Crying Wolf!

PAKISTAN has been the focus of terrorism for over two decades. In the early 80s, we were targeted by India's RAW and Afghanistan's KHAD, both supported by the Soviet Union's KGB, through Al-Zulfiqar, the terrorist arm of PPP, representing a militant faction led by the two Bhutto brothers, Murtaza and Shahnawaz. In the 80s decade, bomb explosions were fairly frequent all over Pakistan, many targetted assassinations also took place. Of major concern were the separatist forces in the Province of Sindh. CIA's logistic support during the Afghan War years and due to the sheer professionalism, motivation and dedication of our intelligence personnel Pakistan developed a fairly effective counter-terrorism mechanism, mainly in the ISI but also in the Intelligence Bureau.

The credit of bringing the secessionist forces to heel must go to the much maligned Brig Imtiaz, who as head of ISI in Sindh, decimated their ranks so completely that 15 years later they have yet to be revived fully. As the Afghan War wound down, the ISI went "ballistic" over their new found capabilities and started to venture far beyond the frontiers of Pakistan. On the other hand as the first democratic government of Benazir Bhutto came into being in 1988, she tried to clip the wings of the ISI by bringing in a trusted retired professional soldier as its head. If the intention was to bring the ISI under political control, it was counter productive, made symbolic by the toppling of the Benazir regime in August 1990, with Lt Gen (Retd) SR Kallue, the ISI Chief, oblivious of troop movement initiated on the orders of the President outside his own window, worse that was some of his own subordinate staff were part and parcel of the "civilian coup", since they owed loyalty to the Army and thus its Chief.

His successor at ISI Lt Gen (Retd) Asad Durrani restored the professionalism of the service but he soon fell out with the then COAS. The then incumbent PM, Mian Nawaz Sharif, brought in Lt Gen Javed Nasir, a firebrand with both his heart and mind in the right place but his heart taking to venturing his mind far afield in support of besieged Muslim forces throughout the world. Unfortunately western perception had undergone a sea-change, Afghan freedom fighters had now become potential terrorists, from being the front-line state in the War against communism, Pakistan had become a "nursing ground" for terrorism. We escaped being declared a "terrorist state" by the US in 1993 by the skin of our teeth. In the political turmoil that followed the major sufferers were the intelligence agencies. During the first Bhutto regime, the prime casualty was not only Brig Imtiaz (the "Midnight Jackal" episode) but the superior apparatus he had made out of the IB.

The instrument used to decimate ISI was the person of Javed Ashraf Qazi, he virtually gutted the once vaunted organisation that had stood upto a Superpower. The agencies of the west rely mainly on their electronic means, ours do on human intelligence ("humint" in intelligence terms), Qazi fired virtually all the effective ISI operatives of the 80s. During the period, the ISI and IB were being dismantled brick by brick, individual by individual, various other terrorist factions of widely different ilk came into being. The Shia-Sunni sectarian strife was a virtual proxy war on Pakistani soil between two of our great Muslim friends. India's RAW remained active to take the pressure away from Kashmir, adding to the ethnic Sindhi terrorists' cell the MQM militants who escaped "Operation Clean-Up" in 1992. The ISI also out-did itself in launching MQM (H), the dissident faction in Opposition to Altaf Hussain, as a counter to MQM. In the process they created another bunch of terrorists who subsequently went into business on their own.

The Afghan War which had attracted Muslim fighters from all over the globe, created its own set of terrorists with a focus on their nation of origin e.g. Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, etc. In the middle 90s, terrorism bloomed in Pakistan, unfortunately the professionalism of our intelligence agencies had been proportionately reduced dramatically. This imbalance resulted in a virtual state of anarchy in various cities, towns and regions in Pakistan. Instead of being used as instrument of the State for the good of the State, the intelligence agencies became politicised, becoming a tool for personal vendetta and pursuing ambitions. Those down the line went into business on their own, even interfering with private business in support of friends and relations. Instead of giving sound, considerate view of events, agencies started jumping to conclusions. When conclusions (as divorced from facts) are found to be false, the credibility of the originator suffers considerably. The latest example is that of the blast on the Raiwind Road, within hours the media was being fed that it was an "MQM operation" because the MQM Chief had pointed out to more terrorism occurring in Punjab and Sindh.

It could well be the MQM but Mian Nawaz Sharif could well have been targetted by a handful of other terrorist factions. If it really turning out to be MQM, by "crying wolf" too soon and without much evidence, the credibility of that claim has been shot already. Unfortunately evidence is manufactured to put perceived "enemies" in trouble. Some of it is blatantly political and economic. The destabilizing effects of freezing of bank accounts, recalling of loans takes almost three years to overcome. One can sympathise with Mian Nawaz Sharif and family as to how Benazir contrived to make them "bank defaulters". Those people who make false accusations and fake allegations must be brought in front of Military Trial Courts to face the same punishment that they accuse other people of. That will be the only deterrent on the enthusiasm of those who resort to personal vendettas using the strength of their offices at the cost of the persecuted individual. Not that everything has been downhill. Recent events in Sindh in general and Karachi in particular, have shown how the law enforcement and intelligence agencies have combined together under a genuinely neutral administration run by the Governor to become really effective in countering terrorism.

A spate of "un-solved" crimes have seen the light of day, for the first time witnesses are coming forth and giving evidence, showing faith in the Military Trial Courts, something to think about by the judiciary. The peace in the streets is very much visible for everyone to see. One must congratulate the civil administration for a real team effort taking good advantage of the Military's cover. A start has been made in Sindh, this can happen all over the country. Terrorism can be contained by bringing back professionals and professionalism into both the intelligence agencies and the LEAs. Creating of wrong facts to pursue personal vendetta must be severely punishable. Without fail, all political appointees whatever their performance, must be shunted out.

It is only when the LEAs and intelligence agencies have been made professional, can we expect them to stop "crying wolf".