Politicians are not interested in implementing NAP
Lt Gen (R) Amjad Shoaib, along with his experience in the ’65 and ’71 wars, has participated in various military and political events that became the focus of media and public debates.
He has also had the honour of commanding Pakistan army’s operational formations in Kashmir and on western and eastern borders during some very eventful periods of our history.
At the General Headquarters he had the privilege of working as General Staff Officer Military Operations, Director Military Intelligence, Director General Military Doctrines, Master General of Ordnance and Adjutant General of Pakistan army.
He talked exclusively to DNA regarding the current security and political climate.
Question: With the federal government already locked horns with the military leadership over the sensitive media leak, do you think that the recent protests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) may take an ugly turn, compelling the military leadership to intervene?
Gen Amjad Shoaib: Having served in the army for a long time, I am quite sure that the army leadership is mature enough and it would never intervene in any political standoff between the government and the opposition parties.
Whatever happens on 2 November, the army would stay away and won’t interfere. The military officers have been trained to stay away from the political mess and they are going to follow army discipline. The military did not bring those at the helm into power and so they are not responsible for whatever they do. Since the people of Pakistan voted for the PML-N they have to deal with whatever is going on.
However, the matter of Dawn‘s story leak is a serious matter concerning civil-military relations. The handout issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) about the meeting which took place on Thursday between the civilian and military leadership did not use the word “leak”.
Rather, it referred the leak as “planted story” — which reflects that in order to let down the army, a national security breach was made. This is a very serious matter and the only way to normalise civil-military relations is that the government should handover to the army those found involved in the breach.
Since the matter is related to national security, those involved need to be investigated to ascertain whom the leak was made to benefit.
Since those responsible for the leak are found in the government’s lap, the army leadership would keep insisting for their handover so legal action could be taken by the army under the Official Secrets Act. This is the only way to normalise tensions.
Those found involved would be tried under the Army Act and the army has the authority to try hose civilians found involved in any national security breach. The army chief, either the present or the future, would never compromise over this matter until those responsible are tried under the law.
Q: Keeping in view the recent terrorist attack in Quetta, don’t you agree that time has come to ask some hard questions? Why did this attack in Quetta happen so soon after the high-casualty lawyer-attack? Was security tightened in any way?
AS: Commenting over Quetta incident, one needs to keep in mind the geographical location of the city in general and Baluchistan in particular. There are external and internal factors for the incidents of terrorism in and around Quetta which is close to the porous Pak-Afghan border. Since Afghanistan is a hotbed of terrorism and enemy agents are active there for sabotage, it makes Quetta vulnerable for terrorism. The Afghan regime is also not willing to shoulder its responsibility in making the border secure.
This adds to the responsibility of the government of Pakistan to be cautious and take as much measures as necessary to secure its bordering areas. However, lack of cooperation from the civilian government is adding to our woes.
For instance, the military has requisitioned raising of 100 battalions of Frontier Corps for security of the bordering areas. However, the federal government has been dragging its feet for provision of funds for the same and to date only 20 battalions have been raised which are inadequate for the gigantic task of securing our borders. With this implementation speed, we would need another five years to get these battalions raised.
Moreover, other border management measures including construction of gates at border postings, erecting of fence along the border and installation of electronic gadgets would take more time.
On the diplomatic front, we are losing the narrative too. The civilian leadership has been reluctant to raise Pakistan’s case at international fora. While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been publicly threatening Pakistan of dire consequences, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been reluctant to fight Pakistan’s case.
Modi has delivered so many loose balls to Pakistan but we have failed to benefit. Modi has openly admitted Indian role in raising Mukti Bahini for separation of East Pakistan but we did not raise this issue at any international forum. On 15 AugustModi threatened Pakistan of Indian interference in Baluchistan and Gilgit Baltistan but our prime minister has been shying away from pinning him down. Pakistan has strong evidence in many issues from Kulbhushan Yadev to Raw’s role in subversive activities in Pakistan but the same was never raised by our prime minister at any forum.
The second factor is the local sleeper cells and facilitators who help the foreigners carry terrorist attacks in Pakistan. The foreigner terrorists mostly come from Afghanistan and have no knowledge of Pakistani areas. Definitely, local facilitators provide them with shelter, weapons and information about the target.
