PESHAWAR, April 25: The counter-terrorism strategies proposed in the mainstream political parties’ election manifestos do not represent what it would really take to restore peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, according to experts.
The issue appears to be quite low on their priority list with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz proposing its plan for taking on “Militancy and terrorism” in chapter 13 of its 14-chaptered election manifesto and Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians declaring it its sixth priority out of a list of seven point election programme.
“Normalcy cannot return to Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa unless a single centre of power (at the state level) is made responsible to deal with the situation, withdrawing army from the troubled areas,” said Rustam Shah Mohmand, former chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said all those circles, including political parties that thought that militancy could be eliminated from Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by using force or doing away with the Frontier Crimes Regulations were at a loss, failing to comprehend the ground realities.
The PML-N’s plan neither suggests the use of force nor negotiations as a way forward to end terrorism in the troubled areas. Its proposals suggests to deal with the issue at a different level, underlying the old beaten track of integrating the federal and provincially administered tribal areas into the country’s political mainstream, establishing schools and technical centres to produce skilled manpower, extending free health benefits to the disadvantaged class, introducing a crash programme to establish small and medium industrial enterprises to make youth stakeholders in peace and security of their areas, imparting technical education to female population, undertaking public education campaigns and reforms to counter extremism.
“PML-N’s policy is very clear on the subject as it is playing safe by offering only lip-service,” said Raza Rumi, an Islamabad based political analyst, when contacted. He said PML-N wanted to ‘pass through the election safe.’PPPP’s strategy, on the other hand, is in sharp contrast to PML-N. The PPPP holds no bones about using force to counter terrorism if voted to power again on May 11. However, Mr Rumi believes that PPPP, like Awami National Party, has shown the resolve to curb militancy under duress. “Their counter terrorism narrative is based on their compulsion as they know that they would be eliminated (in the elections) if they don’t adopt a forceful posture against militancy,” said Rumi.
The PPPP’s “way forward for securing Pakistan” and “protecting people” includes a long list of measures that it has promised to implement, including undertaking targeted military operations against militants; improving intelligence gathering mechanism by utilising modern technology; developing a national security plan for ensuring safety and security to all Pakistanis for which National Counter Terrorism Authority would be redesigned; establishing coordination and information sharing mechanisms to confront the terrorist threat; utilising strategic communications to counter extremists’ rhetoric; devising a comprehensive strategy to prevent attacks on major urban centers; enhancing border security to prevent insurgents’ movement across Pakistan-Afghanistan border; building a national narrative against ‘religiously motivated violence’; and launching a campaign to prevent “Pakistan from being used as a base for terrorist activities.’
Besides, the party has also underlined a host of measures under its “internal security” plan underlying talks with only those militants who show readiness to renounce violence, ensuring the use of force to remain the state’s monopoly, initiating process of disarmament, introducing reforms in the education sector, regulating religious seminaries, an enhancing research and intelligence gathering related to key extremist outfits and their operations and recruitment strategies.
The former chief secretary Rustam Shah Mohmand said the PPPP’s strategy was doomed to fail. “The problem could not be resolved after using force for 11 straight years,” said Mr. Mohmand, adding “insurgency cannot be put an end without restoring the resolving people’s grievances as people are more concerned about the rebuilding of their houses, reconstruction of their roads, rebuilding their telephone lines, and rebuilding schools and other facilities destroyed by a prolonged war in their area.”
However, Rumi thinks differently. He said PPPP, in its last five year rule, went along with the military whenever the military wanted to use force against militants. “In reality, PPPP and ANP don’t have a plan to tackle militancy,” said the analyst, adding “they did not make concerted effort to develop consensus at the national level to fight out militants.”
Like PML-N, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf appears to be reluctant to use force against militants if voted to power in the upcoming elections. The party sees terrorism as “a growing internal de-stabiliser”, but stops short of committing itself to come hard on militants. Rumi termed it as Imran Khan’s ‘appeasement policy,’ a populist strategy on PTI’s part.
In its manifesto, it pledges to provide security for ordinary citizens to stop terrorists from melting into the population, convince militants to lay down their arms and initiate dialogue, address genuine political grievances of the people of Fata, bring Fata into the mainstream and remove FCR, abolish the ‘narrative of Jihad’ to reduce the size of the force to be tackled, eliminate financial lifeline of militants, extricate Pakistan from the US-led war on terror, carryout deweaponisation across Pakistan, and win ‘hearts and minds’ by implementing a major ‘Insaf economic package.’
Rustam Shah Mohmand, who has been spearheading PTI in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, expressed reservations about PTI’s plan, describing its plan to remove FCR as a move without comprehending local issues and demands that, according to him, do not involve the abolition of FCR.
He said there was a need to withdraw army from Fata and restore the previous status of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor as the centre of power, dealing with Fata through political agents.
“PTI’s plan sells in the short term as it satisfies a popular sentiment,” said Rumi, adding “but youth, who are buying Imran’s popular stance, lack in their knowledge about what is happening on ground in Fata.”