The recent bloody conflict between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Ansar-ul-Islam (AI) fighters in the remote Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency has left hundreds of people killed. However, the most sordid aspect of the conflict is that it has compelled thousands of people to leave their homes and become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The number of killed and maimed could not be ascertained due to the extreme remoteness of the Tirah valley, where neither the media nor the state authorities have any real access.

Nevertheless, those killed number at least 300, according to sources within the IDPs and the international relief agencies. There are fears of increase in the number of victims as the figthing continues. To add insult to injury those who got displaced were not recognized by the government for a couple of weeks which multiplied their agonies manifold. AI has been an opponent group of the Mengal-Bagh-led Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and both the groups have been engaged in severe fighting for years which resulted in the deaths of more than a thousand militants from both sides. Since the driving out of the LI from its base in Bara Tehsil (Khyber Agency), 25 kilometers from Peshawar, by security forces to the remote Tirah valley, it has joined hands with the TTP against its rival, AI.

The TTP militants came to Tirah from the adjoining Orakzai tribal agency, where it has strongholds, of which many got dislodged during the military operations. Thus, all these groups have been fighting for the control of the strategic Tirah valley. For the LI and the TTP, control of Tirah is important because this could provide them a new stronghold, where they could regroup and replenish their ranks. At present the situation is that the TTP has been able to squash AI in Tirah valley. The TTP militants in Tirah mostly comprise of non-locals which compelled the local residents to flee for their lives and become IDPs. These new IDPs have added to the already complex problem in various parts of FATA.

Due to years of militancy and insurgency in FATA, hundreds of thousands of people have to become IDPs and the exact number of these dislocated persons is still not known. The foremost reason is that most of them have been putting up with their relatives in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and, in some cases, in the Punjab and Karachi. The figure of those registered in the IDP camps runs into more than 100,000. It is important to note that just after the launch of the October 17, 2009, 'mother of all' operations in South Waziristan, around an estimated 200,000 people from the Mehsud part of the tribal district had left the area.

Most of these IDPs went to the contiguous areas of KP, in particular Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu as well as Bhakkar in the Punjab. The fate of the IDPs still hangs in the balance despite some improvement in the security situation in Kurram, Mohmand, Bajaur and South Waziristan agencies of FATA. These honourable Pakhtoon tribesmen and tribeswomen could never think of, and therefore, never took up residence at makeshift camps; they opted to put up with their relatives.

Moreover, whatever they had set aside for their rainy days during this dislocation, has been spent and they are now virtually in a state of hand to mouth. This is agonizing for these honourable residents of FATA, who used to host, for months, several guests, but now cannot make both ends meet. A large number of IDPs from Waziristan also chose to rent out houses in different towns of the KP instead of becoming a burden on their relatives and acquaintances. However, as time went by, these IDPs found it increasingly difficult to afford the rents, due to which a number of them had to shift to the IDP camps. Financial resources of many have been exhausted.

Whereas, those IDPs who have been accommodated by their relatives and friends have become almost an unbearable burden for their host. But the age-old Pakhtoon value of hospitality and to extend support to the displaced stops the host from complaining. However, locals are of the view that this situation cannot continue for more than a couple of months and the IDPs, one way or the other, have to return to their area and houses. Though the agonies of the IDPs from Khyber and South Waziristan have multiplied, they cannot return to their homes because of the presence of the threat to their lives due to the military operation and the potential of a renewal of fighting between Taliban-al-Qaeda guerillas and security forces.

Although the federal and provincial governments have made certain arrangements, like issuing 'smart' cards after registering IDPs, as well as providing food items to them, but these efforts have been explained by the IDPs as far from sufficient to help them continue with their lives. The IDPs argue that, first, not all or even a majority of the IDPs have been registered and issued cash cards and food items. Secondly, the relief work for the IDPs has not been up to the mark or satisfactory as was in the case of Malakand-Swat IDPs. Cutting Edge also learnt, on good authority, that certain unscrupulous non-local people, after immediately registering NGOs have got subcontracts from organizations like USAID and WFP to distribute relief among the IDPs.

However, instead of providing relief, the local subcontractors have got involved in large-scale misappropriation of funds and relief items. This process of misappropriation has been going on with the connivance of authorities. It may be mentioned that the international relief organizations have desisted from being directly involved in the relief activities for IDPs, because internal conflict does not come into their organizational purview and due to security fears. Therefore, they thought it appropriate to subcontract the relief work to local NGOs. But this has proved counterproductive and has added to the woes of the IDPs.

On the other hand, significant improvement has been witnessed in the law and order situation in the most troubled districts of Malakand division. However, according to sources, there is a huge mistrust and lack of confidence among the people of the troubled districts that whether the return of the peace and reinstatement of the government control is permanent or otherwise. The arising of such nagging questions in the minds of the residents of troubled regions, particularly of the IDPs, is not only natural but genuine also. Such questions are natural because these people have experienced the worst crisis of their lifetime.

