Elections in the Merged Tribal Districts Show Historical Change By Sajjad Shaukat JR192SS63

Elections in the Merged Tribal Districts Show Historical Change  By Sajjad Shaukat JR192SS63

This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that polling was held for elections of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly in the merged tribal districts of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 20, this year and the counting of votes is underway, with the unofficial results  have started pouring in.

Sixteen seats have been contested in seven districts. Of the 285 candidates standing for the elections, 202 are independent candidates. There are over 2.8 million registered voters in the area, of which 1.13 million are women.

At 16, the PTI has the most candidates who contested the elections from the ruling political party. The JUI-F has 15 candidates, ANP has 14, PPP and JI both have 13 and the PML-N has five candidates. Two women are also contested the election–the ANP’s Naheed Afridi in PK-106 Khyber and JI’s Malasa Bibi in PK-108 Kurram.

A total of 1,897 polling stations have been set up across the merged districts. Of these, 482 have been reserved for men, 376 for women, and 1,049 are combined. Pakistan Army, police and Frontier Constabulary personnel have been deployed at polling stations across the seven districts. In this regard, Spokesperson of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Nadeem Qasim said it may take a day for the official results to be announced in ex-FATA elections. He elaborated: “Polling has completed peacefully in the region. He appreciated the role of all institutions, including Army for making a peaceful election happen”.

According to reports, voter turnout remained decent.

In fact, Pakistan Army played a key role in restoring peace in the tribal regions. Hence, almost all political parties nominated their candidates for the constituencies, as the political activities have gained peace. Army made strenuous efforts to bring the people of FATA in the mainstream of the country.

The government has expressed resolve to spend billions of rupees in the next 10 years for the development of FATA and the uplift of the local population in order to bring them at par with the citizens of the other areas of the country and to remove any sense of deprivation among them.

The tribal regions remained troubled for over a decade ever since the US-led so-called war on terror started. Pakistan’s Armed Forces and especially Army have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists by the military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad, while country’s primary intelligence agency ISI has broken the network of these terrorist groups by capturing several militants and thwarting a number of terror attempts. Besides other provinces, peace has been restored in the KP.

In this respect, thousands of terrorists were killed and huge quantity of explosives seized during the operations of the security agencies.

So as to sustain the hard-earned peace, Pakistan Army has also started the fencing of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. It would stop preventing illegal cross-border movement—including those of terrorists who enter Pakistan from Afghanistan’s side and bring the drug-weapon trade to a halt. The fencing of the Pak-Afghan border which is 2,611-kilometre is expected to be completed by 2020 whereas 643 kilometres–462 kilometers in KP and 181 kilometers in Balochistan have been covered so far. 843 border posts are planned, out of which 233 have been completed, while the construction of 140 posts is underway.

It is due to the huge sacrifices of Army and other law-enforcement agencies that improvement in the security situation in the tribal areas became possible. The number of check posts has also decreased by 31 percent in the past three years, resulting in growing trade activities. Roads have been improved for connectivity with other areas of the country, including FATA. In this regard, more than 800-kilometres of roads have been constructed in the tribal districts as part of the communication network, thus reducing the time to one-thirds.

However, with the assistance of the security forces, Pakistan held the epoch-making elections in the tribal districts and thus, gave a strong message to the international community that peace has returned in the conflict zone.

It is notable that external powers which have been supporting the Baloch Sub-Nationalists (BSNs) are also behind the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) as part of their unfinished agenda against Pakistan. They leave no stone unturned in misguiding the people of the Balochistan and particularly those of the KP by creating one after another issue. In this respect, emergence of the PTM at a crucial time, which is being paid by anti-Pakistan hostile elements and countries, aims at accentuating the ethnic cleavages of the country, influence Pashtun population in pursuance of strategic objectives of the foreign powers. PTM which is actually a veritable political entity of the Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and wants to accomplish its nefarious designs against Pakistan and its Army has opposed the amalgamation of FATA/PATA with KP province.

Nevertheless, it is because of the Amry’s development-works in the tribal areas that the PTM has failed in instigating the public against the federation of the country. While, amalgamation of FATA/PATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province will result into multiple benefits for the people by overcoming their multi-faceted problems. Therefore, the merger of FATA/PATA with the KP was welcomed by the tribal people—the tribal people will get representation in the KP Assembly and the National Assembly.

Earlier, the proceedings for the merger have witnessed intense activities in shape of meetings, debate etc. High-powered National Implementation Committee (NIC) on FATA Reforms had earlier endorsed the merger of tribal regions with KP in a meeting attended by the prime minister, chief of army staff, and others, including chief minister of the KP and Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on FATA Reforms Sartaj Aziz. Later, in May 2018, National Security Committee (NSC) in its 23^rd meeting endorsed the merger of FATA with KP, while noting the regional and global security situation.

