Zardari’s honesty

Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari has honed the fine art of disclosing inconvenient truths. His observation on Wednesday that Pakistan has created and nurtured terrorists in the past for short-term gains might appear to be shockingly candid and daringly honest. Soon after he spoke his mind, others, including former information minister Sherry Rehman, have amplified the scope of the statement which they say is aimed against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the bugbear of Pakistan civil society. In the past too  Zardari has seemingly gone against the military-intelligence apparatus of his country.

The truth of Zardari’s statement is not in question. It is self-evident and almost every Pakistan observer knew it. Many of the countries, including the US, did not accept or want to accept it until September 11, 2001. Even then they took years before they could acknowledge the unpalatable fact. It was something that Pakistan politicians were not willing to admit until Zardari spoke. It is most likely that neither the army nor the ISI will accept it even now.

What is of interest is the inner compulsion that is forcing Pakistan’s political class to speak out against the policy of nursing groups of extremists. The country’s politicians will however have to avoid the temptation of blaming it all on the army and the ISI. It was during the second tenure of Benazir Bhutto as prime minister that support for the Taliban, including their training, began in the 1990s.

Pakistan’s elected leaders were not too averse to the idea of using the extremist groups against India and Afghanistan. Zardari and others will have to accept the role of politicians of all parties in the creation of the monster phenomenon.

More important will be the path that the political leaders of Pakistan would want to chart for the country. Instead of using the issue of extremists to blame rivals, Zardari and others will have to create a consensus among the civil and military groups to fight terrorism. So far there is nothing to suggest that the army and the intelligence agencies have an iota of self-doubt about their strategy to create and nurture terror groups, never mind what the Zardari, the US or anyone has to say. Zardari’s candid admission, which puts him in direct conflict with powerful elements in the security set-up, is welcome, but it will require more than just a kind of mea culpa to deal with this menace.