ANALYSIS: Redefine national security —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

Political violence and terrorism are the most serious threats to Pakistan’s internal harmony and external role. These factors have created a more dangerous situation for national security than the threats coming from outside Pakistan. Further, these internal weaknesses expose Pakistan to external interference and intervention

Pakistan is currently faced with natural and man-made disasters. The natural disaster is the flood and its related problems. The man-made disaster includes terrorism and street violence and killings whose latest victims are Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Karachi respectively. Both threaten the fabric of Pakistani state and society.

The floods are one of the most devastating natural disasters faced by Pakistan in its history. Floods, cyclones and earthquakes have been part of the Pakistani experience. In October 2005, Azad Kashmir and parts of KP were badly hit by a strong earthquake. However, the current floods have affected all four provinces, especially KP and Punjab. Now the floodwater has entered Sindh, which will cause serious damage to property, crops and human losses in this province before the floodwater falls into the Arabian Sea.

One can give some allowance to the federal and provincial governments for their poor performance in responding to the floods because of its unexpectedly high scale and an extremely fast flow of water that caused a great deal of damage in all four provinces. However, the initial response was slow and poor on the part of the civilian authorities. The federal and provincial governments and their disaster management establishment lacked plans, resources and equipment to cope with a flood even half the size of what Pakistan has experienced in July-August. It could be attributed to the traditional lethargy of the bureaucratic structure and poor planning.

However, the military with better organisational skills and technological capacity has shown greater capability to cope with the disaster caused by the floods. A number of friendly countries have provided humanitarian assistance.

The most serious challenge for the political leaders and federal and provincial government is the post-flood rehabilitation of the people and reconstruction of the devastated areas. They will have to guard against poor planning, bureaucratic carelessness, favouritism in assignment of projects and their supervision, and financial corruption.

Religious extremism and terrorism is the man-made disaster that has hit Pakistan. It is more devastating than the floods because it undermines society in such a manner that many people do not realise its devastating nature. There are sympathisers of religious extremism, sectarianism and violence in the name of Islam for one reason or another. The religious extremist groups have targeted all the major cities of Pakistan. However, Peshawar and the province of KP have been its main targets because its government is more determined than any other provincial government to fight these elements. A provincial minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, lost his son in this struggle but this has not weakened his resolve to fight terrorism.

Karachi has become another site for a man-made tragedy; a host of groups are involved in periodic killing sprees in the city. These include the specialised fighting squads of different political parties, religious extremists and sectarian groups, the Taliban and militants from other parts of Pakistan, drug and land mafias and other criminal elements.

The federal and provincial governments are unable to cope with the challenge of Karachi because the political forces are unable to work together to find a solution. Every major political party has created its exclusive narrative of events that describes the party as innocent and a victim of oppression (mazloom) and views others as the evil oppressor (zalim). The MQM, ANP and PPP have created their exclusive narrative of ‘mazloomiat’, holding others responsible for what is happening in Karachi.

Unless the major political parties create a shared narrative of what is happening in urban Sindh, there cannot be an enduring solution to the problem. The experience of multi-ethnic and multi-communal cities in India and elsewhere suggests that inter-communal and inter-ethnic networks need to be cultivated that work together rather than different groups attacking each other from their ethnic ideological fortresses. These fortresses have to be demolished and an inter-ethnic framework of action created by the major political parties.

The leaders of major political parties do not seem to realise the gravity of the situation. The images of President Zardari’s visit to France and the UK do not send a good message to the common man. Nawaz Sharif is using his flood-related visits to attack the PPP in an election campaign manner. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is talking about floods to criticise the PML-N government in Punjab. Altaf Hussain is living in the UK as its citizen but advising Zardari not to visit London. The key question is, how much solid work have these parties done to help the flood-affected people from party resources?

There is less attention on evolving long-term solutions to these problems because most of us have a narrow and limited concept of national security, confining it to border security, i.e. security against external threats. This has focused Pakistani attention on building a bigger and stronger military, as a guarantee for securing our borders against external threats.

Military security against external adversaries is important but it is incomplete without internal security, which involves societal harmony and development. If the economy of a country is in deep trouble and its society is polarised on ethnic, sectarian and ideological lines to such an extent that periodic internal violence and strife threaten society, it can never become a viable political entity.

The external strength of a country and its clout in the international system depends on its internal political harmony, ethnic and religious tolerance, and amicable settlement of societal disputes. The key to creating a vibrant and healthy social order is to spend more financial and technical resources on societal development involving better health and education facilities, provision of basic societal needs and measures to reduce poverty and underdevelopment.

Pakistan faces a greater threat from its internal divisions, increased violence, growing religious and cultural intolerance and a faltering economy that relies heavily on external resources. Political violence and terrorism are the most serious threats to Pakistan’s internal harmony and external role. These factors have created a more dangerous situation for national security than the threats coming from outside Pakistan. Further, these internal weaknesses expose Pakistan to external interference and intervention.

Pakistan must look beyond its military security. It needs to adopt a comprehensive view of security that emphasises seeking strength from within. If a country cannot hold together internally as a vibrant society, nuclear weapons cannot protect it. Pakistan can become a non-functioning state because of the failure to cope with internal challenges and the failure of the political elite to evolve a shared strategy to cope with these threats.

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst