Military courts and terrorism in Pakistan Farooq Ganderbali The decision by Pakistan to set up military courts to try terrorism cases is merely window dressing to avoid a close scrutiny by the international community as well as of its own people of its commitment to tackle terrorism. With the Peshawar attack, which killed over 135 school children in Peshawar on December 16, 2014, the state had to take some action or at least seem to take some action against those who were killing its own children. In any other `normal`country, it would have been simpler—the killers have to be punished. But Pakistan is far from normal. There are two states within the small country—one more powerful than the other. It is called the Deep State. It is difficult to capture the exact definition of this term. Broadly, the term indicates the extraordinary power of military and its intelligence agencies to decide the fate of the country’s people and their destiny. This power is executed through keeping the civilian institutions and leaders subservient to the military cause through all kinds of means, mainly through coercion and show of force. This Deep State, in simple terms, a cabal of senior military officers, is ruthless in handing over punishments. Those who dared to challenge the Deep State have been punished with brutal abduction and murder. The journalists who crossed the line met with anonymous accidents or get shot by unidentified assailants. Since this Deep State has to exist within a charade of a democratic state, it coopts political parties and leaders by the same means—coercion of different kinds including bribes and threat of elimination. So with the Peshawar attack, questions began to emerge about the utility of this Deep State. It was an unspoken cry from the people who were shocked that religious bigots from their own country could kill their own children. It was a rude shock. As long as their countrymen killed Indians and Afghans, it was jihad. But when the same killers turned cannibals, they had to be put down. The problem the Deep State is in dealing with this set of killers is that many of them are its progeny, and continue to enjoy direct and indirect patronage. The link is simple to establish but unfortunately, there is no such debate in Pakistan. No journalist has told his or her countrymen that those who killed their children were no one else but paid assassins of their `beloved` Pakistan Army. Here is the link. The killers came from a group called Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) which was set up in December 2007 for various reasons but essentially to take revenge against the military for destroying their homes and villages in the name of the `war on terror`. Before they came together, they were part of the army’s campaign to help the Afghan Taliban kill NATO forces in Afghanistan and prevent India’s growing influence in the region. The TTP since then has killed several thousand Pakistanis, own citizens, many of them para-military and military personnel. The new General in town. Raheel Sharif, said he had seen them kicking the severed heads of soldiers. But then why didn’t he do something then, when his men, and officers, were abducted and beheaded? This is a question which the people should have asked but didn’t. Now it is also well known that TTP as a group cannot survive on its own. It needs supporters. It obviously, or at least let us believe that, has no support from the Deep State. It draws its support from two groups—the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network. These two groups are operational allies of Pakistan Army. They are key instruments of the army’s Afghan policy, and plans against India in the longer term. Without the army’s support and protection, neither the Haqqani Network nor the Afghan Taliban could have survived the US-led military campaign. The Americans leaving Afghanistan without neutralising either the Taliban or al Qaeda was largely due to the intransigent policies of Pakistan Army. Everyone knew about this but kept quiet for different reasons. The Deep State obviously cannot let go of their assets at this crucial juncture when the foreign forces have left Afghanistan. Now is the time when the decade-old investment in shoring up the Taliban and the Haqqani Network is going to give the expected returns—a strategic leverage in Afghanistan. So it cannot go after them, not now. But then if they don’t, they risk facing public censure which the Generals would prefer to avoid but like in the past public anger and dissent could make life really difficult for them in keep their well oiled empires and privileges intact. The ingenious way the Generals hit upon to avoid doing all this was to set up military courts. It leaves the civilians in perpetual fear of the military and then it is easy for the Generals to pick and choose whom they want to hang, and when. So the Daniel Pearl killer Omar Sheikh sentenced to death in 2002 remains in the list of those waiting for the gallows. The Mumbai attack accused Zaki ur Rahman Lakhvi could be another such guy. There are quite a few who would remain in prison, in other words protective custody, but far from being hanged. The Generals now have the power to decide who is a good terrorist and who is not. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lost any semblance of power even in making this distinction when he allowed the amendments to the Constitution to set up military courts to go through.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 14:12:39 +0000
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