THE future of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains unclear, whether it’s as a single entity or as a democratic one.
uncertain
it → remain → one
PTI, we are told, has been made PNG — once again.
asserted
we → tell → ?
And the south of KP is reportedly being carved out rapidly to be a new province or to simply reverse the amendment that made the former Fata part of KP.
uncertain
Fata → carve → KP
No one is really sure what the coming days hold.
asserted
days → come → what
Amid this confusion, a newly appointed member of the Area Representative and Development Council (ARDC) for the special emergency-hit districts of the south has created another storm in a teacup.
asserted
member → appoint → teacup
In a video statement he spoke of reaching out to the Afghan Taliban to bring peace to Pakistan.
asserted
he → speak → Pakistan
Considering that this preference for dialogue over conflict with the fitna-across-the-border ostensibly has been the reason the PTI government was sent home, a similar message of love from the new advisory council just wasn’t cricket.
asserted
message → consider → council
But before we could get our breath back at this audacity, the new spokesman of the region, Mehmood Jan Babar, added to the mess by not denying the idea altogether.
uncertain
spokesman → get → idea
Eventually Samar Bilour, who represents the Peshawar-led advisory council, had to enter the fray to diss the notion of talks.
asserted
who → represent → talks
As an aside, we now have a Peshawar council and a Southern council.
asserted
we → have → council
Be that as it may, the point is these statements have simply added to the confusion surrounding the province.
uncertain
statements → add → province
And terrorism, despite the frequency of the attacks and the statements of the government, has taken a backseat.
asserted
terrorism → take → backseat
Is it simply to close the doors on PTI?
asserted
it → close → PTI
Is it to conduct an experiment on the efficacy of newer, smaller provinces?
asserted
it → conduct → provinces
Or is it simply to reverse the Fata merger?
asserted
it → reverse → merger
Or perhaps it was to give the governor the chance to clear encroachments, a favourite problem for most non-elected officials these days.
asserted
it → give → officials
As the Urdu saying goes, there are as many rumours as there are mouths.
asserted
saying → go → ?
We appear to be using the same old playbook put together in the post-Musharraf period.
asserted
We → appear → period
But none of these rumours seem to be highlighting the basic issue — how to address the decades-old problem of militancy in these regions.
asserted
none → seem → regions
Other than vague promises of fighting the problem, there is little that has been shared with the people to explain what the new government is doing or planning to do.
asserted
government → fight → what
And this is where the problem lies.
asserted
problem → lie → ?
Militancy is going from bad to worse.
asserted
Militancy → go → worse
The intensity of the attacks is worrying and impacts the entire country, especially one looking for more foreign investment.
asserted
intensity → impact → investment
But while the state is clear on its decision to fight its way to victory, it doesn’t seem to have a clear strategy or path for this — or so it appears to those on the outside.
asserted
it → fight → outside
Any strategy to succeed must take into account the current environment.
asserted
strategy → succeed → environment
However, we appear to be using the same old playbook put together in the post-Musharraf period when the TTP was controlling large swathes of land in what is now former Fata.
asserted
what → appear → land
In order to flush the Taliban out, military operations were conducted after the ordinary residents were persuaded to leave their homes and villages before the clearing out was done.
asserted
clearing → flush → homes
And once the area/s were cleared, the displaced people were allowed to return to their homes and businesses.
asserted
people → clear → homes
However, nearly two decades later, the TTP is no longer controlling areas; it seems to appear only to conduct attacks or block roads, or carry out other activities and then melt away.
asserted
it → control → activities
And yet, it seems, our strategy remains the same — of wanting to clear out areas, be it at the level of villages and so on.
asserted
it → seem → villages
But if the TTP is not controlling these areas and the plan is to clear out the residents before launching operations, surely the TTP will also vacate the areas along with the residents and simply return later.
asserted
TTP → control → residents
And this is all the more difficult now because 20 years earlier, the TTP escaped to an Afghanistan run by a hostile government, which is no longer the case.
asserted
which → escape → government
But these questions are really not being discussed.
asserted
questions → discuss → ?
The intelligence-based operations (IBOs) are also offered as an alternative.
asserted
operations → base → alternative
Though once again, there is little clarity on how effective these are; they only become public when they lead to deaths of troops, which is tragic.
asserted
which → be → troops
And if they are effective, then why has the problem simply grown?
asserted
problem → grow → ?
The second problem with this strategy is the public sentiment, which is against military operations because of the displacement and suffering that comes in the wake of this.
asserted
that → come → this
But more than that, the displacements were not accompanied by the compensation the people had been promised — for the damage to their property and business.
asserted
people → accompany → property
This has been a major reason for their reluctance to support operations this time around.
asserted
This → support → operations
And yet, this also does not seem to have led to any kind of brainstorming about what to do differently.
asserted
this → seem → what
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
