After a successful operation at Manawan, Pakistani security forces cleared out the terrorists, capturing five terrorists alive, who will no doubt prove useful in the investigations that follow. The interior adviser, Mr Rehman Malik, has named Baitullah Mehsud, “amir” of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan, (TTP) as the planner and executioner of the terrorist operation, although the speculative reference to a “foreign hand” stays on the table “to be on the safe side”. Mehsud has claimed responsibility for the Manawan attack, and threatened to carry out similar operations in the future. The fact is that Pakistan’s enemy number one is the TTP, which commands the chaos-making activities of the Taliban in the tribal areas and Swat and is now expanding its activity to Punjab and the southern region, including Karachi.A measure of confusion has thus been removed and Pakistan will now be more determined to act in an organised manner against the spread of terrorist activity in the country. The United States too has only recently recognised that TTP is a part of the Al Qaeda and Taliban threat by putting a price on Baitullah Mehsud’s head. Earlier, it made a distinction between Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban and complained that Pakistan was concentrating on the latter while winking at (or even helping in) the terrorist activity of the former in Afghanistan. What Pakistan has to do now is to complete the mental revision on some aspects of terrorism to bring cohesion to its anti-terrorist response.Talking to the TV channels on Monday, Brigadier (Retd) Mehmood Shah, an expert on terrorism in the tribal areas, said clearly that the official Pakistani mind was still reluctant to connect the TTP and the country’s various jihadi organisations with Al Qaeda, and thus gave itself room to speculate about such matters as terrorist funding through which it usually arrived at the “guesstimate” about the “foreign hand” which usually implies India and even the United States. For good measure, at times even Israel is named by experts on TV, adding to more confusion than objective analysis. This in turn has resulted in the local authorities ignoring warnings that a terrorist attack is imminent, as happened twice in one month in Lahore, in respect of the attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team and the raid at Manawan. In the first attack, the TTP had only to plant the “information” that the terrorists were going to come from India.A misanalysis of the source of terrorism has led to misunderstandings between Pakistan and the West which, led by the United States, is now expressing doubts about the handling of the situation by the ISI. From the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, down to the CENTCOM chief General Petraeus and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, all have now expressed fears that the ISI could actually be supporting the Afghan Taliban in their terrorist attacks into Afghanistan. The trend, allegedly based on telephonic intercepts, actually began under the Bush Administration when, during President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Washington, the “complaint” was made to the Pakistani delegation.Pakistan’s military strategy is based on its threat perception from India, both from the eastern as well as the western border of the country. This perception compels Pakistan to look at the ongoing developments in Afghanistan as being against its national interest. Therefore there is need on both sides to make revisions and adjustments in the anti-terrorist strategy, failing which there will be adverse consequences for the region. On the other hand, Pakistan needs to realise that a regional consensus developing among Pakistan’s neighbours is bound to isolate and harm it in the coming days if it does not revisit its strategy and make adjustments.The foremost threat is internal and it comes directly from the Taliban-Al Qaeda combine, as proved by the incident at Manawan. The Pakistani mind should now be concentrated on the removal of this internal threat. Crucial international economic assistance to Pakistan is growing in these days of global crisis in the anticipation that a common regional approach to terrorism will be evolved that will include Pakistan. Hopefully Pakistan will steer skilfully through this process to preserve its self-interest. * Normalising politics in Punjab Talking to The Wall Street Journal, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) chief Mr Nawaz Sharif said on Monday: “The country cannot afford politics of confrontation, and no party can meet the tough challenges confronting the nation on its own”. He added: “Now, since the reconciliation efforts have been started, we are ready to establish a working relationship with the government”. Contrary to the loud complaints registered by his second-echelon party leaders, Mr Sharif appeared more “trustful” about the eventual repeal of the 17th Amendment and said that he could wait till it was finally removed through the parliament.No one will be able to hide his relief at the above statement. Immediately after the presidential “recommendation” about the removal of Governor’s Rule in Punjab, PMLN leaders had restarted what can be called the “rhetoric of mistrust”, bitterly complaining about “things not said” in the presidential address to the joint session of the parliament. Led by Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab law minister, words like “makkaari” were used to explain why the PPP government had not waited till the Supreme Court verdict on the eligibility of the Sharif brothers before lifting Governor’s Rule. Not long after, the Governor Punjab did just the opposite of what Rana Sahib had feared: he called the Punjab assembly session on Wednesday, thus giving enough time for the Supreme Court process to complete itself.Now that Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif will be back at the helm of affairs in Punjab, the PMLN firebrand leaders should follow the more sedate style of their leader Mr Nawaz Sharif who realises that his party has become an important player and that he himself is becoming most popular in the country. In the days to come, not only “trust” but cooperation will be required on the part of both the mainstream parties. Mr Sharif has already pledged that in view of the common threat of terrorism faced by them as the future rulers of Pakistan. The stark fact is that the country is fast becoming ungovernable given the way its politicians are pulling in different directions. Politics in Pakistan needs “normalisation” before Pakistan can behave “normally” as a state.One last point. The earlier judgement of the SC against the Sharifs was correct in law but unacceptable politically. The new one granting “stay” seems incorrect in law but is the need of the hour politically. Thus politics has once again triumphed over law, this time for a good cause. *