The credit for making the merger a reality has been attributed to Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who continued to push the political leadership for requisite activism on the issue. The role of opposition parties also remained positive and appreciable. 

The merger of FATA/PATA with the KP province has been a long awaited move, as there has been too much suffering in the tribal areas. FATA was administered through Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), and political agent acted as a justice along with other executive tasks. FCR was a set of laws under which joint territorial duties and penalties were imposed. Since America’s attack on Afghanistan, FATA arose as a zone of trouble and proxy warfare. It also became security risk for the region and put Pakistan into many hardships.

FCR which was officially enacted in 1901 has its origins in laws which were enacted by the British colonialists in the Pashtun-inhabited tribal areas in the Northwest of British India. They were specifically devised to counter the opposition of the Pashtuns to British rule. The main objective of the FCR was to protect the interests of the British Empire. More than a century later, this law continued to be applied to FATA residents by the Government of Pakistan.  Not only did the FCR deprived the people of FATA their fundamental rights, but also had taken away their basic legal rights like ‘Appeal, Wakeel and Daleel’.

So, it is positive dimension for the tribal people, as they have got rid of colonialism which continued after the partition of the Sub-continent. The tribal Sardars (Lords) who continued British practices were in favour of the division of FATA/PATA and KP. Now, this merger is likely to upset sub-nationalist tendencies, being exploited by Pakistan’s foreign enemies and some internal entities.

At present, FATA is most deprived and least-developed area in Pakistan. With lowest per capita income in the country, two third of its population simply lives below the poverty line. The literacy rate is as low as only 17% among males and only 3% among females. And, almost half population has no access to clean drinking water. No substantial endeavor had been made to promote the socio-economic wellbeing of the people in FATA.

It is worth-mentioning that since the occupation of Afghanistan by the US-led NATO forces, Pakistan has become center of the intelligence agencies such as American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad which are in collusion with Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) to obtain the covert designs of the their countries and some Western countries against Russia, China and Pakistan, including Iran.

Under the cover of fighting terrorism, these secret agencies support the militants of Islamic State group (Also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh) and Afghanistan-based TTP, including their linked outfits which have been conducting terror-assaults in Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the double game of the US-led countries. And CIA and RAW which are in collaboration with NDS are clandestinely assisting the Afghan National Unity Government (NUG) to manipulate the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), as these external entities are behind this movement.

Nonetheless, we can conclude that the nation, especially the people of FATA are thankful to the Pakistan Army which played a major role in integration of the tribal regions with the mainstream of the country. Therefore, during the polling-day, people were raising slogans in favour of Pakistan Army, while elections in the merged tribal districts show historical change.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

Revisited the Swat Operation By Sajjad Shaukat (JR 178 SS 51)

Revisited the Swat Operation By Sajjad Shaukat (JR178SS51)

The Swat Operation which started on May 16, 2009 still remains in the mind of every patriot Pakistani. The area occupied by the terrorists was successfully cleared by Pakistan’s Armed Forces.

In this regard, Swat peace accord was signed on February 15, 2009 between the government and the militants led by Sufi Muhammad, head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It was agreed to establish Nizam-e-Adl in Malakand Division and Kohistan District of Hazara in return for Maulvi Fazlullah (Sufi’s son-in-law) led militants, surrendering arms and refraining from all sorts of violent acts. Meanwhile, National Assembly had passed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.

But, by transgressing the peace pack, Taliban re-initiated their previous practice of beheadings, kidnappings, attacks on the check posts of the security forces etc. In Swat, their anti-social, anti-Islam and inhuman tactics such as attacks on government buildings, girls’ school, video shops and police stations, using car suicide bombers had also been destabilizing Pakistan. In some regions, particularly in Swat, Taliban leaders had created states within the state, and had been involved in a number of crimes such as drug-smuggling, forced marriages, hostage-takings for ransom and car-snatching. Moreover, by setting aside the terms of the peace agreement, the Taliban equipped with heavy weapons started making checkpoints, strengthening their position in Swat and Dir. They refused to renounce arms, and even entered Buner.

In these adverse circumstances, the military operations were re-conducted to restore peace in these affected areas, and to get rid the innocent people of the brutalities of the Taliban. Overwhelming public, belonging to every province of Pakistan and all the segments of society supported the Swat and Malakand military operations, as majority of the people are against the Taliban style of Sharia. An all-parties conference (APC) vowed to unite the nation against insurgency in these regions, pledging to end terror.

In this respect, in May 16, 2009, Pakistan’s Armed Forces started military operation in Swat. And, within less than three months, Pakistan’s forces successfully ejected the well-trained and well-armed Taliban militants out of Buner, Dir, Swat and other adjoining areas. By sacrificing their lives, our forces killed and captured thousands of the militants—breaking their backbone by eliminating their control and command structure. Reports suggested that tens thousands of the Taliban had fled Afghanistan.

It is mentionable that during the Swat Operation, the TTP militants had been supported by some foreign secret agencies, especially Indian RAW. Through their well-established networks in Afghanistan, they were sending arms and weapons to the Swat-based terrorists with a view to weakening Pakistan which is the only nuclear country in the Islamic World.

In fact, the different war between Pakistan’s Armed Forces and the TTP insurgents in Swat was simply a ‘clash of wills’ between two entities. Military thinkers agree that although the physical force will determine the type and scale of war, yet it is the ‘will to fight’ or ‘moral force’ that determines the outcome of war. Clausewitz puts it this way, “One might say that the physical force seems little more than the wooden hilt, while moral factors are the precious metal, the real weapon.”

In his book, “Fighting Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945”, Creveld identifies the elements of ‘moral force’, whom he calls “fighting power, the willingness to fight and the readiness, if necessary, to die.” The greater these elements, the less vulnerable an armed force will be to demoralization. ‘Moral force’, then, is the crucial factor in determining the combat power of any belligerent.

During the successful military operation, retreat of the Taliban from Swat has proved that such elements like ‘will to fight’ and ‘moral force’ have been more noted in Pakistan’s Armed Forces who have exerted psychological impact of causing fear and shock, resulting into demoralization among the Taliban militants.

Nevertheless, there are various causes which demoralized the insurgents of Swat. Firstly, high ‘moral force’ and ‘will to fight’ coupled with strong determination and cohesiveness as noted in Pakistan’s Armed Forces played a key role in expelling Taliban out of Swat. In this regard, airstrikes by Pakistan Air Force targeted their strongholds. And during street to street fighting, without bothering for their lives, and by air-dropping commandos at the risky places, our forces made a great headway in disrupting the Taliban supply routes. They besieged them at various hotspots, rendering them unable to send reinforcements to their fighters. Secondly, morale of Pak Army was very high. Thirdly, local people started denying the Taliban sanctuaries, and disrupted their links with each other. Fourthly, general masses of Swat opposed the brutal acts of these terrorists which compelled them to leave their houses. They came to know that under the cover of Islamic laws—terror, not Sharia was militants’ real agenda. Hence, they were misusing Jihad which does not allow suicide attacks in killing their own Muslim brethren.

Although terrorists have again started subversive activities, yet these are on small scale, as compared to the past, because the main networks of various militant outfits have been broken by the ongoing military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad.

As a matter of fact, Pakistan’s Armed Forces have successfully broken the backbone and organized capability of terrorists to launch well thought-out attacks against the government assets. Terrorism will finally be totally eliminated from Pakistan. It appears, as if the militants have lost major grounds, and in severe frustration, they are trying to create some kind of so-called pressure on the government and the Armed Forces which have castigated them to put up strong resistance.

It is notable that when the heavy-armed Taliban entered Swat, Dir and Buner, on April 23, 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had stated that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. But, when Pakistan’s Armed Forces ejected the Taliban insurgents out of the affected areas, then American high officials including Ms. Clinton had admired the capabilities of Pak Army.

We can conclude that it was because the ‘moral force’ of Pakistan’s Armed Forces, which defeated the insurgents of Swat.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

Peace Dividends Must Reach People by Sajjad Shaukat (JR141SS29)

Peace Dividends Must Reach People by Sajjad Shaukat (JR141SS29)

Addressing the 218^th Corps Commanders’ Conference on February 4, this year, Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa said, “The dividends of improved internal security situation must reach out to the people of Pakistan through socio-economic development.”

The army chief elaborated, “Stability operations as part of Radd-ul-Fasaad shall continue, focus shall be on a national response against hostile forces…concurrent focus shall now be on strategising and implementing comprehensive national response against machinations by hostile intelligence agencies…inimical forces to undo the national gains for peace and stability.”

However, the forum also expressed satisfaction at the improved internal security situation and progress on regional peace initiative, especially the Afghan reconciliation process.

By the grace of Allah, and with the sacrifices of both Pakistani nation and the military, the peace has rejuvenated in the country. Pakistan is the only success story in the world in the war against terrorism. Three tiers including the state, people and Law Enforcement Agencies jointly fought the war, which was the main reason behind unprecedented success. No country in the world history has come out of the menace of terrorism so fast as Pakistan did.

The War on Terror has had multifaceted ramifications for Pakistan such as political and security repercussions, economic repercussions and socio-cultural repercussions.

Undoubtedly, Pakistan’s armed forces have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists by the successful military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad which have also been extended to other parts of the country, including Balochistan. While, Pakistan’s primarily intelligence agency, ISI has broken the network of these terrorist groups by capturing several militants, while thwarting a number of terror attempts. Peace has been restored in various regions of Pakistan, including Karachi and Balochistan province.

But, in the recent past and during the election-campaign of 2019, blasts in Balochistan and other regions of the country showed that the US-led India, Afghanistan and Israel have again started acts of sabotage especially to weaken Pakistan and to damage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is part of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative or BRI. Washington and New Delhi has already opposed this project. Foiled terror attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi on November 23, last year was part of the same scheme.

As compared to the past, these are few terrorism related attacks which also take place in Europe and the US from time to time.

It is notable that on September 6, 2017, addressing the Defence and Martyrs Day ceremony and hinting towards the US, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said: “The country will not be part of anyone else’s war, rubbished the myth of a civil-military divide in the country…We both [civil, military] have a common goal and that is to take this country forward.” He saluted the valour and sacrifices of the armed forces, which stood strong against all odds in the aftermath of the 9/11 and the unconventional war that followed, to safeguard the interests of the country.

Addressing the ceremony, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa stated: “Our forces and nation have rendered sacrifices in the war against terrorism…Our houses, schools and leaders were attacked. Efforts were made to weaken us internally.” Noting that more than 70,000 Pakistanis were martyred and injured in this war, the army chief vowed to collectively fight this menace of terrorism.

Gen. Bajwa added: “The country passed through a very difficult phase during the past two decades.” He also said that continuity of democracy was necessary in the country.

It is mentionable that internal security has improved in the country. Hence, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Russia, including companies of the Western countries have decided to invest in Pakistan.

Notably, on January 17, 2019, international company Cargill renewed its long standing commitment to Islamabad by announcing plans to invest more than US$200 million in the next three-to-five years. The announcement was made in the meeting when Cargill’s global executive team, led by Marcel Smits, head of Global Strategy and Chairman, Cargill Asia Pacific region, and Gert-Jan van den Akker, president, Cargill Agricultural Supply Chain, met with the Prime Minister Imran Khan and other senior government officials to discuss the company’s future investment plans.

Similarly on February 6, this year, during a visit of the Russian delegation, headed by Gazprom Management Committee Deputy Chairman Vitaly A Markelov, the Russian side pledged an investment of $14 billion in offshore gas pipeline project, North South Pipeline Project and underground gas storages in Pakistan, besides laying a pipeline to supply gas to the country from the Middle East through the sea-link. An agreement was signed between Moscow and Islamabad in this connection. Russian officials said that they would invest around $10 billion in offshore gas pipeline project, $2.5 billion in the North South Pipeline Project and the remaining on building underground storages in Pakistan. The Russian companies would build gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore to transport imported gas for meeting the needs of the gas-starved province. Recently, the government faced a severe gas crisis, which can be prevented by underground storages.

It is of particular attention that completion of the CPEC-deep Gwadar seaport of Balochistan with an international airport at Gwadar and the roads infrastructure in Gwadar would link the communication networks of rest of the country to facilitate transportation of goods. When Gwadar seaport becomes fully operational, it would connect the landlocked Central Asian states with rest of the world. Being the commercial hub, the port is likely to increase volume of trade, bringing multiple economic and financial benefits to Pakistan like the Suez Canal which changed the destiny of Egypt when Israel returned it to the former. It will enable high-volume cargo vessels to move in the major oceans. Gwadar project which is backbone of the CPEC will uplift the impoverished people of Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, including developments in other provinces by providing thousands of employment opportunities, especially to the less developed areas by redressing their grievances. The resulting prosperity in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan would damp the separatist sentiments of the people, which the hostile elements, supported by the US, India and Israeli do not want. Therefore, with tactical support of CIA and Mossad, Indian RAW is also using Afghan soil to destabilize Balochistan to slow down the growth of the CPEC and pulling Afghanistan away from joining the CPEC.

It is worth-mentioning that since the government of the Balochistan province announced general pardon and protection to the Baloch militants as part of reconciliation process, many insurgents and their leaders have surrendered their arms and decided to work for the development of Pakistan and the province by including themselves in the mainstream of the country, and peace has been restored in the province.

Now, when the security situation has almost come to normal, our foremost obligation is to address each one of the positive repercussions as part of consolidation phase, so that the dividends of peace must reach people. No one but the present government along with the state institutions will have to take the lead in this respect. Economy of the country was the worst affected during terror stricken time of last two decades. The dividends of peace will be visible only when initiatives are taken through socio-economic development. The current government is on its way to address such issues, but the fruits of such efforts will be borne only when these fruits reach the common people. There is a need to adopt a fast track and focused strategy by incorporating all stake-holders to take visible initiatives for the betterment of common people.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com