Fighting Terrorism in FATA: An Indian View

War on Terror

19 Aug 2008, NewAgeIslam.Com

Fighting Terrorism in FATA: An Indian View

By Harish Puri Monday, August 18, 2008   I am sorry, though not surprised, that so many persons have taken such deep umbrage at what I had written about the situation in FATA in this newspaper on August 6, so this is an attempt to put my views in correct perspective. (You can read the earlier article below, Editor)   Of the responses I received, some were mere 'hate mail' that clearly left no room for intelligent debate (surprisingly, one was from India, cursing me for calling the guys who dream about `Akhand Bharat ' as fringe mad-caps!) But most people who responded took offence to the fact that an Indian was being so critical of Pakistan. Also, some placed the blame squarely on America, going so far as to call 9/11 an 'inside job'. However, the severest criticism was reserved for my views on the two nation theory, and for suggesting that a Punjabi in Lahore had more in common with the Punjabi from Amrisar than with a Pashtun from the tribal areas.   My article was never meant to be an 'India vs Pak' treatise, but merely to highlight the fact that terrorism is the biggest scourge that afflicts mankind today – whether it is in US, Palestine or in Pakistan or in India – and if civilisation as we know it is to survive, then somebody has to combat it. The Indian army is fighting it in Kashmir, the Sri Lankan army in Northern Sri Lanka, and the Pakistan army on its border with Afghanistan. In all the above cases, as a soldier I fully back the armies concerned. If 9/11 did some good, it was to bring to the fore the realisation that terror simply could not be used as a political weapon any longer. It virtually eliminated any difference between `freedom fighters' or mujahideen or plain and simple terrorists.   I think it is ridiculous to believe, as some Pakistanis do, that 9/11 was an 'inside job' – just as I castigate Sushma Swaraj (a leading BJP politician) for suggesting that the recent Ahmedabad blasts were perpetrated by the Congress to deflect attention from the 'money for votes' scandal. Democratic governments responsible to the people simply do not deliberately kill their own citizens in order to ensure political longevity.   As far as my aside on the 'two nation theory' is concerned, I had merely questioned its validity, since if the Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations (as the theory propounded) then logically, all Muslims of the subcontinent should have migrated to the new nation that was being created for them. Since that did not happen, the theory itself could not hold water. As I had clarified in my article, me and my generation accept the creation of Pakistan as a fait accompli, and have absolutely no issues with the fact – other than that I would have simply loved to see Sachin Tendulkar open the batting with Saeed Anwar.   My apologies for the Punjabi-Pashtun comparison – but an analysis of the dynamics of the current Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, the Punjab-NWFP and Punjab-Balochistan relationship, coupled with the conflict in the tribal region is a difficult and sensitive issue. Tall claims of friendly relations based on a shared history, common religion and intermingling culture notwithstanding, the strain in relations has very deep and entrenched roots. Notwithstanding all that, on this count I am happy to be proved wrong.   The term 'gianti-belchaa party' was not coined by me – it was used by Mr Ejaz Haider in describing the shameful surrender by 200 soldiers in Waziristan against Baitullah Mehsud's men. For any professional army – and the Pakistan army is truly professional – this is really most painful.   As for Kashmir, let's leave it for the time being – it is too intractable an issue for a one-off article to discuss or argue over. Let's just pray that peace returns to that beautiful valley that has rightly been called by many as paradise on Earth.   Pakistan's tragedy, I believe, was that the Quaid didn't live long enough after independence, or things would surely have been different today. Incidentally, a friend in Pakistan wonders why the subcontinent had to import barristers from UK and South Africa to fight their freedom struggles? Why not some indigenous blood? Be that as it may, I find it strange that most Pakistani analysts, including the otherwise venerable Mr Ikram Sehgal, should find it necessary to continuously call into question India's secular credentials. The Indian armed forces and the Bollywood film industry should be proof enough, if proof were ever needed, that those credentials are unquestionable. Sadly, it is Pakistan that has drifted so far from the Quaid's description of the fledgling nation he created in his speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August 1947 (this speech should be made part of the curriculum in all Pakistani schools – to be memorised and recited every 14th August!).   Terrorism affects all of us equally – let us recognise it for the demon it is, and fight it jointly.   