Terrorism in Pakistan; Causes, Effects, Solutions

Once a convicted "terrorist", Nelson Mandela, wrote in his autobiography: "the hard facts were that 50
years of non-violence had brought (my) people nothing but more repressive legislation, and fewer
rights".

If the world leaders do not believe that global fairness, peace and human dignity is in the best interest
of the global community, then our fate may indeed be akin to the vision of Shelley's

And each dweller, panic-stricken,

Felt his heart with terror sicken...

Terrorism- either by the state or by the non state actors, is the cruelest of crimes which kills less
criminals but more innocent citizens. Terrorism has no absolute and globally accepted definition. If
simply stated, terror is extreme or intense fear. It is a psychological state, which combines the physical
and mental efforts to create dread and insecurity.

Globally Accepted Definition:

Acts committed with the aim of seriously intimidating a population, forcing a government or
international organization to abstain from performing any act, or seriously destabilizing or destroying
the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of country or an international
organization.

State Terrorism to counter terrorism:

When the whole world is in the cruel jaws of it, this reality cannot be curtailed through the more
terrorism by the state; as many countries of the present world are trying to do it in this way. The
obvious example of Kashmir and Palestine speak horrors of inhuman acts. Interior Motives of US Was
on Terrorism:

If we take a look political disputes like Iraq, Afghanistan, the Interior motives of was on terrorism are:

· To get hold of natural resources of Muslim countries, either by the policy of friendship or
confrontation.

· To malign Muslim freedom struggles like movements going on such as in Kashmir, Chechnya,
Palestine.

· To damage the ideology of Islam specially Jihad to project Islam as a religion of intolerance. The fear
factor is that Islam still is spreading in the West at a faster pace, 4500 embraced Islam after 9/11.

· To stop the rise of orthodox Muslim governments. They are doing it in the name of democracy.

They are changing the elected governments. E.g. Iran’s government is being isolated by imposing
sanctions. They are there to protect monarchies in Gulf States.

· To ensure a greater Israel on Arab Land for the satisfaction of American Jewfish lobby.
· To spread its own culture. If a nation dies it’s a national death but if a nation dies of cultural death,
It’s all over. The United State is permeated its culture in the countries on the name of terrorism. As in
Iraq, they made dance clubs in the Green Zone. The uniform of new force of Iraq i.e. identical as it
matched with USA.

· To check the unclear technology of the Muslim countries like Iran and Pakistan.

Causes of terrorism in Pakistan:

The sectarian anti-Shiite militant groups like the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan were preaching hatred against
the Shiite Muslims and employing some terrorist activities. The extremist sectarian intolerance came to
Pakistan only after 1979 revolution in Iran. The Iranian revolution emboldened the Shiite Muslims of
Pakistan against their suffering at the hands of anti-Shiite groups. This was further aggravated when a
Sunni-dominated Iraq with the backing of the USA and Saudi Arabia waged a war upon Shiite
dominated Iran.

The soviet Afghanistan War was the most critical event responsible for spreading militancy and
intolerance in Pakistan. In order to fight proxy war against the Soviets, the US and the Arab countries
provided the funds for serving The Mujahedeen who were motivated for battle through religious
propaganda urging them to expel the infidels from Afghanistan. The aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal
exposed the damage, transformation of violence, and weaponisation into Pakistan society.

The armed freedom struggle surfaced in Kashmir during the eighties gave the resistors a continued
reason to be present in the region, which was exploited by Pakistan. Therefore after 9/11, when a ban
was put on these fighters, they turned their guns towards their adopted country.

The Internal Factors:

Pakistan is fighting against the menace of terrorism on both the fronts; external as well as internal. The
derailing of democracy has had a preformed impact on Pakistani society. One cause is political
deprivation, political alienation, leading to hopelessness, and sense of powerlessness, which then leads
on to these terrorist acts.

In reality, the economy of Pakistan, replete with corruption, has disturbed the distribution of wealth.
Dishonesty, bribery, the drug trade and other malpractices are common to make easy money. Black
money has created new moneyed class in the society distributing the balance of social structure.

This factor alone is ideal for the infiltration of terrorists in various segments of society. The sense of
deprivation among the small provinces, their feelings of social injustice and discrimination are serious
indicators of imbalance. Polarization based on various castes, classes, religious affinities liable to be
manipulated by the anti-state forces.

