Monday, October 4, 2021
Pakistan-TTP Talks: A Bleak Future – OpEd
By Nilesh Kunwar
The Past
In April 2017, Ehsanullah Ehsan, a senior spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] who subsequently joined its breakaway faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar [JuA] supposedly, ‘surrendered’ to Pakistan army. It was a great moment for Rawalpindi and the then Director General [DG] of Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor proudly announced how “The state is re-establishing its writ,” adding that “No element can challenge the state if the state has the will to weed out dangerous elements.” He also said that “There can be no bigger achievement for Pakistan than the fact that our biggest enemies are now realising the error of their ways and are turning themselves in,” a unquestionable assertion that even Rawalpindi’s staunchest detractors had to accept.
However, with JuA insisting that Ehsan had not surrendered but had been captured by Pakistan army’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] from Paktika province of Afghanistan, ISPR’s claim lost much of its sheen. But this didn’t bother Rawalpindi as the former TTP spokesperson’s ‘confession’ was music to its ears. Alleging that spy agencies of India [Research and Analysis Wing or RAW]and Afghanistan [National directorate of Security or NDS] were using TTP to orchestrate terrorist activities in Pakistan, he went to the extent of claiming that “They [RAW and NDS] supported [TTP], extending financial assistance and they also gave targets, and for each attack (TTP) charged a price.”
But more on this later.
While Islamabad made a massive hue and cry demanding action against New Delhi, accusing it of inciting terrorism, the international community’s response to Ehsan’s assertions was guarded- and there were good reasons for this.
Firstly, it’s common knowledge that once a person is in custody of security agencies, he can be compelled to say whatever his captors demand, and the extremely controversial ‘arrest’ of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav a year earlier was still fresh in peoples’ mind. Secondly, before commenting on espionage and terror related issues, every nation corroborates claims being made a ‘surrendered’ terrorist with inputs from other more credible sources, and needless to say, except for Pakistan, no other country has accused New Delhi of patronising terrorist groups. Au contraire, the whole world is well aware of how Pakistan army believes in ‘good’ Taliban and uses it to wage proxy wars against its neighbours.If Ehsan’s ‘surrender’ was enigmatic, then equally mysterious was his subsequent ‘escape’ alongwith his entire family three years later, despite being under Pakistan army’s watch. It’s here that Rawalpindi’s link with terrorist groups became all the more apparent. Jadhav, who was allegedly ‘captured’ by Pakistan in March 2016, was charge-sheeted, tried and sentenced to death by a military court in just 13 months. However, despite being in the army’s custody for 34 months, leave alone being tried, Ehsan wasn’t even charge-sheeted for the several acts of violence against Pakistani nationals for which he as spokesperson of TTP [and later JuA] had taken responsibility. This raises suspicions of Rawalpindi protecting the former TTP spokesperson.
In December 2017, a parent whose son was amongst the 149 killed in the 2014 Army Public School Peshawar terrorist attack approached Peshawar High Court [PHC] to prevent clemency being granted to Ehsan by Government of Pakistan. The fact that PHC took cognisance of this appeal and directed that Ehsan shouldn’t be released without a trial confirms that the petitioner’s plea had merit and wasn’t frivolous. So, retaining the former TTP spokesperson in military custody right from the time he surrendered [or was apprehended], and not charge-sheeting him for nearly three years is a clear indication that Rawalpindi never intended to bring Ehsan to book and this lurking suspicion is unambiguously confirmed by his mysterious escape.
The Present
With Pakistan ‘owned’ Taliban replacing the Ashraf Ghani government and no Indian presence in Afghanistan, TTP, which as per Islamabad was being manipulated by RAW and NDS should have shrivelled due to lack of patronage. However, after the regime change in Kabul, TTP seems to have become more aggressive and this rubbishes Islamabad’s claims backed by shady people like Eshan of TTP being New Delhi’s creation for “whipping up terrorism” in Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s disclosure that Islamabad had initiated a “reconciliation process,” by commencing talks with TTP clearly indicates that this group is the product of ‘home grown’ terrorism in Pakistan.
