This demand is all the more difficult to rebuff because the

political leadership does little to suggest that it takes the fight against militancy and
extremism seriously in the spells between major attacks. After APS came the
National
Action Plan and after the Easter bombing in Lahore came the initially botched
operation
against the so-called Chotoo gang in Rajanpur. Now, after the devastating Quetta
attack
against lawyers, has come notification of greater powers for the Rangers to operate
in
Punjab. The capitulation is nearly complete.

A FRIDAY prayer-time bombing of a mosque in Mohmand Agency has underscored

once more the national threat posed by the Jamaatul Ahrar faction of the banned
TTP.
From Quetta to Mohmand and Lahore to Mardan, the JuA has struck with a
viciousness
that sets it apart from many other militant groups. T

THE process of geotagging all madressahs in Punjab, in order to locate the

seminaries
through precise geographical data, is reported to have been completed. A report in
this
paper quotes a senior police official as saying there is hardly a madressah in the
province “that has not passed through the geotagging process”. There were earlier
reports that Sindh had geotagged most of the religious seminaries in its domain —
apparently shrugging off the laziness that it had been earlier accused of. In mid-
2015,
as Punjab was said to be leading in the race to geotag madressahs, KP and
Balochistan were making good strides towards completion of the task assigned to
the
federating units under the National Action Plan. Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan, which
also
had a PPP government at the time, lagged behind. It would appear that an overall
push
for the completion of this segment under NAP compelled the counterterrorism
departments in all federating units of the country to speed up the exercise. The
achievement would, however, encourage voices calling for acceleration of the overall
effort to combat and uproot militancy.
IF Iraqi forces manage to liberate the city of Mosul — under occupation of the
militant
Islamic State group since 2014 — it will be, symbolically, a major blow to the
fanatical
movement. As per the latest reports, the Iraqi military, aided by an assortment of
Shia
and Sunni militias, Kurdish peshmerga, as well as American forces, has entered this
key city, where IS ‗caliph‘ al-Baghdadi once held forth from within its historic
mosque.

AMONG the decisions taken by Sindh‘s apex committee during its meeting on
Thursday
in Karachi was the move to compile a list of people ―who have been to Afghanistan,
Iran
and Syria‖ recently, with emphasis on madressah students. Presumably, the
committee
has taken this initiative out of concern that extremist fighters from the Middle East‘s
battlegrounds — as well as other regional conflicts — may be planning to return to
this
country. This is a wise move and should be replicated across the nation. Media
reports
indicate that thousands of foreign fighters, hailing from across the globe, have
headed
to Iraq and Syria since 2011 to fight for the militant Islamic State group and other
jihadi
outfits. Many of these militants have returned to their home countries. And as
reported
in this paper in August, over 650 Pakistanis are believed to be fighting in Syria, Iraq,
Yemen, Afghanistan and the Central Asian states. In fact, the National Crisis
Management Cell has sounded the alarm about local militants fighting abroad, while
independent analysts have raised similar concerns. Along with locals, it is estimated
that some foreign fighters may also try and seek refuge in Pakistan.

THE past few weeks have seen sectarian tensions rising in Karachi. While the
situation
on the sectarian front has been fragile even in relatively ‗normal‘ times, the most
recent
trouble began after five people were gunned down outside a women‘s majlis in the
city‘s
Nazimabad area on Oct 29. Last Friday, there was more sectarian bloodshed as six
people were shot dead in different incidents. The victims included workers of the
banned ASWJ as well as other religious outfits. Over the weekend, police detained
several high-profile Shia leaders and clerics, including former PPP senator Faisal
Raza
Abidi, and separately, an ASWJ leader. However, on Monday, things boiled over as
protesters in the Malir area calling for the release of Shia detainees clashed with
police.
The protesters were blocking the National Highway and a railway track; things went
awry when attempts to end the blockade peacefully failed.

THE blight in Balochistan continues. This time a shrine in a remote, mountainous

region
of Khuzdar has been attacked and the death toll and number of casualties are
devastating. It was the third monstrous attack in the span of three months – lawyers
killed by the dozen in August; policemen killed by the dozen in October; and, now,
members of the public killed by the dozen. The numbing scale of the disasters is
difficult
to process even in terms of a province that has been in the throes of every possible
kind
of violence for over a decade. Perhaps one day the people of Balochistan will be
able to
ask why they were cursed to suffer the violence of state and non-state actors alike, a

WITH the latest round of bans, the total number of proscribed militant groups in the
country has now touched 63. The Jamaatul Ahrar and the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami
certainly appear to have earned their respective bans: each has claimed
responsibility
for several of the more grotesque militant attacks in recent times in various parts of
the
country.

SOMETIMES, reform is not the answer. A case in point is the resolution unanimously
passed by the Senate on Tuesday recommending that women be given increased
representation in the Council of Islamic Ideology. The strength of this constitutional
body
is stipulated to be between eight and 20, which must include at least one woman
member. The fact that a PPP senator, Sehar Kamran, had moved the resolution was
particularly curious. Only a few months ago, another PPP senator, Farhatullah
Babar,
had called for the CII to be disbanded altogether. Along with some other members in
the
Senate committee on human rights, he had denounced the CII‘s misogyny and its
inordinate focus on issues pertaining to women and marriage

THE Fourth Schedule is a piece of legislation that no one in authority seems to

quite know what to do with. That certainly ought not to be the case in a country
engaged in an extended, multi-tiered battle against extremism. According to
Section 11EE of the ATA, the Fourth Schedule is to include “any person who is an
activist, office-bearer or an associate of an organisation kept under observation
… or proscribed … or … affiliated with any group or organisation suspected to be
involved in terrorism or sectarianism”. To prevent them from propagating their
noxious views, the law — with certain caveats — does not allow these
individuals to visit institutions of learning, training or residence where persons
under 21 years of age are found. Similarly, public places such as restaurants,
television and radio stations or airports are out of bounds for them. They are
also forbidden from taking part in public meetings or processions, or from being
present at an enclosed location in connection with any public event.

WHEN Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif or members of his government speak about
terrorism- and militancy-related issues, it often only serves to expose their lack
of understanding of the matter or their wilful denial of the facts, or perhaps
both. Addressing parliamentarians in Sarajevo, Mr Sharif claimed not only that
all sanctuaries of Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban have been eliminated in
Pakistan, but that there is no presence of the militant Islamic State group either
in the country. He went on to claim credit, as has become his practice, for the
multiple successes in the fight against militancy. Perhaps on all counts, Mr Sharif
is wrong. To begin with, while military operations have cleared Fata of the
strongholds of the banned TTP, the steady pace of militant attacks in tribal areas
and the provinces suggests the continued existence of terrorist hideouts in the
country. Indeed, that is the reason the military leadership has demanded
greater action in Punjab — a vast jihadist infrastructure there operates
undamaged and in plain sight. On Al Qaeda, while there have been great
successes and the global attraction of its so-called brand has diminished, can the
prime minister or indeed any official here realistically claim that every last
strand of the group in Pakistan has been found and eliminated? What is the
likelihood that Ayman al-Zawahiri is hiding on Pakistani soil?

A NEW report shows that the number of fatalities and injuries from violence in
2016 declined sharply from the previous year. The report, prepared by the
Centre for Research and Security Studies, shows there was a 45pc reduction in
fatalities last year due to violence, though the decrease in injuries from violence
was a more modest 11pc. There are grounds for some cheer in this report, and
taken as a whole, the figures at the national level point towards an
improvement in the security situation in the country. But a closer look reveals a
few disturbing patterns

For one, violent incidents of a sectarian nature appear to have spread to areas
that were previously unaffected, particularly towns in Sindh. Second, the
terrorists appear to have adapted to the tougher security measures around the
country by resorting to more attacks using improvised explosive devices,
landmines and suicide attackers, which killed almost twice as many people in
2016 as in the previous year. These attacks have also become more
indiscriminate, killing women and children as well as members of all communities
who happen to be in the vicinity. The attack in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park in Lahore is a
prime example. Supposedly an instance of communal violence, the suicide
bombing claimed the lives of those belonging to many faiths, including 29 children
in the playground. The reduction in the overall level of violence is to be
welcomed, but the patterns of violence in 2016 suggest that the terrorism threat
in the country is adapting in deadly ways and much work remains to be done to
turn the corner in this battle. An emphasis on civil law enforcement is crucial to
carry the battle forward into the new era of terrorism threats that appears to be
opening up before us. It will be vital to reform the police and enhance judicial
capacities to meet the new challenges, as well as work harder to de-legitimise
terrorist and extremist narratives in order to drain this swamp.
DEALING with the scourge of militancy requires multipronged efforts. One way
is to fight militants on the battlefield and uproot the infrastructure of terror, as
has been done, to an extent, in the tribal areas as well as in our cities through
Zarb-i-Azb and ‘intelligence-based operations’, respectively. However, efforts
must also be made to prevent young minds from falling into the trap of
extremism, and to help them find a way back into the mainstream once they
forsake the way of the gun. Pakistan has experimented with deradicalisation
programmes, most notably in Swat, where the army-led effort has produced
mixed results. Now, as reported in this paper yesterday, Sindh also wants to
initiate a deradicalisation project. Officials of the provincial Counter Terrorism
Department have said that they plan on deradicalising and rehabilitating around
300 militants lodged in Sindh’s prisons. Help would be sought from professional
psychologists to understand the factors that drew these individuals towards
militancy. The officials went on to say that two youngsters who were on their
way to Syria to fight for the militant Islamic State group renounced militancy
through the efforts of the Sindh CTD.

