THE noise created by the dramatic TV images of the protest by Imran Khan’s PTI and Shaikh Rashid’s AML in and around the capital pushed off the news agenda a startling disclosure by a former senior officer of the army which would normally have made headlines.

Whether this was a security breach or otherwise I cannot say as nobody in a position of authority described it as such. Since no offence was taken by anybody at this bit of particular news, it was allowed to disappear unnoticed amidst other more noisy events.

In addition to the political protesters calling for the accountability of those named in the Panama Papers leak, most notably the Sharifs of the governing PML-N, another headline-grabbing story was the Supreme Court decision to admit for hearing a number of petitions seeking the prime minister’s disqualification for alleged involvement in the same case.

Now of course the focus of news organisations and journalists will remain firmly on the case and the various twists and turns it takes, and rightly so, as it might determine the fate of the incumbent prime minister.

So, I wonder if many readers are even aware of the story broken by the retired general. Let me share the details with you. Just google Lt-Gen Amjad Shoaib and you will learn he was a general who served the country and the corporate sector with considerable distinction.

Such labels are silly and non-productive. All our hearts beat for our country.

Having served in key command and staff appointments in the army including GHQ, the good general then went on to serve Fauji Fertiliser as chief executive before acquiring immense business acumen and has been associated successfully with some top guns in construction/ land development.

He is said to have intelligence experience so when he speaks as an analyst I, for one, pay attention. The past few weeks have been no different. Discussing the Dawn story on a TV programme, he described it as a deliberate leak by the government that reinforced the point of view of Pakistan’s enemies.

This was mere opinion, unless he had evidence to level such a serious allegation against an elected government, but what he said next fell squarely in the national security breach category and made me sit up with a start. He informed the host that seven months back the DG ISI had written to the government, outlining a plan to mainstream the jihadis in the country.

He also went on to disclose another secret: that the DG ISI had also proposed that all the fanatical jihadi militants who would not agree to be part of the mainstream be recruited into the security apparatus after being ‘deradicalised’ so they could continue to make a living.

You can say no matter how hare-brained the idea of absorbing jihadis in the security set-up, it was a well-intentioned one given that the general reportedly proposing it to the government and the one disclosing it excitedly on television have unquestionable credentials of service to the country. They may have assessed they don’t have what it takes to take on this monster so are proposing a route other than confrontation.

During the TV appearance, the former military man disclosing it did not ponder for a moment that the whole idea is predicated on the success of a possible deradicalisation programme that several thousand jihadis will have to be put through and is replete with risks such as infiltration of the security forces by extremists who are prepared, for a bit, to happily pass off as ‘deradicalised’.

Who will guarantee their conduct in the long term, considering what we know of jihadis’ infiltration in the ranks of the security forces and whose hand was found in at least two assassination attempts on the former army chief Pervez Musharraf as also other incidents.

One really wishes this disclosure was backed by evidence of the success of such a deradicalisation programme in other Muslim countries so one could assess its pros and cons a bit more rigorously.

However, there can’t be a problem if people who have not been involved in any criminal act or are not wanted in any cases are mainstreamed and eventually compete for public votes for their longevity alongside other political entities.

Even here there can be no ‘insertion’, under the cloak of mainstreaming of militants identified as not hostile to our forces, into areas where state policies have created centrifugal tendencies. This cannot be stressed enough.

Just look at Fata, Balochistan and several other such examples. Whenever state functions have been devolved to non-state actors disasters have followed. The defence forces have valiantly fought the TTP in Fata but the security agencies are still struggling to contain Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in Balochistan and other parts of the country.

I will question the wisdom of the proposals as disclosed by Lt-Gen Amjad Shoaib but never for a moment question the patriotism of their authors or even advocates. Others among us have long conveniently labelled as ‘traitors’ those they disagree with. It is time we abandoned such temptations. Such labels are silly and non-productive.

All our hearts beat for our country and even though our analysis of issues such as terrorism may lead us to divergent conclusions and our approaches to problem-solving may differ, we have had enough of this traitor nonsense.

PS: A Facebook reminder on Nov 3 told me it was my friend and journalist Saleem Shahzad’s birthday. I didn’t need a reminder that his murderers are still at large and in all probability enjoying life and their families. Saleem Shahzad’s family, including a special child, are still looking for answers.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn November 5th, 2016