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The eternal curse of Pakistan is the persistent and misguided belief of its leadership that it can somehow use religion to its advantage without falling prey to its inevitable and pernicious consequences. The nation’s founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was the first to believe in this failed logic of “running with the hare and hunting with the dog.” The backward Pakistan of today looks nothing like the one Jinnah envisioned in his “secular” speech to the Constituent Assembly in 1947 – the record of which has conveniently been “lost” and the spirit of which has been buried for posterity. Even the relatively modern and secular Pakistani “establishment,” i.e. the armed forces, now marches to its new motto of “Imam, Taqwa, Jihad fi Sabilillah” (Faith, piety, holy war in the way of Allah)! Fittingly, General Asim Munir is the first Pakistani Army Chief who is a “Hafiz Quran” (someone who has memorized the Quran).br data-type=”_moz”>

Civilian politicians too have a lot to atone for promoting religiosity and the so-called secular elements like the Bhutto family have blood on their hands by initiating constitutional discrimination against the Ahmediyas and the formation of the Taliban (by PPP Home Minister Naseerullah Babar) in 1974. Later, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged by an even more fanatical Zia-ul-Haq and Benazir was assassinated by a radical extremist. Nawaz from the Sharif family was General Zia’s handpicked choice and the Sharif family-led PML(N) made many alliances with many religious parties and clerics. Even former playboy cricketer Imran Khan portrayed Riyasat-i-Madina as his idyll and later became infamous by his nickname Taliban Khan. The worse and more desperate the situation in Pakistan became, the more intolerant, extremist and violent Pakistani society became.br data-type=”_moz”>

The export of religious fundamentalism (especially in the 1980s and 1990s) became an industry and India was an obvious market. Hillary Clinton’s sage warning that “the snake in the backyard doesn’t just bite the neighbors” went unheeded until the inevitable happened. Pakistan’s own actions had created a Frankenstein monster and the unleashed genie of extremism refused to be put back in the bottle and terrorism became an inevitable consequence. Moreover, once terrorism is on autopilot, it can never be controlled and it soon turned against its creator – the Pakistani state.br data-type=”_moz”>

The creator of the Taliban is now ironically facing an existential crisis stemming from his metastasized creation – the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one of the many targets of its own. Over 80,000 Pakistanis have died at the hands of extremist forces from across the Durand Line in the last few decades, far exceeding the casualties in all the fighting with India. The last 18 months have been particularly devastating, with over 700 terror attacks recorded in the last year alone. This is despite various military operations such as Operations Radd-ul-Fasaad, Khyber, Zarb-e-Azb, Rah-e-Shahadat, etc., all of which were clearly militaristic. And yet terror flourished.br data-type=”_moz”>

Finally, with the conceptualization of Operation Azm-e-Intehkam (Strong Resolve for Stability) as a “national vision for lasting stability in Pakistan, spanning multiple sectors, multiple agencies and the whole system,” a late and very important realization has emerged that terrorism and latent religious extremism are interrelated. There seems to be a realization that one cannot indulge unbridled religiosity and expect it not to spiral out of control, as is always the case anywhere in the world. The striking differences between the multitude of previous military operations and Operation Azm-e-Intehkam seem to lie in the comprehensive and expanded “scope” of the operation, which supposedly includes socio-economic and political imperatives in addition to military operations.br data-type=”_moz”>

It is premature to speculate on operational effectiveness, as this will depend on the underlying intent, sincerity and integration with which various levers of Pakistan’s leadership – the military, politicians, judiciary and even the clergy – are able to purify themselves of the instincts of religiously inspired impulses that have been institutionalized over decades. This requires a complete about-face in sovereignty theory. Given that religion legitimizes so many centers of power in Pakistan, it is too optimistic to expect a complete and unified departure from it. Many even attribute this healthy course correction to a whitewashing exercise to convince countries like China, multilateral organizations and even the Arab sheikhdoms, who are extremely cautious about providing further aid to save Pakistan without substantial course corrections.br data-type=”_moz”>

Yet simply accepting the task of de-radicalising society (which is as important as military operations) is a fundamental break with the past. Religious extremism is the oxygen that terror feeds on – once the state limits the importance of religion (beyond its private affairs) in the social and political sphere, it must break free from the shackles of the historical past that inflamed and imploded Pakistan from within. Oddly enough, the uncertainty of the coalition government’s public credibility and the unprecedented violence against Pakistani military personnel bode well for a collective commitment to extricating itself from this extremist mess. Yet Pakistan has traditionally remained incorrigible on some fronts, particularly on religion, and so one must remain realistic (but also hopeful) about the success of ‘Azm-i-Intehkam’. If nothing, it is a positive realisation.