Simply, there is no other rational choice for the state: adopt a zero-tolerance
approach towards all forms of militancy or else the country will continue to
suffer from militancy. The focus must necessarily be on Punjab and the vast
infrastructure of jihad that has taken hold in the province. While the PML-N
government appears in denial about the scale and scope of the problem, the
provincial apex committee and dialogue at the federal level ought to shed some
light for the civilians on the vast dimensions of the problem in Punjab.

EVERY terrorist incident in Pakistan strengthens my belief that root cause of terrorism in
the country is external. The father of the nation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah,
truly said that no power on earth can undo Pakistan, however, he did not say that no
power can hurt Pakistan. It is equally true that mere existence of Pakistan is not
acceptable to many countries in the world. These ‘rogue states’ worked together in
disintegration of Pakistan (East Pakistan) and the same forces are active since ‘9/11’ to
destroy Pakistan from within.

Internally, hostile forces have worked hard to deprive the nation from the spiritual power
of dignity. These forces have applied multiple subversive methods to achieve this goal.
The important among such strategies is the political and economic systems that are
mainly responsible for all of the evils. When a nation loses the way to live with dignity,
loses everything at last. This is a universal principle and in line with the teachings of
Islam also. Allah in Quran says, “Allah will never change the condition of the people until
they change it themselves.” (Surah Ar Raad). Pakistani nation has lost its cause to live
like a nation. Two times Roti (meal) is the prime goal of life for majority (poor class) in
the country, and add two more to it, kapra and makan (cloth and a house), is the mindset
and life style of the middle class. Making money is the practice of the rich, and ruling the
country is the right of the 1% elites. In such a scenario, everyone is busy to grab an
opportunity. State machinery is out of work, institutions are serving privileged class in the
power corridors, and thus performance of the institutions is next to nil. National assets
are being sold/privatised, money is borrowed in trillions of dollars, and a new wave of
unregulated capitalism has emerged that is exploding the nation like a bomb. 

Other than that, enemies have deployed their assets across the country at different
stations, in different forms and at different levels. These include people in politics, media,
academia, judiciary, religious circles and in the civil society organizations at large. These
people are more dangerous than the bullets fired from an enemy’s guns. We may call
them mouthpieces who are on the mission relating to subversion—changing the national
narrative and mindset that suits their masters. There is dire need for a fundamental
change in the political system of the country. Structures of political, economic, judicial,
education, and social systems have got corrupted that should be revised. The political
system requires a major surgery at first place because leadership, whether honest or
corrupt, emerge through a political system. Surgery of system will bring about change in
the mindset of political leaders which will automatically lead to rigorous revision of
Pakistan’s internal and external policies. 

Pakistan needs a competent, honest, courageous and visionary leadership who could
restore national cause, and perform well to all challenges and threats, at home and from
abroad. A kind of controlled revolution can bring about such fundamental changes. The
core question yet remains; who will dare doing all this. I personally do not see any
chances in the foreseeable future, although people have strong desire for a revolution—
survey reports confirm. However, there could be some scenarios that may alter whole
course of history and relieve Pakistan from the menace of terrorism forever: First, a
controlled revolution with military support in order to establish a technocratic
government; second, a miracle in the shape of a war between big powers in which India
suffers (this happened during World War-II in which an arrogant Japan was defeated
and Chinese were relieved from its atrocities), and finally, Almighty Allah can bring up an
honest, competent, and a brave leader within the existing system of democracy who
could introduce revolutionary policies and practices in the best interest of the country
and the nation. — The writer is a Research Associate at Strategic Vision Institute,
Islamabad.