EFFECTIVE governance is the best antidote to terrorism. The state`s counterterrorism response has to showcase its best governance practices, including kinetic and non-1(inetic means. Terrorism is lil(e a disease that proliferates when it gets a propitious environment. Public frustrations, lack of livelihood, lax policing, and an administrative vacuum serve as the perfect palette for the spread of terrorism.

The merged districts of KP have been affected by a prolonged wave of terrorism, because of which the full range of development and economic initiatives could not be delivered. These areas, wracl(ed by terrorism since the early 2000s, have seen instability due to cross-border movement during the Taliban resistance era of 2003-2021, and an influx of terrorists after 2021.

The hurried US withdrawal left Afghanistan in the hands of a Taliban regime with a mediaeval outlook on statecraft as well as interstate relations.

Terrorist entities like the TTP that were pushed out from the merged districts through a series of military operations culminating in Operation Zarb-i-Azb, staged a comeback in 2021 after the US departure.

Contrary to Pal(istan`s expectations, the Afghan Taliban regime`s policy towards the TTP was driven through a mix of considerations, which included ideological 1(inship, ethnic affinity, internal power struggles, and an instrument to exert leverage on its neighbour.

The TTP had internalised a belief which treated the US withdrawal as a great victory for the Afghan Taliban that needed to be replicated in Pal(istan. They, therefore, got emboldened and refused to abjure violence. Despite an attempt by the government of Pakistan to co-opt them in the national mainstream, the TTP demanded the reversal of Fata`s merger and a governance structure alien to Pakistan`s Constitution. Misplaced rapprochement with the TTP led to a new wave of terrorism in KP`s merged districts that gradually spread to the settled areas. Terrorist attacks in KP shot up thereafter.

LEAs in KP required full government support for acting against the TTP terrorists who had started operating from secure sanctuaries in Afghanistan as well as selected spaces within Pakistan`s merged districts. Single-minded focus was required for 1(inetic CT operations which, however, was missing in a provincial government consumed by agitational politics.

Community mobilisation by public representatives was also stymied due to the confrontational stance of the provincial government against the centre.

Several measures to improve the development and governance aspects in themerged districts were needed, which were not accorded desired priority. These measures included capacity building of the police, establishment of the judicial infrastructure, strengthening the CTD apparatus, and the economic integration of merged districts into the rest of Pal(istan.

The National Action Plan was also not fully implemented.

The nexus between crime and terrorism remained unchecked. No effort was made to connect the masses in the merged districts with the state through alternative livelihood opportunities after a cracl(down on smuggling and the closure of border trade. According to research statistics of an Islamabad-based think tank, 72 per cent of the terrorists killed in CT operations were below 30 years, while 65pc of them were illiterate or primary qualified, and 66pc jobless.

In the absence of much-needed synergy between the provincial government and the LEAs, CT efforts remained fragmented and desultory, giving space to terrorists topeddle their narrative. A provincial government whose energies were consumed by rhetoric, political wrangling, and agitational marches,could not keep its eye on the ball to fight the difficult battle against terrorism. Without single-minded focus, clarity of objectives and sincerity of purpose, the hydra-headed monster of terrorism cannot be slayed.

The Irish example is relevant to KP`s war on terrorism. In Ireland, the conviction rate of terrorists was abysmally low while their mystique was alluring for a population sympathetic to the heroic status of the Irish Republican Army cadres. The British government introduced a package of reforms by building police capacity and picking the best officer, given the title of `chief constable`, as a lead terrorism responder, keeping the army in reserve. The judiciary was strengthened through Diplock courts, where the identity of the judges was concealed for their protection. These reforms broke the back of terrorism and the IRA opted for the Good Friday Agreement.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary steps. If a government does not wish toconfronttheclearand presentdangerto the life and property ofits people, then it should make way for a dispensation capable of undertaking the difficult task abdicated byit.• The writer has a PhD degree from Nust.

rwjan @hotmail.com