Adil Najam
Government and opposition politicians have embraced the idea of a national conference on how to deal with terrorism. The idea of a conference, in itself, is not much. But the idea of creating a national consensus and a national sense of purpose on dealing with the menace of terrorism is critical if any of the tough steps that will need to be taken, could be taken. One hopes that the conference will, indeed, do that.
But the creation of that common sense of purpose – and let us acknowledge that there is no such thing in Pakistan today – is not just the state’s responsibility. It is equally, and maybe even more, a responsibility of society. The fissures within the state reflect the even deeper fissures within society. And both build upon each other.
It is important, therefore, for all of us to have the exact same conversation that we want our political leaders to be having. A conversation that is focused on practical solutions, difficult decisions, tough realizations, and ultimately an agenda of action. Figuring out ‘how we got here’ is always important, but only to the extent that it actually leads to meaningful strategies of ‘how do we get out of here.’ So, as part of this national conversation, we ask our readers to suggest practical steps forward – ‘practical’ does not mean that it has to be easy, but it does mean that it has to be doable. What do you think should be done, by whom, and how? Have your say; there just may be someone listening.
By way of context, as well as good advice on how the national leadership – and we ourselves – should approach the question, this editorial from Dawn makes very good sense:
…the militants are not only at war with the Pakistani state, they are bent upon subjugating the Pakistani people as well. Security installations, government buildings, mosques, schools, shrines, hospitals and markets, all have been attacked. With this blurring of targets, there is also a need to realise that, whatever their nomenclature, ideology, agenda and area of operation, the militants must now be seen in holistic terms — and their tactics unanimously condemned. This should be the thought behind the attempt to form a consensus on a strategy to curb terrorism…. What is not a matter of debate is that the terrorists are prepared to stop at nothing to destroy the state and inflict their obscurantist agenda on the people. So when the national conference [conversation] takes place … it should be with the realisation that there is a common goal to pursue. There should be no room for blame-games or fiery speeches. Serious discussions will be required, with informed input from all concerned, so that a workable plan to thwart militancy can be put in place. Such a plan would include suggestions on how to prepare the people to take on those who threaten their way of life.
We also seek a serious conversation. What do you think should be done, by whom, and how? You can, of course, say whatever you want. But one hopes that we will get beyond the usual spate of incrimination, finger-pointing, conspiracy, and denial. Certainly look back if you must, but if you are spending more time looking back than forward, then you are probably driving in the wrong direction. To the extent you can, we would appreciate if you would respond to the question with the clarity and unambiguity it deserves: What do you think should be done, by whom, and how?
e,” but how about reintegration with India? Just think: no more swollen defense budgets for both countries; no more Kashmir problem;
I agree with you Naveed but how about rephrasing the statement? Why not asking India to merge with Pakistan?In this way Indians will also have no issue like “cross border terrorism” and other things you mentioned since Indian provinces will already be considered part of Pakistani treaty.
Sounds interesting? let’s work for it!
Dear Naveed and Ahmed,
Thanks for sharing your cunning thoughts. Here’s a suggestion for you guys. Why don’t you revert back to religion of your ancestors that is Hinduism and cancel your Pakistani Passport and get settled in India. That would be the best way to pay tribute to your ancient ancestors.
But wait, don’t complain us when Indians kick on your butt and throw you out from India like they did to Adnan Sami and few other “celebrities”. We will not help you out.
Here’s a desperate measure that’s pretty “out there,” but how about reintegration with India? Just think: no more swollen defense budgets for both countries; no more Kashmir problem; no more (or much less of) water problems; no more visas; no more identity crisis; no more world opprobrium; no spectre of a nuclear conflict or a theocratic Pakistani state; no more bullying by bigger powers.
If we all agree that our leaders have failed us miserably, over and over again, that neither military nor civilian governments are any good, then we should not continue with this experiment. It was necessary in 1947, but times have changed. Do we stand to lose more than we’ll gain if we join India again? Only, the Indian government must guarantee that we will not be run over by Hindu extremists once the merger takes place.
Totally agree with Ahmed. We have no sense of identity. Mohsin Hamid suggests that we take geography as identity–but that still takes us back to India. Anyway, we can still decide to “go from here,” even though in my opinion we need a strong sense of history. Connecting ourselves to Arabs won’t do. We are South Asian, not Middle-Eastern.
We were all right before the Afghan mess started. Following that, policies were deliberately put into place which have yielded ghastly results at the present time. Those policies will deliberately have to be reversed. If places of indoctrination are still operating, they must be closed. Foreign countries funding these should be told to butt out. In fact, all foreign interference should stop.
Also, this might be difficult, but the militants have to be deprived of their moral justifications. Obviously they are still able to influence people of low intelligence or those who are angry for whatever reason to come around to their point of view. There’s no doubt that we need strong leadership. People should be able to see the government as sincere and reliable. Unfortunately, that seems to be a distant dream, given the mindset of the Pakistani ruling classes. They all think of themselves as Akbar the Great. Perhaps Imran Khan is our only hope.
Pakistan has become a violent, intolerant country for several reasons. Only by rooting out root causes can we solve the problems that face us. I don’t believe that eliminating a few radical individuals will solve the problem. Because I think there is groundswell of support for extremism in Pakistan that can only be tackled by eliminating the root causes at large. So, here goes on what I think are the two root causes.
First is a lack of Pakistani identity and nation-building. Pakistan was founded on the basis of religion and the principle of being anti-India, i.e., being whatever India is not. As we see around the world, religion has proved not to be a good basis for nation building. Further, being anti-India has meant disowning 80% of the cultural heritage of our ancestors. After all, our Pakistani ancestors played a major role in creating the Indian cultural identity starting from Mohenjodaro and Harappa. And, we were Hindus, Buddhists, before we became Islamic (perhaps just a few centuries ago in many cases). We threw out our association with richest and the oldest continuous heritage known to mankind and have let the Indians take credit for all of that. And, that includes classical music (hindustani or otherwise), classical literature (starting from the vedas in 1700 BC), classical medicine (starting from charaka in 300 BC and even earlier), classical math (starting from the sulvasutras the earliest treatise in geometry), classical art (gandhara and even earlier), classical political science (the origin of the first democracies known as janapadas in 1000 BC), etc. We are now left with nothing but the last few centuries of Indo-Islamic forms. We fancy ourselves to somehow be “arab” or middle-eastern. But, guess what. No middle-easterner thinks Pakistanis are like them. And, verily, central asian invaders were mostly just nomads of low-culture, who came into the subcontinent of high culture.
We never see Europeans shunning their greek and roman antiquity because they are pagan and non-christian, but we do exactly that. For a people with no identity or nationhood except religion, it is inevitable that religion in its most intolerant forms will dominate. Mind you it is not the Sufi version of Islam, which was Indianized to suit the Indian temperament and is in fact very similar to mystical hinduism, that will dominate. But, the hardcore version of Islam from Arabia that will appeal.
The second reason is a lack of opportunity. I strongly people fight only when don’t have the ability to live good lives. Look at the Maoists in India. That is the only reason they fight/kill/maim. So, eliminating corruption, encouraging democracy, and quickly providing education and opportunity is the only solution to eliminating terrorism.