Moreover, these people have seen more than once that despite government armed action against terrorists or the Taliban, the latter reemerged and retook control of Swat at least, if not of all of the Malakand region. The fresh outpouring of IDPs from the Khyber Agency has further complicated the problem of the dislocated people due to conflict in FATA, while the state is wanting in addressing their woes.

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

Although the Pakistan People's Party-led government took five long years in establishing an autonomous counter terrorism authority, the authority has finally been established by the caretaker administration on the basis of an act of parliament. It installed the authority, the first of its kind in the country, to integrate information of civil and military intelligence agencies, to proceed against extremists and terrorists. This notification gives the country a long awaited statutory machinery in countering terrorism that has menacingly taken a huge toll of the national life and Pakistan's socio-economic development. The Senate approved the bill on the authority on March 5 this year and on March 13 the National Assembly also passed it by a unanimous vote.

President Asif Ali Zardari has since transformed the bills into an act of parliament. Even if it has been authenticated after the PPP-led government had to step down, most of the credit for establishing the authority goes to its credit.

The authority will function through a board of governors under the prime minister and assisted by an executive committee headed by the interior minister. It will also have a national coordinator, as the focal person, and a deputy to execute the board's policies and plans and government instructions within the ambit of a yet to be formulated national security policy against terrorism.

The law seeks to interrogate suspects by an official not lower than the level of a police inspector. The law also makes audio and video recordings, phone recordings and emails as admissible evidence. It also authorizes authorities to take action against financiers of terrorisms, including confiscation of assets.
Tariq Pervez, who headed the Federal Investigation Agency from 2005 till the end of 2008, has since been appointed the authority's national coordinator.
The authority has so far prepared a number of research papers, including causes and remedies of Swat turmoil, trends of terrorism in Pakistan and the reasons of people joining religious militancy. The authority is the need of the hour in restoring peace in Pakistan by taking head on the elements acting on their extremist and terrorist agenda.

What, however, appears a major snag in its functioning would be that the authority is, right now, without a security strategy under a broader plan of action. However, such a strategy was formulated initially under a resolution by an all-party conference in Islamabad on Swat and Malakand on May 18, 2009. Moving ahead, a joint session of parliament passed on October 22, the same year a national security strategy after a two-week in-camera at which chief ministers of the four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan. The authority must pick up this thread to rely on the two resolutions approved by the representatives of the people on the basis of an in-camera briefing by top men in security fray. This will save the authority from the meaningless exercise of working out another strategy.

Anti-terrorism laws usually include specific amendments allowing the state to bypass its own legislations when fighting terrorism-related crimes, if that is so required.

Pakistan is not the first country to have enacted the establishment of the authority. Several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have identical bodies to act as think-tanks to counter terrorism. The UK authority in particular was established in 2010 based on laws that tend to flout fundamental human rights. For example, the UK authorities have been detaining three Pakistanis from Birmingham for at least three years, although, they have not so far been formally charged.

The authority, said to have been formulated on a par with the best international standards, will provide a strategic vision to ensure implementation of the board's decisions. The authority reflects Pakistan's resolve to take all possible measures to counter terrorism and extremism and would hopefully play a pivotal role by coordinating with all law-enforcement agencies in taking effective action against those who carry out acts of terrorism and extremism. Among the authority's functions would be to receive and collate intelligence and coordinate and among all stakeholders to formulate threat assessment. It will also liaison with similar international entities to facilitate cooperation in areas relating to terrorism and extremism.
The sources of authority's funds, according to the law, will include federal government budget amounts, grants made by the international bodies, organizations and entities in accordance with procedures laid down by the federal government.


http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/46/

the TTP had announced that it would target the candidates belonging to the PPP, the ANP and the MQM and attack their gatherings. It has further warned the voters to shun the rallies organized by what it calls “the secular parties”. While the militant network has rejected democracy as an Un-Islamic contraption and has opposed the elections, it has intriguingly maintained an ambivalent attitude towards the PML-N, JUI-F and JI. Its approach towards the PTI is equally ambivalent despite having categorized Imran Khan as a secular leader. The question is whether those looking after the elections are prepared to meet the challenge.

On Thursday the TTP claimed its first victim when the MQM’s Fakhrul Islam contesting for a Sindh Assembly seat from Hyderabad was gunned down. The militant network immediately claimed responsibility for the act. Earlier in the day an attempt was made in Peshawar to blow up the car in which Arbab Ayub Jan who is the ANP candidate for NA-4 was travelling. Last week the militants attacked an ANP rally killing two and injuring a former MPA belonging to the party in Bannu. Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has ordered an immediate tightening of security for all candidates in the wake of the shooting. The problem is that there are thousands of candidates all over the country. What is more, in every province the terrorist threat has its own peculiarities. In Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, towns bordering the tribal areas or FRs are particularly vulnerable to the threat as is the case with Peshawar and Bannu. The military operation in Tirah valley needs to be intensified and taken to its logical conclusion to improve the situation in Peshawar and adjoining cities. In Karachi, political appointees need to be transferred so that professional officers unconcerned about who wins the elections can concentrate on the TTP hideouts, sleeper cells and ammunition dumps. In Balochistan the agencies should concentrate on those who want to disrupt the polls and provide security to those who are participating in them. In all these places including Punjab the security agencies should act with unprecedented vigilance and share real time information with law enforcement agencies. There is a need to strengthen the check posts to stop the influx of suicide bombers and weapons from the tribal belt.

