The situation in NWFP is gradually slipping away from the control of government in the face of mounting militant’s attacks in the province and FATA. Amid the fears that the Peshawar too could fall to the militants, authorities have launched an operation in the neighboring Khyber Agency against a militant organization Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), which had established its sway over the agency and was also using it as a launching pad to attack Peshawar.
The photo above shows tanks parked in a Government installation at Hayatabad, Peshawar. Photo by Riaz Anjum at APP
The operation launched against the LI signifies a turning point in the coalition government policy towards FATA and NWFP, initially aimed at pacifying the troubled areas through dialogue despite intense US and NATO pressure.
It is first major military offensive launched in the Khyber Agency in the west of Peshawar, on a key trade route connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan through historic Khyber Pass.
The situation in the other parts of the province and tribal areas is also far from satisfactory and the flames of militancy are spreading in every direction.
The violence is escalating in the scenic tourist resort of Swat, where Awami National Party (ANP) led coalition government of NWFP has signed a 15-points peace deal with the militants on May 21, and attacks on girls’ schools have recorded a surge in the Upper and Lower Dir districts, sharing borders with Swat.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a loose conglomerate of militants fighting the security forces, announced to suspend peace talks with the federal government, citing operation in some areas as a breach of the electoral promises of the ruling coalition.
Earlier, TTP militants kidnapped more than two dozens local ‘amn’ (Peace) Committee members in the Southern district Tank and their bullet ridden bodies were found a day back.
The sectarian clashes in the Kurram and Aurakzai agencies also recorded an increase and government efforts to curb this menace have failed so far.
As the peace talks were progressing at a snail pace, militant’s activities recorded a surge around Peshawar and even police stopped night patrols in the rural circle of the city, after militants attacked one its vehicles and killed three policemen.
LI, which has weed out its rival group Ansarul Islam (AI) from large swaths of territory in Khyber Agency had started to tighten its noose around Peshawar, and in a most bizarre incident they abducted around 16 Christians from the Academy Town area of Peshawar for a brief period.
In the backdrop of these developments, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Ameer Maulana Fazlur Rehman, while speaking in National Assembly cautioned that it was a matter of months until the NWFP was no longer part of the country. Sensing the gravity of situation, the next day prime minister authorized army chief to conduct operations in FATA.
Government was quick to take action against the new wave of violence and fears about the fall of Peshawar, despite the peace overtures with militants, which were going on since the coalition government took over some months back.
At present the government is at the horns of dilemma, as if peace process fails and military action begins against the Taliban, they could again start suicide bombing across the country and Baitullah Mehsood has said that this time the war would be fought in Sindh and Pubjab.
On the other hand if the government did not takes action against the growing militancy, it would result into loss of more territory, as the militants are extending their influence into new horizons.
The political moves made by the government so far have backed fired as it turned over the authority to use force in FATA to army chief, backtracking from the plan announced by prime minister in his maiden speech.
This has pushed the ANP-led NWFP of government into a tight corner, as it came to the power on the name of peace and now badly trapped in the face of growing militancy and politics of peace process and desperately trying to save Swat peace deal at any cost, despite the militants’ somersaults.
The government strategy of tackling militancy through dialogue has fizzled out in the face of growing violence and NATO and Americans pressure for strict actions against the militant hideouts in the tribal areas and to stop the cross border terrorism.
The US has at time attacked targets inside Pakistani territory and on June 10, a US drone killed 12 Pakistani soldiers in Mohmand Agency and now the Afghan President Hamid Karzai is also threatening of pursuing militants inside Pakistani territory.
In reality, the history of peace deals concluded in Waziristan with militants since 2004 and Swat in May 2007 reveal that these deals have been fragile and ended on slight provocations, and that there are no quick fixes to the NWFP quagmire, as it is a result of more than 30 years long Afghan war.
The American presence in the region and multilateral interests have also complicated the issues, while at the same time international community expects Pakistan to rein the rouge elements from crossing into Afghanistan.
ATP Note: While Manzoor Ali Shah has pretty much laid out the current picture of NWFP above, we would like to hear your opinion. Will ‘Carrot and Stick’ work as being touted in the news lately?
