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PAKISTAN’s envoy to Kabul has survived an assassination attempt; the western border is heating up over the fence built to stop terror incursions in erstwhile Fata, incurring the Taliban’s wrath; and the Chaman-Spin Boldak border crossing has seen bloody firefights with several casualties.
If it weren’t for the valour and professional training of the SSG bodyguard who covered the envoy’s body with his own, taking the bullets meant for him, and, despite being injured, dragging the latter to safety, the incident could have compounded the challenges in relations between the two countries.
This is a snapshot, admittedly, showing just a tiny part of the complex minefield that Pakistani foreign policy and national security defence experts have to negotiate every day in order to maintain a modicum of normality with the obscurantist Afghan Taliban regime next door.
Having deluded ourselves that our out-and-out support to the Afghan Taliban would make them see us as valuable allies in the longer term, particularly following the eventual withdrawal of US-led forces based in the country since after 9/11, a new reality is now dawning on us.
Divisions and fissures are making any healing or rebuilding almost impossible.
It is not as if there weren’t warnings. I recall on a visit to Peshawar, I was asked to evaluate, as editor, an interview with Hakimullah Mehsud, the murderous TTP ameer who replaced Baitullah Mehsud after the latter was taken out in a drone attack in Waziristan in August 2009.
DawnNews TV’s then Peshawar bureau chief Zahid Shah Shirazi had done the interview and shot some dramatic footage of the TTP ameer in a US military Humvee driving around freely in the company of dozens of heavily armed gunmen in, if I recall correctly, the Khyber Agency.
Hakimullah was categorical in challenging the view that the secular, left-leaning Pakhtun political parties represented ‘true’ Pakhtun ‘nationalism’. He said the TTP would demonstrate that they were the true nationalists in obliterating the Durand Line, which divided a ‘Pakhtun nation’ united by faith and ideology. It seems no planner paid any attention to such pronouncements, or if they did, did not take them seriously.
Now the Afghan Taliban, our long-term allies, many of whose significant leaders and foot soldiers were provided sanctuary by Pakistan in the face of the US-led onslaught, seem to be saying that the TTP are their ideological brothers, a fence dividing the Pakhtuns is unacceptable, and that if Pakistan desires peace with the TTP it should negotiate directly with them, as Kabul can offer little help.
In a few sentences, this is the state of play on our western borders. Given the harsh exchange of invective between the Pakistan and Indian foreign ministers, triggered by the latter, it is apparent that while there may not be a clear and present danger of any outbreak of hostilities on the eastern frontier, there is no bonhomie between the two sides in sight either.
Our ties with our third main neighbour, Iran, remain fraught with stresses at best, given Islamabad’s relations with Riyadh and its dependence on the latter for constant financial bailouts disbursed directly or in the form of huge remittances that Pakistani workers send from Saudi Arabia.
This is the reality of our regional security challenges, some of which border on existential threats. Pakistan’s economy is in dire straits, with massive floods exacerbating the miseries of the people, even in the unlikely event where they may have been left untouched by the brutal inflationary pressures exerted by higher global energy and food prices.
Political instability and petty point-scoring by politicians in pursuit of power — by any means and at any cost to the country — makes for an environment where it may be well-nigh impossible to take any painful decisions to reform the economy, no matter how crucial it may be for the long-term health and sustainability of the system.
The former army chief did acknowledge the grave damage political engineering undertaken during his tenure(s) in office caused to the country, and how it has left fissures and divisions which may take a long time to heal. But the problem is that these very divisions are making any healing or rebuilding at this time almost impossible.
An eternal optimist as I see myself, it pains me to become a prophet of doom and gloom. Ergo, I refuse to. What I will say is that anyone with even a modicum of love left for our blighted land needs to prioritise the collective interest above the interest of our own grouping. That is the only way forward.
This includes the politicians, the military and the judiciary, to name the big three (and not necessarily in that order), whose wayward thinking and deviations from their constitutionally laid-out role have wreaked havoc on the country.
I can just about identify some of the challenges and, honestly speaking, don’t have what it takes to list the solutions. For that, heavyweight intellect would be required that I could only have in my dreams. From my humble perspective, I can say a few things about where a lot of energy is being misspent and misdirected.
Ali Wazir is one. The Islamic Republic has spent a fortune keeping him in incarcerated for months on end. The MNA from Waziristan lost 17, yes 17, members of his immediate family to Taliban terrorists, and if he does not agree with the officially held wisdom on how best TTP terrorism is handled, he is as entitled to his views as anybody else.
Does he really threaten national security? No. At best, some fragile egos. Similarly, I am told the foul-mouthed multimillionaire Azam Swati is being flown on special flights for various court appearances across the length and breadth of the country. Pointless expense, you’d agree.
Their words can do no damage to Pakistan as their poorly prioritised persecution is doing. Perhaps the courts will take novel initiative and provide relief. The focus needs to be on the real challenges, and not the sources of insults, or worse still, perceived insults.
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2022
