Sikandar Noorani
TIME has proved that Pakistan displayed remarkable resilience in war against terrorism and successfully restored peace in maximum parts of the country. Though, the complex war is not yet over, yet signs of Pak stability are too significant to deny. Undisputed appreciatory acknowledgments, from authentic international forums and top global dignitaries, frequently confirm what the nation has earned with sacrifices of precious lives. One such endorsement has recently surfaced from Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) in a report titled “Global Terrorism Index-2020”. Last year Pakistan was ranked 5th among top terror hit countries of the world. This year Pak ranked 7th which is due to significant reduction in terrorist attacks. This reduction in terrorism is not an abrupt or short-lived development because nation had strived for more than a decade to regain the much needed stability. Terror dynamics in Pakistan has always been complex and multi-dimensional. Mostly, foreign factors impacted so deeply on prevailing weaknesses that complete national infrastructure got partially paralyzed.
Over a period of time, most of the weaknesses prevailing in national system turned into exploitable fault-lines. These problems emerged from the turmoil of flawed political and governance practices. Indian and Afghan factors always created deeper impacts on Pak policy making process which unfortunately lacked the strength of requisite collective wisdom during the most crucial moments. This is not true that Pakistan first confronted terrorism in post 9/11 scenario. Knowledge of history must be refreshed on this very aspect that terrorism and proxies had been much older problems for Pakistan. Though , major global players led by the US started mantra of terrorism primarily after 9/11 but much prior to this many parts of South Asia had suffered multiple forms of terror and proxies. Alarmingly, India had always been figuring out as a key manipulator in most of the terror related regional episodes. How students of history can overlook the devastating role played by India in nerve breaking Tamil insurgency which played havoc in Sri Lanka for more than three decades. Suicide bombing phenomenon came in play in the early eighties with obvious Indian imprints. There were multiple suicidal attacks on Sri Lankan officials including the Presidents Bandaranayke and Premadasa. Menace struck back home once former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi lost life in one of Tamil retaliatory suicidal attacks.
Seven years earlier to her son’s death, sitting PM Indira Gandhi also became victim of retaliatory shooting by none other than her own two Sikh body guards. Let’s be clear that Indira Gandhi was the one who as head of the state systematically applied the weapon of cross-border terrorism in East Pakistan. Undeniably, creation and existence of Pakistan had never been an acceptable reality for New Delhi. Illegal Indian occupation of Jammu and Kashmir further strengthened the foundations of animosity. Issues are still unsettled after fighting wars on Kashmir issue, creation of Bangladesh and decades long stand-off at Siachen. While focusing on the issue of terrorism, one cannot ignore this bitter fact that it was India which applied the weapon of cross-border terrorism through its proxies in East and West Pakistan. This poisonous Indian policy of using terrorism as strategic tool to gain state objectives served the purpose well by creating Bangladesh in 1971 due to obvious geographical vis-a-vis political disadvantages and military resource handicaps of Pakistan. However, despite bleeding Pakistan with many cuts this Indian policy could not yield desired effects optimally in present day scenario. Global powers look at the issue of terrorism with a different lens mostly focusing at Islamist groups. The case of terrorism remains comparatively much complex and intriguing for Pakistan. Much earlier than 9/11 hype, Pakistan had to confront ethnic terrorists camouflaged in the ranks and files of Baloch and Pushtoon nationalist parties.
After blood soaked creation of Bangladesh, India vigorously patronized Afghanistan based proxies in the garb of so-called Marxist cum ethnic parties to dismember the rest of Pakistan. Threat was so enormous that terrorists fled to Afghanistan after killing (erstwhile) NWFP Governor, Hayat Sherpao through a bomb blast in Peshawar University in 1975. A pause came in Indian patronization of Afghan proxies after Russian invasion. However, New Delhi kept investing heavily on various groups to exploit the ethnic fault lines in Sindh and Balochistan. These groups prevailed in political parties and gained dangerous access in ruling benches. Turf war in urban Sindh especially Karachi was fought by the terrorists prevailing in political groups. In post 9/11 scenario, terrorism challenge for Pakistan turned more complex as religiously misled extremist groups jumped in the arena with self-style interpretations of the concept of Jihad. For global powers, AQ or Daesh operating thousands of miles away from main heartland might be a serious issue but in Pakistan multiple terrorists operating under patronization of India have always been a challenge since inception. Recent realignments in the region have carved new dimensions of conflicts. In order to contain China, new alliances are being shaped under US banner. India can no longer befool the world by alleging Pakistan for unrest in Kashmir. As pointed by Russian Foreign Minister, India is playing anti-China game on the behest of western powers. Despite many successes, Pak struggle against terrorism seems to expand longer until Indian expansionist mindset resets for peace.
—The Islamabad-based writer is a retired army officer and occasionally contributes to national press.
