By R C Ganjoo
In the name of the war against terror, the Pak army designed a new terror policy and got a final seal from the civil establishment.
The federal cabinet on June 25, 2024, approved the decisions taken by the National Action Plan’s Central Apex Committee, including Operation Azm-e-Istehkam. It said that Operation Azm-e-Istehkam is a multi-domain, multi-agency, whole-of-the-system national vision for enduring stability in Pakistan.
But, opposition parties including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam Fazl (JUI-F), Awami National Party (ANP), and others have voiced concerns over the military operation. They demanded that parliament should have taken into confidence before taking any such serious decision.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the National Assembly (NA criticised the Azm-e-Istehkam Operation stating that military operations since 2010 have only led to instability. He said “We have been suffering under the guise of operations since 2010. This is not stability, we are doing this for China.” He further exposed the government’s ill-conceived decision that 25,000 to 30,000 Afghans returned to their country, but 40,000 to 50,000 came back to Pakistan. Quoting Ex-Army Chief General Bajwa, he said that a fence was erected to prevent terrorists from entering and has been removed now.
The United States has also supported Pakistan’s new initiative, Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, which aims to combat militancy. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller in his statement said “We support Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and ensure the safety and security of its citizens in a manner that promotes the rule of law and protection of human rights, and our partnership with Pakistan on security issues includes our high-level counterterrorism dialogue, including funding robust counterterrorism capacity-building programs and supporting a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements “. This, US support has further enhanced the image of the Pak army and helped in getting financial aid in the name of the war against terror.
Despite various military operations, the menace of terrorism has returned with greater ferocity. A series of Counter Terrorism (CT)campaigns followed Al-Mizan (2002), Zalzala (2008) Sher Dil, Rah-i-Haq, and Rah-i-Raast (2007-2009), Rah-i-Nijaat (2009), Zarb-i-Azb (2014) and Raddul Fasaad (2017). It was in 2001 that the military-led government of Gen Pervez Musharraf launched the so-called Operation Enduring Freedom in the former tribal regions in the wake of the American invasion of Afghanistan.
Matters turned worse in the first half of 2024 with an exponential rise in militant activities, particularly in KP and Balochistan. The resurgence of militancy highlights serious flaws in CT’s strategy. The latest wave of terrorism has exposed the absence of a coherent policy to tackle the genuine danger.
The most dangerous emerging scenario is the growing concern that the operation will target a particular ethnic group. That has also been one of the reasons for all the major political parties in KP, including the ruling PTI and those supporting the coalition government at the centre, questioning the operation. It contradicts the prime minister’s claim of a consensus among all stakeholders. It seems that the current rulers have not learned any lessons from past policy failures.