The prevalent system of education is a colonial legacy and has not been completely customized to meet
the ideological, modern, scientific and progressive needs of the country. It also does not address the
ideals of Islam to rise above the narrow divisions, at times the media communicates manipulated news
and ideas, which causes sensationalism,

Madressas centers of hate-preaching to young minds is the critical part of the problem. The economic
factors has been a major cause of religious exploitation of a sizeable segment of middle/lower middle
class of the society.

The Zamindars and Jagirdars own 32 percent pf the privately cultivated land. Due to the increase in
general awareness, a suppressed community often rises violently against this injustice leading to
extremism in the society.

A weak judicial system and judiciary are also responsible for these unwanted tendencies. The judiciary
is digital registration of the national data base is a major security. (NADRA) has been established, it is
still found wanting. Incomplete facility is a contributory factor in harboring terrorists/miscreants
responsible for the rise of militancy.

Causes at international Level :

Unresolved political disputes:

In the hot disputes of the world, Muslims are being isolated and discrimanatly treaeted in the conflicts.
Ineffectiveness of UNO. To avert any other international war. The dispute if resolved in UNO, the
terrorism was not prevailed as it is. Universal law of cause and effect:

State terrorism will produce obviously terrorism. Double standards of the West

On one hand, previously when Afghan Jihad was going on they were projected as heroes and then
became terrorists. Distrust between Muslims and the westerns. Extremist activities by some terrorist
groups, lik Al Qaeda. The pride of US as being unipolar. The Muslim world is victim of illiteracy,
ignorance, poverty, intolerance and sectarianism.

Stance of Al-Qaida:

Its ideology is shaped by the belief that Islam is being degraded and humiliated by "western" values,
with particular disgust reserved for those Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, which are
close allies of the US. The plight of the Palestinians is a rallying call for al-Qaeda whose central goal is
to expel Americans from Muslim lands and dismantle pro-US Middle Eastern governments. To this end
all US citizens and their sympathisers are to be killed, regardless of whether or not they are Muslim.

This fanaticism adopted by Bin Laden and his closest associates is often described as jihadism and is
believed to have been inspired by an Egyptian radical, Sayyid Qutb, who opposed the Nasser regime.
Fighting alongside the conservative Taliban in Afghanistan may have been a further influence on bin
Laden.

The manic ideology of al-Qaeda has no roots in mainstream Islam which shares core values of peace
and tolerance with the world's major religions. The holy Koran teaches that the killing of innocent
humans is a crime and that suicide is unacceptable.

Attention is focused on the influence of institutions of Islamic education which in a small minority of
cases advocate extreme views which "radicalise" students into beliefs which are inconsistent with
mainstream Islam.

This is believed to flourish especially in Pakistan where inadequate funding of state education has
allowed unregulated madrasa religious education to take hold.

The sense of political impotence created by inadequate democracy and corrupt governance.

Addressing the huge crowd gathered to celebrate his inauguration, President Obama said this:

"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West –
know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."
In Europe, there are suggestions that young Muslims from immigrant families suffer identity problems
in reconciling differences between western lifestyles and their upbringing.

The Bush administration packaged counter-terrorism as "the war on terror" with references to a
crusade. In choosing language which conjured the spectre of a clash between Christian and Muslim
civilisations, the Americans reinforced rather than undermined al-Qaeda ideology

The disaster of the Iraq war has presented unimaginable gifts to the terrorist cause. The decision to
invade the country reinforced al-Qaeda accusations of western interference in Muslim territories whilst
the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib undermined US claims to moral superiority.

HOW DID TALIBAN RE-EMERGED ?

Many Taliban escaped the hund at the time and went underground mixing up in the local Pashtuns.
They later re-emerged in the past two years and have inflicted heavy losses on coalition forces as well
as Pakistani forces. The focus of the US forces after the fall of the Taliban government remained on Al-
Qaeda rather than both.

Whereas the US and NATO moved into Kabul and Northern Afghanistan, which was comparatively
peaceful, no serious efforts were made to extend toward South, where the Taliban got an opportunity to
regroup in their stronghold.

