The Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak last week was an extraordinary security breach by any reckoning. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government blithely flouted the maxim “forewarned is forearmed”. It trashed three written alerts from the Ministry of Interior in Islamabad on three successive days preceding the event. And the Inspector General Police-KPK had the gall to use a sporting metaphor (“our batting failed against the Taliban’s bowling”) as an explanation of his department’s criminal negligence in the murderous matter.
The Taliban, on the other hand, have been flaunting their runaway success with rousing details of how they came, how they saw, and how they conquered. Not a policeman or soldier stirred, so to speak, while walls and gates were blasted and hundreds of terrorist-prisoners were whisked away.
If the Taliban’s extraordinary feat is primed for self-motivation, the opposite of handwringing anxiety or, worse still, despair or apathy, is all too evident in the corridors of the state. There’s nary a word of explanation from the soldiers garrisoned near the prison of why and how they soundly slept while shots rang out all around them, no hint even of any famed Rapid Deployment Force springing into action, all guns blazing, no sign of road blocks or police check points in the path of the “Islamist” marauders. No less than 150 bearded warriors rode into town on two dozen open vehicles bristling with weapons, blasted their way into the prison, herded dozens of prisoners and drove back into South Waziristan (is that another country?) over 100 km away without even a boy scout in hot pursuit. Amazing, then that Imran Khan, that great white hope of the country who demanded the resignation of the ANP government when the same Taliban attacked Bannu jail last year, hasn’t even rolled the head of the KPK Chief Minister?
While attention is focused on the remarkable physical feat of the Taliban and the pathetic state of our police’s physical preparedness, one important factor is missing from the debate. This is the pivotal role of Taliban sympathizers, helpers and supporters inside the bowels of the organs of state and society. If some brave defenders of the soil hadn’t perished in resisting the Taliban, one might have actually accused the staff of the prison of conspiring with the Taliban and facilitating their operation. Certainly, there are reports of gates being opened from inside the prison, of inmates being roll-called from lists, of core prison staff melting away as if on cue. Fear is the great leveler, to be sure, but one cannot discount the lingering, if not yet increasing, sympathy for the Taliban among a swathe of state and society that has either been Wahhabised by Saudi money or Bushed by US imperialism in the last two decades.
Let us face it. Our military has been infiltrated by such sentiment and passion. General Musharraf’s would-be assassins had the support of air force employees, Adnan Rashid himself being a prime mover and shaker. The Taliban who attacked GHQ or Naval HQ had inside supporters who were their ears and eyes. The police are not innocent either – Governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassin was an elite commando bodyguard with “No fear” emblazoned across his chest. The judiciary cowers in fear when it isn’t showering petals on them. And the politicians shrug their shoulders or blow smoke rings in the air when they aren’t embracing them in peace deals or electoral alliances.
No one in power has the guts to start fighting the Taliban. General Ashfaq Kayani says we face an existential threat from them. General Shuja Pasha says we are a failing state on account of them. PM Nawaz Sharif says the economy and democracy are held hostage by them. President Asif Zardari says they killed his wife. Altaf Bhai says they are his sworn enemies. Asfandyar Wali and Fazlur Rahman can’t breathe with them around. And all this while, the cancer is growing within the body politic of our state and society and we are thumping our foreheads in prayers for salvation. If ever a nation and state were guilty of culpability and stupor together, we are it. Look at Malala. She is a proud symbol of global resistance to the Taliban but we are picking fights with her instead of with them.
Mr Sartaj Aziz is National Security Advisor. When is he going to formulate and implement a strategy for uprooting the flag bearers of Talibanism, Wahabism, Jihadism and radical Islamism who are destroying this country? Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is the home minister. When is he going to realize some home truths and declare all out war against the black terror that stalks our fair land? Mr Shahbaz Sharif is Khadim-e-Aala. When is he going to do his duty and stop the core threat emanating from his province? Nawaz Sharif is Prime Minister. When is he going to take charge of the light brigade? We are the people. When are we going to stand up and be counted?