South Punjab: Another Swat in making : Jan Assakzai
(The Frontier Post)
Pakistan has for the first time awaken to the danger of militancy taking over part of Punjab. However, there is no consensus as to how to respond to this growing threat.
Although the army has made gains against Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, it could not box the militancy in Pakhtun areas.
Thus the buffer status of Khyber Pakhtunkwha and FATA- a wall between the chaos in Afghanistan and order in the plains of Pakistan: Punjab and Sindh, stands broken
There has naturally been concern about the spread of Taliban influence
eastwards towards India's borders. It s, however, to be remembered
that the he TTP till recently was considered predominantly a Pakhtun phenomenon. What is, however, now happening is that the influence of groups allied to the Taliban, made up predominantly of Punjabi militants, is spreading cross the Punjab. These organisations have cells .
The political leadership of Punjab, is still not sure of the level of the threat these Punjabi/Kashmir militants pose to the state.
The Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbas Sharif l believes it is a problem of Pakhtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA so there is nothing to worry about except there might be few individuals who are creating law and order problem. He is following the classic leadership attitude of the country: “never acknowledge a problem unless it start festering”
The way the attacks on Ahmedia community were dealt with by the government typically epitomises the state of denial a section of Pakistani elite is in.
Shahbaz Sharif also strongly reacted to the assertion of Interior Minister Rahman Malik that Punjabi Taliban have become a threat to the security of the country. Mr Sharif taking exception of the note said the Mr Malik was promoting what he called provincialism by labelling Terrorists as Punjabi Taliban. However, behind the outburst of Mr Sharif, there are deep down other considerations.
First, he believe that the philosophy of Taliban are that of PML(N). The Chief Minister created a stir in March when he urged the TTP to stop attacking targets in Punjab. He appealed to the Taliban to spare his province from violence because PML(N)’s ideal are the same as of Taliban’s.
Shabaz Sharif has been accused of accommodating extremist groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba, a banned sectarian group blamed for the killing of hundreds of Shias in the country.
Law and order is the responsibility of the Punjab government. However, some critic believe that Shahbaz Sharif can not irk army’s opposition: these groups have a use for Pakistan’s security agencies as proxy in India, if Punjab government even reluctantly decides to a crack down on these outfits, how this will go down with security agencies?
They also fear that Punjab is Pakistan’s political, military and economic hub. Any military operation against militants would simply set some of the extremists on collusion course with the provincial authorities.
Aside the incoherence of policy towards militants in Punjab, the recent attacks on the two worship places of the Ahmedia community shocked the whole country. But there were signs before these attacks that militants were on the look out for targets: police had traced a spate of armed robberies and kidnappings of the Ahmedia community members in Faisalabad to militants of Jamaat ud Dawa, the group previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba that was blamed for the devastating 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. Three Ahmedis were also shot dead, in what was likely to be the work of the same group.
Jamaat ud Dawa is focused against India and was not previously known for violence inside Pakistan. The United Nations labelled Jamaat ud Dawa a terrorist group in the wake of the Mumbai attack.
The recent admission in U.S. federal court by an American citizen, David Headley, that he scouted targets for the Mumbai attacks raised the profile of Lashkar-e-Taiba, with which he was affiliated.
A Pentagon report also charged that Lashkar-e-Taiba was active in the insurgency in Afghanistan.
South Punjab is becoming like Swat prior to the army's crackdown. Another banned group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, whose orientation is anti-India as well, is operating openly from Bahawalpur, and has expanded to a new site on the outskirts of town.
Attacks in Lahore on the Sri Lankan cricket team, the Police Training facility and the ISI Headquarters were evidently the work of those Punjabi Taliban" or the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Punjab. So were the attacks on Ahmedia worship places.
The TTP in FATA has known Punjabi splinter militants in its ranks. The killing of ex spy Khwaja Masood is an indication of these militants presence in FATA.
Earlier, speaking to media, Sheikh Waqas Akram, an opposition member of parliament from Jhang, which is the headquarters of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, likened the situation in Punjab to the Swat valley, where the government’s inaction led to the area fallen to Taliban in 2008.
The establishment, however, has yet to decide on a strategic policy choice: purging vs managing, these militants because these militants have use for advancing foreign policy goals on India.
Mixed messages coming out of the federal and provincial government indicate that the government lacks the capability and the comprehensive national strategy to deal with militants in Punjab.
The current strategy the army is pursuing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, is targeting only Pakistani Taliban (albeit a welcome short- term strategy for Pakhtun community) leaving “friendly” Taliban in place for strategic reasons.
However, the civilian and army leadership needs to understand that the Taliban cannot be allowed to expand their operational sphere to Punjab. Therefore, there is a desperate need for a coherent policy to flush the Taliban out from Punjab before they set up shop and become well entrenched.
janassakzai200@gmail.com
Although the army has made gains against Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, it could not box the militancy in Pakhtun areas.