Dear Usman Kadiri:
As I read your comments my heart gets filled with despair about future of Pakistan.
You make one after the other erroneous statements without bothering to check facts. Let me start with your claim about Pakistan’s political identity. To the best of my knowledge, Pakistan was never conceived as a theocratic state. Rather our nation was conceived as a Muslim majority secular state. It is the nexus of mullah-s and generals that overturned the people’s will and converted “Pakistan” into “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”.
You claim that the Mughal empire was ruled by sharia. May I know which sharia you are talking about? Did it have anything to do with Talibani sharia? Could it have been possible for them to rule such a diverse land for such long time without winning over the goodwill of their subjects, which were largely non-Muslims? Please read some non-Pakistani texts of medieval history to get a very different perspective of the Mughal rule. (I suggest A.Eraly or William Dalrympyle). Mughals won over the goodwill of their subjects through a very liberal and tolerant religious policy, not Talibani sharia. Contrary to what is taught in our history text books, the only Mughal who tried to give an unimaginative push towards Talibani style sharia (Aurangzeb) actually ended up becoming the root cause of the demise of the Mughal empire.
I do not know from where you got the idea that rape crimes are least in Saudi Arab. However, going by the logic of following, it may be true that rape cases are least *reported* in Saudi Arab:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/17/saudi.ra pe.victim/
Is this the type of sharia we want in Pakistan?
Being rich is different from being human and productive. If Saudi system is so superior why don’t we see their contribution in any of the fields of human endeavor?: physics, sociology, anthropology, economics, law, arts, where do you see their contribution?
My sincere request to you is that you stop living in your utopian dream world. Sharia or no sharia, there will never be generation of ‘pious’ and ‘morally pure’ rulers to take Pakistan into prosperity. Mature nations do not depend upon piety and benevolence of their rulers to get their due. They enforce it through institutional checks and balances.
Thank you.
Well if you think that Taliban’s “shariah” is so bad and you know Quranic Shariah so well then why didn’t you try to implement it or atleast preach it rather kissing up West and Western values all the time? Quit hypocrisy and get real!
I don’t want to drag this discussion into what Sharia is about but for the gentleman who definitely has a soft corner for the Taliban and want to see them flourish to create a Muslim empire, I just wanted to say that I’m not a liberal nor a modern person as per say but your knowledge about Islam and Sharia is very skewed. Please read about Sharia, what is means, how it can be implemented before passing judgments about others and whether they believe in the word of God or not. Don’t jump to conclusions about others’ faith or pass judgement just because some people here disagree with you. Try to learn and open your mind to the true religion of Islam and please stop giving example of Saudi is a Sharia model. It’s not. Saudi land is blessed with immense hydrocarbon resources, they make billions of dollars just selling oil from just one Ghawar field, the biggest in the world, they have deep ties to US oligarch while buy billions of dollars of US armaments from the military-industrial complex, they provide permanent bases to US and their sheikhs party in the most up scale hotels of London and New York flying in their 747s jumbos outfitted with ultra luxurious interiors of gold and buy American football teams and gamble in Macua and Vegas while they have one of the highest unemployment rate for their youths and many still have no basic education or life amenities. The Saudi life is full of contradiction magnified by the fact that the difference between haves and have-not is immense because the ruling family owns everything.I’m no one to criticized them or on their sincere effort of nation building. They are just another nation trying to make themselves better. They are Muslims just like the other billion or so but if you think that what they do and how they do is the perfect way of living in this world and this is what Prophet’s Sharia is all about, you couldn’t be farther away from truth. I wont have written this post but then I read somewhere that even with their court mistresses and self serving religious injunctions Mughals practiced Sharia!!!
The carrot and stick policy might just work.However the Kalabagh project needs to work here. Some people have to be lucky.
Hello,
The “carrot and stick” method is working. The carrot is autonomy. The militants have the stick (suicide bombings, regular bombings, kidnapping, executions…) And the militants will keep beating with the stick until you give them the carrot. Then, the beating will stop for a while. But, eventually, they will want another carrot so they will pick up their stick again.
Derek