KARACHI, Jan 21: A cross-section of government officials, senior law-enforcement officers, security analysts and other observers gathered in the city on Wednesday to discuss the background, current status and future of terrorism, both in the international and Pakistani contexts, as part of Dawn’s anti-terrorism and disaster management conference.
A two-day anti-terrorism and disaster management expo will also be held from Thursday at Pearl Continental. The exhibition will showcase the latest security and anti-terrorism technology and innovations.
The conference featured different views on how terrorism reached its present amorphous and ever-growing proportions, while some speakers offered grim analyses for the future, saying that like it or not, terrorism was here to stay.
The first session was chaired by Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza while Tauqeer Muhajir moderated. Hameed Haroon, CEO of Pakistan Herald Publications, presented the welcome address.
Dr Mirza recalled that Pakistan had been suffering from the fallout of the Afghan ‘Jihad’ against the Soviets and that his party, the Pakistan People’s Party, had itself been a victim of terrorism, most notably with the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
He said that a Rs1 billion video surveillance system was being installed in Karachi to “intelligently monitor” suspicious elements, adding that “conventional policing was no longer relevant.” The home minister observed that the past three years had been particularly bad, as jihadi groups inspired by Al Qaeda had unleashed an orchestrated terror campaign.
Dr Mirza said the situation was so bad that Pakistan now had the third highest number of suicide bombings in the world after Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) had become a centre for the planning and execution of terrorist activities.
He observed that there would be a repeat of last year’s Marriott bombing if no combined efforts to battle terror were made. “The international community must help Islamabad counter terrorism. Enlightened western leaders must engage with mainstream Muslim leaders,” he said.
‘Franchising of terror’
Sindh IGP Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak, who co-chaired the session, said “there were various definitions of terrorism, depending on which side of the fence you are standing on.” He said terrorism had transcended borders and that now, larger groups were offering moral and operational support to like-minded outfits, a situation he termed “the franchising of terrorism.”
The IG said that countering terror financing was a major issue for law-enforcers, adding that radical elements had access to sophisticated weapons and technological know-how. He also said that “collateral damage” created increased sympathy for terrorists with the general public.
Peter Enzer, a former member of the British armed forces and CEO of a security company, spoke about what was fuelling terrorism and where it was headed. He linked terrorism with extremism and militancy and said its most broad definition could be the change of the political, social or economic structure through violence.
He said the term covered a vast range of events and actions as the Spanish Inquisition, 1857’s Indian ‘Mutiny,’ the de-colonisation of Asian and African states in the 1950s and ’60s and the related revolutionary movements, the pro-life anti-abortion lobby as well as animal rights activists all had elements of terrorism.
‘Disillusioned generation’
“What has changed is the role of the media … what the world hears about. The media has opened a huge opportunity for extremist elements to further their cause at minimum cost,” he observed. He added that despair amongst the young as well as in middle-aged people, along with the current global economic recession, would create a “disillusioned generation,” which would provide more recruits for radical outfits.
Mr Enzer said that whereas in the past militants fought the state, now civilians were fair game as the more horrific the incident, the more publicity it would generate for terrorist groups. “We’ve become extremely immune to horrific incidents.”
He said the recent Mumbai carnage, orchestrated by reportedly 10 to 12 assailants, had forced the whole Indian state to take a hard look at itself.
As for the security situation in Pakistan, he said a turbulent political climate was forecast for the next 15-20 years, while the wave of religiously-inspired terror would not abate for another two to three generations. “The phenomenon of terrorism is here to stay for the near future. Crime will increase as labour costs increase and the economy can’t soak up young people and employ them.”
‘The epicentre of terror’
In the presentation that drew the strongest reactions, Dr Rohan Gunaratna of the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, quite frankly said that “Fata had become the epicentre of terrorism” as around 50 foreign and domestic extremist outfits had established themselves in Pakistan’s north-west.
He said after the fall of the Taliban following the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, radical elements had fled to Pakistan and Iran, while some terrorist leaders had established themselves in Karachi. “Initially Pakistani leaders were either ignorant or in denial. The Pakistani state has lost its writ in the tribal belt. It needs to re-establish control over Fata, or terror shall increase.”
Dr Gunaratna said what he was saying was “painful,” adding that Pakistan had become a victim of the geopolitical situation, as it had lost control of its protégés, the Taliban. He said that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (Raw) had also supported various terror groups in the region, including the LTTE, which was trained in various Indian states. However, the Tigers turned on their masters as it was a female LTTE suicide bomber that assassinated former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The second session of the conference was chaired by retired Lt-Gen Farooq Ahmad Khan, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, while DIG Headquarters Saud Ahmed Mirza was the co-chair.
Gen Khan said that Pakistan was only “half prepared” to deal with disasters, natural or man-made, and that the government was in the process of thrashing out several contingency plans. He was critical of the fact that district disaster management bodies had not been formed and said that the early warning system was “pathetic.” He said two of the major obstacles in proper disaster management were the fact that there was no consistent political support or commitment, along with there being no trained human resources.
Saud Mirza discussed the post-9/11 situation vis-à-vis terrorism in Sindh. He cited several examples of terrorist incidents from the 1970s and ’80s, including the Polish deputy foreign minister Zygfryd Wolniak’s assassination at Karachi airport in 1970, Abu Nidal’s hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 also at Karachi airport in 1986, the Bohri Bazaar bombings – suspected to be the handiwork of the KGB and Khad, the former Afghan secret agency – among other incidents.
However, he said the first significant Al Qaeda operation in Karachi was 2002’s Daniel Pearl incident, while the arrest of Ramzi Binalshibh, an operative of the trans-national militant network, also in 2002, from Defence was a major achievement. Mr Mirza said terrorists had graduated from sectarian killings to suicide bombings and that militants had also become involved in bank robberies and other criminal activities in the city.
He suggested that a national strategy, incorporating the economic and political aspects, should be employed while a “de-radicalization” programme along the lines of similar projects in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Indonesia should be initiated to stem the tide of terror.
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