An Internally Displaced Person (IDP) I met at the Saidgi camp on my last trip to Bannu told me: “We have proved our loyalties to Pakistan. We did not show any reluctance when they asked us to leave home without any prior notice and we did not retaliate when they started the operation without any warning in advance. We did not utter a word when our children, women and cattle had to walk on foot for 60 kilometres without any transport, without water or any stop. We hope that we have made the right decision. The rest is in Allah’s hands.” The primary objective of the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan is to eliminate terrorism in the country and to bring about a long awaited peace in the region. The challenge is to wipe out the militants while ensuring that there is not too much collateral damage. After all, any military operation is likely to end in failure if the long-term objective of winning the hearts and minds of the indigenous population is not given priority. More often than not, particularly in our region of the world, military force has failed to bring about a positive outcome. The most obvious example is that of post-war Iraq. It is now clear to all — except the spin-doctors in Washington — that the US invasion and the following decade-long occupation have completely failed at achieving anything other than chaos. Rather, it has given birth to a sectarian conflict that appears as if it will continue well into the foreseeable future. Even closer to home, Afghanistan remains a bastion of Islamic extremism. When all is said and done, according to Harvard University Professor Linda J Bilmes, the US will have spent anywhere from four trillion to six trillion tax dollars on military efforts that have ensured not just the balkanisation of Iraq and the transformation of Afghanistan into the most important supplier of narcotics on the planet, but also the further radicalisation of Muslims not just in countries where they are the majority but in Europe as well. That over a million people have died in each of the two countries since the US invasions took place, entire ethnic groups have been marginalised in society and terrorism against the civilian population has reached previously incomprehensible heights might have something to do with it. Of course, proponents of military force being applied against one’s own citizens often cite the Swat Operation as a success. Unlike Swat, however, North Waziristan is not a settled area and the militants can easily hide in the Shawal Valley or cross the infamously porous Afghan border. While details remain sketchy, since the only source of information is the Pakistan army, the success of the military operation so far cannot be ascertained. One can only assume that the result of sustained bombing and artillery shelling on North Waziristan’s towns has most likely levelled a fair share of the residents’ houses to the ground. Oh yes, 700,000 IDPs have crossed into the other regions of Pakistan. It is quite clear now that the federal government lacked a well thought out evacuation plan. Furthermore, there is no way of knowing exactly how many militants crossed over into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as IDPs. As for the army’s claim that they have closed off escape routes in North Waziristan and trapped the militants, hats off to them if they have finally closed the border with Afghanistan that only a few weeks ago was considered impossible to control. So, for the moment, the focus should be on winning the hearts and minds of the IDPs. Initial forecasts made by those involved in the operation are that the IDPs will not be going back to their villages for a minimum of six months. They have given up everything yet, with the media attention focused firmly on Mr Qadri and his ‘revolution’, the federal government has, not surprisingly, failed to offer any direction regarding the resettlement of the IDPs. As if this news were not bad enough, IDPs entering Afghanistan are being given three times as much money for rehabilitation as they receive in Pakistan. It is no surprise then that there are less than 100 IDPs living in the Saidgai camp, on the border of North Waziristan and Bannu. Hospitals in Bannu are running short of medical supplies and do not have nearly enough human resources to ensure healthcare for women, children and the elderly, many of whom are quite sick. Bannu, with a population of around one million, is now playing host to no less than 500,000 refugees. While the locals have demonstrated a creditable willingness to accommodate the influx of refugees, we must be careful not to take this for granted. There was already a water shortage due to excessive load shedding. With the population having increased by 50 percent in less than a week, the water crisis in Bannu is all set to deteriorate even further. As for the myriad other issues that accompany a refugee crisis, no rehabilitation plan seems to be at hand. The PTI is the only political organisation with a stake in the successful rehabilitation and repatriation of IDPs to Waziristan. The political parties ruling Sindh and Punjab have demonstrated not just their tendency for lip service but also their intention to make life difficult for Imran Khan in the buildup to the PTI’s Islamabad jalsa (rally). Politics clearly remains the order of the day. In such an environment, it is difficult to see how a consensus can be developed between the Centre and the provinces on how to tackle the IDP crisis. The mindset of Pakistan’s liberal intellectuals in particular is best reflected in this phrase: “It is us or them.” One of these intellectuals, a renowned documentary filmmaker, went so far as to suggest that the FATA IDPs be placed in a big camp to keep other parts of the country “safe” from an increase in criminal activity. Moreover, if those in civil society claiming to be progressive are making such suggestions, what hope can one have for pressure to build on the ruling elite to make an attempt at winning the hearts and minds of the now homeless people of North Waziristan? The only hope lies in the PTI, the party whose political aspirations may be tied to a successful outcome to this crisis. It must bring to bear the full force of its government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, regardless of the support it may or may not receive from the Centre. The PTI must embrace the IDPs as their own and come up with its own plan to integrate them into Pashtun society in the settled areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is no small task but one that is required to be completed if there is to be any semblance of a naya (new) Pakistan in the near future. The writer is an ardent leftist, anti-war activist and a PTI Worker. She tweets @MalaikaSRaza