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Here’s a speech fit for a chief:“As you would remember, ever since I assumed office, I launched a campaign to rid the society of extremism, violence and terrorism and strived to project Islam in its true perspective.
“By the grace of God Almighty our decision was absolutely correct. Our intentions were noble and God Almighty helped us. I am happy to say that the vast majority of Pakistanis stood by this decision and supported our decision. I am proud of the realistic decision of our nation. What really pains me is that some religious extremist parties and groups opposed this decision. What hurts more was that their opposition was not based on principles. At a critical juncture in our history, they preferred their personal and party interests over national interests.
“Sectarian terrorism has been going on for years.
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“Every one of us is fed up of it. It is becoming unbearable. Our peace-loving people are keen to get rid of the Kalashinkov and weapons culture. Every one is sick of it. It was because of this that we banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Muhammad. Yet little improvement occurred. The day of reckoning has come.
“Do we want Pakistan to become a theocratic state? Do we believe that religious education alone is enough for governance or do we want Pakistan to emerge as a progressive and dynamic Islamic welfare state? The verdict of the masses is in favour of a progressive Islamic state.
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“Pakistan has been made a soft state where the supremacy of law is questioned. This situation cannot be tolerated any more. The question is what is the correct path? First of all, we must rid the society of sectarian hatred and terrorism, promote mutual harmony. Remember that mindsets cannot be changed through force and coercion.
Much of what was done — or attempted — post-Jan 2002 is being repeated. Will the outcome a few years from now be any different?
“By the way, we must remember that only the government of the day and not every individual can proclaim armed jihad. The extremist minority must realise that Pakistan is not responsible for waging armed jihad in the world.
“We have formulated a new strategy for madressahs and there is need to implement it so as to galvanise their good aspects and remove their drawbacks.
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“It would mean that the students of madressahs should be brought to the mainstream through a better system of education. This is the crux of the madressah strategy.
“We must check abuse of mosques and madressahs and they must not be used for spreading political and sectarian prejudices. We want to ensure that mosques enjoy freedom and we are here to maintain it. At the same time we expect a display of responsibility along with freedom. If the imam of mosques fail to display responsibility, curbs would have to be placed on them.
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“First, we have to establish the writ of the government. All organisations in Pakistan will function in a regulated manner. No individual, organisation or party will be allowed to break the law of the land. The internal environment has to be improved.
“We will continue to extend our moral, political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris. We will never budge an inch from our principled stand on Kashmir. The Kashmir problem needs to be resolved by dialogue and peaceful means in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and the United Nations resolutions. We have to find the solution of this dispute. No organisation will be allowed to indulge in terrorism in the name of Kashmir.
“Strict action will be taken against any Pakistani individual, group or organisation found involved in terrorism within or outside the country. Our behaviour must always be in accordance with international norms.
“Now as commander of the armed forces of Pakistan, I wish to convey another message. The armed forces of Pakistan are fully prepared and deployed to meet any challenge. They will spill the last drop of their blood in the defence of their country. Let there be no attempt of crossing the border in any sector as it will be met with full force. Do not entertain any illusions on this count.
“Now I come to the extremist organisations. Terrorism and sectarianism must come to an end.
“With a view to ending conflict, I have explained to you at great length the three areas causing confusion in our minds. Making rules, regulations and issuing ordinances is easy but their implementation is difficult. However, I feel all the measures I have announced are of utmost importance. We have to implement them. In this regard, the law enforcement agencies including police must perform their duty.”
It’s not a made-up speech. Every word was delivered by a chief. In January 2002. By Musharraf. That was the speech that marked the beginning of the cold storage: freezing ties with Kashmir-centric jihadis; ratcheting down support for the Afghan Taliban; trying to stall the growth of the extremist mosque-madressah-social welfare network.
Fast forward to the mid-2000s and the policy, which delivered reasonable but spotty results, started to unravel. Soon enough Pakistan was all-in again. No need to rehash why and how here.
Fast forward again to the present day and the country is at a crossroads — again. Much of what was done — or attempted — post-Jan 2002 is being repeated. Will the outcome a few years from now be any different?
Time will tell. Raheel is serious, but it’s not his seriousness that matters most. Three things are different 13 years on: Fata is aflame and 200,000 troops are fire fighting; cross-border militancy along the Durand line has become bi-directional; and the militant-extremist complex in the cities has exploded.
Those three things create an incentive to not repeat the mistakes of the past. One problem though: India is still unresolved. And India was at the root of all of this.
The writer is a member of staff.
Published in Dawn January 18th , 2015
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