As you know, terrorists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Almi carried out the attack at Police training center in Quetta. Now this banned outfit has origins in South Punjab and interior Sindh.
In South Punjab, areas like Jhang, Muzaffar Garh, DG Khan and Bahawalpur are hotbeds of LeJ terrorists while the same banned outfit has also facilitators and supporters in interior Sindh where many terrorist attacks have been conducted.
However, Punjab’s chief minister has been refusing to allow Rangers to carry out operations in South Punjab while Sindh chief minister is reluctant to permit Rangers operation in interior Sindh.
On the other hand, the international community blames Pakistan for terrorism but they never care how we are targeted by terrorist organisations. Our foreign ministry and civilian leadership have failed in presenting out case to the world.
Despite the fact that India has been hurling open threats to Pakistan, we have not been able to hold India accountable. India is openly claiming to provide citizenship to Barhamdagh Bugti, the man responsible for so many terrorist attacks in Baluchistan. But our leadership is silent.
Q: Quetta is not a very large city. And it is a known hotbed of terrorism. Why is it still so difficult to secure this city?
AS: Other than the geographic location of Quetta, we need to understand that it is surrounded by hills which is mostly a porous and difficult terrain used by terrorists. It is difficult to man such a mountainous area. Another issue is that only eight to ten percent of Baluchistan is urban area which in terms of Baluchistan is called “A area” where police and other security forces operate. This area is more secure too.
Over 90 percent area is rural which is called “B area” where levies operate. Now levies are mostly un-organised forces loyal to tribal chieftains. The levies are not properly trained and also are not a disciplined force. Hence, there are safe heavens for tribal chieftains and criminal elements. This system needs to be changed and B areas need to be turned into A areas to increase the writ of state to include all of Baluchistan. However, there is no progress in this regard and the provincial authorities are reluctant to do so.
Q: One of NAP’s main features was information sharing between more than two dozen security and intelligence agencies that litter our security landscape. Do you think lack of progress in this regard has contributed to an increasing number of attacks?
AS: Intelligence is the basic prerequisite and linchpin for provision of security of any state. The army is conducting Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) across country, which have largely helped foil the terrorist attacks in the post Zarb-e-Azb scenario.
However, lack of coordination between intelligence agencies can hamper progress in anti terrorism operations. If intelligence agencies don’t pool information into one cell, the experts would fail to draw a holistic strategy to deal with the menace of terrorism.
If the information gathered by various intelligence agencies is pooled in one cell, it would help the experts fill gaps and draw a complete picture of terrorists planning and carve out a counter strategy.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) was planned for the same purpose under the National Action Plan (NAP), however, it has failed to activate fully.
Q: What will it take, in quantifiable terms, to finally end this menace of urban terrorism? Everybody understands it is going to be a long fight. But people also need assurance that it is going in the right direction.
AS: It is difficult to preempt terrorist attacks planned and executed from other countries. We need to have political support for the army for it and implementation of NAP is essential to achieve this objective. Sweeping operations need to be conducted in Southern Punjab and Interior Sindh. Else, we cannot get rid of terrorism. COAS General Raheel Sharif has been urging the political leadership to allow operations in both Southern Punjab and Interior Sindh but both provincial governments are dragging their feet for political expediency.
Another key area needs to be discussed is the nexus between terrorism and corruption. Despite public statements by the army leadership asking the civilians to break the nexus between corruption and terrorism, the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab are not cooperating. Though PTI government in KP and Baluchistan government have been helpful in this regard. More political support would be needed to meet this gigantic task. Otherwise, I fear terrorism would return to areas like Karachi.
Q: Do you think now, after all this bloodshed, relevant authorities will finally move on important NAP features like intelligence sharing, madrassah reforms, national narrative, etc? Or will they just repeat the same promises like every time and come up with little action?
AS: I feel that there is a lack of political commitment towards the areas you have mentioned. The politicians mostly are fed up with the NAP and they are not interested in implementing it. Moreover, engineered views and propaganda is emerging, raising questions about NAP. I think this campaign has political footprints. In such a scenario, I believe NAP would not be implemented. However, if NAP is not implemented, I fear that terrorism would reemerge and Pakistan may face bad consequences as the political leadership is mostly involved in lip service