Pakistan was forced to move its armed forces to the eastern border to protect its integrity. Taking
advantage of the situation on both sides of the border, the Taliban were able to regroup in south and
east Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

The last UNSG report on Afghanistan highlights that the corruption, opium production, lawlessness,
and human rights violations are all on the increase. There are numerous internal and external factors,
which make the war complex particularly for Pakistan.

The regional dynamics, culture, customs, treacherous and inaccessible terrain with porous border are
main features of the area and the people.

American Failure in Afganistan:

Despite the military endeavour by the United States (US) and its allies, under Operation Enduring
Freedom for the last eight years, violence increased by 543 percent till 2009. The Taliban-led
insurgency has spread and according to an estimate almost 70 per cent of the country have become “no-
go areas for security forces, government officials and aid workers.”
The inability of the international community to stabilise Afghanistan is clearly an outcome of the
inadequate and short sighted policies of George W. Bush, who embarked on the military campaign in
Afghanistan. Karzai was a choice of the Bush administration, but because of his inability to rein in
rampant corruption, the flourishing drug trade, and the inability of his government to deliver basic
services.
NATO’s presence in Afghanistan is in body and not in soul.

The resurgence of the Taliban in Southern and Eastern Afghanistan increases the military burden of
US-led NATO forces in defeating the Taliban. Yet divisions within the transatlantic alliance are
growing because of the divergence in perception about the stakes in Afghanistan between NATO’s
European members and Washington. While Washington demands greater burden sharing, the
Europeans are hesitant. This is a dilemma confronting the West.

Drone Attacks

President Bush ordered the creation of this CIA operation (which fires drone missiles guided by remote
control at individuals it believes to be leaders of Al Qaeda or the Taliban).

The Pakistani government responded by calling on Obama to review this missile strike policy "and
adopt a more holistic and integrated approach.”

Pakistan, with its fragile domestic situation, cannot afford such abuses of its national sovereignty to
continue. Anger against the US has been inflamed in Pakistan as more civilians have died.
Dozens of missile strikes, instead of simply eliminating people thought to be an enemy inevitably
create new enemies.
Suicide Bombers:

The dark complexity of suicide attacks has exposed inadequacies of security forces, moral
philosophers, psychologists and theologians alike. Although suicide attacks are particularly associated
with al-Qaeda ideology, they have been adopted by the Tamil Tigers, by militant groups in Iraq and
also recently by the Taliban.

New Afgan Policy

In his speech, President Obama promised to extend an "open hand" to the world and to pursue
diplomacy to improve international relations. Obama has taken important steps: he has ordered the
closure of Guantanamo, appointed a special envoy to oversee the administration's interest in a
permanent settlement in the Middle East, ordered the first steps for withdrawal from Iraq, and
overturned the Bush philosophy of "either you're with us or against us."

Obama said his country does not want to keep its troops in Afghanistan. “Make no mistake: we do not
want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there,” he said.

Sending US 30,000 troops, total 98,000. leaving Afnasitan till july, 2011.

Obama admits US does not want to occupy but want to capteure Al-Qaeda, US cannot afford such a
along war.
US forces can attack areas (also Balochistan) of Pakistan to hunt down Al-Qaeda. Later, Bill Gates
made it clear, “ US can not violate the soverignity of Pakistan.”

Ananlsis:

President Barack Obama said that US success in Afghanistan, where he plans to deploy 30,000 more
troops, was ‘inextricably linked’ to Washington’s partnership with Pakistan.

‘We will act with the full recognition that our success in Afghanistan is inextricably linked to our
partnership with Pakistan,’

We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this
same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan.’ he said.

He added,
‘But in recent years, as innocents have been killed from Karachi to Islamabad, it has become clear that
it is the Pakistani people who are the most endangered by extremism. Public opinion has turned.’

The Pakistani army has waged an offensive in Swat and South Waziristan. And there is no doubt that
the United States and Pakistan share a common enemy,’ he said.

Positive: time frame to exit. Clearing that US doen not want to occupy

Americans Allegations:

Obama has maintained that the future US efforts “must refocus” on “Afghanistan and Pakistan -- the
central front in our war against Al Qaeda”. Sanctuaries on the Pakistan side of the Afghan-Pakistan
border supply and train the assault on Afghanistan and the allied forces there.

