ISLAMABAD. A first of its kind event in Pakistan's parliamentary history occurred when a Public Hearing of the standing committee on Defence and Defence Production took place in Parliament House, on 28th September 2012. Chairman of the standing committee on Defence, Senator Mushahid Hussain presided over the hearing. He stated that the committee was working on a Defence Policy Strategy Document which aims to take into account contributions from the experts in the field as well. The panel was introduced, which included, Dr Shireen Mazari, a renowned political scientist and an expert in the field of defence and geo strategy, Mr. Tariq Khosa, a high profile retired bureaucrat, and Saleem Safi, a well known journalist specializing in the Afghan conflict.

Dr Shireen Mazari began by defining non conventional defence as nuclear defence. She said that we support nuclear deterrence in preventing war. A lot of doctrines were introduced in Pakistan in 1998 regarding the issue of nuclear defence. Overtime they have evolved and currently there are two major components defining deterrence. Firstly we need to clear our position over the developments in arms control at the global level, with regards the UN conference on Disarmament. She added that the doctrines were important in this respect because nuclear deterrence has not been tested empirically.

Dr Shireen mentioned the FMCT (Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty). This treaty aims to prohibit its signatories from further production of fissile material which helps in making nuclear bombs. Pakistan is being accused by other powers for a hold up. However Pakistan argues that first all countries need to cut down existing reservoirs of fissile material and then once a level playing field is attained, the FMCT should be signed. She added that quite a few other countries are of the same opinion however they are not yet bold enough to support it in front of the international community. The current position of the FMCT directly affects Pakistan because they argue that existing stock piles of fissile material remain untouched.

She said that one of our major mistakes was with regards IAEA. All our civilian reactors are subject to IAEA and initially our position was that we wanted India to follow the same terms. However later due to some form of external pressure, our own Ambassador wrote a letter in which he accepted that INDIA should have a special safeguards agreement which it can go back on anytime.

She added that when Pakistan began the development of its short range missiles, such as NASR, it was criticized over the fact that Pakistan will use it as a battlefield weapon. She said that in her opinion NASR was a very timely move and in fact it is a Technology Demonstrative Missile through which we are giving the world a message. Dr Shireen argued that our defence needs to be focused on nuclear deterrence. This deterrence implies deterrence against aggression and maintenance of a credible minimum. India has a very clear stance and they follow the First Strike Doctrine. Pakistan’s position however is ambivalent; although we aim to fight against aggression but we are also attempting at a Strategic Restraint Regime with India.

Dr Shireen concluded by making a few recommendations. She proposed a reduction in Conventional Force and a number Crunching strategy with India as to how many missiles each country will deploy. She mentioned that the Pakistan’s nuclear button is under a Centralized Civilian Authority. It comes under the NCA (National Command Authority) which has a considerable civilian representation headed by the Prime Minister. She ended by saying that it is now essential to realize that for India and Pakistan there can be no zero sum game and both states need to move towards cooperation.  

Mr. Tariq Khosa started off by focusing on the post September 11th and the current government scenario. He said that democratic control should be exercised on all civilian and military matters. He glossed upon historical eras and their respective counter terrorism strategies that were adopted. He described General Zia ul Haq’s era as an era of decadence in which law enforcement authorities misused their power as regards the issue of counter terrorism. He said that the Benazir and Nawaz Sharif era of the 1990s was also quite ineffective. Riaz Basra was arrested however he was released later and he began his reign of terror as sectarian violence reached its peak at the time. The government however timely came up with the Anti Terrorism Act in the context of this.

He then came to the situation after September 11 under President Musharraf’s era, when the ISI opened up the Counter Terrorism Cell. Al Qaeda and the Taliban strictly became the domain of the ISI and the police authorities were not allowed to intervene in these cases. Mr. Khosa talked about a Special Investigation Group that was started when he was serving. This group was trained by the FBI and Scotland Yard. FIA could assist the police however did not have the mandate for investigation itself. He added that an important step however that was taken at the time was the Watch list system. A watch list system was set up on almost sixteen entry points into the country which was very helpful in investigation.

He criticized the government of the time about their mistake committed in the Baluchistan context when military intelligence was allowed to intervene in political matters under President Musharraf. The effects of this step are still being experienced today.

Mr. Khosa applauded the hearings in 2008 after which a Parliamentary Consensus Resolution was reached. PM Gilani said that there was a need for a civilian national Anti Terrorism Authority following which NCTA (National Counter Terrorism Authority) came into being. Mr. Khosa suggested that NCTA should report directly to the PM and should be given a legal framework. The counter terrorism wing of ISI should be allowed to deal with Al Qaeda however it should also be given a legal framework.

Mr. Khosa added that Parliamentary Committees should also work through a legal framework. Banning of militant organizations is not the solution rather anti terrorism laws need to be under constant review. He concluded by saying that Counter Terrorism Strategy had to have a preventive and rehabilitative role and the issue of national Defence is both internal and external.

