Daily Times

2014 has not been a happy new year so far. Each day, a new incident of bombing and targeted attack surfaces and the outrage of people gets to multiply manifold. There is no end in sight to this madness and it sure seems like the people have accepted this as a way of life or death. The insanity that has engulfed this nation is beyond any comprehension or explanation. It may sound like I am being a doomsday alarmist but, in my flawed opinion, the state is truly underestimating the power of the other side. True, the state has a trained force and agreed that, as a nation, there is a resolve but it is also true that the other side is far more precise, determined and utterly vicious and ferocious. To say it very bluntly, it is not confused. On the other hand, it has a prowess that it exploits to the hilt, and that is fear — when in need, it has religion.

The other side is labelled as ‘misguided’, ‘miscreants’, ‘menace’, ‘non-Muslims’ and what have you. However, they are far cleverer than the learned and educated ones. The messages that emanate on Twitter from the other side, that it wants to enforce an Islamic system of governance based on sharia resonates well with a large number of Pakistanis. Those who are disgruntled, with their poor economic conditions, buy off on the lullaby that once the proper code of sharia will be enforced by the truly guided Muslims, all will be well in Alice’s wonderland. A large number of young and supposedly educated also subscribe to this fantasy. According to their point of view, it is all because we have been enslaved by the US and their pseudo economic system. We need to be liberated from this evil system. Anyone who dares to disagree or questions this faulty logic is either an Uncle Tom, a slave of the US, its allies or, better yet, a brown sahib. These poor souls are badly in need of a lesson in Economics 101 where they can clearly see that a country is much like an organisation, running on revenues. In case of a country — from its tax paying population.

Now, to all the bright minds running on the high octane of patriotism: if you do not collect enough to pay for your expenses, no matter what begging bowl you intend to break, you will not be able to do so. You may switch the donors to appease your religious sensitivities but the reality will remain unchanged. I am afraid these are the people who put portraits of Mr Jinnah, Mr Iqbal or Mr Imran Khan on their display profile of Twitter, to prove that they have surpassed the patriotism test.

Back to the subject of the enemies; the venues no longer matter. The enemy strikes with vengeance and with clarity. Death is the game that it excels in and death is its ultimate verdict. No matter what, it will rule with either fear or religious fanaticism. The Pakistan air force has made some surgical strikes in enemy territory. This was to avenge the brazen attacks of the enemy on its men in uniform. Until or unless the prime minister, his cabinet, the president and the chief of army staff have a comprehensive strategy for counterterrorism, I am afraid these strikes will do more harm than good. These strikes will evoke a fierce and forceful backlash as the enemy is always after soft targets. It is unfortunate but the entire nation is open territory for its nefarious agenda. Until or unless a decisive air, ground and psychological offensive is going to be launched, with one rock solid resolve of extermination and gaining control, this will only be a short term band aid.

It honestly does not matter what you want to call them, and with what letter of the alphabet you want to describe the acronym of the organisation taking the responsibility of the latest attack. All these organisations belong in the singular and very clear category of ‘the enemies’. If the state lacks the clarity of identifying its enemy and acting with a clear yet decisive strategy against it, then I am afraid to repeat the doomsday scenario of the enemy soon marching triumphantly into the capital. The economic hub of the country is partially under its control and its penetration in the rest of the cities is crystal clear based on its track record.

The armed forces are trained to combat a defined ‘external’ enemy with sovereign borders. This is a totally different scenario, where the enemy is within the territory and it has become so fiercely monstrous that it is hard to identify and harder to pin point. It is high time that the prime minister takes the nation into confidence, provides a clear message and all the armed forces come onto the same page. Time is truly running out. This monstrosity needs to be eradicated completely within months. To beat such an enemy, I am afraid you have to think like the enemy and act like the enemy too. To put it bluntly, you have to be a step ahead of the enemy, to crush it, in its own game.

The writer is a Pakistani-American mortgage banker. He blogs at http://dasghar.blogspot.com and can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar