narrative, a beginning should be made. For starters, government funded institutes like Nazaria-e-Pakistan Trust should be cleansed of retrogressive elements who can only preach a narrow and single-dimensional vision — that hating the Hindu is the real ethos of Pakistan.

Without doubt a healthy debate on such existential issues should take place without the mullacracy and its fellow travellers in the media pouncing upon anyone who suggests an alternative agenda.