Growing reports suggest that the Pakistan Army is committing extra-judicial killings of suspected militants in Swat after having secured its positions in the region.
A report in the BBC.
Another in Dawn.
Others claim that the relatives of those who were brutally murdered by the Taliban are now taking revenge on the fascist Islamist group.
Whatever the case may be, this compounds the Taliban dilemmas. Taliban have clearly lost popular support and anything and everything they adds to their negative perception. It is a remarkable turn around when only a few months ago, despite the atrocities by the group, many still saw the Taliban as 'generally good folks'. Others would go out of their way to explain how there are the 'good Taliban' and 'the bad Taliban'. Many pointed to how even the NATO forces were willing to talk to the Taliban in Afghanistan and thus so should Pakistan in Swat.
Some who did not like the Taliban but opposed the military operation against them without offering any credible counter plan, are silenced. They cannot go to Swat and tell the people 'Taliban just want a fairer judicial system'. The group seems to have lost all justification for existence at least in Swat.
But it works both ways. If we have witnessed a 180 degree turn-around withing a few months, unless there is a concerted effort to bring change in the governance and judicial structures, there is nothing preventing another turn around.
The episodes of extra-judicial killings can back-fire.
Apparently, the government forces seem to have adopted a tactic of retaliating by killing more of the suspected militants than the number the Taliban kill. So whenever someone from Waziristan claims the suicide attack in Lahore, there is a ferocious response by the military in which several times the numbers of suspected militants are killed - and quite likely, many innocent Pakistanis die in the process as well. The message to the Taliban seems to be: 'Pakistani forces will be far more brutal than anything you can do.'
Unfortunately many innocent individuals will die. Even if one died, it should be unforgivable. But in these tit-for-tat killings, the worst thing would be if the civilian structures of the government forget or failed to improve themselves - a failure that would easily give lease of life to other fascists like the Taliban.
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2 comments:
Well Imran Khan is adamant upon the idea that more civilians are being killed than Taliban which is a reason for the surviving relatives of the deceased to go off and join Taliban. Are Taliban sypathizers increasing or decreasing? Khan also believes that the only way out is peace talks. I absolutely agree with him as long as the treaty does not involve undue rights to the Taliban.
Imran Khan had originally gone to great lengths to say that the situation in Swat was different to the one in the tribal areas (FATA). FATA had everything to do with Afghanistan. Swatis on the other hand, he claimed, wanted 'quick justice' like the days before it merged with Pakistani law. While everyone wants justice, but he shot himself in the foot by trumpeting this logic in support of Taliban. I didn't agree to the manner of the operation, but Imran Khan should have voiced an alternative strategy against a group who completely denied wanted anything to do with the Pakistan constitution (which is as treasonous as Musharaf's takeover). After the operation, Khan did start to say that Pakistan should use counter-insurgency methods and kill the leadership of the Taliban. But this was too little too late. Despite the ridiculously planned operation, I think ANP and the PPP will reap rewards from Swat for finally standing up to the Taliban.
Taliban should not be given any rights whatsoever. If they wish to have their type of ideology imposed on the people, they can run for elections as stated in the Constitution. Otherwise, civil war is legitimate and necessary.
As for your question, I would say the war in Swat was the first 'media coup'. The media has turned everything around. As the fight enters the attrition phase, the Taliban ideology is rapidly losing ground. Unfortunately, the governance system has not changed at all and that is why 'Pakistan' may not win either.
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