Hardline ground realities re-surface !

Hari Jaisingh

Pakistan’s newly elected 22nd Prime Minister Imran Khan has started his political innings with an austerity agenda to build “Naya Pakistan”. Leaving aside sensitive Indo-Pak and global issues, he has tried to emerge as a trend-setter to tackle the complexities of feudaloriented domestic realities. In the first place, he honoured his preelection word to move to a smaller house and turn his earmarked palatial PM House either into an educational institute or a public utility place.
Second, on August 21, he decided to stop using special plane for foreign or domestic traveling. Third, he also decided to use only two vehicles and keep two servants. He reportedly refused to use elaborate official protocol.
Fourth, the new government has banned the discretionary use of state funds and first class air travel by officials, including the Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Senate Chairman, Speaker of the national assembly and the chief ministers. They will have to travel in club/business class. Some food for thought for our high-flying leaders !
Imran Khan’s moves are wellintentioned. But Pakistan’s ground realities are harsh and crude. Apart from vested interests and feudal elites in the Pak establishment, the army-backed hardliners did not relish the appointment of renowned Pakistani-American economist Atif Rahman Mian to the new Economic Advisory Council (EAC) simply because he belongs to a minority Ahmadi Muslim community.

Imran Khan’s moves are well-intentioned. But Pakistan’s ground realities are harsh and crude. Apart from vested interests and feudal elites in the Pak establishment, the army-backed hardliners did not relish the appointment of renowned Pakistani- American economist Atif Rahman Mian to the new Economic Advisory Council (EAC) simply because he is an Ahmadi Muslim by faith.

Atif Rahman Mian Prime Minister Imran Khan has dropped Mian from his EAC. After the sacking of Dr Mian, two others eminent Pakistani economists have also quit the 18-member EAC in protest. How can Imran build “Naya Pakistan” if he is unable to neutralize extremists’ blackmail ? Does it show he too has feet of clay in the face of extremists ? Prime Minister Imran Khan had no choice but to remove him. I wonder whether the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek- Insaf (PTI) government would be able to stand up to the pressures from the military establishment and its sponsored extremist terror groups !
As it is, Pakistan’s economy is in bad shape. Certain sources of public spending are at the bottom as the US funds for arms and economic aid have been drastically cut because of the growing Jehadi elements of terrorism. Terrorism is, after all, terrorism, whether it strikes in New York or Srinagar.
Looking back, despite dwindling US assistance to the tune of 2 billion (1=115.550/ Pak rupee), Pakistan has increased its defence spending for 2018-19 around 19.6, the highest increase in recent years. The Pak defence outlay has crossed the Rs 1 trillion mark.
The increase becomes whopping 30 per cent if the 100 billion under the Armed Forces Development Programme (AFDP) is put under defence spending.
It may be recalled that Washington suspended its assistance on the ground that Islamabad is either assisting or turning a blind eye to Islamist militants who use Pakistan’s soil as a launch-pad for attacks in Afghanistan.

The real challenge for Imran Khan will be how he manages to handle his military establishment to control the activities of Taliban and other terrorist forces in Pakistan as well as against India.

The US has avoided mentioning India as a victim of Pak-sponsored terror. However, no other nation has used terror so ruthlessly as an instrument of state policy as Pakistan has done for decades, principally against India, specifically in Jammu and Kashmir.

It is a known fact that the Pakistan army’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) “subverts, coopts and kills” with ruthless efficiency. It targets India “an Enemy No. 1” and has earmarked sufficient defence budget for its “outsourced terror wings”: Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM), Hizbul Mujahideen and other smaller terror groups. A portion of these funds is kept aside for Hurriyat leaders in the Valley who use “money” for buying land and financing “young stone pelters” and other mischievous elements. I am raising these matters against the backdrop of Imran Khan’s desire for the resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue. Of course, bilateral talk needs to be resumed. But my point is: has the new Prime Minister taken clearance for the resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue from allpowerful Generals? I have said it earlier that talk and terror cannot go together. We are well aware of Imran’s political limitations. He cannot cross the army-line of thinking vis-à-vis India.

In this context, I would like to remind Imran Khan and Pakistani Generals of Paul Kennedy’s observation in his book “Rise and fall of Great Empires” that “past empires fell when economic dynamism stagnated and military power was needlessly over-extended”. This exactly is Pakistan’s reality.

The real challenge for Imran Khan will be how he manages to handle his military establishment to control the activities of Taliban and other terrorist forces In Pakistan as well as against India. Curbing terror activities will help to infuse some degree of economic dynamism if he means to translate his dream of a “welfare state” for the benefit of the poor in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and his patrons ought to understand that the militants are mostly mercenaries of Pakistan’s intelligence agency. They are “soldiers of Islam,” financed by the army and its collaborators. They cannot be allowed to dictate solutions to bilateral issues by force.

Creating a welfare state is not like building castles in the air. It requires certain adjustment of priorities. Has Imran realised how Pakistan’s precious resources are spent on “training camps” for new recruits for the business of terrorism directed against India. And with what results? Also, if he wants peace with India, he has to tell his Generals about his plan of action for peace. If he and the Generals have really undergone a change of heart for a constructive dialogue with India, Islamabad will have to give up the confrontionist path and bury Zia’s concept of the proxy war to grab Kashmir by hook or by crook. This has been tried for decades, but with what results?

Prime Minister Imran Khan and his patrons ought to understand that the militants are mostly mercenaries of Pakistan’s intelligence agency. They are “soldiers of Islam” financed by the army and its collaborators. They cannot be allowed to dictate solutions to bilateral issues by force. We have seen what such attempts to create Utopia have resulted in. That is why in Kashmir, the Kalashnikav cult cannot be allowed to win.
All of us, including Pakistanis, need to see and understand the damage fanatics can inflict on the people. A poignant example is Talibanised Afghanistan which will, sooner or later, engulf the very persons who are playing their tunes as part of their politics of expediency.

In any scheme of things, the Pandits have to go back to their homeland in the Valley. Their presence in Kashmir will have to be a constant reminder of the Valley’s multireligious past. The Valley cannot be seen the way the Pak Army-backed hardliners and Islamic fundamentalists think.

It is surely a gamble. No one knows the end results. But it is worth remembering that there cannot be shortcuts to peace. If Islamabad means business, every possible solution can be discussed and explored, provided the new leadership shed their past prejudices and viewed the bilateral problems in a large framework of cooperation and not through narrow religious angularities.

All of us, including Pakistanis, need to see and understand the damage fanatics can inflict on the people. A poignant example is Talibanised Afghanistan which will, sooner or later, engulf the very persons who are playing their tunes as part of their politics of expediency.

The problem with the Pakistani mindset is that prejudices are mistaken for truth, passion for reason, fundamentalism for religion and myths for history! Let Imran Khan’s Pakistan learn to see the sub-continent as part of common heritage and civilization values and feel the difference.

In any scheme of things, the Pandits have to go back to their homeland in the Valley. Their presence in Kashmir will have to be a constant reminder of the Valley’s multi-religious past. The Valley cannot be seen the way the Pak Army-backed hardliners and Islamic fundamentalists think.