Pakistan Elections 2013: Only The Pakistan Army, Not Civilian Agencies, Can Take On The Taliban Terror

 

  The Judgement Day

By Irfan Husain

May 11, 2013

ASIF Zardari’s presidential bunker must be a lonely and cheerless place right now: not only is he presiding over a likely electoral disaster for his party, but his son has apparently walked out on him as well.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column speculating about how I would vote, and now I don’t have the luxury of mulling over my decision anymore. It’s crunch time, so here goes. What is Pakistan’s biggest short-term and medium-term problem right now? And let’s be clear that if we don’t sort it out, we won’t have a long-term.

Unless we can stamp out the extremist threat, Pakistan has no future. Everything from investment to polio immunisation hinges on this one issue. And which party is most committed to this fight? For me, this has to be the litmus test as I put aside the baggage of a long-time PPP supporter.

Let’s start with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as it’s the party with the most momentum currently. Although I have disagreed with Imran Khan over many of his views, I wish him a speedy recovery. Even a hardened cynic like me was moved at his message from his hospital bed.

While I reject his reactionary worldview, I do admire his passion, and his ability to motivate so many young Pakistanis. His accident could well be a game changer, garnering him many sympathy votes, but it’s unlikely to get him that elusive majority.

Even if he were to achieve power, his confusion over the nature of the Taliban threat suggests that they will continue to make inroads, taking his offers for negotiations as a sign of weakness.

What Imran Khan does not understand is that the Taliban are not looking for territory or money: they have launched their murderous campaign for power. And while they need secure bases, and cash to fund their killing spree, ultimately they are going for the jugular.

So by my yardstick, I can’t vote for the PTI. For the same reason, I’ll pass on the PML-N as well. Nawaz Sharif has been similarly ambivalent in his assessment of what the Taliban represent, and the grave danger they pose to Pakistan. And as a militant secularist, I can hardly support any religious party.

That leaves the PPP, the MQM and the ANP. Let’s start with the MQM as this party controls much of my city of Karachi. While it is bitterly opposed to the Taliban, its violent tactics and ethnic politics have always made me shun it.

An old friend suggested I should vote MQM as the party was the only one that could protect Karachi from the Taliban. But this would be like trying to save the ballroom as the Titanic went down. Unless the whole country rejects and defeats the Taliban, trying to shield one city is meaningless.

The ANP, despite its secular stance and its attempts to curb the Taliban, is limited in its influence to one province. And over the last five years, charges of massive corruption have clung to its leaders in the KP government.

This brings me seamlessly to the PPP. For the sake of full disclosure, let me say that ever since the party was founded, I have supported it despite its many ups and downs. Mostly downs, actually. Although I have been highly critical at times, I have often put my credibility on the line, and annoyed many anti-PPP readers along the way.

But these last five years have exposed all the party’s many flaws: its lack of discipline, its greed and its incompetence were placed under the glare of a hostile media, and the sight was not flattering.

I recognise that corruption is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it will take more than Imran Khan’s famous 90 days to eradicate it. And if venality is the price to pay for a modicum of good governance and development, so be it. In any case, Pakistan doesn’t have a monopoly on corruption.

But apart from its free and easy way with the public purse, the Zardari government has been unable to address the many issues facing us, ranging from power supply to security. True, it was badly hampered by an interfering judiciary and a media pack baying for blood. However, it never gave the impression of being in charge, apart from skimming off commissions, as many party leaders and their acolytes are alleged to have done.

Nevertheless, the party scores relatively well on its secular stance. It has enacted a number of progressive bills, apart from pushing through the 18th Amendment with its impressive devolution of powers to the provinces. But ultimately, it is going to be judged today on its delivery, not its promises.

Here again, its performance is not totally without some bright spots. The Benazir Income Support Programme has benefited millions of mostly poor rural families. And it has invested considerable sums in rural infrastructure in its heartland of Sindh and southern Punjab. By raising procurement prices of staple agricultural products, vast amounts have been transferred to the rural economy. The electoral impact of all these policies will soon be known.

But it is the Taliban issue that is uppermost in my mind on Election Day. Here, the PPP has unambiguously condemned the terrorists and supported army action against them. The truth is that civilian agencies are hopelessly outgunned by these killers, and only the army has the firepower to take them on. American drones — despite their unpopularity in large sections of Pakistani society — remain the most effective weapon against them.

So how does the calculus stack up? At the risk of being pilloried, I will hold my nose with one hand, and cast my vote for the PPP with the other.

Source: http://dawn.com/2013/05/11/judgement-day/

URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-terrorism-jihad/pakistan-elections-2013-only-pakistan/d/11514