On the night of June 25, 2002,
Pakistan army launched its first ever military offensive, “Operation Kazha Punga”
after the name of the remote village, in Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan
Agency sited some 25 km away from agency headquarter Wana, in order to flush out
commander Naik Muhammad Wazir led small group of Both local and foreign
militants who had taken refuge there after the demise of Taliban regime in
Afghanistan in 2001. At that time, no one in our military establishment could
assume that one day it would turned into a full fledge insurgency which has
presently become a vital threat to our national security and territorial
integrity.
Prior to this military adventure, FATA was relatively peaceful having minimum
level of crime rate. Tribal disputes were normally being settled through
traditional Jirga system. Even during the decade long Soviet-Afghan war, the
area remained calm. But the situation became drastically changed when Perviz
Mushraf led Pakistani government decided to deploy over 80,000 regular Pakistani
troops in various parts of tribal belt against the inspirations and consent of
its inhabitants and addition to that they launched an indiscriminate military
operation at the behest of Washington. Since centuries the area has been
remained autonomous due to the intense warring nature of its people who never
accepted external intervention in their domestic affairs. British despite their
decades long struggle and utilizing all sorts of resources to subdue them
bitterly failed and introduced nominal administrative system run by political
agents under Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR).
People of FATA never turned against Pakistan in its entire history and always
proved unpaid defenders of its western borders. There is a popular quote about
Tribals, “Give them honor, they will die for you”. The fact realized by founder
of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as soon after creation of
Pakistan in 1947, he ordered the withdrawal of newly formed Pakistan army’s
contingents from the region as he knew the great potential and gallant character
of its inhabitants and declared them natural army of Pakistan at its Northern
borders. The tribesmen proved their commitment and pledge to Pakistan during the
first Indo-Pak war of 1948. On the call of their great Quaid, thousands of
tribal volunteers bravely fought side by side with Pak Army against much
superior Indian Army in Kashmir. They suffered heavy causalities but remained
victorious in capturing huge piece of land. This war also proved the only war in
which Pakistan actually retained some territory.
But the blind persuasion of US dictation by Mushraf regime developed a strong
sense of alienation and frustration among the common tribesmen that finally led
them to join Taliban ranks for self defense. Majority of these Taliban are son
of the same soil. So, it would be greatly irrational to consider them foes of
Pakistan. Traditionally, force is always used as last resort to settle disputes.
The reality Americans ignored in Afghanistan prior to their attack in 2001
despite Taliban readiness for negotiation and now after eight years they came to
conclusion that through military means war against Taliban cannot be won.
Unfortunately, our military strategists also moved on the same track and opted
for military option in FATA to curb militancy instead of finding out its
solution through dialogue and political means which was quite feasible due to
the limited nature of the threat. It is evident that the use of force may or may
not defeat the enemy but will certainly affect the local civilian population
whose support are considered vital for any intra-state conflict.
The growing incidents of collateral damage in the ongoing military operation in
Bajur and Swat including those which were conducted earlier in different parts
of FATA against so called militants, made the life of a common tribesman
miserable. In past eight years, FATA has witnessed nothing but destruction. So
far, thousands of innocent tribesmen have lost their lives; million of them have
been displaced, living in dire conditions in different parts of NWFP. Their
homes have been razed to ground and property destroyed. The frequent imposition
of curfew in war torn areas further contributes in creating serious shortage of
food and fuel. On October 4, 2008, the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC)
declared Pakistan the "New War Zone" of the world due to ongoing wave of fatal
bombings across the country and the fierce armed clashes taking place in restive
northern Pakistan.
On the other hand our western border has continuously been invaded by US and
NATO forces in the name of hot pursuit which results in creating serious outrage
and resentments of the local tribesmen against Pakistani government because of
its failure to protect them against foreign aggression; the prime responsibility
owned by every state in the world. Further it seriously undermines Pakistan’s
principle stance of fighting its own war not the American's. Also, as a
sovereign state, how can we allow foreign troops to operate on our land? The
strong Syrian reaction over recent US attack on its village must be an
eye-opening account for a nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Mushraf has gone but his ill-devised anti-terror policies are still being
zealously chased by the present democratically elected PPP led coalition
government despite passing of a unanimous resolution by the parliament in its
week long in-camera session for bringing shift in the policies of national
security and curbing extremism. Whatever action the government has taken so far
in the tribal areas has proved counter productive. In the on-going military
operation in Bajur and Swat, so far no major objective has been achieved by the
security forces. Despite using all sorts of weaponry including jetfighters,
gunship helicopters and heavy artillery at both fronts against its own citizens,
still they are facing strong resistance from the militants. No major militant
leader has been arrested or killed so far. The militants lost just 30% of their
controlled area to security forces in months long intense military operation.
The US advised Al-Anbar experiment to raise armed tribal mercenaries from local
tribes against the Taliban would definitely produced disastrous results and
bring schism in tribal society, where majority of people has strong religious
sentiments and affiliations and consider Pakistani supported US waged global war
on terror as a war against Muslim and Islam. As far as tribal Maliks are
concerned they have lost their credibility and influence due to their past
injustices with tribesmen and have been replaced by local Mullas who openly
support Taliban led insurgency in FATA. These poorly-armed and un-organized
Lashkars whose leadership has brutally been killed are unable to confront
well-equipped, well-organized and ideologically motivated Taliban.
The present menace of insurgency in FATA and Swat needs extra-careful handling
and comprehensive strategy as it has great resemblance with Mukti Bahni led
rebellion of 1971 in East Pakistan which resulted in the disintegration of
Pakistan into two parts. Our own wrong policies have provided a fair opportunity
to our birth rival India to play its sinister game against Pakistan. Its support
to these elements has no more remained a secret issue. India has remained highly
successful in shifting battle ground from Kashmir to FATA.
The government should accept the militants’ call for negotiations. But this time
the government should involve all stakeholders e.g. politicians: both ruling and
opposition, bureaucrats: especially those who served in tribal area, Ulemas: JUI
(F), Jamat Islami and JUI (S), social activists, local tribal elders and media
persons in order to take all segments of society into confidence. One of the
main causes of the previous peace treaties failure was their mysterious nature
in where the agreed draft was deliberately kept secret. Consequently the general
public could not blame either of the two conflicting parties for the violation.
The government stance of disarming the militants before entering into any kind
of peace talks is unrealistic as keeping of arms has been a part of tribal
culture where they consider it as ornaments for men.
In the failure of all these treaties the American’s cross border raids also
played vital role. It is also surprising that US is targeting only those Taliban
who have signed peace accords with government and never waged war against
Pakistan. The US attacks not only undermine our national sovereignty but also
boosting up militancy in the area.
The new government must bring FATA into country’s mainstream in order to
abolition its people sense of isolation and alienation. Immediate steps must be
taken to restore tribal’s lost trust over the state institutions particularly,
Pakistan Army.
(The writer is Defense Analyst based in Rawalpindi)