In a country where the army and not the legislature calls the shots, it’s hard to believe that Rawalpindi would allow Islamabad to start these negotiations for many reasons. Firstly, it mocks the army’s claim that Pakistan “trusts that the Taliban will keep their promises and take effective measures to ensure TTP does not operate against any country from Afghan soil.” Secondly, it contradicts Pakistan army’s bold claim that “No element can challenge the state if the state has the will to weed out dangerous elements.” Lastly, even though Khan has tried to defend his army’s reputation by saying that “I am anti-military solution, and as a politician, I believe political dialogue is the way ahead,” the fact of the matter is that talks with TTP is tantamount to admission that Pakistan army is incapable in ridding Pakistan of this menace!
The Future
Though one wishes that Islamabad can convince TTP to eschew violence, but the prospects don’t appear to be very bright, and once again the fault lies within as political parties in Pakistan have generously promoted radicalism just to garner votes. However, it was Rawalpindi that actually institutionalised radicalism in Pakistan- former President and ex-army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf has himself admitted that “We poisoned Pakistani civil society for 10 years when we fought the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It was ‘jihad’ and we brought in militants from all over the world, with the West and Pakistan together in the lead role.”
So, in reality, TTP isn’t an Indian proxy but a group of radicalised Pakistanis, “poisoned” by the military into believing that terrorism is ‘jihad’. Accordingly, for Khan to expect that TTP story to have a happy ending – they will lay down arms and in return “we [will] forgive them and they [will] become normal citizens,” is a tall order and a typical case of over-optimism. In 2014, Khan’s predecessor Nawaz Sharif too had entered into talks with TTP and instead of usher-in peace, it led to ‘Operation Zarb-e-Azb’ in which 490 army men were killed and nearly 2,000 injured.
Ultimately, it seems that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s prophetic words “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbours. You know, eventually those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard,” have come back to haunt both Islamabad and Rawalpindi!
Tailpiece: On September 30, Capt Sikander of Pakistan army was killed in a gunfight with TTP terrorists in Tank area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was only 27 years old. One can only empathise with the grieving kith and kin of the unfortunate ones like Capt Sikandar who are being killed by the very terrorists with whom Islamabad is not only currently negotiating but also considering to grant amnesty!
https://www.eurasiareview.com/04102021-pakistan-ttp-talks-a-bleak-future-oped/
#Pakistan - What gives the PM the right to forgive TTP? - Appeasing butchers
@UsamaKhilji
THE prime minister in a TV interview has said that the government is trying to negotiate a peace deal with the TTP wherein they will lay down arms and become “normal citizens”. He has also called recent TTP attacks on Pakistani soldiers “just a spate of attacks”.Clearly, the life of Pakistani citizens is not worth much to the PM who has continued to advocate for negotiations with terrorist groups — Pakistani or Afghan Taliban. Some Pakistani militant groups have offered ceasefire, but their crimes must never be forgiven by the state.
Where are the anti-terrorism laws? What are the anti-terror courts doing? What happened to the victory of the military in former Fata where terrorists were said to be defeated and millions were displaced for this purpose (they became internally displaced persons).
Terrorism wreaked havoc in Pakistan for nearly a decade, killing over 80,000 Pakistani civilians, policemen, soldiers, and children. What gives the PM the right to forgive butchers so easily?
What gives the PM the right to forgive TTP?
Pakistan has a strict set of dedicated anti-terrorism laws, an anti-terrorism force, and anti-terrorism courts. Why are these not being used to try terrorists in courts of law? Why are criminals, murderers, extortionists, arsonists, brainwashers of children, and enemies of the people not being tried by the criminal justice system?
Forgiving the TTP sets the wrong precedent. It sends out the message that those who commit crimes against the state and its citizens can be forgiven. Then what’s stopping others from taking up arms against the state and its citizens? Will the same gratuitous amnesty also be extended to other groups opposing the state? Will at least peaceful movements be allowed to function or will elected MNAs such as Ali Wazir who lost 17 family members to TTP attacks continue to be imprisoned for their speeches while murderers and butchers are allowed to roam free?
More importantly, who will guarantee peace and security to citizens once those who believe in violence to achieve their aims are allowed to roam free?
