Taliban uninterrupted

Saturday, April 25, 2009

The Taliban have now moved into the Shangla and Buner districts in full earnest. Residents report masked militants driving through the streets while loud speaker message warn that no 'un-Islamic' activity will be tolerated. Terrified local people cower within their homes as the Taliban take over towns and hamlets without challenge. What seems to have been a rather half-hearted attempt by the Frontier Constabulary to take up positions in Buner was effortlessly thwarted by militants who ambushed the police vehicle leading the FC Convoy, killing one policeman. The convoy then made a rapid retreat. The apparent connivance of some people in the bureaucracy - the commissioner of Malakand, quoted by several news channels as saying that the Taliban would not interfere with the working of the local administration in Buner, being a case in point - does not help either and one can only wonder under what mandate they are operating against the interests of the nation and the state.
The Taliban are clearly upbeat and confident. Their victory has been decisive. In contrast, our security forces seem confused and undecided, as though they already recognize they are on the losing side. The army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had to forcefully come out with a reassuring statement after a GHQ meeting on Friday but statements alone may not be enough to create a sense of security in the traumatised people of Swat and Buner - and indeed throughout Pakistan. What is reassuring about General Kayani's statement is that the army is determined not to allow the militants to dictate terms and that he is cognizant of the very real danger that the advance of the Taliban pose to the Pakistani way of life. Having said that, so far the matching political will in the government seems to be missing - and if anything, so far only Nawaz Sharif and the MQM have taken the stand that is required of all the country's political leadership. In fact one interpretation of General Kayani's statement could be that the ball is now in the politicians' court: to come up with a concerted and coherent plan of action. When that happens is yet to be seen but the forward march of the Taliban is already making its deadly impact on society. In Swat, and now in Buner, small boys wearing the garb of the Taliban play their own games of war, emulating the victors. One horrible TV image shows them 'flogging' a playmate - emulating what they see all around them. In the future, these games could become all too real. Is this then what we have to look forward too?
Telephone lines between Islamabad and Washington seem constantly to be engaged. There is obviously now very real alarm in the US over the fate of Pakistan and how this will affect relations. The question that runs through minds is what is to be done and how? What is most disturbing is the fact that our own government has as yet failed to work out a strategy of any kind. It is this failure that fills people with most fear. While the PML-N, after refusing to take any kind of stand in parliament against the peace deal in Swat, now seems suddenly to have woken up to a danger that has been present for months, its leaders do not quite say what should be done. They have suggested the prime minister take a lead in the matter - but is there anything to prevent the party from proposing its own solutions? So far it seems they, like other major parties in the country, have none to offer. Some of these forces indeed seem reluctant to condemn the Taliban outright - and this indeed is the core reason for their success.
The Pakistan army statement has underlined the urgency of the situation and it is time that we saw some kind of return to sanity, to wisdom and to good sense. All mainstream parties need to work out a policy that can check the onward march of the Taliban. Let us not forget they stand now close to Mansehra - and not all that many kilometres away from the capital itself. While the government claims there is no threat to Islamabad its credibility is under doubt. Instant action is needed to restore it; an All Parties Conference (APC) should be called; perhaps a broader gathering of civil society groups is in order. We need to develop a consensus on defeating the militants, on driving them back and on ending their strident march. Soon it will be too late to put any kind of check in their way.

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