Tariq Khosa’s Dawn Article Exposes Pakistan’s ‘Deep State’

UN sanctions must be imposed on Pakistan to prevent state sponsorship of terrorism, insists Gurmeet Kanwal.

A staff member displays a bullet hole on the wall of Leopold Cafe, which was one of the targets of the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, November 21, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

Pakistan’s Perfidy Exposed

• In his Dawn article, Tariq Khosa accepted that the attacks were “planned and launched” from Pakistani soil
• The FIA chief’s revelations indicative of the realisation among members of Pakistan’s civil society that hostility with India has yielded no dividends
• The Pakistan army and the ISI must focus on fighting the enemy within, rather than trying to destabilise neighbouring countries

At grave risk to his life, Tariq Khosa, former chief of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), has exposed the ‘deep state’s’ complicity in orchestrating the terror strikes at Mumbai on 26/11 in which 166 innocent people were killed and over 300 were wounded.

In an article that Khosa wrote in Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper published from Karachi, he accepted that the evidence available indicated that the attacks were “planned and launched” from Pakistani soil and that Pakistan must “face the truth and admit mistakes.” He revealed that the “ops room” from where the attacks were launched was in Karachi and admitted that the trials of the seven attackers who have been charged “had lingered on for far too long.”

Besides courage of a high order – Khosa’s expose has put his life at grave risk from the hired assassins of the ISI – on another plane, the FIA chief’s revelations are indicative of the early contours of realisation among members of Pakistan’s civil society that over six decades of hostility with India have yielded no dividends. In fact, there are no positive outcomes at all. The members of Pakistan’s civil society look with envy at India’s success and wish their country – riven by internal instability, fissiparous tendencies, ethnic tensions, radical extremism and a doddering economy – could emulate India’s success.

However, Pakistan’s conflict with India will end only if, and when, a similar realisation dawns on the Pakistan army and the ISI and its limbs – the LeT, the JeM and LeJ – and leads to a change of heart at the strategic level to end the proxy war being waged against India as it is in Pakistan’s interest to do so. This will not happen till the Pakistan army wins its ongoing fight against the TTP and the TNSM. At the moment, that fight is not going too well.

The attack on school children in Peshawar had sparked widespread outrage across Pakistan. A woman holds a placard during a protest against terrorist attack in Peshawar, December 17, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

Zarb-e-Azb’s Pitfalls

At present, the Pakistan army is not truly ready for the nature of sub-conventional warfare that circumstances have forced it to wage in the Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (erstwhile NWFP) and FATA. However, while the army is passing through a rough patch, it is still a good professional army. Its senior leadership has carefully identified the shortfalls in its performance in counter-insurgency operations and has initiated remedial training measures.

In operation Zarb-e-Azb it is gaining valuable experience, even though it is at the cost of a very high casualty rate. The acid test of the army’s present state of training and preparedness for counter-insurgency operations will lie in how long it takes to comprehensively defeat the TTP in North Waziristan.

The attack on school children in Peshawar had sparked large-scale outrage across Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had called it a national tragedy and promised that the fight would go on till the “last terrorist is eliminated.” Army chief General Raheel Sharif had echoed similar sentiments. There is, however, no evidence as yet to suggest that the attack was actually a turning point in Pakistan’s counter-terrorism policy. Sartaj Aziz had said recently that terrorists who do not threaten Pakistan’s security should not be targeted.

Precarious Situation

The precarious situation in Pakistan is headed towards a dangerous denouement. Pakistan cannot survive as a coherent nation-state unless the army gives up its agenda of seeking strategic depth in Afghanistan, its attempts to destabilise India through its proxy war and stops meddling in politics.

Political turmoil, internal instability, a floundering economy and weak institutions make for an explosive mix. Pakistan is not yet a failed state, but the situation that it is confronted with could rapidly degenerate into unfettered disaster. All institutions of the state must stand together for the nation to survive its gravest challenge. The Pakistan army and the ISI must concentrate on fighting the enemy within, rather than frittering away energy and resources on destabilising neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, with Tariq Khosa’s admission of the complicity of organs of the state in launching acts of terrorism in neighbouring countries, United Nations sanctions must be imposed on Pakistan to force it to change its behaviour. At the very least, as a first step, member states of the UN must stop the sale of all weapons and defence equipment to Pakistan forthwith.

(The writer is former Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi)