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Naima Zia
21/12/17
While much of the energy has been drawn from the resources of Pakistan in fighting the war on terror, it continues to prove itself as a resilient nation in the face of morally and neurologically impaired enemy. Pakistan has been stabbed by its foes and has repeatedly been backstabbed by its friends. Yet, it is persistently confronting an enemy that is resourceful not only in terms of looted booty but also in terms of innate arrogance. The wretched reality of Counterterrorism strategy is; it is unsophisticated, slow-paced, continuous, with no specific field and a diffused target. There is no table to sit on with these terrorist groups seducing them to talk in order to generate even a quasi-peace process. On one hand, the responsible elements are busy guarding the nation whereas, on the other hand, terrorists are being successful in increasing the acceptability of exploding bombs among the masses. The rate of innocent blood has descended from cheaper to cheapest by the grace of collectively ignored hype created by media; resilience must not be confused with desensitization that has now become a new norm.
Understanding the Process of Terrorism
The table below identifies two major categories of terrorists. Category A being natural terrorists and category B being nurtured, terrorists. Briefly, B is the group of politically driven vandals assigned by the enemies(A) to create anarchy by making imperfections of the state of Pakistan a point to gather sentiment from B. This is typically taken to another level by fueling partisanship of B to later use it in order to destabilize the country; through the means of funding and arming B. A good value representing A would be the likes of Kulbhushan Yadav and the most agreed upon example of B would be Latifullah Mehsud et al.
Countering Terrorism
In the current situation, it has become extremely crucial for Counter-Terrorism Policymakers and Counter-Terrorism Academic researchers to merge at a point of workable conclusion ensuring both, promotion of peace and prevention of violence. A bomb does not care about the internal motivations of a person who becomes a casualty in an explosion nor does it register the good intentions of patriots insistent upon using a wrong approach to counter it. Elite thinking with no results does not count; the only thing that counts is what works and what matters statistically in retaining the peace process. A number of desperate points made to respond in worst case scenarios and that too with blunt warfare tactics will turn Pakistan into another Syria. It is therefore important to introduce strategies that are action based rather than response based.
Here are a few suggestions how it can happen with the resources we have at hand:
1. State Narrative
Terrorists work on the strategy of empowering the powerless in order to turn them against power. Therefore, it is quite pivotal to propagate the State Narrative at every public or private forum available. Let it be clear that CT is not possible until the decision makers come down to the level of commoners and make things easier for them to understand. To start with, it is right of every citizen to know State’s take on every non-governmental-organization related to terrorism or counter-terrorism so that one can act or report accordingly.
2. Engaging the Potential Subjects
The potential market of terrorists consists of politically immature and religiously vulnerable citizens. It is of utmost importance to include potential passive sympathizers of terrorists into the process of CT instead of waiting for them to become an active member of a terrorist organization. There is a need to create more internships, more jobs and more volunteer work in this sector. Most of the individuals that join such organizations do so only to become part of something big. Any and every unattended confusion and deprivation especially at an ideological level has a greater chance to result in the form of terrorism. A gap left by the ones responsible for the survival of the masses will be filled by the ones passionate about their destruction. So before someone else fills the vacuum with their anti-state motives, it is important to cater it in terms that benefit the country. Best CT strategy is to address every loophole, fill every gap.
3. Shifting The Accountability from Military to Civilian Institute
A large percentage of highly acknowledged counter responses to terrorism have been made by the Armed Forces of Pakistan. From operation Zarb-e-Asb to operation Raddul-Fasad and counting, Armed forces have been continuously busy in shipping the terrorist, all the way up making their most awaited rendezvous with God conveniently possible. Offering a salute to these efforts, the truth is, no country has ever been able to reduce terrorism by the use of direct weaponry, waiting for its defense departments to act or by solely relying on them. Truth is, much of the terrorism is intact due to a good number of civilians supporting it. With rest of them not acting against it in a workable manner, the military is left with no option but to act in a robust way. There was a time when the country was inflicted by a foreign threat and a relevant to the time program of NCC training was introduced. A relevant approach to that is to release more budget on buying the right equipment for detecting explosives even if that means equipping every citizen with Hand Held Bomb Detectors or massive level bomb squad training all across Pakistan. It matters not what a common civilian think of him, what matters is that every other citizen comes under the radar and is a target of terrorism. Feeling safe is better but feeling responsible is way better. If power is diffused among people not only in terms of a vote but also in terms of protecting the Nation, they will start feeling responsible and simultaneously can be made accountable for mishaps every now and then.
4. The Policy Making
In a majority of the cases in Pakistan, unfortunately, the terms and ideologies on which terrorists capitalize come from Islam. When people are able to view the simulation of the inspirations drawn from history books more in Terrorists/jihadists and less in the establishment, they are more likely to believe them to be right. On one hand, terrorists try to win them over by representing simulacra of their religious dream and on the other hand establishment confirms it by supporting or introducing neo-Secular or neo-liberal reforms. This does the confirmation job of Pakistan being a supporter of an infidel agenda and gives a kick start to the terrorist chain reaction. The policymakers have to be more politically mature when making new policies or amending the old ones. This can better be done by keeping all the major and minor groups into consideration and including their say in the matter. Any blunt move in the making of a policy will by default backfire.
