Refusing to see the roots of insurgencies, utilizing ‘terrorism’ labels, and scapegoating neighbours aren’t profitable methods.
On March 11, fighters from the Balochistan Liberation Military (BLA) hijacked a Jaffar Categorical practice travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. After a 36-hour standoff, the Pakistani safety forces have been in a position to kill the BLA operatives and launch a whole lot of hostages. Based on the federal government, no less than eight civilians misplaced their lives in the course of the operation.
Pakistani officers have been fast in charge Afghanistan and India for what they referred to as a “terrorist incident”. That is the most recent instance of how the Pakistani authorities more and more deflect accountability and body Pakistan’s relationship with Afghanistan within the language of “warfare on terror”.
Virtually three months earlier than the practice hijacking, Pakistani fighter jets bombarded Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces, killing no less than 46 individuals, together with ladies and kids. Most of the casualties have been displaced individuals from Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area.
Pakistan justified its violation of Afghan sovereignty and worldwide regulation by claiming that it’s concentrating on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters hiding on Afghan territory. Over the previous two years, Islamabad has been accusing Kabul of harbouring “terrorists” who’ve carried out assaults on Pakistani territory.
This is identical logic the USA employed to conduct air raids, kidnappings, focused killings, and so on all through the Muslim world throughout its so-called “warfare on terror”. In doing so, the US trampled over all of the conventions the world had endorsed affirming state sovereignty, the excellence between civilians and combatants, proportionate response and the rights of prisoners of warfare.
The US military and intelligence noticed civilians as lively combatants or “collateral harm” that was inevitable when a “high-value goal” was pursued. Entire international locations and civilian populations paid the value for “terrorist” strikes performed by armed teams – they usually nonetheless do. That’s as a result of the US could have withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq, however the legacy of its practices stays and is quickly embraced by governments within the area. Pakistan’s authorities is certainly one of them.
All through the 20-year US occupation of Afghanistan, Pakistan refused to see the Afghan Taliban as “terrorists” and continued sheltering and supporting the group. But right now, the Pakistani authorities label the TTP and BLA as “terrorist” teams and the Afghan Taliban authorities as sponsors of “terrorism”.
They refuse to see these native insurgencies as politically motivated rational actors who could possibly be reasoned with or whose grievances needs to be heard.
How Pakistan chooses to take care of these teams is an inner matter, however there are just a few classes from the current American adventurism that should be heeded.
The US forged a large definition of “terrorism” during which Muslims at residence and overseas grew to become suspect. In Afghanistan, it lumped its enemy al-Qaeda with the Taliban and at occasions Afghan civilians.
The imprisonment and torture of alleged Taliban members solely fed the fervour of Taliban fighters and led to an escalation in violence. Indiscriminate drone strikes on civilian communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan not solely violated sovereignty, but additionally inspired younger males to hitch the Afghan Taliban and TTP.
A number of makes an attempt by the Taliban to barter with the US didn’t bear fruit till 2021, when, exhausted by a two-decade occupation and warfare, Washington determined to withdraw, principally accepting defeat.
It’s straightforward to dismiss actions as “terrorist” and refuse to see any path of reconciliation. However because the American instance reveals, this method doesn’t finish properly.
As a substitute of attempting to tug the US into one other warfare on “terror” – as US media outlet Drop Web site has reported – the Pakistani authorities ought to be taught from the American expertise. They can’t feign ignorance about teams like TTP and BLA; they’re coping with their very own residents, who’ve clear grievances.
The Pakistani authorities has to listen to the calls for of those teams and discover a option to negotiate with them. It has to recognise the struggling of the civilian populations within the areas the place BLA and TTP function. It additionally must put an finish to violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty and scapegoating the Taliban authorities for their very own safety failures beneath the guise of “warfare on terror”.
If the Pakistani army decides to not be taught from current historical past and follows within the footsteps of the USA, it’s fairly doubtless it’s to fulfill its destiny.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
