By IRNA,
Islamabad : Nasim Zehra, a security analyst, on Thursday said that the military operation in northwestern district of Swat against Taliban was inevitable as the government had no other option.
Talking to IRNA, she said the state has to establish its writ and the Taliban have been challenging the writ of the government.
Nasim Zehra was of the view that the military operation in the area was initiated after the failure of Taliban to implement the accord that was agreed upon between Sufi Muhammad head of ‘Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) and government in North West Frontier Province.
Under a compromise deal the banned ‘Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) had assured the provincial government that it will convince local Taliban to stop terrorism in the country while the provincial government had assured the organisation of abolishing prevailing laws in the entire in Swat and replacing them with Shariah law.
Swat district is drifting towards complete anarchy as Taliban are ransacking government and private property and abducting police personnel.
Many in Pakistan’s government recognise that extremist elements pose a threat to its authority and must be brought under control.
Nasim Zehra said that despite two peace deals, one with Sufi Mohammad in May 2006 and one in May 2008 with Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah and three military operations, the security situation in Swat continued to deteriorate, the writ of the State weakened and conversely the militants were strengthened.
Expressing her views about the recent visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to US, Nasim Zehra termed the visit as a significant one, where issues of bilateral and trilateral nature were discussed.
Responding to a question about the statements of the US leadership about the performance of the Pakistan government she said that there haven’t been such statements and the statements which were issued only talked about the ability of the government to deliver its public.
“There are some factors in terms of government’s ability to deal with the challenges”, she said.
“Any external power should not interfere with the internal affairs of any government but I believe the relations of Pakistan and US are of a nature that such statements have become a routine”, Nasim Zehra viewed.
Nasim Zehra is one of Pakistan’s leading journalists and political commentators.
A syndicated columnist, based in Islamabad, she covers Middle East and South Asian issues.
She has traveled to Afghanistan and has met with the Taliban leadership.
Nasim Zehra is a Fellow at the Harvard University Asia Center and former Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University.