The failure of American policy of waging a mindless war in Afghanistan has a silver lining, provided the decision makers particularly in Washington and generally in Islamabad, are willing to pay attention to the calling of the time. Nearly seven years of continuous military action in Afghanistan has killed less "terrorists" and has created more. Despite the international community's full support to Karzai, he has not been able to extend his writ beyond Kabul and some major towns.
In the second week of June 2008, during the Paris Conference, Karzai was criticised for "massive administrative corruption and weak governance and accountability in spending the aid in economic and reconstruction projects". Despite criticism, Karzai received aid pledges worth over $20 billion for the next four years.
If one were to analyze the graph of violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last four years, including the latest despicable act of terrorism outside the Indian embassy in Kabul that claimed over 40 lives on July 7, most Afghan and foreign military officials pointed their fingers at Pakistan. Glossing over failures of the US-led Nato 71,000 strong troops, they have attributed the entire cycle of violence to the Pakistan-based radical Islamists.
This attitude comes across as very simplistic assessment of the events and leads one to question as to whether Pakistan suffered the kind of violence ever before? During 2007 alone, as many as 4,299 lives were lost to acts of terrorism. This also included 740 security officials and the number of suicide bombing was 66 i.e. more than one attack per week. They included the March 11 attack on the FIA headquarters in Lahore and the one in Islamabad on July 6.
Should then Pakistan repeatedly allege the American and Nato forces in Afghanistan along with the Afghan government for the domestic failure to ensure law and order because the ordeal of Pakistan simply flows from the questionable war against terrorism, that has opened several new fronts, antagonised scores of Pakistanis, and emboldened pan-Islamist, anti-American Islamists to go after every one – group or individual – that they perceive as pro-America.
Maintaining law and order within the Pakistani boundaries is as much the job of the government as of the Afghan government to do so in its own country.
Intriguingly, Pakistan remains the focus of all negative attention and criticism, particularly in the Western media and in the minds of American officials. This obviously brings in more pressure on the Pakistani authorities.
This does not suggest that the Pakistani state institutions are devoid of responsibility. Much of what we see happening is the direct consequence of the policies these institutions pursued in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Russian occupation of Afghanistan as well as the Taliban regime. Their "pro-independence endeavours" in Kashmir are also no secret. And hence the complications and compulsions today.
Incessant pressure to do more also is the result of our endeavours in Afghanistan and Kashmir. But does this justify pressurising Pakistan to continue using brute force against its own people in a situation which demands expedience and caution? Would more human losses – both military and civilian – in any way help the global war on terror (GWOT)?
Most political and social scientists would respond negatively to this question just because, as the ground evidence suggests, overwhelming use of the military might had only added to suffering and frustration among people because of the magnitude of the "collateral damage" – with scores of innocent civilians getting killed or maimed in strikes directed at terror suspects.
The damage done by the GWOT demands that America's global philosophy as originally defined by the founders of the project for the New American Century (PNAC) be reviewed and redefined. The "Fundamental Propositions" of the PNAC had proposed that "American leadership is good both for America and for the world; and that such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle. "America has tried her military strength and diplomatic energy. Maybe this is the time that the US adheres to the moral principles not only of the modern day democratic America but also that of her founding fathers.
The need for a new social contract in Fata
In hindsight, Pakistani military operation in Kaloosha, South Waziristan in March 2004 now seems ill-conceived and poorly carried out with no tangible and long-term gains.
A little more than four years on, with more than a thousand casualties and more than ten thousand injuries, this military expedition has proved expensive without succeeding to nip the militancy and extremism in the bud. Musharraf and the military terribly undermined and wickedly belittled the setup of civilian and political administration and acted on their own. This destroyed the credibility of the old system that had been in place since 1901. Both the locals and the Taliban started ignoring the centuries old Jirga system conducted by the tribal elders and leaders to settle all kinds of issues under the sun in Fata.
Taliban now rule supreme and so does the law that they announce and proclaim. They have become the judge, jury and the executioner. The failure of excessive military might have proven that a shift and change in approach is much needed. Now is the time that the right of the people of Fata should and must be recognised on Pakistan the way people of the other four federal units have. There is a dire need of social, political, economic, educational and industrial reformation but any such reform must not challenge or threaten the existing systems of the tribal society in the short-term. Instead of imposing or dictating a change from the above, let the change come via these reformations.
The stereotypes have to be discarded about the people of Fata and they should be given an organised chance to build a good life for themselves and their future generations. Any donor-driven agenda and ideas conceived across the seven seas will not help. The change, if there has to be, should be homegrown, sensitive to local customs and traditions and long-term oriented. The stakes of the locals have to be built into any such process if the reformation effort has to succeed. These stakes cannot be built by those consultants, non-government officials and think-tanks who wouldn't know more than the people whom they are funding and providing with money.
Trying to reform FATA and its people via the military operation has only exacerbated the situation and multiplied the number of extremists and the militants; it is time for a social operation that is integrated and coherent with social norms and situation. The use of the military power ought to be kept as a deterrent-stick instead of the only modus operandi. The social change should be the carrot that both Pakistan and more particularly, US and West need to present and provide to the people in Fata. If the sensitivities of the present time are not addressed, the situation will only aggravate both in Pakistan and the region. Especially in a situation wherein the US might have also learnt that crushing military might cannot be the solution to all political and social problems, social change via politics is the way to go ahead. Otherwise, the situation will not improve and none in the coalition in GWOT will win.
