Polls & Violence

While these lines are being written, nearly 20 people have lost their lives and scores of others injured in attacks on election rallies in Khyber PK and Balochistan. A few days back, an MQM candidate was gunned down in Karachi.

Taliban claim the responsibility of these attacks and further threaten to carry on the killing spree. Awami National Party (ANP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) are particularly on the hit list of Taliban and other terrorist outfits.

Except for Punjab, where, fortunately, no such incident has taken place, the political parties in rest of the Pakistan are in a quagmire about continuing their election campaigns vigorously. There is a tangible proof, according to the security agencies, that magnitude and scale of violence will increase in the days to come. So grave is the threat to ANP that the party has decided not to allow its chief Asfandyar Wali Khan to lead the campaign. The party claims that a conspiracy is afoot to keep the liberal forces out of the electoral fray.

The fresh wave of pre-poll violence has further added to the uncertainty whether the elections will be held or not. While the mainstream political parties have been expressing similar apprehensions on this count and pointing to ‘saboteurs’ with an agenda to throw spanners in the works, their attention was less focused on threat posed by Taliban to the electoral process. From Taliban’s perspective, the election season presents them with ‘an opportunity to take on the soft targets’.

There are credible intelligence reports that terrorist elements can target the political leadership of the country. Given these circumstances, we won’t be able to see the kind of electioneering that has been a part and parcel of our political culture.

That vividly manifests the reason behind the increasing reliance of political parties on electronic and social media to convey their manifestos to the people thereby changing the tone and tenor of electioneering in Pakistan.

Understanding the dynamics of violence is a key to crafting a strategy to stem this tide and make arrangements for peaceful elections. To combat this menace, vision, understanding and political consensus within all elements of national opinion is imperative. The following suggestions may be helpful in this regard:

It’s for the first time in the country that smooth transition of power is in the offing as a democratically-elected government completed its mandatory tenure. Given the increased access of masses to information and emergence of new centres of power including powerful and assertive Supreme Court and an independent Election Commission of Pakistan, the elections are expected to be driven by new dynamics, contrary to traditional pattern of voting based on biradri and linguistic lines. The voters now have a chance to give the final verdict on the performance of political parties that ruled the roost in the previous regime in conformity with the best parliamentary practices and norms.

 The terrorists’ ire at the political forces and figures emanates from their total disregard for electoral process that is the essence of  democracy. They believe elections to be an un-Islamic exercise, which, in their view, doesn’t conform to their understanding and interpretation of Islam. The question whether democracy is a western concept or an Islamic construct has been subject to incessant debates but still remains inconclusive. Hence, the Taliban and other extremist groups have launched all-out efforts to demolish the democratic system through violence targeting political parties and institutions.

There is a consensus among political commentators that the major rationale of these terrorists and extremists, who are involved in an all-out war against the State of Pakistan and its civil society, is their narrow-minded, bigoted and conservative agenda and value system. By targeting the state symbols, institutions and security forces, they seek to dilute the state’s sovereignty and challenge its writ.

Violence injected by the terrorist forces and the Taliban in the body politic of Pakistan is not a fleeting phenomenon. It is absolutely unrealistic to assume that it will ebb away with the US and ISAF drawdown from Afghanistan. This pro-violence ideology is at the heart of mushroom growth of this scourge. The drawdown of the US forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 will provide Pakistan with a breathing space to engage the terrorist groups into dialogue under a different context but the problem is likely to linger on for quite some time.

Ad hoc approach to counter the menace of terrorism and violence will not work. The next government that will come into power following May 2013 elections will have to work out holistic strategy that addresses all aspects of the malaise. Equipped with public backing in form of fresh mandate, it will be better positioned to forge a national consensus among all elements of national power. It also involves putting in place a legal framework capable of meting out exemplary punishments to those involved in heinous acts of violence and terror. Importantly, to eliminate the roots of terror, investment in education sector and policy focus on Madrassah reforms is indispensable.