The Sindh caretaker PM should have transferred key political government officers after April 2 as was done in the Punjab. The Sindh administration must immediately carry out the ECP directives to transfer the 65 bureaucrats. The army commanders have given their nod of approval to the security plan for the polls. So far the entire focus has been on providing security on the day of the election and to major political leaders. While this is understandable, this is by no means enough. Extra efforts have to be put in to make the entire campaign from April 17 to May 11 violence free.

- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013....ETtBtLW8.dpuf

The fighting in the Tirah Valley claimed nine more brave Pakistani soldiers during the recent clashes. Seven extremists were also killed during the same clash. The geo-strategic location of Valley makes it an ideal launching pad for the Taliban to stage attacks on Peshawar as well as providing them with a safe passage into Orakzai agency. Since it is near Landi Kotal, which is close to the route used by the Nato supplies’ containers, it further adds to the importance of the valley. But all these factors are secondary before Pakistan’s security and peace. The valley is dangerous because in it the militants have found a hideout. They must be stamped out at all costs. The military that was earlier relying on air power is now using ground forces to drive out the militants but is facing considerable resistance.

Despite the terrain, the ground forces of the army have been able to move forward and capture some of the crucial posts under the control of Taliban. Complicating the matter is the fact that the Taliban are reportedly equipped with advanced weapons. Obviously, unless and until there is sustained funding, any such campaign of violence and that too against a state army cannot be prolonged. The sources of funding, from the most benign seeming mosque and madrasahs to the most obvious campaigners for ill conceived concepts of violence in the name of religion, must be caught and presented to the courts to be made an example of for aiding and encouraging terrorism and anti state propaganda in Pakistan. It is also necessary for the army to maintain hold of the captured areas; vacating them means allowing the miscreants to reclaim their turf.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...ons/editorials

The first word that God sent to the Holy Prophet was Iqra (read), signifying the importance of education in Islam. Alas! Self-proclaimed champions of Islam and followers of the Sharia-the Pakistani Taliban-more often than not violate the teachings of Almighty Allah and his messenger the Holy Prophet (PBUH) with the issuance of ‘decrees’ against the school-going children especially against the girls’ education. In an era of science and technology, the students in North Waziristan are always made to suffer from these disgruntled elements raised in late 70s by the American led Western allies to fight off Soviet Union’s invasion in Afghanistan. Soviets had been defeated in that war. Pakistan had been paying a price, and the young generation is the worst victim. Taliban had repeatedly targeted the girls’ schools. Several of them had been blown up. For offering resistance to Taliban, Malala and her classmates survived bullets, making huge headlines of strong condemnation across the world. The condemnation was directed to Taliban only, and their supporters and financers, who themselves joined chorus, went unnoticed. Pakistan, being front runner state in the Russians’ defeat in Afghanistan, for the first time, emerged as a force to reckon with. Now after Americans’ defeat in Afghanistan, Pakistan has been isolated to face the wrath of extremists haunted by the West’s war on terror. Pakistan is finding it hard to combat with the brutalities of the Taliban who had brutalized the entire society.

The Political leaders are coming under frequent attacks. Even worst victims are children in the FATA. Traffic jams are a part of life in Pakistan but the same in Miranshah attracted irk of the Taliban to the extent that their Shura issued a ‘decree’ barring boys and girls from going to schools near cantonment until the security forces remove the barricades raised to tightened the security after a suicide attack on Esha Check-post. Bamboozled by the tight security amidst imposition of curfew in areas, Taliban wrath has fallen on hundreds of school-going children. Terming the movement of women and girls through streets and markets against the teachings of Islam and local traditions, Taliban have warned the parents not to send children to schools. The Taliban ‘decree’ has jeopardized the future of the boys and girls. Amidst terrorism, the educational institutions are already in tatters, and the fresh ban on the students will deprive them of education all together. The ban under the garb of the religion and local traditions is unwarranted, unjustified and un-called for. It is a step against humanity thus should not go unnoticed. No one should be allowed to play with the future of the young generation under any excuse. Particularly those who are using religion for their personal gains deserve strong condemnation, and their ulterior motives should be fought back with iron hands.


http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/46/

Is it insane that I feel a little guilty, but I have no idea why? PHOTO: AFP
Last time I checked, terrorism had no nationality or religion. It was defined as the senseless slaughter of innocents by perpetrators of violence.

No matter what causes these terrorists claim to endorse, the damage they inflicted was not supposed to represent the teachings of the religion they identified with or the country they hailed from.

All that tolerance is only in theory though. When we hear of attacks and blasts by violent groups, we tend to assume everyone who is associated with the belief system which these extremists recognise is tainted by their malicious intents.