5. The Return of Convicts
We need to quit sliding exit doors of penitentiaries. Once rightly accused, it is not affordable for the sake of peace to release convicts and send them back to mingle up with their fellow citizens. One important factor that we don’t realize is, every terrorist is not criminal in nature. Some of them have a very stubborn ideology and are politically driven where violence is nothing but a means to their end. Knowing an enemy that has no extent to its means, who does not commit violence because he is mentally ill but does it for the sake of achieving a political motive, it will be suicidal to trust sending him back to the society.
6. Demoralization
It is essential to demoralize terrorist groups with the help of media outlets. There are certain do’s and don’ts for media channels. To start with, they need to stop advertising terrorist acts by acknowledging them. Acknowledgment is all that the terrorists want and when we give them that, it spreads fear and their purpose is achieved. Such groups can best be demoralized if we deny them show-case of the fear that they want to instill in our society. Another suicidal act that the media owners can refrain from is, to label every incomprehensible criminal act as terrorism. It is a known fact that IS and AL-Qaida has given a public permission to the people who find it inconvenient to join their organizations, to commit lone-wolf attacks ensuring maximum damage in their name. It is like IS, Al-Qaida et al are selling their franchise absolutely free and whoever buys it, helps them publicize their name, a win, win situation. Giving them the credit of blasts they never engineered is equivalent to offering free marketing services to all kinds of terrorists. Acknowledgment, investigation, and counteraction is information quite lethal to share with the public unless made part of a specific process. Media can instead play a role of exposing Unislamic practices of these so-called Jihadi groups so that people can decide on their own whether or not to be at their side.
Conclusion
Counterterrorism is a responsibility of every individual from Madaris, schools, colleges to mosques, offices and every other social platform available. The sooner we start acting in this direction, the more acts of violence we can prevent. As for the leaders and decision makers, If people are not given a substitute to their utopia in form of a country where Islam is followed in a proper manner, where a variety of religions can co-exist and where concerns of every stakeholder are appropriately dealt with, they will inevitably look for other options. If that happens, it is quite natural for them to fall if hit by a convenient choice.
Disclaimer | The opinions expressed in this piece do not reflect the policy of Pakistan Defence Forum.
21/12/17
While much of the energy has been drawn from the resources of Pakistan in fighting the war on terror, it continues to prove itself as a resilient nation in the face of morally and neurologically impaired enemy. Pakistan has been stabbed by its foes and has repeatedly been backstabbed by its friends. Yet, it is persistently confronting an enemy that is resourceful not only in terms of looted booty but also in terms of innate arrogance. The wretched reality of Counterterrorism strategy is; it is unsophisticated, slow-paced, continuous, with no specific field and a diffused target. There is no table to sit on with these terrorist groups seducing them to talk in order to generate even a quasi-peace process. On one hand, the responsible elements are busy guarding the nation whereas, on the other hand, terrorists are being successful in increasing the acceptability of exploding bombs among the masses. The rate of innocent blood has descended from cheaper to cheapest by the grace of collectively ignored hype created by media; resilience must not be confused with desensitization that has now become a new norm.
Understanding the Process of Terrorism
The table below identifies two major categories of terrorists. Category A being natural terrorists and category B being nurtured, terrorists. Briefly, B is the group of politically driven vandals assigned by the enemies(A) to create anarchy by making imperfections of the state of Pakistan a point to gather sentiment from B. This is typically taken to another level by fueling partisanship of B to later use it in order to destabilize the country; through the means of funding and arming B. A good value representing A would be the likes of Kulbhushan Yadav and the most agreed upon example of B would be Latifullah Mehsud et al.
Countering Terrorism
In the current situation, it has become extremely crucial for Counter-Terrorism Policymakers and Counter-Terrorism Academic researchers to merge at a point of workable conclusion ensuring both, promotion of peace and prevention of violence. A bomb does not care about the internal motivations of a person who becomes a casualty in an explosion nor does it register the good intentions of patriots insistent upon using a wrong approach to counter it. Elite thinking with no results does not count; the only thing that counts is what works and what matters statistically in retaining the peace process. A number of desperate points made to respond in worst case scenarios and that too with blunt warfare tactics will turn Pakistan into another Syria. It is therefore important to introduce strategies that are action based rather than response based.
Here are a few suggestions how it can happen with the resources we have at hand:
1. State Narrative
Terrorists work on the strategy of empowering the powerless in order to turn them against power. Therefore, it is quite pivotal to propagate the State Narrative at every public or private forum available. Let it be clear that CT is not possible until the decision makers come down to the level of commoners and make things easier for them to understand. To start with, it is right of every citizen to know State’s take on every non-governmental-organization related to terrorism or counter-terrorism so that one can act or report accordingly.
