A very close friend as upset about the Peshawar tragedy as we all are, sent me a note requesting a more specific action plan on next steps rather than my recent hyperbole laden emotional rhetoric. So here’s an attempt.
THINGS WE MUST DO TO ELIMINATE THE ZALIMAAN and the TTP TERROR MENACE.
1. First by defining who is our enemy. In this case the Zalimaan TTP . And ensuring that the entire political and military spectrum of Pakistani leadership and the society, publicly and without fear comes together and state this fact.
2. Second doing what is necessary militarily to eliminate the hard core of fighters by sustained military action. This is the most urgent, most immediate, most important and most critical step to eliminate both the leadership and the fighters so they cannot brainwash new recruits.
The Sri Lankan army took over 25 years to defeat the Tamil insurgency. The last 3 years of their war were the most violent. It also caused immense civilian loss of life and property. Unfortunately this has and will also happen here. The terrible tragic consequences of an internal mass conflict. And we must be prepared for more of it.
3. Thirdly deny them political, social, physical and financial space and resources to degrade their war making machine.
4. Eliminate all support to militant outfits and or their leadership by the civilian and. military machines in Pakistan.
5. Initiate serious madrassahs reform so that young boys are not radicalised and brainwashed towards a radical form of Islam.
A recent interview of a young under custody suicide bomber by Saleem Safi shows how completely and totally these young minds have been brainwashed and radicalised with a completely distorted version of our Great Faith.
6. Identify sources of local funding by their supporters inside Pakistan and ruthlessly eliminate them.
7. Get Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait to crackdown on financing of these elements by their citizens. These countries are the major source of financing for the TTP.
8.Initiate economic social and political reforms in FATA and all over Pakistan to provide equitable education and job opportunities to the youth.
9. Initiate good governance through electoral reform and a genuine grass roots local bodies electoral process and system.
Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari just don’t have it.
Imran Khan is a question mark given the ambivalence and ambiguity of his position about the TTP and Zalimaan.
10. We will have to define once and for all whether we want the Quaid’s Pakistan or the Mullah’s Pakistan.
Faith must become a private contract Otherwise we will never agree even amongst Muslims the contours of an Islamic State and it will go from back to worse.
We can have a Muslim majority State based on Universal Islamic principles with Faith being a personal contract as envisaged by the Quaid e Azam.
If we can do the above.
We have a fighting chance !!