Thus the buffer status of Khyber Pakhtunkwha and FATA- a wall between the chaos in Afghanistan and order in the plains of Pakistan: Punjab and Sindh, stands broken
There has naturally been concern about the spread of Taliban influence
eastwards towards India's borders. It s, however, to be remembered
that the he TTP till recently was considered predominantly a Pakhtun phenomenon. What is, however, now happening is that the influence of groups allied to the Taliban, made up predominantly of Punjabi militants, is spreading cross the Punjab. These organisations have cells .
The political leadership of Punjab, is still not sure of the level of the threat these Punjabi/Kashmir militants pose to the state.
The Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbas Sharif l believes it is a problem of Pakhtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA so there is nothing to worry about except there might be few individuals who are creating law and order problem. He is following the classic leadership attitude of the country: “never acknowledge a problem unless it start festering”
The way the attacks on Ahmedia community were dealt with by the government typically epitomises the state of denial a section of Pakistani elite is in.
Shahbaz Sharif also strongly reacted to the assertion of Interior Minister Rahman Malik that Punjabi Taliban have become a threat to the security of the country. Mr Sharif taking exception of the note said the Mr Malik was promoting what he called provincialism by labelling Terrorists as Punjabi Taliban. However, behind the outburst of Mr Sharif, there are deep down other considerations.
First, he believe that the philosophy of Taliban are that of PML(N). The Chief Minister created a stir in March when he urged the TTP to stop attacking targets in Punjab. He appealed to the Taliban to spare his province from violence because PML(N)’s ideal are the same as of Taliban’s.
Shabaz Sharif has been accused of accommodating extremist groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba, a banned sectarian group blamed for the killing of hundreds of Shias in the country.
Law and order is the responsibility of the Punjab government. However, some critic believe that Shahbaz Sharif can not irk army’s opposition: these groups have a use for Pakistan’s security agencies as proxy in India, if Punjab government even reluctantly decides to a crack down on these outfits, how this will go down with security agencies?
They also fear that Punjab is Pakistan’s political, military and economic hub. Any military operation against militants would simply set some of the extremists on collusion course with the provincial authorities.
Aside the incoherence of policy towards militants in Punjab, the recent attacks on the two worship places of the Ahmedia community shocked the whole country. But there were signs before these attacks that militants were on the look out for targets: police had traced a spate of armed robberies and kidnappings of the Ahmedia community members in Faisalabad to militants of Jamaat ud Dawa, the group previously known as Lashkar-e-Taiba that was blamed for the devastating 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. Three Ahmedis were also shot dead, in what was likely to be the work of the same group.
Jamaat ud Dawa is focused against India and was not previously known for violence inside Pakistan. The United Nations labelled Jamaat ud Dawa a terrorist group in the wake of the Mumbai attack.
The recent admission in U.S. federal court by an American citizen, David Headley, that he scouted targets for the Mumbai attacks raised the profile of Lashkar-e-Taiba, with which he was affiliated.
A Pentagon report also charged that Lashkar-e-Taiba was active in the insurgency in Afghanistan.
South Punjab is becoming like Swat prior to the army's crackdown. Another banned group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, whose orientation is anti-India as well, is operating openly from Bahawalpur, and has expanded to a new site on the outskirts of town.
Attacks in Lahore on the Sri Lankan cricket team, the Police Training facility and the ISI Headquarters were evidently the work of those Punjabi Taliban" or the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Punjab. So were the attacks on Ahmedia worship places.
The TTP in FATA has known Punjabi splinter militants in its ranks. The killing of ex spy Khwaja Masood is an indication of these militants presence in FATA.
Earlier, speaking to media, Sheikh Waqas Akram, an opposition member of parliament from Jhang, which is the headquarters of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba, likened the situation in Punjab to the Swat valley, where the government’s inaction led to the area fallen to Taliban in 2008.
The establishment, however, has yet to decide on a strategic policy choice: purging vs managing, these militants because these militants have use for advancing foreign policy goals on India.
Mixed messages coming out of the federal and provincial government indicate that the government lacks the capability and the comprehensive national strategy to deal with militants in Punjab.
The current strategy the army is pursuing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA, is targeting only Pakistani Taliban (albeit a welcome short- term strategy for Pakhtun community) leaving “friendly” Taliban in place for strategic reasons.
However, the civilian and army leadership needs to understand that the Taliban cannot be allowed to expand their operational sphere to Punjab. Therefore, there is a desperate need for a coherent policy to flush the Taliban out from Punjab before they set up shop and become well entrenched.
janassakzai200@gmail.com
Comments