When terror comes knocking

The audacious attack on the Manawan Police Academy shows the ease with which terrorists can attack a target of their choice in our neighboring nation. The March 30 attack presents a worrying scenario to New Delhi as Lahore is less than 50 miles from the India's western border and to add to it the general elections are just around the corner. While India needs to think in terms of "What if" and plan to combat a possible spill-over of the crises into India, Pakistan has to think in terms of "What now" and show urgency towards reining in the Frankenstein it has created.

Terrorism is a homegrown problem for Pakistan, however the repeated statements from Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik indicates that the recent spate of attacks in Pakistan are the handiwork of forces trying to destabilize the country. While Mr Malik's statements might seem like excuses for his inability to deliver as the interior minister, he might not be entirely wrong. Until now any reference to "external forces trying to destabilize Pakistan" has been unanimously translated to India and its intelligence agencies, however in the present scenario this reference could very well point to Taliban.

It is easier for Pakistan to blame an external group like Taliban as compared to Lashkar e Toiba, since Pakistan has claimed to the world that it has taken positive steps to close down terror centers since the Mumbai blasts. Soon after the Mumbai blasts Pakistan tried to pin the blame on India for the December Lahore attack, however it had to retract its statements after a little known local outfit claimed responsibility. Then came the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team for which Mr Malik was quick to blame India and later retracted his statements and since then the approach Pakistan has taken has been surprising, there was no reference to an Indian involvement after the March 27 bombing of a mosque in Jamrud, FATA; and the more recent attack at the Lahore Police Academy has seen more measured statements from Pakistan.

So why would Pakistan, which has been so vocal in blaming India as a tit for tat response, choose to blame the Taliban - a group it was instrumental in creating and supporting? The answer may lie in evaluating what Pakistan has to gain from maligning India as compared to what Pakistan has to gain from playing a victim of being a part of the war on terror. While political strife, coups and assassinations have dotted Pakistan's history since within a decade after its independence, terrorist attacks have sky rocketed since President Musharraf decided to join the war on terror and thus placing Taliban on the cross wires.

The Pashtuns have never enjoyed a favorable treatment in Pakistan and have been further alienated in the recent years, one would assume that the betrayal from Pakistan would give them reason enough to turn their guns on Pakistan. This assumption is substantiated by Baithulla Mahsud's claim that the attacks had the blessings of the Taliban. This development complicates an already messy scenario - Pakistan's experiment with the good and bad Taliban seems to have failed miserably as the attacks have only increased since the SWAT compromise was reached.

President Zardari with his dropping popularity rating is faced with the option of going after the Taliban - this will give him tremendous bargaining power with the US, however for this he needs General Kayani's nod and the General, being a former DG ISI may not be too keen on taking on the Taliban, which the ISI had trained to fight against a different enemy . He can also play victim of the war on terror and get further aid from the US, however that will only enrage the Taliban further and prompt more attacks. The other option is that he can quit the war on terror and try to placate the Taliban, however with the country's economy in shambles such an action will only accelerate the country towards self-destruction.

The Army may not be too keen on taking over control as they would be faced with a similar predicament. Even President Musharraf did not have a choice when it came to joining the War on Terror. The best option for Pakistan is to make sincere efforts in resolving the terror issue, while using this as a bargaining point to get the country out of its current economic glut. Pakistan needs to understand that right now it needs to focus on providing security, employment, health care and education for its citizens and it can use this opportunity to do so and also rid the world of belligerents and prevent its nukes from falling into the wrong hands, thus preventing a nuclear cataclysm.

With the world's largest electoral exercise a month away Pakistan finds a friend in the neighbor it had constantly poked and needled. Its time the Pakistani Govt got back to the drawing board to evaluate their decisions so far and if they need a lesson in how to successfully run a democracy, they just need to look to the immediate east.