With the Boston Marathon blasts only a few hours old, rumours of the attacks having been staged by extremist Muslims have thrown the Muslim community across the globe into disarray. As for Muslim Americans, this foreboding feeling is familiar terrain.

9/11 saw them thrown into jail, observed warily in public places, isolated socially in schools and offices on accounts of a Quran in the house, a long beard, a head scarf or even a middle-eastern accent. Few Muslim Americans have not been on the receiving end of the suspicion, bordering on hatred that Muslim communities are eyed with. Yet Islamophobia remains a phenomenon American media and lawmakers rarely talk about. Despite no certain news of the people or events behind the terrible incident in Boston, the social media is already split between two camps- those who sit with fingers crossed, wishing fervently for the people behind the blasts to be anyone but followers of Islam, and those who have already begun pointing fingers at the nearest Muslims they see, asking for their expulsion, punishment and public condemnation.

As a Pakistani Muslim coming to the States for the first time, this was my worst nightmare: being recognised as an enemy just because I was born in a certain place, or I prayed in a different way. Family and friends asked me not to take my national flag along, to leave behind my copy of the Holy Quran. I was terrified to disclose my identity when I first stepped off the plane into the liberal land of USA.

A year later, I feel relatively safer, more welcome in a college community that seems to accept me for who I am. But there is that familiar second look from parents of some American friends, when I say I am Muslim, or that my family is in Pakistan. Often it is nothing but curiosity.

I am used to questions like does Pakistan have internet?

How come you know so much English if you’re from a third world Muslim country?

But there is also the faint mistrust I have come to recognise. Because some crazy men decided to kill innocent people in the name of a religion I identify with. Because I am not the majority. Because I am a different colour, my Ls and Rs are not American enough, and often words like Inshallah (God willing) and Mashallah (thanks be to Allah) escape my lips.

If the man or woman behind the Boston attacks turns out to indeed be a Muslim, how scared should I be? Should I take down the flag in my room, and stop praying in the common rooms at college? Should I start lying about where I am from or what faith I belong to? Should I stop talking about how I am an International Relations major because enabling peace and security for people around me is my first priority in life, because, well no one’s going to believe me?

Is it insane that I feel a little guilty, but I have no idea why?

Either way, I must brace myself now for the anti-American Facebook statuses from home; friends who decide that this attack is poetic justice for the drone attacks they believe American society condones, or some other kind of loss they decided is greater than the death of children in another part of the world.

Every time something goes wrong in the west, there are always those in the third world who take this as an opportunity to compare the losses with their own, as if terrorism is a competition, and by losing more lives in their part of the world, they have scored a victory that needs to be publicised.

Perhaps this is when American society will understand that whether the people behind the Boston attacks were Muslim or not, the majority of Muslims across the world do not believe in violence, or terrorism, or killing innocent people.

Maybe this will be the incident that makes global communities realise that every kind of loss of innocent life is to be grieved over; the enemy is the same extremism and disregard for life, whether the latest blast be in Karachi or Damascus or Mali or Boston. Or maybe I’ve been doing too much wishful thinking, and its time I place my Quran in a good hiding spot and practiced my American accent again

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/16...rorism-muslim/

The Awami National Party (ANP) campaign for the upcoming elections is going along the swaggering video statements and escalated bomb attacks by Taliban and nonchalant responses by the other political parties especially those who have been given clearance by the Taliban.

While I was penning these lines, another bomb attack has ripped a corner meeting at Peshawar, killing fifteen including five policemen and injuring ANP’s senior leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour. The attack was followed by audacious statements by the ANP leadership with discontent over lack of security from the interim government and inevitable series of condemnations by the political leadership.

The complaints about lack of security were responded by Musarrat Qadeem, spokesperson of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, pointing towards the deaths of five policemen in the attack. Also after such incidents there is a repeated argument that suicide attacks cannot be averted. At the end there is an all-pervading sense of helplessness among those at the receiving end who have been left in the lurch with the state looking the other way.

A few months back, the news of a paradigm shift in the military’s approach towards existential threats were proclaimed by different circles. While there was hardly any new thing or fresh approach towards the forces held responsible for internal threats, the internal threat narrative was woven around militant factions having tacit support by the external forces. The new doctrine seems directed more towards the insurgency in Balochistan and the resistance groups fighting the state and less concerned towards the terrorism from ideologically driven religio-fanatics or anti-minorities organizations. At least the action or inaction towards the former and the latter bears witness to this.

The military offensives against Taliban in Malakand and FATA have not led to tapering off of their ability to commit violence except for short intervals of tranquility. The offensives against them were primarily focused over military goals of gaining control of the territories from where Taliban were operating and achievement was measured through the number of casualties inflicted on the militants (killing the foot soldiers and lower cadres mostly) and equipment destroyed or appropriated. But it failed to liquidate their organizational structure and network of terror utilized by them for recruiting, funding, gathering information and planning to attack various targets.