Pakistan’s supposed strategic considerations for supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan and the constant push by the current government for recognition and working with the Afghan Taliban is concerning, especially considering the known links they have with the TTP. Several TTP prisoners in Afghanistan have been freed in the past month, and this has coincided with strengthening of their rank and file in Waziristan and other newly merged districts of KP. This is demonstrated by the rise in attacks on Pakistan’s soldiers and policemen in the region, as well as the resumption of extortion by Taliban groups in South Waziristan where they are reportedly charging a percentage of contract money from contractors, traders, transporters, etc.
The withdrawal of imperialist American and Nato forces in Afghanistan must not mean support for extremist political militants that want to impose their interpretation of religion on all citizens, as is already being seen in Afghanistan with restrictions on girls’ education and ban on shaving by men in some areas. Before such ideologies that violate basic rights of citizens gain further ground here, the state must play its role to maintain its writ.
There needs to be justice for the murderers of the 144 children and adults killed in Army Public School, Peshawar. There needs to be justice for Malala Yousafzai who was shot in the head for speaking up for her right to go to school, and continues to be in hours-long surgeries to fix the damage those bullets caused her when she was a child. There needs to be justice for the widows and children of police personnel and soldiers who gave up their lives fighting terrorists.
There needs to be justice for Aitzaz Hasan who restrained a suicide bomber from attacking his school and lost his life while doing so. There needs to be justice for the shoppers killed while shopping for Eid, lawyers killed while fighting in courts, politicians killed while campaigning such as from the Bilour and Bhutto families, and countless political workers who were killed only for exercising their political rights. The religious minorities who were killed while worshipping deserve justice and safety. The Turi tribe in Kurram, the Salarzais of Bajaur, the Bangash of Orakzai fought successfully to keep the Taliban out of their areas. Their sacrifices need to be respected; these are the Pakhtuns worth celebrating, not the Haqqanis who indulged in militancy.
Militants deserve to be arrested, tried in court, and punished for committing crimes against the state and its citizens. The prime minister must respect the law of the land and the wounds of its citizens when solving the terrorism problem. Rule of law must be a fundamental part of any political solution to end militancy, rather than seeing only two extremes of military operations or surrender as viable options.
I compared Afghanistan school textbooks with Pakistan’s. This is what I found
By PERVEZ HOODBHOY
Weak Karzai, Ghani governments have left behind a solid legacy for Afghanistan’s future. Taliban won’t touch it.
What did Afghan kids study after Mullah Omar’s Taliban were ousted in 2001? What was their school curriculum and, most importantly, how does it differ from PTI’s controversial Single National Curriculum (SNC)? When the Taliban government permitted boy-schools to reopen last week, these questions somehow popped into my mind.Quick answers were unavailable because the Afghan ministry of education’s website has been taken down. But, fortunately, Google helped locate several hundred Afghan school textbooks on various websites. Their printed versions had been distributed for free in schools. Textbooks are, of course, supremely important in developing countries as the primary vehicles for delivering education. As an outsider, my initial expectations were low. Twenty-first century Afghanistan is largely tribal and backward, consumed by external wars but equally by countless feuds between families, tribes and religious sects. It has two national languages and six to eight regional languages. Wouldn’t Afghan education be utterly messed up? Inferior to Pakistan’s, the inheritor of a well-developed colonial-era system?
