Lurch Adams
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- Sep 19, 2015
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The recent spate of terror attacks in Pakistan has elicited a swift response from the Pak army. Firstly, they are to be congratulated for identifying, locating and neutralizing suspected terrorists within 24 hours. No country can claim such speed in dealing with such a crisis.
However, certain issues must be considered before the endless rounds of self congratulation begin. Firstly, the time span of the operations indicate that it would not have been possible to verify whether all the identified targets were indeed in any way involved in these attacks. Any claims about "inside knowledge" about the operations underway cannot defy common sense - it usually takes weeks to connect the common threads of such events and pin-point the perpetrators.
It is therefore highly probable that many of the suspected terrorists were simply innocent civilians. Some of them could also be harbouring hatred and ill-intent towards the nation of Pakistan, but for now may not have acted upon these feelings. In any case, it cannot be said that due process has been followed, as the ongoing operations amount to summary execution without investigation and trail. Pakistan itself has repeatedly held that these are all "non-state actors". Calling them terrorists amounts to both pre-judging the issue and spoiling the good name of Pakistan by identifying it as a haven for terrorists.
It is important to uphold the legal and human rights of every citizen, as Pakistanis on PDF and elsewhere rightly remind Indians about the issue of Kashmir. Simply being in the company or in obvious collision with terrorists does not make someone a terrorist. They could also be simply exercising their right to dissent and protest against injustice, as many Kashmiri youth do.
Secondly, reports indicate that there have been operations in Afghanistan as well. This is a breach of sovereignty, and could well escalate into a serious situation. Pakistanis are deeply wedded to the idea of territorial sovereignty. To the extent that the Army has been handed the keys to the country simply because it promises to uphold it's territorial sovereignty.
If Pakistanis take the issue so seriously that they can threaten nuclear strikes and total mutual destruction if India were to breach their territory, then how is Afghanistan supposed to react to this? There is a real possibility that this could simply lead to an escalation of the situation. In case these attacks have support from the Afghan government, then it could simply increase the frequency and intensity of such attacks. This is a serious situation to be considered.
Thirdly, any operation on the Western Border and Baluchistan will undoubtedly involve the Taliban. In my opinion, Pakistanis may be correct in pointing out that the Taliban will eventually win the power struggle in Afghanistan. In that case, it would be highly unwise to make enemies of the future government of Afghanistan. Hopefully, the Pak army has sorted the issue out with the Taliban.
Finally, there is also the issue as to why these attacks are taking place. No doubt Pakistan government and investigation agencies should investigate whether there is a foreign hand in these attacks. And in case it is found to be so, they should prepare a full dossier and present it to the UN Security Council and seek sanctions against the country. It would be extremely unfortunate if any such thing as a "technical hold" is exercised by the US etc. to prevent sanctions. It would show just how cynical and morally bankrupt the international diplomacy of that country is, to protect perpetrators of terror attacks in such manner.
However, it cannot be denied that most of those targeted and killed in the ongoing operations were Pakistani citizens. Efforts should be made to find out if they had any genuine grievances against the Pakistani state. Pakistan has an excellent track record of highlighting as to how the Indian government occasionally does not address the root cause of the alienation of such misled youth. There must be some genuine issues they face, just as those faced by the youth in Kashmir which occasionally makes them engage in such activities. They are after all citizens with rights, and should be treated as such.
I would like to end by once again congratulating the Pak army for its lightning response to the situation. Only they and the ISI could have pulled off such an operation without prior knowledge about the exact location and identity of these suspected terrorists. Even those who fund, train, shelter and nurture these "non-state actors" could not have responded so swiftly and nailed them. Compared to them, the Indian army and intelligence agencies have done a poor job of combating the menace of indiscriminate terrorism.
However, certain issues must be considered before the endless rounds of self congratulation begin. Firstly, the time span of the operations indicate that it would not have been possible to verify whether all the identified targets were indeed in any way involved in these attacks. Any claims about "inside knowledge" about the operations underway cannot defy common sense - it usually takes weeks to connect the common threads of such events and pin-point the perpetrators.
It is therefore highly probable that many of the suspected terrorists were simply innocent civilians. Some of them could also be harbouring hatred and ill-intent towards the nation of Pakistan, but for now may not have acted upon these feelings. In any case, it cannot be said that due process has been followed, as the ongoing operations amount to summary execution without investigation and trail. Pakistan itself has repeatedly held that these are all "non-state actors". Calling them terrorists amounts to both pre-judging the issue and spoiling the good name of Pakistan by identifying it as a haven for terrorists.
It is important to uphold the legal and human rights of every citizen, as Pakistanis on PDF and elsewhere rightly remind Indians about the issue of Kashmir. Simply being in the company or in obvious collision with terrorists does not make someone a terrorist. They could also be simply exercising their right to dissent and protest against injustice, as many Kashmiri youth do.
Secondly, reports indicate that there have been operations in Afghanistan as well. This is a breach of sovereignty, and could well escalate into a serious situation. Pakistanis are deeply wedded to the idea of territorial sovereignty. To the extent that the Army has been handed the keys to the country simply because it promises to uphold it's territorial sovereignty.
If Pakistanis take the issue so seriously that they can threaten nuclear strikes and total mutual destruction if India were to breach their territory, then how is Afghanistan supposed to react to this? There is a real possibility that this could simply lead to an escalation of the situation. In case these attacks have support from the Afghan government, then it could simply increase the frequency and intensity of such attacks. This is a serious situation to be considered.
Thirdly, any operation on the Western Border and Baluchistan will undoubtedly involve the Taliban. In my opinion, Pakistanis may be correct in pointing out that the Taliban will eventually win the power struggle in Afghanistan. In that case, it would be highly unwise to make enemies of the future government of Afghanistan. Hopefully, the Pak army has sorted the issue out with the Taliban.
Finally, there is also the issue as to why these attacks are taking place. No doubt Pakistan government and investigation agencies should investigate whether there is a foreign hand in these attacks. And in case it is found to be so, they should prepare a full dossier and present it to the UN Security Council and seek sanctions against the country. It would be extremely unfortunate if any such thing as a "technical hold" is exercised by the US etc. to prevent sanctions. It would show just how cynical and morally bankrupt the international diplomacy of that country is, to protect perpetrators of terror attacks in such manner.
However, it cannot be denied that most of those targeted and killed in the ongoing operations were Pakistani citizens. Efforts should be made to find out if they had any genuine grievances against the Pakistani state. Pakistan has an excellent track record of highlighting as to how the Indian government occasionally does not address the root cause of the alienation of such misled youth. There must be some genuine issues they face, just as those faced by the youth in Kashmir which occasionally makes them engage in such activities. They are after all citizens with rights, and should be treated as such.
I would like to end by once again congratulating the Pak army for its lightning response to the situation. Only they and the ISI could have pulled off such an operation without prior knowledge about the exact location and identity of these suspected terrorists. Even those who fund, train, shelter and nurture these "non-state actors" could not have responded so swiftly and nailed them. Compared to them, the Indian army and intelligence agencies have done a poor job of combating the menace of indiscriminate terrorism.
