Audacious raid
SECURITY experts have been proved correct in their assessment that the bloodthirsty TTP juggernaut would sooner rather than later move beyond KP and start spreading havoc in the rest of the country.
Mere weeks after the devastating attack targeting the Peshawar Police Lines mosque, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for striking Karachi on Friday evening. It raided key police installations on the arterial Sharea Faisal, raising questions about the efficacy of the national counterterrorism policy — if, indeed, there is one.
As these lines were being written, the law enforcers’ counter-attack had successfully ended the assault on the Karachi Police Office and its allied facilities. But the entire event brought back painful memories of violent past episodes in the metropolis where the TTP has launched murderous, brazen assaults. These include the 2011 Mehran Base raid, as well as the 2014 attack on the Karachi airport.
There has been no let-up in TTP violence. For example, on Thursday, the terrorists attacked CTD personnel in Punjab’s Kalabagh area, in Mianwali district, while a few weeks earlier, members of the banned outfit had raided a police station in the same district, located close to KP. But Friday’s attack in Karachi is a far more complex operation.
The militants targeted an area in the heart of the city, where several facilities of the military, police and other security agencies are located. This is a breach of unacceptable proportions, and clearly our collective security and intelligence apparatus was caught off guard, with devastating consequences.
Police and Rangers’ back-up had to be called in from the entire city, while the provincial government also sought the military’s help. If one terrorist raid can bring Karachi’s entire security apparatus to the field, what havoc might more complex militant operations cause?
This is another wakeup call for the squabbling politicians who rule in our name, as well as the security establishment that keeps reminding us that ‘all is well’. Clearly, both stakeholders must understand the true situation.
According to media reports, the federal interior minister told a TV channel he was under the ‘impression’ that militants did not have ‘access’ beyond KP and Balochistan.
His impression was obviously flawed. The terrorists have the ability, as well as the links and operational wherewithal, to strike at will, while the state’s response has been largely unimpressive. This must change.
In the Karachi strike, it is likely that sleeper cells were activated, as there is no shortage of sympathisers of the TTP in the port city in the shape of cadres and fighters of ‘jihadi’ and sectarian groups.
It should also be remembered that over the last few decades, major Al Qaeda operatives have been apprehended from the metropolis. Whatever the facts, the state needs to act now before more such attacks take place.
Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2023
More ‘leaks’
YET again, secretly taped recordings of conversations involving prominent public figures have been ‘leaked’ to the public, this time dragging the country’s superior judiciary into controversy. The recordings, which the government claims are proof of PML-Q leader and former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi ‘fixing’ cases before a preferred judge, were played by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah at a press conference on Thursday. Referring to the tapes, Mr Sanaullah asked the judiciary to “prevent an irreparable loss to its credibility”. The interior minister claimed that the political actors who were once helped to power by the establishment now want a lifeline from the judiciary. “They want to make the judiciary subservient,” he claimed.
Whether the recordings are real or doctored seems secondary to the fact that it is now a given that our state has been — likely illegally — spying on its own citizens. Mr Sanaullah seems convinced of the authenticity of these tapes, so the question arises: who recorded them? It may be noted that there are only a handful of state institutions that have the capability and resources to spy on powerful individuals with such ease. Some of them report to the interior ministry. Has Mr Sanaullah himself authorised the tapping of rival politicians’ phone calls? He had certainly made light of the practice during the PM Office leaks saga. If not, has he made any effort to determine who is involved in this illegal practice, and will they be held accountable? One also wonders how many judges, bureaucrats, politicians and even ordinary citizens have been living in fear of such leaks, and how many are being blackmailed with them. As far as the content of the audio tapes is concerned, it would appear that it is now in the interest of the superior judiciary to have the matter investigated. All individuals accused of interfering in and influencing judicial proceedings should be given a chance to present a defence. If the probe finds any evidence of wrongdoing, the consequences should be severe. Otherwise, the stench of the accusation will continue to linger. If, however, no wrongdoing is proven, the interior minister should answer why he has so publicly challenged the integrity of the judiciary. Perhaps he ought to be tried by the same laws that he has been so keenly pushing to ‘protect’ the institutions of the state from disrepute.
Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2023
Regressive mindset
THE Gomal University administration’s decision to ban the mixing of male and female college students on the pretext of security is an absurd development, and reeks of an Afghan Taliban mindset that favours the policing of women. Female students have been told to ‘be careful’ and are also being confined to their classrooms under this rule. The move follows an outdated yet widely prevalent pattern where some officials in KP appear to be grudgingly allowing female students to receive an education. In the past, there have been numerous instances where similar thinking has resulted in the policing of female students’ clothing, or denying them access of some kind. In 2018, the KP government called for banning the entry of male MPs and politicians in girls’ schools as guest speakers. The move was highly criticised on social media by rights and education activists as a reflection of backward thinking. Then, in 2019, the provincial government decided to make the wearing of an abaya or burka mandatory, a decision that was once again criticised vehemently and ultimately reversed.
These incidents hold up a mirror to the regressive outlook on women’s right to education. If security is indeed a concern, members of the provincial government should enforce the same or stricter curbs on the movement of male students. Unfortunately, in our country, women often bear the brunt of this discriminatory attitude, which has resulted in generations of women being discouraged and restricted. The university needs to provide a logical explanation for how the curtailing of female students’ movement will improve security. The government must question the university administration’s decision and understand that, if allowed, this will be the beginning of a new wave of resistance against girls’ education in the province. In a country where ‘security’ concerns are invoked to justify all sorts of restrictions, one can only imagine to what lengths universities can go in creating problems for female students and limiting their progress.
Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2023