EDITORIAL: THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Opportunity in Khyber

THE scourge of Khyber Agency, tormentor of Peshawar and leader of the Laskhar-i-Islam, Mangal Bagh, has found himself in a fight for survival. Members of the Zakakhel tribe, a sub-tribe of the Afridis, and known their tribal fierceness have turned on Mangal Bagh and sent him on the run from the Zakakhel area of the Khyber Agency. As the fighting has spread, military helicopters have entered the fray, pounding Mangal Bagh’s strongholds in the hope perhaps of regaining control of parts of Khyber Agency. As ever, in the murky world of Fata dynamics, some background is necessary. Despite occasional claims about ‘gains’ and ‘successes’ by the state, Khyber Agency remains a serious problem. Away from the present fighting, the Bara area, from where Mangal Bagh’s cohorts have been ‘evicted’ by security forces, has been under a curfew for a year and a half, the state apparently believing in containing a problem rather than trying and fixing it. Mangal Bagh and his organisation — named the Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) but really just a group of criminals and thugs who have cloaked themselves in the veneer of Islam — continue to remain a serious threat in Khyber and beyond, having the capability to cause trouble in Peshawar and the adjoining Orakzai Agency via Tirah.

The Zakakhels, while presently fighting Mangal Bagh, are no paragons of virtue, either. Many of the commanders who have risen against Bagh in recent days were only too happy to form common cause with Bagh and offer him shelter when he was ousted from the Bara area. Age-old reasons applied. Commanders like Ghuncha Gul were involved in kidnapping and other crimes and benefited from the association with the LI, which remained a formidable entity despite being under pressure from the security forces. But there is little honour among thieves (and worse), at least in the Khyber agency at the moment. Rivalries and enmities spilled over, pitting factions of the Lashkar-i-Islam against each other. When a prominent cleric respected by the Zakakhel tribe, Maulana Mohammad Hashim, was kidnapped and killed in March, apparently by fighters loyal to Mangal Bagh, the Zakakhel tribe rose in revolt against its temporary and previously convenient ally. The cleric is believed to have earned the ire of Mangal Bagh after trying to mediate in a dispute between the LI factions.

Now, if the state plays its cards right by supporting the Zakakhels and putting pressure on LI in other parts of Khyber, there is a chance to eradicate a menace. But tribal dynamics are tricky and if not handled properly, Mangal Bagh and the LI may yet live to torment parts of Fata.

Acting in haste

THE folly of haste appeared to be on full display the other day when the Maldives authorities released, for want of evidence, a man branded as a terrorist by both Islamabad and Interpol. A plot to attack cricket World Cup matches had been foiled, we were told by the interior minister, in a tone that bordered on the grandiose. The Interpol secretary general seemed equally confident that his organisation, in conjunction with intelligence shared by Pakistan, had got its man. The Maldives courts believed otherwise though and with the benefit of hindsight it seems that both Interpol and Pakistan’s interior ministry sensationalised an issue that would have been more prudently investigated behind the scenes. Panic was created, on grounds that can clearly be questioned now, and in the end there was little or no material gain from issuing statements that were bound to come under the media spotlight. Headlines were made, true, but to what effect?

Terror plots must be foiled, and that end can obviously best be achieved before militants bent on mayhem actually arrive on the scene. Their activities need to be tracked and that requires improved intelligence-gathering. Equally important in this respect is intelligence-sharing, be it with Interpol, the CIA or any other foreign agency. The common goal is clear: only by working together can we thwart the designs of people who desire creating fear not just in any one country but across the world. First and foremost, the mistrust between international intelligence agencies must end. Two, as stated earlier, the authorities in Pakistan and elsewhere must refrain from making their information public unless they are absolutely certain the case is solid. Back-patting of the kind seen recently between Interpol and the interior ministry is pointless if there can be no follow-through. The point here is not to disparage attempts by the Pakistani authorities to disrupt the various terrorist networks in the country. While they may have failed on several occasions, the many successes too should be noted. But shooting from the hip serves no purpose when it comes to delicate issues like the menace of terrorism. Some measure of reserve is required.

New champions

INDIA have been crowned the new ODI champions after defeating Sri Lanka in the World Cup final in Mumbai on Saturday. Ranked as a top team in the ODIs, in the T20 version and in Tests, India performed admirably in the World Cup. They were beaten once in a pool game by South Africa. On their way to the title, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men defeated Pakistan and the still-capable Aussies, and tied a game with England, a pre-tournament favourite. The defeat of the talented Sri Lankans in the finals signified the completeness of their campaign.

The final was the triumph of substance over style and artistry. Mahela Jayawardene, an ambassador of the more settled and serene days, played a masterful hand. Maestro Sachin Tendulkar shone ever so briefly with his back-foot punches, but in the end it was left to the grit of pugnacious street-fighters such as Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir on one side and the sling of Lasith Malinga and the bend of an unfit Muttiah Muralitharan on the other to decide the issue. The workman-like course Dhoni and Gambhir took to victory was reflective of just how far the game has come since Aravinda De Silva so subtly took his side to World Cup glory against a matter-of-fact Australia in the 1996 final. Jayawardene’s was in no way a less attractive innings than De Silva’s, but he was rudely pushed into the ranks of the losers by the might of Dhoni. However, not all is lost for the conservative stylists; tempering his fare with a bit of pragmatism Yuvraj Singh has shown that it is still possible for a cricketer to emerge as the best World Cup player without compromising his leg-stump guard and his high back-lift. The enthusiasts are not entirely without choices as the game gains in intensity.