The TTP sought to seize territories to create space for them, replaced the eroded administrative structures with one of their own based on coercive measures and facilitated training grounds to those recruited through their vast network of sister Jihadi groups across the country. After military offensives against them, they lost absolute hold of some territories but still possess the ability to disrupt military or civilian control of larger territories with acts of terror and organized assaults. They commit deliberate violence against civilians in order to obtain religious and ideological objectives. Thus achievement against them should have been measured in terms of acquiring more secure atmosphere for the civilians and preventing economic fallout of these offensives. When measured in these unconventional ways, these offensives did not deliver.

One may object that military liability is to deal with the violent aspects of terrorism only; responsibility to deal with other facets of the dilemma lies with other organs of the state and society as well. But, the problem with a military dominated state of Pakistan is, the whole narrative against terrorism revolves around its perceived geostrategic goals. During the last one year, it has been proven time and again that most of the political parties and religio-political pressure groups have echoed security establishment’s stance needed at the domestic and international level.

It is not needed to go into more detail but a few instances can put some light on this assumption. The Kerry-Lugar bill, the debate post Osama bin Laden fiasco, unilateral calls for “giving peace a chance”, the outrage over Salala attacks, blocking and allowing NATO supplies, parliamentary resolutions, the religious decree against terror attacks ‘exclusively’ in Pakistani territory and response to the Memogate scandal by the largest opposition party, personal interest of its leader Mian Nawaz Sharif, the matter dealt by superior courts and the media role in all these issues are few instances where various organs of the state and political players have sought to attune with the military establishment and harmonized with their positions on different occasions.

With an eye on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the days of confrontation with Pakistani Taliban seems to be over. Reconciliation is the new mantra to mend ties with the Taliban to get them as backup forces for the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan is advocating a reasonable share for the Afghan Taliban in the upcoming political settlement. The political owners to the anti-Taliban; anti-militancy bids have lost their significance. Security establishment makes or breaks alliances with different political parties and religio-political pressure groups regarding their short term and long term priorities and objectives. It adopts or abandons allies – embracing them at a particular time and ditching them when not needed.

Ali Arqam is a journalist based in Karachi, he can be contacted ataliarqam@hotmail.com or interacted on twitter @aliarqam

- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013....3ivayzwe.dpuf

April 19, 2013
Zeeshan Adhi


Earlier this year, the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan passed the Investigation for Fair Trial Act 2012 without due discussions and debate. The act has been purportedly enacted to effectively deal with scheduled offences and to regulate the powers of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies. However, the provisions of the act are such that they are violative of the principles of natural justice, the fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan, and the universally recognised principles of human rights.

Considering the law and order situation in the country and specifically in view of the external threats faced by Pakistan, there is absolutely no doubt that the intelligence agencies must be strengthened and provided all assistance and legal cover so as to ensure prevention of crimes and acts of terrorism. Without robust intelligence, no country can be successful in combating the menace of terrorism, and Pakistan is no exception. In fact, since Pakistan is facing unprecedented threats from within its own soil, it is critical that the role of intelligence agencies is strengthened and they are given powers to pre-empt and prevent acts of terrorism and other anti-state activities.

Nevertheless, such powers must be in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan and the universally recognised principles of human rights. The Fair Trial Act 2012 basically allows the law enforcement and intelligence agencies to seek surveillance warrants against individuals whom they consider are likely to be involved in anti-state terrorist activities. However, the language of the act is broad enough to encompass a range of criminal activities.

Similarly, the burden of proof for seeking a warrant is considerably low since as long as the law enforcement agency “believes” that a person is “likely to be associated with” or “is beginning to get associated with” a scheduled offence, surveillance can be sought. This language and its potential repercussions have sent shockwaves amongst the human rights advocates across Pakistan.

The Fair Trial Act 2012 fails to give adequate protection to individuals against whom a surveillance warrant is sought. For example, the hearing on request for a warrant is held by a judge of the High Court in Chambers. This means that the hearing is not public. In addition, no record of the hearing and, more strikingly, no record of the surveillance warrant, will be kept in the court, but will be returned to the concerned department for safe custody.

Similarly, the principles of natural justice are also violated in this legislation. According to its provisions, a person can be potentially condemned unheard since a surveillance warrant, under this act, can be issued against him without even hearing his or her point of view.

To add insult to injury, there is no appeal mechanism contained within the law, wherein an individual who is under surveillance can challenge the issuance of a warrant. The utility of such appellate mechanism would be diminished even otherwise, since a person against whom surveillance warrant will be issued will not even know about it. This is the irony of it all.

The surveillance envisaged under the act includes, among others, interception and recording of telephone communication, video recording of any person, premises and events, and interception of emails and SMS. Any information collected in such a manner can thereafter be produced in the court of law. Recording of such information without informing the individual concerned is a clear violation of the basic human right of privacy.

In addition, the act violates article 9 of the constitution, which guarantees a right to life and liberty. It also violates article 10A, which provides for a right of fair trial and due process, since no opportunity of a trial is given to the accused and he or she is continuously monitored. Finally, the act also violates article 14 that is supposed to protect the dignity of man and the privacy of home. Surely, an act with such provisions cannot ensure the dignity of man. The age-old saying that “an Englishman’s house is his castle” appears to have been ignored.

One of the reasons put forward by the supporters of this legislation is that similar provisions exist in other legal systems of the world. A prime example given to this effect is that of the Patriots Act in USA. Such an argument is devoid of any logic for two reasons. First, just because a provision of law potentially violating the principles of human rights has been enacted in another legal system is not ample justification for violating the rights of the citizens of Pakistan. Second, this argument fails to recognise the criticism of the Patriots Act in the civil society and academic circles of USA, including by leading constitutional experts.

There is an additional reason why such blanket powers are more dangerous in a society like Pakistan. This is because the possibility of misuse is much higher in Pakistan as compared to other developed countries. Even the mere possibility of misusing someone’s private information can be simply disastrous and it is common knowledge that the country’s police is known for misusing its powers. Nothing will then stop the police from misusing its powers under this Act and this is a major flaw in this legislation.
It is of pivotal importance that the capability and capacity of intelligence agencies in Pakistan is strengthened and they are given powers to ensure that acts of terrorism and anti-state activities are avoided at all costs. However, in the peculiar circumstances of Pakistani society, such powers have to be regulated more minutely by the judiciary. To this end, the act could have been structured in such a manner wherein any warrants issued by the High Court judge were continuously monitored by a designated District Judge.
Similarly, before the issuance of surveillance warrants, it would have been more appropriate to require detailed documentation proving that the threat of a terrorist act is not only imminent, but is also highly likely. Lastly, and most importantly, some mechanism of a right of hearing to the person against whom a warrant is to be issued, would have made the law in accordance with principles of natural justice.

Finally, the sanctions for misuse of the powers under this act are rather mild. By building a mechanism wherein misuse of surveillance warrants is to be investigated and punished by the High Court (as compared to current procedure of departmental hearing) would have ensured that the likelihood of misuse of the powers is limited. This would have also ensured judicial accountability of the acts of departments specially when the matter involves potential breach of someone’s privacy and dignity.

Unfortunately, these were the points that should have been raised by our worthy parliamentarians. However, it is clear that those sitting in the corridors of powers neither understand nor appreciate the potential impacts of such legislation on the society as a whole. Those who do understand its repercussions keep mum for reasons best known to them. It is, therefore, no wonder that the Act was passed in haste and without paying any heed to the hue and cry raised by the civil society.

There is little doubt that this legislation suffers from certain fundamental flaws and can be potentially struck down as violative of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. What is more important, however, is the fact that the parliamentarians failed to perform their duties in ensuring that any such legislation is widely debated and discussed. Perhaps, our lawmakers need to be reminded of the famous words of Benjamin Franklin: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

The writer is a lawyer.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...inions/columns

When a police convoy was stopped at a military checkpoint in Peshawar on March 29, a suicide bomber walked up to the vehicles and detonated the explosives strapped to his body. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack which killed 12 and injured a further 31.

With upcoming elections in May, this kind of violence emanating from the Tribal Areas, in particular Waziristan, the base of the TTP, can have a destabilising effect as the new civilian caretaker government, under the watchful eye of the military, attempts to establish its authority across a country plagued by such attacks. And yet, the actions of both Pakistan and America are doing little to halt the violence.

American commentators, influenced by a notion of a "clash of civilisations" between Islam and the West, consistently pointed to al-Qaeda or a global jihad as the ideological forces driving the violence in the Tribal Areas. This assessment is, however, devoid of any social or historical context. With the US' full attention firmly fixated on this tribal periphery, it seemed that they knew everything yet understood nothing.

In fact, terrorism has very little to do with Islam. The "war on terror" is, instead, being driven by the confrontation between tribes on the periphery and their central governments across the Muslim world. After 9/11, the US, misunderstanding the centre and periphery dynamic, looked to the "ungoverned spaces" of the periphery in its hunt for al-Qaeda. US involvement exacerbated these historical conflicts, often through the bolstering of central government forces and the deployment of its drones to the core of tribal resistance.

Drone campaign in the Tribal Areas

At the heart of the America's drone campaign in the Tribal Areas, referred to by President Obama as "the most dangerous place in the world", is Waziristan and its main Pashtun tribes - the Wazir and the Mehsud. The buzzing of the drones overhead is a constant and terrifying presence for these tribes, with drone strikes occurring at an average of once every four days. Only 18 strikes in Pakistan, thus far, have been outside of Waziristan. As many as 3,400 people have died in these strikes. It is here, too, that the Pakistan Army has concentrated its military campaigns over the past nine years, campaigns which have been bogged down by the fierce resistance from the tribes.

To fully grasp the turmoil in Waziristan today, it is necessary to understand its tribes and their historical relationship with the centres of power in the Indian subcontinent and how all of these contributed to events after 9/11.

Waziristan for centuries was a land of mystery, an isolated region best avoided by the great conquerors of history - Alexander the Great and the Mughal emperors Akbar and Aurangzeb. It was the reputation of its prickly tribes which kept the invading armies at bay. It was not until the establishment of British rule in the Indian subcontinent that the tribes of Waziristan would experience the imposition of any form of central rule.