2. Engaging the Potential Subjects
The potential market of terrorists consists of politically immature and religiously vulnerable citizens. It is of utmost importance to include potential passive sympathizers of terrorists into the process of CT instead of waiting for them to become an active member of a terrorist organization. There is a need to create more internships, more jobs and more volunteer work in this sector. Most of the individuals that join such organizations do so only to become part of something big. Any and every unattended confusion and deprivation especially at an ideological level has a greater chance to result in the form of terrorism. A gap left by the ones responsible for the survival of the masses will be filled by the ones passionate about their destruction. So before someone else fills the vacuum with their anti-state motives, it is important to cater it in terms that benefit the country. Best CT strategy is to address every loophole, fill every gap.
3. Shifting The Accountability from Military to Civilian Institute
A large percentage of highly acknowledged counter responses to terrorism have been made by the Armed Forces of Pakistan. From operation Zarb-e-Asb to operation Raddul-Fasad and counting, Armed forces have been continuously busy in shipping the terrorist, all the way up making their most awaited rendezvous with God conveniently possible. Offering a salute to these efforts, the truth is, no country has ever been able to reduce terrorism by the use of direct weaponry, waiting for its defense departments to act or by solely relying on them. Truth is, much of the terrorism is intact due to a good number of civilians supporting it. With rest of them not acting against it in a workable manner, the military is left with no option but to act in a robust way. There was a time when the country was inflicted by a foreign threat and a relevant to the time program of NCC training was introduced. A relevant approach to that is to release more budget on buying the right equipment for detecting explosives even if that means equipping every citizen with Hand Held Bomb Detectors or massive level bomb squad training all across Pakistan. It matters not what a common civilian think of him, what matters is that every other citizen comes under the radar and is a target of terrorism. Feeling safe is better but feeling responsible is way better. If power is diffused among people not only in terms of a vote but also in terms of protecting the Nation, they will start feeling responsible and simultaneously can be made accountable for mishaps every now and then.
4. The Policy Making
In a majority of the cases in Pakistan, unfortunately, the terms and ideologies on which terrorists capitalize come from Islam. When people are able to view the simulation of the inspirations drawn from history books more in Terrorists/jihadists and less in the establishment, they are more likely to believe them to be right. On one hand, terrorists try to win them over by representing simulacra of their religious dream and on the other hand establishment confirms it by supporting or introducing neo-Secular or neo-liberal reforms. This does the confirmation job of Pakistan being a supporter of an infidel agenda and gives a kick start to the terrorist chain reaction. The policymakers have to be more politically mature when making new policies or amending the old ones. This can better be done by keeping all the major and minor groups into consideration and including their say in the matter. Any blunt move in the making of a policy will by default backfire.
5. The Return of Convicts
We need to quit sliding exit doors of penitentiaries. Once rightly accused, it is not affordable for the sake of peace to release convicts and send them back to mingle up with their fellow citizens. One important factor that we don’t realize is, every terrorist is not criminal in nature. Some of them have a very stubborn ideology and are politically driven where violence is nothing but a means to their end. Knowing an enemy that has no extent to its means, who does not commit violence because he is mentally ill but does it for the sake of achieving a political motive, it will be suicidal to trust sending him back to the society.
6. Demoralization
It is essential to demoralize terrorist groups with the help of media outlets. There are certain do’s and don’ts for media channels. To start with, they need to stop advertising terrorist acts by acknowledging them. Acknowledgment is all that the terrorists want and when we give them that, it spreads fear and their purpose is achieved. Such groups can best be demoralized if we deny them show-case of the fear that they want to instill in our society. Another suicidal act that the media owners can refrain from is, to label every incomprehensible criminal act as terrorism. It is a known fact that IS and AL-Qaida has given a public permission to the people who find it inconvenient to join their organizations, to commit lone-wolf attacks ensuring maximum damage in their name. It is like IS, Al-Qaida et al are selling their franchise absolutely free and whoever buys it, helps them publicize their name, a win, win situation. Giving them the credit of blasts they never engineered is equivalent to offering free marketing services to all kinds of terrorists. Acknowledgment, investigation, and counteraction is information quite lethal to share with the public unless made part of a specific process. Media can instead play a role of exposing Unislamic practices of these so-called Jihadi groups so that people can decide on their own whether or not to be at their side.
Conclusion
Counterterrorism is a responsibility of every individual from Madaris, schools, colleges to mosques, offices and every other social platform available. The sooner we start acting in this direction, the more acts of violence we can prevent. As for the leaders and decision makers, If people are not given a substitute to their utopia in form of a country where Islam is followed in a proper manner, where a variety of religions can co-exist and where concerns of every stakeholder are appropriately dealt with, they will inevitably look for other options. If that happens, it is quite natural for them to fall if hit by a convenient choice.
Disclaimer | The opinions expressed in this piece do not reflect the policy of Pakistan Defence Forum.
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