The writer is a retired colonel who lives in Pune, India. Email: harish. puri@indiateleinfra.com Vew Source article: http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=130528     The earlier article     FATA: View from the other side   By Harish Puri Wednesday, August 06, 2008   America is right in believing that the next 9/11 will originate from the tribal belt in Pakistan's FATA. (I use the term 'Pakistan's FATA' rather loosely, since the writ of the Pakistan government has rarely, if ever, run in this area). I would go a step further, and say, it's Armageddon now – for it's not just 3000 odd Americans that would perish this time around, but the annihilation of the entire civilised world as we know it. Nobody, least of all Pakistan, can afford to dilly-dally as catastrophe stares us in the face. Sadly, so far neither the Pakistan leadership nor the Pakistan army has inspired any confidence in its ability to tackle the situation.   While the leadership (or what passes for it) is busy hob-nobbing in Dubai or in London, an army as professional as the Pakistan army presents the most unedifying spectacle of over 200 of its soldiers, led by a Lt Col, behaving like a 'gainti-belchaa party' (Ejaz Haider's words, not mine) before a handful of militants!   Let's face it – the biggest threat to the civilised world today stems from terrorism. Now, there's no point in making 'politically correct' noises about WHY this is so, or blaming the decadent west (read USA) for the situation as it prevails today - all that is neither here nor there. Yes, we are all aware of America's failed Middle East policy, its pampering of Israel, – but is Pakistan right in blaming USA for all its ills, particularly the situation it finds itself in the FATA? The movie 'Charlie Wilson's War' highlights the amazing short-sightedness (a euphemism for 'sheer stupidity' actually) of the US policy in Afghanistan in the 1980's. But equally hare brained, one might add, was the Pakistani concept of 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan, towards which end they helped create and nurture the Taliban. Ok, the Yanks goofed up big time, but Pakistan is equally responsible for creating this Frankenstein. Having said that, let me, as an Indian, hasten to add that it gives most Indians very little comfort that the chickens are now coming home to roost, and Pakistan is finally getting a taste of its own medicine.   No doubt America made the cardinal mistake of 'taking its eyes off the ball' once the Taliban were vanquished in Afghanistan. But, be that as it may, I'm afraid the stakes today do not leave room for any pussy-footing. The Taliban are not fighting a political battle, it is not a territorial or an ideological war that is being fought - they have no agenda other than the destruction of all that does not fall in their scheme of things, and to drag the world back into the Stone Age. Just watch one of their beheadings or executions, and it will turn your stomach. You simply cannot reason with these guys, for they are not amenable to reason or intelligent debate.   The English press in Pakistan repeats just one line ad nauseam – This is not our war, it is America's war – so why should we do their dirty work for them, or - as Ayaz Amir would put it – pull their chestnuts out of the fire? Ayaz cautions against a military solution, saying it will make a Cambodia out of Pakistan, while Ejaz Haider talks of 'restoring the balance' in FATA by going back to the old system of it being governed under 'riwaaj' (custom), with just a political agent representing the writ of the government wrong, I am afraid, on both counts. Something, quite clearly needs to be done – and somebody has to do it. The stakes are simply too high.   A military solution is not always the best option, but in this case it is the only option, if civilisation has to survive. If the Pakistani army doesn't have the stomach for it, I suggest that they completely withdraw from the area, and allow the USA to do the job. The Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus needs to be crushed, and crushed decisively. There simply is no other way to deal with such thugs.   An aside here. I do believe that the vast majority of Pakistanis are rightly alarmed at the growing Talibanisation of their country. Also, a Punjabi sitting in the comfort of Lahore really has very little in common with the bearded Pashtuns on either side of the Durrand Line.   In fact, he has far more in common with his Punjabi counterpart sitting in Amritsar. The 'two nation theory' would have made sense if every Muslim from the subcontinent had migrated to Pakistan – as it turned out, less than half of them went, so what 'two nation theory' were we talking about?   M J Akbar believes that today, Pakistan insulates India from the growing influence of the Taliban, and to that end, we should be grateful that the partition did take place, after all. Personally, since I was born well after the partition, I have no nostalgic longing for the pre-partition days, nor do I have any visions of an 'Akhand Bharat' that some fringe mad-caps here dream about.   Time, indeed, will tell – but then, do we have that luxury? View Source article: The writer is a retired colonel of the Indian army. Email: harish.puri@indiateleinfra.com http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=128450