The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has once again launched a new and more ‘comprehensive’ strategy to fight militancy. It is being lauded as the way forward as Nato forces plan their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The new strategy calls for coordination of all the state departments to work out a multi-faceted plan, including dialogue with the militants, to re-establish government’s writ and reclaim peace and stability in the region. It also partially rejects the use of force to root out militancy and suggests involvement of all the stakeholders in the process to regain permanent peace.

However, does the new strategy go deep enough? And does it inspire confidence among the various stakeholders?

Initial response from the stakeholders to this plan says the answer to both the questions is ‘no’. When Afzal Khan Lala, veteran nationalist leader and convener of the Loya Jirga to be held on May 29th and 30th was contacted, he dismissed the plan as not being particularly radical.

“The new counterterrorism plan is not new. This has been the policy of the government since it has come into power, i.e. to bring Taliban to a negotiating table and resolve the issue of militancy through a meaningful dialogue on the condition that they lay down their arms,” explained Khan Lala.

Another tribal leader from Khyber Agency took an ever more drastic stance. Pleading anonymity, he termed the strategy a mockery of the issue. “This is just another joke by the KP government. Militants have killed so many peace initiators but the government never acted like it was affected or bothered by this. Government comes and holds talks with the Taliban in Waziristan but then they always go back and nothing happens,” he lamented.

“I think tribal elders should be given a powerful position in the whole process otherwise it will remain nothing more than a joke,” was his suggestion.

Part of the debate, it seems, is also on the forum of dialogue. Jirgas have been one medium of choice as a forum that Pathans have historically used to resolve conflicts and voice opinions on local and international matters.

Khan Lala, for example, explained that his aim in the upcoming Loya Jirga is to confront world superpowers about their actions, “Pashtuns have offered and continue to offer sacrifices of innocent people for nothing. For how long do they have to bear having no rights, no education, poverty, hunger and ignorance? Let the new plan have another shot,” said Khan Lala.

So when it comes to the aspect of dialogue in the new plan, some experts lay stress on constituting a representative Pashtun Jirga to be the forum in the months ahead.

According to Prof. Dr. Rajwali Shah Khattak, Dean, Faculty of Oriental Languages, University of Peshawar, a Jirga fits the Pashtun culture and approach towards conflict resolution.

Prof. Khattak explained, “People don’t realize the important role of a Jirga in holding dialogue or settling an issue or dispute for Pashtun. When a Jirga is convened on an issue, the issue is discussed in detail to identify the divergent and convergent factors; the warring factions are approached, a third party acts as an arbitrator, which can be the UN in this case, and a decision is taken with the approval of all sides. And if the government adopts this method I strongly believe that militancy can be tackled.”

But Salim Raz, a renowned writer and chairman World Pashto Conference, has a different opinion on the matter. For him, the new strategy is not good enough because the issue of extremism has not been diagnosed properly.

“We don’t know who is serving whose interests. Unless enemies are identified, how can we know who to hold dialogue with? The purpose of war on terror is not known to us. And I don’t understand how the government can initiate any such new plan of approaching militants for dialogue without the consent of big power players?” said Mr. Raz putting his finger on the very basic problems that have hampered any attempts to reach a compromise since the beginning of this ‘war on terror’.

But moving beyond political and strategic issues, in a quest to understand what it is that makes the Pashtun people susceptible to militancy, many have decided to look within.

Senior Journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai maintained that Pashtuns should not be in denial and should admit that they have some serious character flaws.

“The fact is that suicide bombers are Pashtuns, Muslims and Pakistanis. We are targeting our own soldiers and our own people.

So we ourselves need to bring such people back on the right track. No one from outside will come to solve our issues,” said Mr. Rahim.

Artist Jamal Shah agreed and suggested that we should explore intelligent and engaging ways of reflecting upon the phenomenon of intolerance and motivate society against its consequences.

Our youth need to be taught to respect diversity, freedom of expression, creative and critical thinking and be sensitised to gender difference and made aware of their culture.

“It doesn’t matter if the plan is new or old, but we should have clear, focused and comprehensive goals. I believe that reinventing our indigenous culture can lead us towards dialogue. Any plan can achieve success if is followed through with sincerity,” Mr. Jamal maintained.

Such a positive approach is much needed. The people are hungry for peace and stability, but lack of progress puts doubt in any hopes that they may have from this latest strategy.