Imran Khan’s opportunity to create a Naya Pakistan
He has shown an ability to adapt as a politician. But it will be his actions that will define his country’s destiny
The Battle of Balakot on May 6, 1831, between the Sikhs of Lahore Durbar and the followers of Tehreek-ul-Mujhahideen of Raebareli, under Syed Ahmad Barelvi and Shah Ismail, symbolically marked a new beginning as Sikhs were victorious and the Mujhahideens, vanquished. Can the Balakot of 2019 also be a new beginning? India is already claiming the Balakot airstrikes as a new era of a pre-emptive anti-terror action by using its air power, a first in the history of the country. But, can the Pakistani government, under its new leadership of Imran Khan, really move beyond denying the impact of the aerial strikes and seize the momentum for making a paradigm shift from its reliance on non-state actors in its avowed objective to bleed India with a thousand cuts?
Amid all the claims and counterclaims by the two neighbours on the Balakot strike, India’s action may have presented Khan a perfect opportunity to assert himself on the antiterror front and undertake effective action against the Hafiz Saeeds and Masood Azhars of the world. Mere detentions of the perpetrators may not be enough. Pakistan in the past have undertaken actions which were mainly focused on deceiving the international community by undertaking a cosmetic action of banning front organisations.
It has banned a number of terror outfits. Even the Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD) and its sister socioeconomic front had been on its National Counter Terrorism Authority watch list, and are sought to be banned in the aftermath of Balakot. However, both these organisations, after previous bans, merely started functioning under new names. Undoubtedly, it is being simultaneously accused by three of its four neighbours — India, Afghanistan and Iran — for the recent gruesome terror incidents on their soil. The spread of this malignancy across its geographical expanse needs an extensive surgery even though its mutation across different organs of the State makes the outcome unpredictable.
Khan’s words have largely sounded reassuring and candid to his own electorate since he has entered the political arena. But it will be his actions that will define the destiny of his country, which has recently got a 12th bailout from International Monetary fund (IMF) since early 1990s and is virtually surviving on doles from its friendly countries. The Pakistani prime minister, with a limited discretion due to overarching indirect control wielded by the army, may be in an unenviable position. But he has shown his ability to adapt and make compromises as a politician. He has been presented an opportunity by India through its cross-border strikes to truly create a Naya Pakistan. If he is unsuccessful, history is bound to repeat both as a tragedy and a farce for the floundering State of Pakistan as it continues to suffer at the hands of the Frankensteins created by its own state actors.