Saman Hamid
March 30, exactly eight years ago this was the day when Manawan Academy was attacked in Lahore. This is within the month the Srilankan team was attacked curtailing international cricket from Pakistan. 10-12 men held the entire police training academy hostage. Hijrat-ullah an Afghan national was later arrested and handed 10 years imprisonment. Unfortunately this was not a lone incident and many horrors have occurred ever since. The armed forces are not standing still though and we are fighting back for peace. . Terrorism in Pakistan is a complex issue; our novel geostrategic position has invited external and internal agents to play a game of chess that has engorged the country in a vicious circle. The pawns think that the bomb they are strapping to themselves or throwing in the mosque is means of revenge and or they are earning their heaven by killing the enemy, the enemy unfortunately innocent Pakistanis. Suffice to say the enemy has turned our very own people against us. The state though does not sit still, successful conclusion of Zarb-e-Azb is now followed by “Radd-ul-Fassad”, literally translated as, “elimination of discord”.
Announced on February 22 this year, Radd-ul-Fassad, in collaboration with Rangers in Punjab, Navy and Air Force aims to eliminate the nuisance all over Pakistan it also includes continuation of previous operations against militants. De-weaponisation and explosive control all over the country as well as pursuance of National Action Plan (NAP) are added goals of the new endeavor. Things are moving in full speed as so far there have been official reports of at least 126 arrests all over the country including; Kabir-wala, Hafizabad, Khushab, Hangu, Umerzai, Charsadda. This in addition to the elimination of two high profile terrorists from Jamaat-ul-Ahrar involved in the Lahore bombing in shelling on the Pak-Afghan border is one of the major highlights. Afghans nationals as well as Pakistanis across Punjab and Balochistan have been arrested.
Radd-ul-Fassad has followed suit of Zarb-e-Azb. Launched on June 15, 2014, the target of Zarb-e-Azb was to eliminate terrorist from the North Waziristan Agency (NWA). Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Punjabi Taliban, East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Lashkar-e-Islam and Al-Qaeda had all found a stronghold in this particular geographic location of Pakistan mainly due to remoteness from population and the state, the area of 4000 Km2. According to security reports post Zarb-a-Azb there was a marked decrease of 40-50% in terror related incidents. 26 intelligence based operations per day were carried out on an average amounting to 19000 in total. 243 tons of explosives were seized adequate to make IEDs for 17 years. 3500 terrorists were killed and 992 sanctuaries of terrorists were wiped out. In addition to this uplifting programs have also been initiated by Pak Army for the people of NWA. In addition to other efforts financing of $19 Million is being pursued by the government from World Bank for the development of FATA and KP. The advances in Zarb-e-Azb and ensuing relative calm is challenged and in the wake of Radd-ul-Fassad and recent terror wave the biggest aspect of Pakistan’s fight against terrorism remains in the preliminary stages of implementation, the National Action Plan.
A result of the All Parties Conference held after the Army Public School attack of December 16, 2014, the National Action Plan was lauded by all political parties, the plan ensured swift elimination of terrorists at the hand of law enforcement agencies, through speedy trials. So far 7400 suspected terrorists have been arrested, unfortunately only 190 amidst these have been sent to terror courts and less than 4% have been convicted either by military courts or anti terrorism courts. The government has also frozen accounts of around 5,405 suspected extremists whose names were listed to 4th Schedule under the country’s anti-terrorism laws. The top terror body has also restricted movement of around 2,023 individuals whose names were listed under A category of 4th Schedule of ATA 1997, who were believed to be a security risk for the state. The progress under the NAP is greatly hindered by the slow judiciary and resultant low conviction ratio. Essentially the punishment of the accused remains at bay which largely makes the entire plan questionable.
The world is changing at a fast pace. For Pakistan the biggest opportunity with the Chinese CPEC is unfolding and the GDP growth rate has jumped to nearly 5% since the dwindling 3% back in 2013 before the initiation. The much needed infrastructural boost to the economy is a promise of a much better tomorrow. The enemy cannot sit still of course in the wake of all this. China has to be “contained” before it reaches the top of the global world order and Indians and Afghanis have an important role for the American “pivot to Asia”. In the wake of all these changes one aspect that simply cannot be forgotten is education and awareness, our masses cannot wait for superman anymore, we need to educate our future generation and be aware of all the developments to foil the enemy as well as fully reap rewards that the future promises.
