It is encouraging to find a serving army officer putting together a compendium on the subject of human security in the country and dedicating his work to the poor and vulnerable classes of Pakistan. Going beyond the conventional models of state security and delving into the possibilities of creating a just, egalitarian and modern state and society by investing in education, health and prosperity of the struggling classes is certainly heartening to note. But there are some fundamental questions that need to be raised.
Ehsan Mehmood Khan is one of those rare army officers who pursue academic interests with zeal while in service and do not wait for their retirement to pen an idiosyncratic memoir or a book about certain facts of history with only anecdotal evidence to offer. His writings have appeared internationally on subjects as varied as conventional arms and armaments to modern concepts of human development. His recent work, 'Human Security in Pakistan', deals with the concept of human security as understood by scholars and students, a customised framework for Pakistan based on contemporary theoretical frameworks, the current human security profile of the country and subsequent policy recommendations.
The book contains credible facts and figures, maps, references, tables and charts, and provides a lot of useful data. Human security has gained more focus as a pursuit of inquiry; it became part of the global discourse on international development after the end of the Cold War. It, however, remains an interdisciplinary subject that attempts to broaden the traditional security paradigm of a state – solely dependent on its military prowess to defend or expand its territory – to include political security, economic and food security, personal and community security, environmental and health security and mainstreaming marginalised segments of a country's population.
Ehsan's heart is in the right place, his analysis of poverty and destitution is both passionate and objective, and his desire to see his country prosperous and society egalitarian is noble. Even his take on some past political developments in the country is refreshingly different from what some serving and retired military men and foreign service officers believe in and profess. He seems genuinely interested in transforming the 'security state' of Pakistan into a 'human security state'. However, there are places where I would question him about his analysis on contemporary issues or the areas of inquiry he has ignored, either due to compulsions of his service or an academic reason that I couldn't grasp properly.
There is no doubt that the concept of human security expands the contours of the traditional state security, but the former does not preclude the latter. Or does it? Ehsan claims, while speaking of drone attacks, that his book deals with human security and not state security. I am not sure if the two can be separated. The literature and the primary and secondary sources he diligently quotes from also show an inherent link to non-specialists like the scribe. In Pakistan, there is not only a live ongoing debate but also a significant body of literature available that delineates that the continued overemphasis on traditional state security reliant on the military alone causes huge resource constraints in pursuing the human development agenda in the country. Meaning thereby that unless there is sustained peace in our region – from Bangladesh to Afghanistan – the allocation of resources will remain skewed in favour of military and territorial defence.
I am not demanding that Ehsan should look at it from an economist's point of view, but it is common knowledge that resources have to be found from other sources if the focus of the establishment has to change in favour of human development. The two main expenditures incurred by the state of Pakistan are defence and debt servicing. While policy shift is essential, as Ehsan argues, the provision of resources to pursue those policies is fundamental.
Arresting corruption is important more in terms of inculcating moral values that lead to public good in society and less in terms of actually doing public good. Therefore, it is argued that in today's resource-constrained economy, a redistribution of wealth among classes and a reallocation of resources among primary institutions are required to gain anything in the realm of human development and social security. Ehsan has all the right to disagree with this assertion but he does not touch upon the subject at sufficient length, leave alone provide an elaborate analysis.
While speaking of community security, Ehsan also talks of interfaith and sectarian divides in Pakistan. He recognises the importance of all communities living in harmony and condemns the oppression of minority faiths and the killings of minority Muslim sects. After some discussion on the causes and effects of these divides, he writes, "Sadly, the sectarian terrorists explode bombs and grenades in the mosques of opposing sects – all in pursuit of heaven! Mosques, which used to be an emblem of peace, concord and amity, have become endangered spots. So much for the esteem of Allah Almighty and so much for respect of His home! How can Pakistanis scream at the desecration of Babri Mosque by Hindu extremists in India when they have knocked down so many in their own country?"
Although the book is largely based on data, such emotional paragraphs tend to show the personal leanings of the author. What I am curious about is how, while speaking of the oppression of minorities and growth of sectarianism in the country, Ehsan rests the blame on society and clerics. However, he avoids looking at the role of our security agencies, both civil and military, in either being complicit or ineffective in curbing militancy and violence.
It is striking to note that discriminatory laws of various kinds and their ramifications caused by Gen Ziaul Haq's divisive and bigoted policies, some malignant policy decisions made under Z A Bhutto, and currently the damaging role played by some political leaders like the Sharifs and Imran Khan when they try to woo extremist groups and militants out of political expediency have not been analysed in the book. Ehsan knows well as a scholar that it is fundamental to establish the real causes for any insecurity before we suggest ways of removing it.
Speaking of Balochistan, he questions the sources for exaggerated claims of atrocities and asks for the right number of missing persons while still remaining sympathetic to the Baloch people. It seems his vantage point gets closer to that of the Pakistani establishment when he gets into the details and quotes the Balochistan police when talking about Habib Jalib Baloch's murder. Ehsan should consider that it is not about details like who killed who or whether the security agencies were involved in each and every act of violence committed against Baloch politicians and secessionists. Rather, it is about the perception of a state and its security apparatus. As they say, in politics perception is more important than reality.
One would want to provoke Ehsan to ask that if there is no radical change in the overall thinking paradigm of Pakistan's defence forces when it comes to strategic issues, dealing with extremist outfits and foreign policy, how can human development and security be achieved?
Email: harris.khalique@gmail.com

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