For the people living in contemporary Pakistan there are no easy days where we can, for a change, shun the horrific memories of the past, forget about the merciless mundane and focus on the future. Each day brings with it the possibility of death and devastation, and while the security situation has significantly improved from the days of the past, the possibility of violence and ensuing grief still remains. As such then, the country remains in a state of siege at large, driven by fear and insecurity where the wicked exploit the vulnerabilities of a failing system and a dejected public to ensure that the nation can never utter a collective sigh of relief.
The security risk associated with life in the Islamic Republic was cruelly brought to everyone’s attention when the Punjab home minister, Colonel (r) Shuja Khanzada, was killed in an attack along with 18 other people in Attock some days ago. As per the initial reports, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gathering where the late minister was in attendance. The blasts caused the roof of the building to collapse, thereby trapping everyone beneath the weight of the rubble, and it took hours of effort by the rescuers to recover the bodies of the deceased. The minister was present at the occasion to mourn the loss of another relative who had passed on but little did he know that the same spot would gather mourners grieving over his own death as well.
Like a soldier on the frontline, the retired colonel was a fearless man in a fearful land. He had been instrumental in organising the province’s drive against militant organisations, and his services to the cause will be remembered for a long time to come. An army man through and through, Khanzada was actively and indiscriminately bringing the perpetrators of violence to justice. Besides overseeing security raids and targeted operations that had resulted in a noticeable drop in incidents of terrorism in urban Punjab, he had also initiated steps to curb hate speech, and was just getting started on his mission to bring unregistered seminaries under state regulation when he departed.
It is unclear right now as to who will take the spot of the fallen minister and whether the same resolve in fighting the hydra-headed monster of terrorism will continue. The void left is a significant one and only a daring man like the martyred colonel will do. In light of the reported tussle for supremacy between the late Khanzada and Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab law minister, it is likely that the latter will be tipped for the post. However, keeping in mind the law minister’s chequered past, not to mention last year’s fiasco in Model Town, Lahore that claimed 14 innocent lives, we would all be well-advised to keep our gazes low and our expectations even lower from the likely replacement.
The attack in Attock also hints at a shift in the nature of militancy in the province. Previously, members of political parties such as the ANP and PPP had been targeted during their electoral campaigns before the 2013 elections but Punjabi parties, particularly PML-N, had largely avoided the wrath of the militants, presumably because of the cozy space shared by the parties and shady organisations in certain parts of the province.
Shuja Khanzada, however, disrupted this status quo when the Punjab security apparatus, under his command, started going after culprits that were considered to be above the law, as was evident in the ‘encounter’ in which the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) supremo, Malik Ishaq, was killed. There is speculation that the minister’s death was retaliation for the death of the LeJ leader and it remains unclear what the future of Punjab with regards to security would look like.
On the one hand, the perpetrators of evil have managed to get their message heard on a national platform, therefore leading some to believe that the militants might go under one more time but historical patterns suggest otherwise. The impunity with which militant organisations can go after high-ranking targets is not lost on anyone, least of all the militants themselves, and if public security is not given paramount importance, preventing such future attacks will be difficult.
The current civilian leadership is stuck in a unique dilemma of unmatched proportions. Renouncing the past and ensuring a clean break is loath to many of the elected representatives who have made concessions towards the cause of extremists in the past, and if law and order is to be maintained at an acceptable level then that would mean effectively handing over the reigns of the country to the soldiers, a threatening possibility that surely does keep (some) politicians up at night. Pakistan is already seeing its military play an increasingly larger role in maintaining domestic law and order, and in the absence of capacity-building measures that empower the local law enforcement agencies, fighting militancy is going to be a tall order.
Which is why we find ourselves on another critical fork in the road to the future. Making the right choice and taking the correct path seems difficult right now but we have to believe that it will pay off in the long run. The loss of Colonel Khanzada is truly a massive blow both at the public and personal level but the struggle against terrorism has to be kept alive, out of respect for all those that have laid down their lives, if nothing else. Horrific incidents such as this attack surely leave their mark but the troops must once again be assembled to fight other battles. The deceased minister was fighting for a worthy cause and if we are to envision a future beyond the current times, it is imperative that his struggle be kept alive in our memories as well as in our policies.
The author is a freelance columnist with degrees in political science and international relations