About Time, Pakistan!

Pakistan is fighting the world’s war against Islamic extremism in its own backyard. Granted, it was Pakistan’s own insouciance aided by America’s need of the day, that has led to the empowerment of this behemoth, however, government statistics today claim 1,300 militants dead and counting. The long awaited State level involvement to control the impetus of the Taliban has finally materialized, as we all await the outcome.

At the Asia society in New York City, a panel of distinguished speakers comprising the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, Mr. Abdullah Husain Haroon, George Rupp, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee- an NGO, and Nicholas Platt ex-President of the Asia Society came together to ponder over the current crisis in Pakistan and the problem of the displaced people of Swat.

Ambassador Haroon elucidated on more than one occasion that this is not a battle with an immediate end in sight. He emphasized how the Taliban do not fight to finish, but in fact feed off the fighting itself. So to vanquish such an enemy is going to require serious commitment from the International Community and resilience from the people on the ground.

I spoke to Pakistanis in the province of Sindh and Punjab and they sound hopeful that the military will be victorious in quashing these extremists. A new found pride in the Pakistani Jawan (Army) is suddenly noticeable in the general milieu. The undesirable notion that the army could fail is not even considered as a remotely passing thought. Pakistani people have no choice but to place all their hopes in an Army they have been wont to view suspiciously in the past, but are nonetheless eager to have the opportunity to finally look up to now. This in itself is a great milestone for a country that has never fully succeeded in winning, let alone restoring the faith of its own masses.

While the country is at war, trying to wipe out this lethal minority the problem of the Internally Displaced People grows by the hour. Currently some three million have been rendered refugees. The refugee camps are run by UNHCR, IRC and other NGO’s. These NGO’s funnel aid into the camps so that the displaced people would have makeshift shelter from the scorching heat of that region, and access to clean water and food. Needless to say, these people live in squalid conditions and the environment is redolent with fears of a disease outbreak. So visceral is the problem of the Taliban that they are present even in the refugee camps. Pakistan’s fight is not an easy one.

Despite the Government being riddled with infirmities, credit must be given to the people of Pakistan, a resilient nation indeed, that has taken in so many of the refugees into their homes. According to IRC (International Rescue Committee) statistics only 10% of Pakistanis are in UNHCR refugee camps, 90% have been taken in by families and relatives. This is no mean task especially when most of the families of the displaced themselves live in immense poverty on the outskirts of Swat, and in the city of Karachi.

The Taliban have a frightening ideology, it is a many-headed monster and Pakistan is in it for the long haul. It should also be known that this war does not end with the complete removal or suppression of the Taliban. The Taliban are the kind of pervasive cancer that needs to be kept in check at all times. Even if the prominent signs are destroyed, its ability to birth itself in Pakistan’s downtrodden areas is indisputable.

The Pakistani government will have to pull itself from the bootstraps and commit to giving the country what it has owed its people since its very inception. This is not just a fight to crush the extremists, this may very well be the pathway to re-build and re-design the country’s basic infrastructure. The only way to keep forces like the Taliban/Jihadis/Muslim extremists in check, is to create a solid economic structure, a working financial framework, competitive educational institutions, empowering the proletariat, instilling a strong and dependable judicial system, creating job opportunities, and basic amenities to all areas of Pakistan and not just the dominating Punjab province, as has been the custom of the past leadership of Pakistan.

President Obama in his June 4th speech from Egypt announced that his administration pledges US $1.5 billion per year, for the next five years to help Pakistan bolster itself from the ground up. American aid will be used to build infrastructure, schools, and basic amenities. This pledge from a President we have come to trust is very promising, and now the onus is on Pakistan to take advantage of this opportunity and deliver. At the same time, one can’t help but feel skeptical about where most of the funds will wind up? To that end, Ambassador Haroon assures us that diligent checks are being kept and the International Community is closely monitoring the movement of the funds.

Pakistani leaders are famous for mismanagement of loans. Moreover, Pakistan’s absurd request to the International Community to pardon its previous loans at this time makes little sense. What have previous loans got to do with the present war? Aid is still coming into Pakistan; the NGO’s are setting up refugee camps, and trying to provide basic shelter to the displaced people. As far as what the country owes in terms of loans is an issue they will have to continue to deal with. This might be as good a time as any for Pakistan to seize the opportunity and become conscious of what it can do to revamp itself and start taking serious responsibility. Or at least try and see what that might feel like.

It is precisely this attitude of the Pakistani Government that will never allow the country to gain even marginal independence from outside resources. To expect old loans to be written off because they are fighting the Taliban, a problem they themselves allowed to flourish in the first place, seems inappropriate. At best Pakistan could ask for a deferment on the loans, but responsibility to pay them off must be met if it is to embark on a journey of re-building and empowering itself.

Pakistan has had copious opportunities to grow up in the last sixty-two years, one hopes the leadership finally seizes this one and reverses its march to earning the status of a ‘failed nation.’