Click to play videoThe death toll in a suicide bomb attack in a five-star hotel in Peshawar climbed to 17 on Wednesday. Closed circuit cameras show how suicide bombers stormed the compound and shot their way into the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar. The suicide bombers drove to the hotel's building, in a truck laden with 500 kilograms of RDX.
The dead include two UN officials. Meanwhile the Pakistani army continues to pound Taliban strongholds in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The Pakistani army says it has killed 90 militants in the region on Wednesday. Officials admit that the Pearl Continental attack is the result of its offensive on Taliban hideouts in Swat and Malakand region.
Modus Operandi of attackers
The attack at the Pearl Continental Hotel was eerily similar to the one at the Marriott last year. Shockingly, the owner of the two hotels is one. The ease with which all this happened, authorities say could not have been possible without an insider being involved.
Senior Minister, NWFP government Bashir Ahmad Bilour said, "Even my car is checked and these people get through. Surely, some locals have been involved."
With Taliban initiated attacks and blasts having become an almost daily affair, is Pakistan slowly slipping into an abyss of violence? Even US President Barack Obama had called the Afghanistan-Pakistan border the most dangerous place in the world. The question being asked on Face The Nation on Wednesday was: Is Pakistan the most dangerous place on Earth?
To debate the issue was a panel of experts comprising of former diplomat M K Bhadrakumar, strategic analyst Sushant Sareen and former minister from Pakistan Senator Tariq Azeem Khan.
Fears prevail in society
Due to the continuous attacks now people wonder if the Taliban will ever be reined in. Can the Pakistani army get an upper hand over the militants or is the menace of the enemy still very, very strong?
Pakistan's former minister Tariq Azeem Khan cautioned that the military operation against the militants would not be easy.
"No body has ever claimed nor has the Pakistani army said that they will do this overnight. This is going to be a long haul, by all imaginations and going by past experience," said Khan.
Khan drew attention to the fact that there is a coalition of about 27 countries at the moment, all fighting with the latest weapons and gadgets, a war in Afghanistan. Khan said that it's a long battle ahead for Pakistan. When Pakistan wanted to negotiate with Taliban, it was alleged internationally that it is but a facade, said Khan. Now why Pakistan should be called the most dangerous place on earth fails him, he stated.
"Of course, it is going to be for a while till we get rid of this problem that was left with us by the US and other allies who were fighting the Russians. They were left here with us on the Pakistan and Afghanistan border after the Russians left, till such time that 9/11 happened."
Now with US President Obama arming Pakistan to the teeth with $7.5 billion in non-military and $2.8 billion in military aid, Pakistani leaders like Khan sound pessimistic when they say that perhaps dialogue is the way forward, as against the offensive which seems to be getting nowhere.
"Who is he (Tariq Azeem Khan) going to negotiate with? They have tried it in the past. They have failed miserably. The other thing is that Tariq Azeem Khan is being slightly disingenuous when he puts all the blame on the Americans," said Sushant Sareen.
Sareen also added that Pakistan had nurtured and sponsored the Taliban till as late as 2001 and even after that.
There are sections of Pakistani society who detest the crackdown on Taliban.
"I am not very sure how unpopular it is. There is a really large section of the Pakistani population which does not identify with the war," Sareen said. "The romance with the Taliban is more in 'heartland' Punjab than in the NWFP," pointed our Sarren.
This is not like NATO operations in Afghanistan as the US army has put the entire responsibly on the Pakistan army to tackle the Taliban menace.
M K Bhadrakumar warned that the Pakistan government really has a long haul stretched out before it. After all Lashkar too enjoyed the Pak government's support and is sure to lash back. "Probably, it will also spread more," Bhadrakumar warned.
Dangerous polarisation in Pakistan:
Khan accused Afghanistan and India of training the Taliban militants on Indian soil. He said that the Pakistani Senate has been shown the 'evidence' of how the fighters are trained by Afghanistan and India to create as much havoc in Pakistan as possible.
"We have evidence of this where soldiers of Afghanistan army with the army numbers and this has been shown to us in our briefings how they are flown from Kabul to India, trained there and brought back to Afghanistan," Khan said.
Sareen completely refuted what Khan’s claim.