In particular, U.S. officials would like Pakistan to crackdown on the leadership of the Afghan Taliban
believed to be based in Quetta and two major factions of the Afghan insurgency led by veteran Afghan
warlords, Jalaluddin Haqqani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

These, U.S. officials believe, are actively engaged in supplying fighters in Afghanistan. They further
accuse, Pakistan's strategy is to support groups against India and to project influence in Afghanistan.
Pakistan denies these charges.

Interests of External Players in Afghanistan

The main US interest is to stop the spead of religious fundamentism and terrorism coming from
Afghanistan. It is also in US interest to check the flow of narcotics emanating from poppy fields of
Afghanistan. The presence of US forces in Afghanistan is aimed at long desired policy to contain
China. The economic issue that drives Washington’s interests is the potential oil resources of the
Caspian Basin region. Russia wants to protect the vulnerability of bordering the CARs against the
threat of Islamic extremism emanating from Afghanistan. India wishes to exploit the prevailing
international anti-terrorism sentiments to here advantage. However, India would like to benefit from
proposed oi-gas pipline project running through Afghanistan and Pakistan to meet here fast growing
energy needs. Iran has a major concern in protecting the interests of Shiite minority in Afghanistan:
therefore, predominately non-Pashtun government in Kabul is in Iran’s strategic interest. It is in Iran’s
interest that Afghanistan should remain relatively unstable, so as to strengthen the case for running the
pipelines through Iran. The CARS particularly Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan would like to see a stable
Afghanistan to enable them to pass their oil and gas pipelines to warm water ports of the Arabian Sea.

This problem is further compounded by the weapon friendly culture of the area, easement rights that
allow free cross border movement of the Tribal without any documents add to the complexities. The
local religious leaders are also a source of irritation for the operations by the army. The army is
generally accused of not doing enough to stop the cross border movement of the Taliban.

The other external factor is the growing Indian Influence in Afghanistan’s cities bordering Pakistan,
which is playing a negative role in the war against terror. To check cross border movement of militants
is another important factor. The effective sealing of such porous is only possible if strong measures are
adopted on the border by both sides.

WHAT TERRORISM HAS DONE (International Perspective)?

Bush administration claimed “to make world safer”. But it did in opposite manner. Obama has accepted
that they can not afford a long war in Afganistan. New Afgsn policy has given exit straregy.

Worldwide Fear- Murder of Benazir, Mumbai attacks, Pak-India tension, and London bomb blasts.

Economic Losses to the world. Increased defense budget

The United Nations was sidelined. The prestige attached to UNO was ended.

The Muslim country’s nuclear ambitions were strictly checked as in Iran.

Huntington’s Clash of the Civilizations. This theory came to be true. “The battle line would be drawn
on tenets lines of civilization”. As Jews v/s Muslims, Hindus v/s Muslims, Islam and the West etc.

EFFECTS ON PAKISTAN:

Afghan refugees US military strikes the NWFP influences. Taliban are increasing. Taliban elements
and their mentors Al—Qaeda, moved into the major cities.

It has forced the state to station many divisions of army for law and order at the cost of earning the
opprobrium of “use of force” against terroists in SWAT and FATA. The loss of foreign direct
investment and tourism. Visa and job opportunities for Pakistan is from these areas to the Middle East
are being increasingly curtailed.

The rugged border terrain of nearly 1,500 Km at the height of 10,000 to 15,000 feet, with no
communication infrastructure, has enabled the foreign elements to fully exploit the situation. Pakistan
has dispatched almost 70-80,000 of troops to the tribal regions.
This preparation has to be dispelled that fight against terrorism is a now form of warfare where the
attackers are insidious, elusive and yet create sense of create sense of intimidation and terror.

On the political side, Pakistan’s international political isolation ceased immediately and it assumed the
role of frontline state yet again. Despite the AQ Khan nuclear proliferation crisis, the US gave Pakistan
the status of ‘Major Non-Nato Ally’, offered Kerry-Lugar Bill.

Debate in Pakistan either war against terror is ours or of US.

Acute economic crisis. Pakistan has adversely affected by terrorism than any other country of the
world. Although, Pakistan is a victim of terrorism is being labeled as a state sponsoring terrorism.