In order to govern the tribes, the British Raj organised the border region into tribal agencies in the 1890s, appointing to each a political agent (PA) who would administer the tribes as a representative of the governor general. British authority, however, extended only a hundred yards on either side of the main road in the agency beyond which was the land of riwaj, or tribal customs. The tribes were able to maintain their ancient traditions, paid no taxes or rent, and were outside of the criminal and civil codes of the British government. In dealing with the tribes, the PA was aptly described as "half-ambassador and half-governor". He worked with the tribal and religious leadership, the elders and the mullahs, in order to maintain stability and deal with issues of law and order in the agency. This was a challenge which was not always successful, particularly in Waziristan with its fierce tribes.

After the creation of Pakistan, Founding Father Muhammad Ali Jinnah maintained the British civil structure of the tribal agency and the role of the political agent in administering the Tribal Areas.

Jinnah, however, would make the unprecedented move of withdrawing the military garrisons from Waziristan. In a meeting with a grand jirga from the tribes, he assured them that Pakistan would treat them:
"With absolute confidence and trust you as our Muslim brethren… Pakistan has no desire to unduly interfere with your internal freedom… We want to put you on your legs as self-respecting citizens who have the opportunities of fully developing and producing what is best in you and your land… It will certainly be my constant solicitude and indeed that of my Government to try to help you to educate your children."

With respect given and autonomy maintained, there was a general balance and peace between the centre and periphery. Most importantly, there were clear mechanisms in place, through the tribal structure, for dealing with problems of law and order. This system, by and large, maintained an often tenuous balance between the centre and periphery over the next five decades.

After the American invasion of Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf, under pressure from the Americans to capture those fleeing across the border into Waziristan, sent the Pakistan military into the region for the first time since Jinnah had withdrawn it. On television, Musharraf alluded to the presence of senior al-Qaeda leadership in Waziristan, prompting a full scale invasion in 2004. Ultimately, it would be a Pakistani president, not a British viceroy, who would implement the steamroller. It was now the military who was in control in the region, representing government authority for the tribes. In the difficult terrain and facing stiff resistance, the military quickly became bogged down. What followed was a series of hastily constructed, temporary peace agreements in the region.

Violence in the Tribal Areas

All of this came to a head with the assault on Lal Masjid in Islamabad in July 2007. Its students had been detaining individuals, even policemen, who they deemed "un-Islamic" and attempting to establish Sharia courts. After a gun battle with security forces, the students barricaded themselves inside the mosque. Elite Pakistani commandos stormed the ground, killing over a 100 people, including female students.

The Tribal Areas erupted in violence as nearly 70% of the students were from the Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the following year, there were 88 bombings across Pakistan, killing 1,188 people and wounding a further 3,209. In one incident, the 18-year-old brother of one of the female students killed walked into the Tarbela Ghazi mess and blew himself up, killing 22 commandos who had participated in the Lal Masjid raid.

Largely as a result of the Lal Masjid incident, the TTP was created in December 2007 under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud from the most fearsome clan of the toughest tribe in Waziristan, the Shabi Khel of the Mehsud tribe. The TTP began a campaign of destruction with daring and deadly attacks across Pakistan, including attacks on Army General Headquarters and Mehran Naval Station in Karachi. A cycle of attacks and counter-attacks began between the Pakistan military and the TTP, which was motivated by tribal revenge.

What quickly became apparent from the actions of the TTP was a distinct mutation of the code. Its first targets were the very leaders of their own tribal society, the elders and mullahs. Entire jirgas were kidnapped and killed, and suicide bombers walked into mosques and detonated their explosives. No one was spared, not even innocent women and children. Without any mechanisms to control the impulses to revenge, unchecked violence reigned unrelieved by any peace agreements with the Pakistan government.

And then the drone was introduced into this chaotic landscape, pouring gasoline on an already out of control forest fire. Too many stories have leaked from the Tribal Areas of innocent groups of individuals killed by drone strikes, as anyone in the region became a suspected "militant".

Amidst the chaos and confusion, it is, however, the innocent tribesmen who suffer on all fronts, pounded by drone strikes and military campaigns one day, and suicide bombers the next. Some one million people have been displaced from the Tribal Areas because of the violence, including 200,000 Mehsud, nearly half of the population. An authoritative 2012 survey conducted in the Tribal Areas showed that while 79% opposed the actions of the US in Pakistan, 68% held negative views about al-Qaeda and 63% of the TTP. Half of those surveyed gave priority to education, stable employment, health schemes and reliable electricity.

With the presence of the Taliban groups and the Pakistani military in Waziristan, there is little semblance of stable leadership for the tribes with US drones making a bad situation worse. Besides halting the drone campaign, traditional tribal structures and a neutral civil administration committed to the rule of law need to be returned in order to begin to re-establish peace and stability in this volatile periphery. Only by working through the traditional pillars of leadership and authority can the men of violence be effectively and permanently contained, as one of the authors discovered during his tenure in Waziristan as Political Agent.