My assumptions were spectacularly wrong. Browsing the textbooks, I had accidentally stumbled into a world unknown to even qualified Pakistani education experts. While readers who know Dari-Farsi and Pashto (the primary languages of these books) should double-check, I think their opinions will not differ greatly from those, such as me, who can only comprehend these languages via written Urdu.First: I examined science books for classes 1-12. These cover mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Geology is taught from class 10 onward, an unusual addition, which implicitly recognises that Afghanistan’s future lies in mineral wealth. The expositions are clear and pleasing with systematically organised graphs and coloured illustrations. Although the end-of-chapter problems are simpler than in O-A level books, the content and quality compete well. Pakistani textbooks are very different. For years my colleagues and I have begged our education authorities to drastically revise locally published textbooks. All are faulty in content, poor in pedagogy and badly presented. The reader is invited to revisit my Dawn article of 2015 titled ‘Burn these books please’, a failed attempt to bring the Sind Textbook Board to its senses.Such pleas proved fruitless and Pakistani school textbooks remain the world’s shoddiest. Dr Anjum Altaf, former Lums dean, recently analysed the Pre-I Mathematics Primer. Written under SNC guidelines, this was forced upon all schools, public and private, some weeks ago. To quote from his five-part page-by-page review, the Primer is “woefully inadequate and someone would have to try really hard to make anything worse. It is an unforgivable cruelty to have children subjected to it although some would surely survive it”. Second: Recognising Afghanistan’s sectarian divides, and to prevent every mullah going his own way, Islamic Studies (Hanafi) is taught separately from Islamic Studies (Jafari). Religious matters are strictly kept out of secular subjects but the religious textbooks are comprehensive. They teach Quran, Seerat-un-Nabi (life of the Prophet [PBUH]), akhlaq (ethics), tafsir (interpretation), tajweed (pronunciation), fiqh (jurisprudence), etc. Special books for use in madressahs cover usual topics in math, science, English, and world history. But they are simpler and less detailed than those for ordinary schools. This two-level system — and keeping religious matters confined to religious books — makes sense. But Pakistan’s SNC goes oppositely: religious topics permeate books teaching Urdu, English and general knowledge. Quite senselessly, madressahs and ordinary schools are yoked together. While all students should know how the modern world works, 99 per cent of madressah students will never use math or science professionally. So why use the same books and force students to take the same exams? This means the PTI government is shooting for a lowest common denominator, lower than even the existing one. Third: In seeking to build an Afghan identity in a linguistically diverse country, former governments hit upon speakers of one language being taught the basics of another. Dari/Arabic script is used in classes 1-12 for teaching Pashto through Dari but, equally, Dari through Pashto. For classes (1-9), Dari and Pashto are also used for teaching regional languages: Balochi, Uzbek, Tajiki, Turkmen, Arabic and Pashayee. In contrast, starting with Bengali, Pakistan has discouraged local language learning from 1947 onward. Where can one find an officially published book using Urdu to teach Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Punjabi, Hindko, Seraiki, Brahui, Shina or Kashmiri? Instead, Urdu is imposed upon all. But, quite comically, most political leaders and functionaries have insufficient grasp over any one language. Inadequate self-expression leads to their speaking an unpleasant mixture of English and Urdu often called Minglish/Urdish.One does not know who wrote and produced the hundreds and hundreds of officially authorised Afghan textbooks. Exceptions aside, names of authors are absent. But, with so much local content, they could not be foreigners. No credits or funding sources (was it USAID?) are given, perhaps for security reasons. To make the books more palatable, the stamped publication date for all books is set to Hijri-1398. This translates into 1978, the year before the Soviet invasion. But the high-quality electronic printing technology suggests they are very recent. Will the current textbooks continue to be used in Talibanic Afghanistan? Very probably, yes! For one, history textbooks soft-pedal Taliban atrocities from 1996-2001. For another, Kabul’s warrior-rulers cannot create quality education material into the foreseeable future. Thousands of diligent, intelligent Afghan teachers and editors worked hard to produce that which presently exists. Most must have fled. The governments of Karzai and Ghani were weak and corrupt. Even if “artificially nurtured and pumped up”, they have left behind a solid legacy for Afghanistan’s forthcoming generations. One cannot dismiss it all as foreign aid because Pakistan too has been the recipient of American aid for most of its history. This suggests that Pakistan’s leaders — the prime minister and his education minister particularly — should study the Afghanistan model before they further dismantle the Pakistani education system. Their replacement, the SNC, will reduce quality further while keeping educational inequalities intact. Pakistan’s participation in the modern world will nosedive. But our national leaders only give orders. They do not think, listen, or read. Twenty years later, Pakistanis will ask: what legacy did these people leave behind?
https://theprint.in/opinion/i-compared-afghanistan-school-textbooks-with-pakistans-this-is-what-i-found/744721/