Once again, Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has been rocked by violence, with a suicide bombing attack having already claimed 42 lives, and with the death toll likely to mount. The attack occurred at a political meeting organised by the Jamait-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, a political party that seeks Islamic rule in the country, but one that has opted to be a part of the democratic process in order to achieve its ends. While the party’s agenda might match that of groups such as the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan and the IS (Khorasan) group ~ the latter is suspected to be behind the attack ~ there is an important difference. Groups such as the TTK seek a violent overthrow of the government of the day and its substitution by a theocratic set up. In short, the differences even between various groups seeking rule by the Sharia are so bitter that their consequences can be fatal.
Those loyal to the TTK, IS-K and Al Qaeda are active in the Pakhtun belt and seek to take over control of swathes of KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Reports had indicated a gathering of IS-K forces in the district, but so preoccupied has the administration been with ensuring security at military and police establishments, in the wake of deadly attacks on these in the region, that a political gathering was considered at lesser risk. In the event, the depleted security arrangements had deadly consequences. It has not helped that the province has been under the control of a caretaker government for several months. The larger problem for Pakistan is that elections are due in the country, and are expected to be extremely contentious in the wake of the establishment’s concerted efforts to uproot the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
A few targeted attacks on political gatherings by terrorist groups could have a chilling effect on the process, and create a situation where the Army might be tempted to step in once again. Even if that does not happen, political campaigning will be severely affected, voter turnouts that had dropped from 53.62 per cent in 2013 to 50.14 per cent in 2018 could drop further, and the country’s stuttering efforts towards democratic rule could be impacted. One solution is to implement the National Action Plan, formulated in the wake of the deadly Peshawar attacks that killed 145 people, including 132 schoolchildren in 2014. The plan, adopted with the support of all major political parties, prescribed tough foreign and domestic policy initiatives to clamp down on terrorist organisations, target their sources of funding and ensure speedy trials of those held for terrorist acts. But well-intentioned as it may have been, the Plan has floundered in the absence of political will, and action has been inconsistent. Following the latest attack, calls have been raised to revive and revitalise the Plan, but it is unlikely that the state is either willing, or capable, of upping the ante.