Sits-in in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and killings of policemen, soldiers and civilians in FATA, Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta, Karachi and many other places, go on and on, day after day.
Nobody is safe in Pakistan. Even a literary luminary in Lahore, was fired at and seriously wounded. Everybody has been blaming the government for letting the situation deteriorate from bad to worse. Taliban’s attack on military convoy in FATA as also at soldiers and civilians in the Artillery Bazaar in Rawalpindi and further the retaliatory aerial attack in North Waziristan finally shook an indecisive government to realize the gravity of the situation.
One is at a loss to understand why the PML-N government has been acting the way it did all these seven months, not bothering to do the needful. As I pointed out in my earlier columns, it took the new government four months to hold an all-parties conference. It then lapsed into a lethargic mode and for weeks, the mandated talks with the Taliban were not initiated. When a drone strike killed Hakeemullah Mehsud, we were told the talks were about to begin. Yes Fazalullah’s taking over TTP’s leadership amounted to a spanner in the works but after a month or so, available resources, intelligence agencies, influential locals in FATA, religious heavy weight should have been deployed to build up contacts. For months, all that was heard was the use of good offices of Maulana Sami-ul-Haq who is known to have had close relations with many a Taliban leader. Little came out of it and the Maulana has washed his hands off any such a role. Since there was no clear indication of any other initiative on the part of the government, the impression gained ground that the administration was not serious enough to open negotiations, that it was, thus, tinkering with the most menacing challenge facing thecountry.
The aerial attack, retaliatory as it was, has changed the scenario. According to a newspaper report, the coas met the prime minister and asked him to come out with a clear-cut policy. It is stated that the air strike had a nod from the government. As for the new strategy, the prime minister is reported to have told the army chief to submit a complete operational plan. Such a plan is expected to be prepared and put up during the next few days.
If, as the newspapers reports indicate, a decision has been taken in principle to launch a military operation, a new ball game will begin. Pakistan has resisted US pressure to take care of the militants, Afghan and Pakistani, in North Waziristan for years. If a planned operation is launched there, what indeed will be its implications and consequences? During a talk show on a channel on Thursday, Lt. Gen. ® Hamed Gul quoting General Kayani said that the chances of success of the operation were around 30%. Further the operation will result in the militants moving to places all over the country and in particular to the cities. Hamed Gul was of the view that a clear policy should be arrived at in this respect. So far such moves have been reactive; reactive operations, he observed, fail to solve the problem.
Circumstances have pushed the government and even Imran Khan to the realization that the situation as seen recently (multiple strikes against the military and the civilians all over the country) demands a tough response, The PTI chief has now said that his party would stand by the army in case of military operation.
The national security policy has yet to be finalized. This is another crucial matter which has taken months to be sorted out. According to a newspaper report, as a part of the national anti-terrorism strategy, government is examining the option of setting up special courts for Federally Administered Tribal Areas, imposition of ‘limited emergency’ in specific troubled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and even media “black-outs”.
A zero tolerance policy is envisaged.
An official spokesman has stated that the government policy would be to “engage with those wanting to renounce violence but fight those choosing the other path”.
Part of the strategy has already been covered in the Protection of the Pakistan Ordinance and its recent (controversial) amendment. The prime minister is expected to take the politicians into confidence and seek support from all stakeholders.
Consultations with stake-holders are necessary. Prime minister and the interior minister should speedily ensure that the new security policy is formulated without delay, say in a matter of a week or two (the draft is ready and has been discussed in the cabinet) and then discussed with the military chiefs and all major civilian stakeholders. Consequences and ramifications of the policy and the strategy should be thoroughly considered. After consultation for a week or so, the policy should be approved by the cabinet, announced and explained, nationally.
The matter doesn’t end there. The real task comes in the implementation. There is many a slip between the cup and the lip. There should be no complacency here.
There is an overwhelming need, as mentioned above, to see that all intended and unintended consequence are taken into consideration and all requirements of coordination at all levels met fully and promptly.
The task has become urgent also because of the coming NATO/America exit from Afghanistan. After the exit, conditions in Afghanistan are bound to be turbulent and Pakistan has to take into consideration all that can be foreseen. It would, in this connection, be appropriate if a think-tank or a taskforce is set up for this purpose, to gather information, analyze it and keep coming up with workable options.
Mian Nawaz Sharif, you have been slow and late in grappling with the most serious challenge facing the country. Now please “double up” and do the job expeditiously. Make up for the lost time by successfully achieving the desired results.
It would also be appropriate if you and for that matter, the party high command reflect, in depth, as to why has the PML-N leadership acted the way it did in the matter of meeting the challenge of terrorism. Most of the searing happenings—nonstop and escalating violence in all the four provinces as well as sectarian killings, can be, to a considerable extent, attributed to the inability or unwillingness of the administration to take the bull by the horns and resolve the problems relating to terrorism and lawlessness. Such an exercise will do a lot of good to the political party and its leadership. Surely those at the helm will henceforth, avoid dilly dallying and tinkering with important national issues.                   
The writer is an ex-federal secretary and ambassador, and a freelance political and international relations analyst.
Email: pacadepak@gmail.com

The writer is an ex-federal secretary and ambassador, and a freelance political and international relations analyst.

Email:pacadepak@gmail.com