Indian Defence Review

On 20 January 2016 Bacha Khan University located in Charsadda in Peshawar district of the North West Pakistan province known as Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa was attacked by the jehadis of the Pakistani terror organisation Tehrik-e-Pakistan Taliban (TPP) firing their weapons indiscriminately, killing 21 students including a professor of the university and wounding more than 51 people. This is the second attack by the TPP on unarmed students the first one happened on 16 December 2014 in which these jehadis killed 150 school kids of an Army School, again located in Peshawar only.

Once again after this massacre Pakistani Army and its dirty tricks department, the ISI, has come under severe pressure by their own people of Pakistan who are demanding that Pakistani army must shed their this concept of Good jeahdis (those operating against India and Afghanistan as their proxies) and bad jehadis who are operating against the Pakistani Army itself, like the TPP. If Pakistan read Pakistani army still does not wake up then they are firmly set in a self destructive mode sooner than later.

After the first Peshawar jehadi attack by the TPP on the APS school killing 150 school kids year before last, the Pakistani Army chief General Jaheel Sharif over ruled the Pakistani PM Navz sharif policy of talking to TPP and launched his full fledged Army operation zerb-e-Ajab in FATA area of Pakistan which is the home for both good and bad Taliban as seen by the Pakistani Army. Good Taliban for Pakistani Army is Afghan Taliban which is protected by the army and ISI. Their top leaders are living in the safe houses of ISI in Quetta. Haqqani network whose base is in FATA area and which has been attacking American troops operating in Afghanistan is also good Taliban for Pakistani Army. The bad Taliban is the TPP who initially were good but became bad after they turned rogue and now want to rule Pakistan itself. All these three jehadi organisation are composed of Pushtuns who have 30% presence in Pakistan and 52% presence in Afghanistan with only the Durand line (Afghan-Pakistan border) separating them.

In 2007 number of Pushtun jehadi organisations better known as Taliban located in FATA area of Pakistan decided to come under one banner and named themselves as Tehrik-e-Pakistan Taliban(TPP). Their first leader was Behtulla Masood. When he got killed in American drone strike they elected Hakimullah Masood as leader. He also got killed in American drone strike so now TPP is ruled by Maulana Fajalullah also known as radio Mullah. TPP reportedly has about 35000 fighters who hail from FATA.

In keeping with the Pakistani army’s mind set of good and bad Taliban before Army launched their military operations against TPP in FATA with F-16 fighter jets and heavy artillery causing collateral damage to their own people, they duly warned Haqqani network to leave FATA which they did by going inside Afghanistan. Needless to say the TPP which is again composed of Pushtuns from FATA also got the wind and decamped from FATA. What were left behind were their families who suffered the brunt of this army offensive and the collateral damage caused by the use of heavy weapons by the Pakistani army. Today almost a million people from FATA are living in refugee camps in miserable conditions. It needs to be understood that 70% of the Pakistani Army including their officers come from the Punjab province of Pakistan. As it is the Pakistani Army is not liked by the Pushtuns of Pakistan and after the way they have brutally dealt with the TPP the line of no return has been drawn between the TPP and the Pakistani Army. Till now Pakistani army was claiming great success in their operations against the Pushtun TPP but after this attack on the Peshawar University Pakistani army will have to think again.

After the first Peshawar attack on the Army School Pakistani army as also the Pakistani civil government had vowed that they will finish terror from Pakistan once for all without discriminating between good and bad jehadis. However the way the Pakistani Army and ISI are shielding the perpetrators of recent Pakistani army sponsored Jaish Mohammad terror attack on the Indian Pathankot Air Base on 02 January as also Pakistani army itself participating in Mazare Sharif Indian consulate attack in Afghanistan on 4 January, it is very apparent that nothing has changed in the Pakistani Army mind set and that they will continue with their concept of good and bad jeahdis.

However now the Pakistani army and its intelligence agency ISI is coming under scrutiny of the people of Pakistan after this latest Peshawar attack. Three leading Pakistani news papers The Dawn, The Express Tribune and The Nation have come out with their reader’s views which in sum total they want that Pakistan should befriend India and take direct action against all type of terror organisation without any thought of good or bad jehadis. People of Pakistan now want to know that Army has created military courts in Pakistan so how many of these jehadis have been punished by these courts. This is a good development and if this thought in people of Pakistan catch on then it will be difficult for the Pakistani army to disregard this. The Dawn paper has published a lead article by Jahid Husain with the heading ‘The Demon We Have Created’ in which Jahid Husain writes in detail about the Pathahkot Air Base jehadi attack and no action being taken by the Pakistani army.

One thing is clear that whatever claims Pakistani army may make about their military operation against TPP the strike capability is still there with the TPP, as shown in this latest Peshawar attack. Pakistani Army which is hell bent on reinstating the Afghan Taliban back on Afghan throne to obtain depth from India my even succeed but they totally forget that all three groups TPP, Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network are composed of Pushtuns who have mutual relationship with each other and hate Punjabi dominated Pakistan army. So what stops them from joining hands after Pakistan installs Afghan Taliban on the throne of Afghanistan?

In the immediate future it is important that we in India instead of taking sides in Pakistan with the policies of their civilian government verses Pakistani army we should remain neutral and do what is important for our national interest. Let Pakistan fight its own battle within itself. There is no harm in keeping good relations with TPP, Baluch liberation army fighting against Pakistani army in Baluchistan as also MQM of Altaf Husain against whom Pakistani army is running its campaign in Sind. We must be clear in our minds that Pakistan read Pakistani army will never like India to be friend of Pakistan so as to retain its Number one elite position in Pakistani hierarchy.

Pakistan is a sham democracy whose PM Navaz Sharif has been specifically told by Pakistani army that he should only look after the economy of the country. We must not forget the adage that Enemy of our Enemy is our friend.