Full text of Pakistan COAS
address at MSC Germany on 17 Feb 2018
"Bissmillah Irrakhman
Nirraheem"
Respected Panel Members,
Excellences', Ladies & Gentlemen! Good Evening
Ø It is my proud
privilege today to be addressing this august gathering, on a subject of
critical importance to all of us. Let me first offer my sincere thanks and
gratitude for this opportunity Ladies and Gentleman, I will make no pretence
about my intellectual credentials. But may I humbly say that I have the honour
of commanding an Army, which has achieved great successes, against violent
extremism and terrorism, of course at a huge cost and sacrifice. My perspective
would therefore be, that of a soldier and not of an intellectual
Ø Let me say from
the outset, that, the present Jihadism is a misnomer. Jihad is a highly evolved
concept that underlines myriad struggles against tyranny of all types. Muslims
are taught that control of self is the most elevated form of Jihad. There is
also a saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) that 'the best
of Jihad is a word of truth in the face of a tyrant ruler'. On the other hand,
'Qitaal', or aspect of 'armed jihad' comes at the lowest end of the spectrum of
actions and beliefs that comprise the concept of jihad and can only be
sanctioned by a State authority and nobody else.
Ø However, there is
no denying the fact, that a powerful concept such as jihad, can easily be
misused for propagating extremism or terrorism. Particularly, as many Muslims,
world over, are not only feeling alienated, but disowned, targeted and devoid
of positive expression. Same is true for the concept of caliphate which is more
of a nostalgic response rather than actual possibility for most Muslims.
Ladies & Gentlemen!
Ø In Pakistan, the
notion of caliphate has not found any traction, but jihad has definitely been
used to radicalize fairly large tracts of population. However, this phenomenon
is not a recent creation or started after 9/11. The Frankenstein was actually
created by the liberal free world, with willing, but myopic cooperation from
our side after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Therefore, we all
are responsible for making the world population in general and Muslim
population in particular, hostage to this extremist ideology.
Ø Times have surely
changed since the noon of March 10, 1982, when, President Ronald Reagan,
dedicated the March 22nd launch of the Columbia Space Shuttle to the valiant
Afghan Mujahedeens or Jihadis and termed their struggle against the Soviet
occupation forces as a representation of `man's highest aspirations for
freedom'
Ø When I was young,
Pakistan was as normal a country as any other on the earth. Jacqueline Kennedy
flew to Karachi, the Beatles visited us, Queen Elizabeth went to the Khyber
pass to chat with the tribesmen. We were a favourite tourism destination for
many. We were hosting world cups of hockey and cricket, besides many other
multi-national events. World Bank termed Pakistan in 1963 as one of the most
progressive and dynamic developing country in Asia
Ø The seventies
were nothing less than a disaster for us, but even the separation of the
Eastern part of our country and the political upheavals thereafter, did not
change the society as deeply as the events of 1979, the year the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution happened, next door. It was only
then that we started learning that we were not only Muslims, but were Sunnis
and Shias. It was also the time that we were drawn to conviction of fighting
Soviet invasion and also challenging communist ideology
Ø With the able
intellectual assistance of free world, a syllabus was designed in one of the
Western University for Madrassahs wherein jihad was fed to young minds in a
concentrated dose without context or explanation. An exception was created,
using a 'self defence' clause to justify declaration of jihad by Non State
Actors. Young men were recruited from all over the world, radicalized and then
left and disowned after they had delivered us, the success.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Ø I apologize for a
long lesson on history, but while it is history for you, it is still very much
a live issue for us back home, as fairly large no of people are radicalized,
armed and empowered politically and ideologically. They cannot be wished away,
just because we don’t like them any more. We are harvesting what we sowed 40
years back. So it will be a while before this scourge is eliminated in totality
– but first, let’s stop calling it Jihadism as it is nothing else but
terrorism. With this rather long context, let me now come to the story of Pakistan’s
struggle against extremism, terrorism and so called Jihadism
Ø Pakistan Army has
waged a relentless and bloody fight against terrorism and violent extremism, at
a monumental human and material cost:-
§ Over 35,000
Pakistanis have lost their lives
§ Over 48,000 are
critically wounded or disabled
§ Financial cost
exceeding US $ 250 Billion – only a fraction of which is actually shared by our
global partners
Ø Today, I can say
with pride and conviction that there are no organized terrorist camps on our
side of the border. However, presence of terrorists of various hues and colours
cannot be ruled out. We still have their active and sleeper cells, who are
hiding in mountains, border towns and 54 refugee camps, besides some major
towns and cities.
