Abdul Salam
The government of Pakistan has tried to combat the menace of terrorism mainly on two grounds. It adopted a two-pronged policy for this purpose; the “Kinetic approach” and “Bottom-up approach”. When our army takes offensive and aggressive steps to eliminate terror groups and their allies, it is known as a Kinetic approach. On the other side, in simple and clear words, making Lashkars fight with the terror groups is known as the Bottom-up approach. Now, the question is whether the policy of arming civilians for counterinsurgency is the right approach. To answer this question, we will look at the history of government-made militias. When the Soviet Union took control of our neighbour country, Afghanistan, in 1979, the Pakistani government, under the leadership of late General Zia-ul-Haq supported militias. The government equipped and trained the militias against the Soviet Union. Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan vigorously trained guerillas. Between 1983 to 1987 alone, the ISI trained some 80,000 guerillas. They fought well, but after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Afghanistan, a civil war took place among the different groups of militias. And to end the civil war, the Taliban rose with the support of Pakistan. Later, the Pakistani government also made private militias with the help of tribal chieftains in the tribal areas. Forming militias took place mainly in Mohmand, Khyber, and Bajaur agencies. The government armed these militias against the Taliban fighters. Most of them fought, following the order of their chieftains without having any fighting skills. The well-trained and better-equipped militants caused great casualties to the government-backed private militias. Being unwatched directly by the government, some went astray. They became a headache for the government of Pakistan. One example is the defunct Lashkar-i-Islam of Mangal Bagh, in Khyber Agency. At the start, the government supported and patronised Mangal Bagh against Munir, a Khassadar official in Kurram Scouts, who created mischief in the Qamarkhel area of Khyber. However, later Mangal Bagh used weapons against his patron, the government of Pakistan. Moreover, if we look at the Bottom-up approach from a legal perspective, it is forbidden in the constitution of 1973 to make private militias. PPC is also not in favour of these Lashkars. Arming civilians is a violation of article 256 of the Pakistani constitution. Article 256 states, “Private armies forbidden. – No private organisation capable of functioning as a military organization shall be formed, and any such organisation shall be illegal.” Keeping in view sections 171, 21, and 141 of the Pakistan Penal Code arming civilians and forming anti-Taliban militias, prime facie, contradicts the code. Though for some lawyers law is for routine crimes, but seeking a lesson from the chapters of history we as a Pakistani nation, can’t repeat the blunder of arming civilians. It looks that this time the policy is the same, i.e. to arm civilians against the brutal arrival of TTP but it should be changed. The protest in North Waziristan, a month ago, and the protest in Swat, a week ago are testimony to this policy. In North Waziristan, target killers gunned down a member of JUI, Qari Sami-ud-din and in reaction to that, people protested at least for thirty days in a large numbers headed by a chieftain, Malik Rabnawaz. They raised slogans against the target killers and questioned the performance of the security agencies. “If the government can’t stop the target killers; armed us, we’ll stop them”, this was the statement given by the head of the protesters. Almost a week ago, the people in Swat protested as a reaction to the attack on a school bus and demanded peace from the security agencies in their area. Here, in the protest, we listened to almost a similar statement to that of the chieftain in North Waziristan, “leave us; we can protect our Swat”. These statements are the results of the situation created there. Citizens are left with no option besides making militias. Keeping the citizens safe is the government’s responsibility. To arm civilian was a blunder, is a blunder, and will be a blunder. Arming civilians is like a double-edged sword. It can work as a counterinsurgency, but it can also lead to a civil war.
