Five Years to Radd-ul-Fasaad – Analyzing Threats and Counter-Threat Measures

Five years have passed since Pakistan’s army launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad on February 22, 2017. The scope of this operation was country-wide, and the purpose was to sustain the anti-terror measures not just through kinetic means but also through socio-economic uplift and development. The overall strategy, hence, was not just military action; rather an all-encompassing breakdown against the conditions that facilitate the birth of terrorism and violent extremism.

It would not be wrong to say that Radd-ul-Fasaad was a strategy that complemented military action carried out prior to it.

It was a ‘build and transfer’ phase following the ‘clear and hold’ phases, as pointed out by the Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) last year on the fourth anniversary of this successful operation. The most important aspect of this strategy was how it accounted for and took into consideration the penetrability of extremist thought in Madrassah education in South Punjab. Hence, from safe borders on the outside to safer education environments on the inside, Radd-ul-Fasaad managed to take action against 78 terrorist outfits and this was made possible through police training and empowering paramilitary forces.

Both soft and hard measures formed part of this comprehensive mission.

In addition, border fencing was also taken up under border management. As for the Pak-Afghan border, 95 percent of work has been completed and it roughly is more than 78 percent for the Pak-Iran border. Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad reflected the spirit of the National Action Plan (NAP, adopted on December 24, 2014) to the fullest. NAP called for a deeper understanding and action against violent extremism following the attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. NAP fully realized the need of countering the prevalent narrative of extremism and hence Radd-ul-Fasaad targeted urban terrorism and Madrassahs as the breeding grounds of extremist narratives.

In terms of delivering time-bound outcomes, Radd-ul-Fasaad can be called a success, but later developments still indicate the need to do more to counter intolerance and extremism.

Paigham-e-Pakistan – a document put together by the Islamic Research Institute of International Islamic University in Islamabad, the very next year of the launch of Radd-ul-Fasaad helped produce a narrative in response to the narratives of terrorist organizations in the region. This document, later tabled in the Parliament, drew support from the Council of Islamic Ideology as well. Incidents on the ground, however, give us a bleak picture of the efficacy of this counter-narrative.

About seven years to NAP, 5 to Radd-ul-Fasaad and 4 to Paigham-e-Pakistan, and we still hear news of the most violent display of intolerance and terrorist attacks.

Sure, the frequency of terror attacks has gone down, but we have not yet achieved a point zero. We have not been able to clear Pakistan of the influences of the likes of Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan (TLP) and we have not been able to curb religious intolerance which shakes the society with the horrors of mob violence every now and then. These events clearly tell us that residues of violent extremism still persist and possess the ability to grow again. With such a major transition going on in Afghanistan, there is little room to believe that Pakistan will not need to pro-actively respond to the menace of terrorism and violent extremism.

The situation also forges a question for the political executives of Pakistan, what is lacking in Pakistan\’s response to terrorism? Why do all efforts turn out to be counterproductive after some time? How to cater sectarian divide and inculcate tolerance towards minorities? Military action alone is never going to be enough. NAP did open a pathway towards a balanced middle ground between military action and generating alternative discourses alongside socio-economic uplift. But why is NAP no more relevant? The efforts initiated have not been sustained and this is precisely the reason why terrorism is kicking back and violent intolerance appears to be popping up into the societal construct of Pakistan.