Above all, the tribes of the periphery need to be dealt with effectively through maintaining law and order and being granted proper development schemes by their government. Pakistan should look to the example set by Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam, in how to positively interact with the tribes of Waziristan as well as the other communities of the periphery. The government, instead of funding military operations in Waziristan, should be funding education, medical facilities, stable electricity lines and other development projects.

If given positive opportunities, their dignity and rights as equal citizens, the security and unity of Pakistan will be in their own interests. Then, the people of Pakistan can work together to bring peace and stability to a country that has known little of these over the past decade. Finding peace and securing stability in the Tribal Areas should be the first priority for the newly elected government in May.

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

April 20, 2013
Momin Iftikhar



As if the brazen and pitiless carnage of the Shias in Quetta and Karachi in the beginning of this year was not an apt enough reminder of the diabolic shadow of Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) looming large over Pakistan’s polity, the ongoing operation by Pakistan Army in Tirah Valley serves to poignantly underscore the high price it is extracting from the state and people of Pakistan.

The remote valley in the Khyber Agency straddles routes to Orakzai and Kurram Agency. Its difficult terrain that lends itself to guerrilla tactics presents extreme difficulties for operations directed to flush out hardened terrorists, who have taken refuge in its expanse to evade Pak Army’s operations in the adjoining areas. The intensity of the operations can be gauged from the fact that even as well over 100 terrorists have been eliminated in the opening phase of the ongoing operations, 23 khakis have laid down their lives to prevail over the fanatically indoctrinated, well entrenched terrorists.

The army’s unflinching sense of sacrifice and duty, manifested by a high number of shahadats of its officers and jawans explains the love and respect of the masses it commands. Even as the national attention is entirely riveted over the issues related to the forthcoming elections, the army is yet again silently and steadfastly demonstrating its iron-clad resolve to defeat the insidious threats to the nation at a most critical juncture of its history.

The size and scale of the military operations on Tirah amply serve to justify as to why the internal dimension tops the threats that endanger the national security; bringing into focus the menace of the TTP factor, which has to be uprooted if the nation has to find any long-term respite from the scourge of terrorism.

There was no TTP in existence in Pakistan when the daisycutters began to rain down on Tora Bora mountains in a desperate and no-holds-barred US bid to eliminate al-Qaeda leadership in the winters of 2001. There were, of course, Afghan Taliban sympathisers in the Fata region, who with the passage of time and with the expanding zone of operations of US troops in Afghanistan, began to coalesce and network together. As the Pak Army began to operate in the lawless region during the period 2002-04, to hunt down ‘foreign’ terrorists, who had escaped from Afghanistan and based themselves most noticeably in North and South Waziristan, the TTP menace got organised and took shape. With 5,000 terrorists of all hues on its rolls, and Baitullah Mehsud at its head, the organisation assumed a distinct form in 2007, assuming an identity separate from that of Afghan Taliban under Mullah Omer. While the Taliban were fighting USA’s presence in Afghanistan, the TTP turned its guns on Pakistan. When Mehsud was killed in a drone strike in 2009, his cousin and deputy, Hakimullah Mehsud took over the reins and his vicious nature injected further venom into the TTP operations.

Within a short span of its existence, the TTP emerged as a serious internal security threat for Pakistan. Attacks on the security forces operating in Fata region increased and suicide bombings (56 in 2007) and targeted killings became rampant; extracting a bloody toll on the country. The TTP’s bigotry and wretchedness to impose its will on the settled areas became manifest with its virtual takeover of Swat in 2007 where its putsch led by Fazlullah drove out all sectors of the civil administration, closed all schools and let loose a reign of terror, dishing out death sentences and lashing to all and sundry who dared to infringe the writ of his decrees. It was a determined operation by the Pak Army that wrested normality back to this picturesque vale, while Fazlullah rolled up his camp for the safety of sanctuaries in Afghanistan from where his terrorists continue to launch strikes from across the border.

The TTP has become an umbrella under whose control various terrorists and extremist groups are joining ranks and fusing their own disruptive ideologies, while finding common ground to create disruption and mayhem in Pakistan. According to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a terrorism related data base, from January 2009 to September 2012, a total of 8,953 civilians were killed in terrorist violence compared to around 1,600 civilian deaths from 2003 to 2006.

Despite all the death and destruction that it has caused, a high mark has already been reached and passed and the TTP’s fortunes are tumbling. The Pak Army’s resolute operations have shrunk the liberty of action enjoyed by the terror network in Fata leading to serious leadership, administrative and financial crises. In a fortuitous development a national consensus has evolved, which seeks the defeat of this dreaded band of terrorists and their poisonous agenda. So the offer to hold talks by the terrorist organisation, in February this year, got no response from the government. The message is clear: there can be no negotiations with terrorists, unless they renounce terrorism and lay down arms. The army’s sacrifices have gone a long way in recovering the once desperate situation and the nation is proud of its valiant sons.

The writer is a freelance columnist.

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