Farooq Ganderbali
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s intent to root out the scourge of terrorism from his country is not in doubt. He has been speaking out against terrorism and terrorist groups since the Peshawar attack of December 2014. He has been quick to condemn the attack on the Indian air force base in Pathankot. He has also promised, on several occasions, to work with India to investigate terrorist attacks in India perpetrated by groups based in Pakistan. A sense of seriousness and sincerity has been noted in his proclamations.
But clouds of doubt are now rising on the horizon, raising questions about Prime Minister Sharif’s capabilities to follow up on his promises. Take for instance the Pathankot attack and the international outcry over the role of Pakistan-based terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in the attack. The Pathankot attack came a few days after the Prime Ministers of the two countries decided to forget the past recriminations and seek a new path of reconciliation and progress. The attack was meant to throw a spanner in the dialogue. It did. But it also gave Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif an opportunity to turn back the clock.
His statements after the Pathankot showed that he was ready to seize the initiative and act according to the powers vested him by the people of Pakistan. He did order a crackdown on terrorists and assured the Indian leadership that his Government would act on the evidence submitted by India. He even admitted that the Pathankot attack was a setback to the renewed attempts to forge a better relationship. But as days slipped by, his words and assurances lost their sheen and gravity as nothing visible happened in containing terrorist groups targeting India.
The growing feeling of disconcert was bolstered by the freedom with which terrorist mastermind Hafiz Saeed, who should have been standing trial for terrorism, led a major rally in Islamabad the other day (the so-called Kashmir Day) where he freely spewed venom on India and called for jihad. He called for “more intensity in the freedom struggle (read terrorism). Every child in Pakistan is ready to sacrifice his life for Kashmir’s freedom.(read: create more jihadis)” . Not only Islamabad, Saeed’s terrorist group, banned by the UN and several countries, held rallies in different parts of Pakistan, all with the patronage and support of the state agencies. In all these meetings, the terrorists called for intensifying jihad and creating an army of young jihadis to attack Kashmir and India.
In any civilised country, such rallies would not have been permitted and if the groups had defied the Government directive, they would have faced the police wrath and their leaders would have been thrown into prison and not allowed to walk in the streets and call for the mass murder of people in other countries. Such acts have no place in a democracy, at least that is what Pakistan calls itself. Saeed’s public rallies raise serious questions about Pakistan’s sovereign commitment made to India and the international community as a whole. It did not help that the rallies were allowed to be held a day after the Indian Government had requested that Hafiz Saeed should be reined in. The Indian reaction came after Saeed hailed the Pathankot attack and threatened to launch similar attacks in India in the near future.
Perhaps it is not fair to blame Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. His commitment is in no doubt. The key stumbling block in his way is Pakistan Army, and more specifically the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) who has been putting all kinds of hindrances. General Raheel Sharif, who began on a low key, has been slowly usurping political powers in his bid to gain personal glory. This has been a major problem for Prime Minister Sharif and for the country’s democratic process. General Sharif is not an elected representative of the people but has been acting as an extra-constitutional authority for the past two years now. He should have remained true to his first vocation—head of the army and not expand his reach and powers through undemocratic and illegal ways.
Now it is up to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to get a firm grip on his country and take up the challenge of not only dealing with terrorism but to take his country out of poverty and religious extremism. That is the promise which he has to fulfil to his countrymen. He must now act according to the powers vested in him by the Constitution of Pakistan and make it abundantly clear that he was not in a mood to let his country slip back into the hands of power-hungry, unaccountable Generals. People of Pakistan want their country to be democratic and had voted him to be their leader to make their lives and future better. The first step for Prime Minister Sharif would be to make sure that he remains true to the promises made by him to his people, which includes rooting out terrorism. For that if he has to take on the powerful Generals, he must. He has done it in the past. This time he has the people on his side. So does the international community.
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