Ø For your
information, out of the last 131 terrorist attacks in our border areas last
year, 123 were conceived, planned and executed from Afghanistan. We understand
their predicament therefore we do not blame them, but instability in
Afghanistan is also hurting us badly – and it is happening despite the presence
of the most powerful alliance in Kabul.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Ø Unfortunately,
Afghanistan, success of 2003 was lost when resources were pulled out
prematurely for war in Iraq. Today, after spending more than 1.4 Trillion, the
situation can best be described as a stalemate. But to my reckoning the cause
of stalemate is not only the Haqqani Network or TTA, as they had almost been
defeated 13 years ago; it was the pursuit of a wrong strategy which led to
their resurrection. Let me say that the popular assertion of TTA not being
defeated in totality due to presence of part of their leadership in Pakistan,
is not correct or whole truth. We defeated Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
and Jamat-ul-Ahrar, while their safe heavens still exist in Afghanistan at a
mere fraction of resources employed on the other side of the border. Now
instead of blame games, it is time for NATO and allies to conduct an audit and
introspection to find out causes for this stalemate.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Ø In our war
against terror, military operations were not the only thing that we conducted.
We realized very early that the complex problem of violent extremism could not
be handled through military operations only. First and foremost, we generated
public opinion to defeat the terrorists’ narrative. We also formulated the
National Action Plan, aimed at fighting terrorism and gradually rooting out
extremism. We launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad in 2017, we the aim of:
§ Firstly, targeted
kinetic and enhanced law enforcement operations to locate and destroy the
residual terrorist presence across the country
§ Second prong of
our campaign, comprises supporting the National Action Plan, that involves
better prosecution, policing, education reforms, along with curbing terror
financing and hate speech
§ Equally important
is our information prong aimed at discrediting the terrorist ideology including
the misuse of the terms like Jihad and Caliphate. Most recently, 1854 eminent
Pakistani religious scholars, representing all schools of thoughts within
Islam, teamed up to issue a resounding fatwa against violence, extremism and
terrorism in the name of religion. Called the Message of Pakistan, it bans
suicide bombing and jihad, other than the one sanctioned by the State.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Ø Our successes
have been made possible by the collective resolve and resilience of our entire
nation. However, we are far from done. It is my sincere belief that Pakistan’s
lasting domestic peace hinges on peace and stability in Afghanistan, therefore,
despite our limited resources, we are trying our best to export peace to our
Neighbours in the west. Please remember, at times our efforts are curtailed by
capacity and not by will.
Ø Pakistan and
Afghanistan are sovereign countries. Both countries have a right to peace and
progress. However, this will only be possible if our respective soils are not
used against each other. In this regard, two aspects are important:-
· Firstly we still
have nearly 2.7 Million Afghan refugees in our country, whose concentrations
are routinely used by TTA and Haqqani Network to recruit, morph and melt. It is
time for these refugees to be repatriated with dignity. It is the only way we
can ensure that no one is misusing our hospitality and soil for mischief in
Afghanistan. This is possible at a fraction of the cost of war in Afghanistan,
which is currently around $ 46 Billion per year.
· Secondly, our
border with Afghanistan is highly porous. We have unilaterally taken many steps
to ensure proper management of this border. We gave raised tens of new border
specific units, built hundreds of new border 8 Full text of Pakistan COAS
address at MSC Germany on 17 Feb 2018 surveillance forts and have started the
process of fencing 2300 Kilometers of the border. We are putting scanners and
biometrics at border terminals to ensure that while common Afghans are
facilitated, miscreants and terrorists are prevented or arrested.
Ø Furthermore, we
are fully committed to the international consensus, that political reconciliation
is the only solution to Afghan issue. While we are actively supporting the new
US strategy in the region, based primarily on kinetic approach, we are not
leaving any stone unturned to try and do our best in bringing the parties of
the conflict on the negotiation table. Ladies and Gentlemen! Despite the
seeming frustration, very few countries have achieved as much success that we
have in our war against terror. With over 1100 Al-Qaeda operatives killed and
other 600 handed over to US, Pakistan is instrumental in disruption and
decimation of Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan and Pakistan. But the struggle
continues as the threat is morphing. Intelligence agencies of multiple
countries have confirmed the on-going relocation of fleeing Daesh fighters to Afghanistan.
Being worst-hit by perennial instability in Afghanistan, Pakistan has
legitimate concerns about this new threat joining the roster of
Over 20 terror outfits. So far
we have been successful in denying any foothold to Daesh in Pakistan, but we
are very concerned about its unchecked growth in the neighborhood. We need to
counter the threat much more proactively through collaboration and cooperation.
Ø The war against
terrorism and extremism will take some time before the world is free of it,
therefor we all have to be patient and remain steadfast. We need to first
counter terrorist’ narrative with a superior narrative before breaking their
back. Unfortunately, we have not done enough in this regard. Finally, trust,
cooperation and sharing will work, scapegoating won’t. To conclude, Let me say
that terrorists thrive on our divisions and feed on our inability to come
together against them. I humbly call upon all of you, to deny them these chinks
in our collective armour. Please realize that it’s a global problem and needs a
global approach. Lack of focus and commitment and individual efforts won’t take
us anywhere. I thank you
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