"It is completely preposterous what he is saying! After the Mumbai attacks, the ISI chief suggested to the Pakistani media that Baitullah Mahsud and Mulla Fazlullah are very patriotic Pakistanis. Now if patriotic Pakistanis are being trained by Indians and funded by Indians, it is so ridiculous that it should be dismissed right then and there," Sareen said.
Pakistan in denial mode again?
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had himself said that Pakistan is fighting for its survival. It is a war Pakistan has to fight. So why is Pakistan into denial and ties up India with this?
"We have always maintained that we are trying to get rid of these terrorists. We were being told that we are not doing enough," Khan complained about the international perception of the conflict.
"Now when senior level officers of Major and Colonel ranks are being beheaded, do you still believe that we are supporting these people?" he added.
The need of the hour
It is important that Pakistan keep its resolve and its psychology intact in this fight against terror. There is this tendency to blame India or that they are doing all they can. They have to avoid sidetracking or get into supporting the Islamic cause.
"That is clearly not there. The Pakistani army takes different attitudes to different situations. Now, if some militant group is threatening their internal security, then they have a different attitude towards that. But at the same time, militant groups that are helpful in Pakistan's pursuit of regional policies whether they be with India or Afghanistan, then those fellows are okay," pointed out Bhadrakumar.
He also was not shocked by Khan's accusation that India is involved. "This kind of blame game had to come at some time. This means that clearly, the situation is getting out of hand," Bhadrakumar added.
He said that for Pakistan, the displacement of residents of areas like Malakand Agency and Manshera district is a big problem too. Millions are displaced according to estimates and not accepted by the people of Sindh or Punjab. Also the Pakistani army has been using excessive force, which is upsetting many factions, Bhadrakumar pointed out.
In some places like Bajour, the Pakistani army was unsure of the loyalty of the foot soldiers and resorted to artillery fire through helicopters. Bajour was destroyed but the Taliban came back as it was only buildings that had taken a hit.
" This is an insurgency, whether you take the example of Sri Lanka where it took 26 years to tackle LTTE or go back into history to what happened in Malaysia, it is going to be a long haul for Pakistan," reiterated Khan. "They are going to come back once they are defeated in those areas where they thought they are going to have their own little fiefdom. They will come back heavily and with guerilla. I agree with you," said Khan.
"There will be more suicide bombings and there will still be some elements in our society who will be misguided in our society who will think that these people are doing a good Islamic job," Khan said.
Where is the resolve?
Sareen did not accept the comparison with Sri Lanka's war with LTTE.
"In Sri Lanka's case there was no confusion in the mind of the Sri Lankan government about who was the enemy and that the war had to be fought. In Pakistan's case, they are not unequivocal on the issue," Sareen pointed out.
"And as far as the Taliban is concerned, I do not know if the Senator will be happy or not if the Taliban is defeated. But I am sure; there will be nobody in India who will be unhappy if these people (Taliban) are defeated. Much less than trying to sponsor these people, I think it is in India's interests to see them finished," pointed out Sareen while highlighting Pakistan's inability to differentiate between good and bad elements.
"We are very clear who the enemy is. Enemy is the Tajiks, the Uzbeks, the Afghans whosoever is fighting here, killing innocent people," said Khan, pointing out that those people are enemies of not only Pakistan, but of India and Afghanistan, in fact of the entire region.
"What we expect is some support from you. You are almost gloating in it. Whenever there is a bombing, we get at least 20 calls, almost like to say, we told you so and that you are the baddies. They should be instead saying that our army is doing a good job," complained Khan.
Is the war on terror being sufficiently convinced of the job ahead?
"Army is losing soldiers and some senior officers are being killed everyday, so they are there to fight to the end," said Khan.
Bhadrakumar completely agreed about the Pakistani army's dedication.
"The authenticity of Pakistani army's military operations is certain, no two ways about it. I agree with the Senator that it is a long haul. What is worrying is that it is only the beginning and the point is that it started too late. It expanded to a dangerous threshold before this sort of an operation began. It should have begun far too long ago," he said.
He felt that another worrying factor was that this kind of an operation needs a psychological and social resolve in the public opinion the endeavour, which may or may not be present in the Pakistani society.
Results of SMS poll at the end of the show to the question: Is Pakistan the most dangerous place on Earth?
Yes: 88 per cent
No : 12 per cent
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