What did Shuja Khanzada die for?

As the dust settles down in Shadi Khan Village and the entire country mourns the martyrdom of another brave son, Pakistan seems to be coming back to the new normal.
Col Shuja Khanzada was one of the bravest MPs the Punjab Assembly has ever produced and may be the last home minister with guts and courage. This great cavalry officer had a record of glorious undertakings, starting from earning a well-deserved Sitara-e-Basalat to taking out terrorists in Punjab, like Malik Ishaq.
The mood in Punjab, and generally in Pakistan’s political power corridors, appears to be back to normal. After traditional condemnations and show of resolve to uproot terror, Islamabad was, probably, more worried on the outcome of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s sojourn to Nine Zero than dealing with the aftermath of assassination of Col Shuja Khanzada.
Terrorism is quite universal and post-9/11 it has affected every nook and corner of the world. However, Pakistan’s is a unique case where terrorism has become an accepted part of the new normal, and that is the most worrying phenomenon affecting the psychosocial landscape of the country – from Khyber to Karachi and from Taftan to Lahore.
Let’s look at some developed and not-so-developed countries and learn the basics of their counterterrorism policies and strategies.
9/11 brought epoch-making changes in the US. The executive, legislature and judiciary joined hands to develop policies and strategies to put up effective firewalls against all type of terror. No wonder the US has not seen another 9/11 and, barring a few isolated attacks by individuals and splinter groups, Continental US has been spared the discomfort of terror till today.
India created or supported its own 9/11 through the Mumbai attacks and came up with an effective strategy to avert another Mumbai. The last decade has witnessed a drastic reduction in terror attacks and India has been able to sell itself as a safe venue for investment and sports. The IPL is one example which has showcased India as the cricket hub of the globe.
Sri Lanka is another example of a developing country that has shown political resolve to eliminate terror. Interestingly, the Sri Lankan anti-terror campaign was run by an apparatus that was built by the active training support of Pakistani military.
Pakistan has been on the frontline of the war against terror even before 9/11. However, Operation Zarb-e-Azb and the APS Peshawar tragedy forced the political leadership to show some resolve in form of the National Action Plan. Despite the loss of thousands of brave sons and daughters, the political leadership seems reluctant to take the challenge of terror head on; people like Shuja Khanzada are a rarity in the motley crowd of our MPAs and MNAs.
I have tried to analyse the shortfalls in our counterterrorism policy and present a list of areas needing further deliberation.
The legislature has displayed limited ability to fathom the reality of the war on terror and need for special legislation. If our political system was robust and forward-looking, why could it not foresee the need for something like the National Action Plan before the APS Peshawar tragedy?
There is heavy reliance on the defence establishment for policy input on security. Despite tall claims of custodianship of policy formulation, the political leadership took more than five years to come up with the first ever National Internal Security Policy in 2014, with major input from the military establishment.
There is an hierarchical structure and lethargic chain of strategic decision-making. That results in loss of time and heeding too much to legal niceties of courts, NGOs and pressure groups. The Thar drought and death of poor malnourished children, and the Karachi water crisis have shown political ineptness, poor and lethargic response and apathy to human misery – all in the name of democracy.
Turf wars and political power play. The recent past is witness to the fact that political turf wars are badly affecting the security situation in the country. Even formulation of NAP and its operationalisation were a big challenge with procedural minefields that needed to be negotiated.
Both polity and economy have been criminalised. Although it is not a new phenomenon, criminalisation of polity and economy has touched new heights and created new power structures which have entrenched themselves into the civil bureaucracy through a system of patronage and corruption. There is apparent collaboration between militant wings, qabza groups, bhatta mafias, some political parties, NGOs and even terrorist networks. This state of strategic anarchy has allowed foreign and hostile powers to undermine the security of Pakistan. Karachi and Balochistan are good examples of that.
Whereas the political leadership has shown full support for Operation Zarb-e-Azb and the National Action Plan, there have been serious gaps in the implementation of the agreed framework. The current state of affairs of the Rangers operation in Karachi is a case in point where the provincial government and the MQM have openly shown their discomfort with the operation. Similarly, the Punjab government has not truly embraced zero tolerance against proscribed organisations. Apparently these organisations continue to function under changed names.
While we pray for the departed souls of Col Shuja Khanzada Shaheed and so many more who lost their lives defending the future of our next generations, there is one big question for the politicos: did Shuja Khanzada lose his life for nothing?
The writer is a defence analyst based at Lahore. Email: waqarkauravi@gmail.com