Lot of time and energy of Pakistan is being consumed to make world understand that Pakistan is not the
sponsor of terrorism but it is a victim, and while doing so it is being forced to make compromises on
vital interests. Even the friendly countries like China, Iran, and Indonesia started looking towards
Pakistan with suspicion.

As far as NATO operations in Afghanistan are concerned, they are limited by inadequate number of
troops, and with difficulties of terrain primitive tribal culture, weapon stocks and drug money. The
Taliban are resurgent. In fact it is a cumulative effect of many factors: due to divisions of resources to
Iraq war, NATO’s insufficient level of troops, rise in opium trade, limited control of Karzai
government around Kabul, poor governance, high level of corruption and unemployment, lack of
reconstruction, rise in violence and rampant warlordism. A nagging perception in some quarters in the
West, especially the US, that Pakistan is not “doing enough”.

Solutions:

In fact, no military solution from the air or ground will ever be found to solve the deplorable conditions
– grinding poverty and benign neglect – that breed violence, hatred and rebellion.

Obama should avoid Bush’s Policies of use of force to avoid further military and financial losses.

Involving UNSC & OIC would be in the interest of US to minimize anti US sentiments in the Muslim
world.

Interfaith dialogue can clear the misconceptions against each other.

Solution of issues like Kashmir and Palestine The Muslims should discourage extremist groups in their
social life. Madressa reforms Positive role of world media

“There is no silver bullet that can address global terrorism in all its complexity,” writs

Maleeha Lodhi in “The Threats of all Threats”.

Every continent has seen acts of terrorism. Perpetrators belong to diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and
faiths.
She proposed a broad-gauge counter-terrorism strategy based on nine ‘Cs’.

1) Comprehensiveness: A comprehensive, multifaceted strategy is needed that encompasses law

enforcement, political, social, cultural, financial and diplomatic measures.

2) Consensus at the global level is required on a strategy incorporating both short-and long-terms

3) Causes and conditions that breed, encourage and contribute to terrorism must be objectively
identified and addressed.

4) Confusion about the definition of terrorism and mixing every Muslim with terror is discouraging.

5) Capabilities must be improved and national capacities strengthened across he spectrum to pursue
terrorists and prevent terrorist activities.

6) Cooperative rather than coercive national and international strategies should be pursued so that the
reaction to counter-terrorism measures does not compound the problem.

7) Civil liberties and principles of good governance must be upheld in the fight against terror, because
real security can only be achieved through respect for human rights.

8) Civilization and cultural: dialogue and understanding including engaging at the battle for the hearts
and minds, must become an integral part of global consensus-building to evolve a joint strategy. Such a
dialogue must be premised on the understanding that the root cause of friction between civilization are
not primarily religious differences, but mainly issues of power, competing political and economic
interests, policies and misunderstandings.

9) Conference at the summit level must be called to craft and coordinate an approach based on these
elements.

10) There are two dimensions to the problem in Afghanistan- strategic depth and nation building.

11) Militarism was dominant in George Bush’s policy and it was not a comprehensive approach.

12) President Obama’s policy talks about a regional approach and China is important part of this
regional concept.

13) The primary reason for the unpopularity of the government in Afghanistan is lack of social
development activities.

14) Afghanistan needs to have a force which is sustainable in its own budget.

15) Afghanistan problem cannot be solved in isolation and there is need for comprehensive engagement
with getting confidence of Pakistan by stopping Indian interfernce in Afghanistan.
16) The role of SCO in the context of Afghanistan should also be considered while studying this
problem.

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

Today terrorism is complex in scope, even across the continents non-state actors. Countering this multi-
headed phenomenon require multi-pronged and sustained policy by the governments across the globe.

Deprivation and an unjust political and socioeconomic dispensation rapidly give rise to frustration.

The remedy lies in a tolerant and democratic society. However to enable the United Nations to evolve
an effective strategy for this purpose it I imperative to define terrorism that may be acceptable globally.
Also make a distinction between terrorism and legitimate struggle for freedom and right of self-
determination, the denial of which can breed terrorism and a threat to “peaceful co-existence”.

But Dr. Martin Luther King logically said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”