The final speaker Mr. Saleem Safi began by highlighting is area of expertise i.e. the Afghanistan issue. He argued that the US withdrawal or defeat in Afghanistan is not a victory for either Afghanistan or Pakistan; rather the two are facing even greater challenges. It is safe to assume that in future it is nearly impossible for the Taliban to come to power in Afghanistan. He explained that a new aspect of the situation in Afghanistan was the Afghan National Army and the NATO forces. The US was training the Afghan National Army to take control of the situation after they left however soon attacks were witnessed on the NATO forces by circles in the Army.

He added that an important aspect is the tension between the US and the Afghan government. Hamid Karzai who was previously considered to be a crony of the US has now in fact become a burden for them however they have yet not been able to find a replacement. Safi said that another alarming issue was the growing hatred against Pakistan among the Afghani people who consider the Pakistani establishment to be the cause of their miseries.

Safi mentioned two important consequences of the Afghan situation. Firstly he said that if the US continues its presence in Afghanistan and in fact gains control in the North leaving the East and other parts to be controlled by the Taliban, it will have disastrous results for Pakistan. Pakistan will be deprived of access to Central Asia; something that has been a dream for Pakistan since a while now. Moreover he added that if a deal is struck between the US and the Taliban, the Taliban will have access to huge sums of money that the US is already spending on its war which will prove catastrophic for Pakistan. Safi also said that if however the US left the resulting chaos in Afghanistan is also likely to damage Pakistan.

Following this, Safi talked about the difference in the approach towards civil and military. He said that cooperation was needed between institutions over the issue of counter terrorism. Pakistan needs to realize that peace in Afghanistan is immensely important for itself. Also it is essential to quit military solutions and the use of proxies to gain control of the situation. There is a dire need to build economic and cultural ties.

Safi then highlighted the situation in FATA. He explained that the people of FATA are like a sandwich between the military and the militants. He said that most leaders of FATA had entered into a deal with the Taliban. The situation in FATA is in reality a fall out of the situation in Afghanistan and the TTP (Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan) is in fact an extension of the Afghan Taliban.

Safi again emphasized that Pakistan’s top priority needs to be peace in Afghanistan. The proxy war between agencies should be ended. He said that diplomacy was the way to go about the FATA issue and military operations should be brought to an end. He also mentioned that if the strength of the Taliban had decreased it was because of drone attacks and not the military operations carried out by Pakistan army. He concluded by saying that it is now time to bring FATA into the mainstream and issues of poverty and underdevelopment need to be addressed. No tribal traditions have been preserved exactly till today and issues of corruption have even plagued that area.

A brief question and answer session followed which was mainly dominated by the comments and remarks of the Parliamentarians present. Senator Farhat ullah Babar glossed briefly over the presentations of all three speakers. While talking about nuclear deterrence he said that gradually or position has evolved to become that of nuclear deterrence. But he also said that it is important for us to realize whether nuclear weapons are really an effective form of deterrence. He appreciated Mr. Khosa’s presentation and suggested that the Committee on Defence should work to provide a legal framework under which there should be Parliamentary oversight over all the activities of the agencies related to defence. He also said that the committee needs to address the issue of how to start an institutionalized civil and military dialogue.

Senator Raja Zaffar ul Haq said that the government while making policies should take into account the opinion of the intellectuals and experts on the field as well. He appreciated the remarks of all three speakers.

Senator Tahir Mashhadi agreed with the ideology of nuclear deterrence. He said that there needs to be a distinct difference between the law enforcers and the law breakers and it is also the responsibility of the courts to look into the matter of counter terrorism. He supported Saleem Safi’s suggestion of bringing FATA into the mainstream.

Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel started by talking about the issue of sectarian violence as mentioned byMr. Khosa. He said that it grew immensely after the Iranian Revolution as previously there were even many intermarriages among Shias and Sunnis and this issue was not one of the mainstream problems.About the situation in Afghanistan he questioned all the experts present that why do most circles in Pakistan support an end to US control in Afghanistan even though Pakistan itself is a strong ally of the US.

Senator Seher Kamran firstly appreciated the public hearing held by the committee on Defence. She talked about the Baluchistan issue and said that the Bahrain police have many recruits from among the Baloch population and so their capabilities have been proven internationally. It is now time for us too to bring them into the mainstream. She also emphasized the importance of reforms for the mosques. She mentioned the example of Saudi Arabia where mosques were only opened during prayer times and were not used for other activities.

Finally Senator Faisal Raza Abidi talked about sectarian violence and he emphasized at understanding the reasons behind these conflicts. He added that we need to respect and honor our Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies. He said that if courts will release terrorists then it is impossible to have rule of law in the country. He mentioned the Bannu Jail incident and criticized the courts for not taking any action against it. A large number of media, NGOs and civil society representatives including a 13-member delegation of the faculty and students of the National Defence University (NDU), plus the Special Secretary of the Senate, Mr Amjed Pervez, who is Secretary of the Defence Committee, also attended.