Pakistan is in deep trouble. It’s reaping what it had sown. For decades, it has exported terror to India, as a part of a doctrine propounded by General Zia to “bleed India through 1000 cuts.” Now chickens are coming home to roost.
Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), an Islamist group, created by Pakistan, is hissing at its creator. The beleaguered nation is also riven by intra-faith violence, fractured by regional pulls and suffering aftermath of devastating floods . Reeling under stagflation, the country is on the brink of bankruptcy.
The Islamic nation is facing an existential crisis. For the first time in its chequered history, Pakistan Army, the only stable institution in the country, has become controversial. TTP with support from Afghanistan Taliban regime, is wreaking havoc on the western areas of Pakistan. The lower ranks of the army, fed on hate against ‘kafirs’ (infidels) since the birth of the Islamic nation are confused, because they are being asked to take on TTP cadres who are fellow believing Muslims and fighting for the glory of Islam.
TTP seeks to delegitimise Pakistan’s claim on an area bordering Afghanistan. More precisely, this means changing Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) status back to semi-governed. It also wants the removal of border fencing and enjoys full support of the Afghan Taliban in pursuit of its anti-Pakistan agenda.
To top it all, TTP’s aims to impose Afghan-style Sharia in FATA before extending the Islamic system across Pakistan. This means end to female education, justice via limb-chopping, installing a shura system headed by an Amir al-Mu’minin in place of democracy, and cutting Pakistan off from the modern world. Such prospects are a nightmare for non-Muslims, Shias, Barelvis and the Westernised Muslim elite which controls Pakistan. TTP was created, with the US help, to fight the erstwhile Soviet Union when it invaded Afghanistan. The cadres were trained by Pakistan to fight kafirs. In 2007, Pakistan again trained TTP cadres, to resist the Afghan Taliban. Now, the situation has reversed. The Afghan Taliban is arming TTP against Pakistan to fight for bringing sharia law and make a greater Pashtoonistan. Everyone is fighting against everyone else, to uphold Islam! The reversal of roles started in 2021. According to a UN report, between 4,000 and 6,000 TTP fighters were sheltered by the Afghan Taliban. The Interior Minister of Pakistan, however, estimates that between 7,000 to 10,000 Taliban are being trained against Pakistan. Since October, a highly motivated TTP has been on a killing spree and enforcing sharia in areas of its influence in Pakistan, particularly in Swat valley. The Islamic outfit has swooped on family parks in Swat, beating women, for their alleged unIslamic lifestyle. Over 155 attacks were carried out by TTP in 2022. On December 19 last, TTP took Bannu Counter Terrorism Department hostage. TTP even attacked the Chinese in Gwadar and police in Islamabad, sending a message across the world that even the capital was within its reach. Such blatant terror acts have obviously set alarm bells in the world. China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang in his first phone call to his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari the other day expressed his concern about the safety of its citizens in his country. The US Embassy came out with a statement prohibiting its staff from visiting the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The UK High Commission and Australian embassy too issued similar statements. The UAE imposed a visa ban on 24 cities in Pakistan.
The Pakistan establishment is in a real dilemma on how to deal with TTP. The radicalised sections of urban Pakistani society, as well as backward areas, welcome the version of Sharia, being pursued by the militant Islamic outfit. The top echelons of Pakistan ruling elite and common people aren’t on the same page. The top brass of the army, safely removed from combat areas, is trying to minimise the scale of TTP threat to civil society.
Cash-strapped Pakistan is desperately seeking help from abroad. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has made calls to Chinese premier Li Keqiang, seeking Beijing’s help to avert a looming default while army chief General Asim Munir met the Saudi Defence Minister in Riyadh. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week held talks with the IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva to break the deadlock over the release of the next tranche of assistance. Servicing foreign debt and paying for crucial commodities such as medicine, food and energy are among the chief concerns of the Pakistan establishment. Meanwhile, TTP, with help from Afghanistan Taliban regime, is threatening to dismantle Pakistan, because it’s not Islamic enough.