Refusing to acknowledge the roots of insurgencies, mislabeling groups as “terrorists”, and blaming neighboring countries as scapegoats are not effective strategies to combat violence and instability. This was evident in a recent incident where the Balochistan Liberation Army hijacked a train in Pakistan, resulting in loss of civilian lives and a government response that pointed fingers at Afghanistan and India.
The Pakistani government’s tactics mirror those of the United States during its “war on terror”, where civilians were considered collateral damage and state sovereignty was disregarded. Despite Pakistan’s history of supporting the Afghan Taliban, they now label certain groups as terrorist organizations and blame the Afghan government for terrorist attacks on their soil.
Lessons should be learned from the US-led interventions, where indefinite imprisonment and torture fueled insurgency movements and indiscriminate drone strikes only escalated violence. Dialogue and negotiation with insurgent groups should be considered, as demonstrated by the US eventually coming to the table with the Taliban after years of conflict.
Rather than perpetuating a cycle of violence and thinly veiled accusations, the Pakistani government should listen to the grievances of groups like the TTP and BLA, acknowledge civilian suffering, and stop violations of Afghan sovereignty under the guise of counter-terrorism. Failure to learn from history may lead Pakistan down a dangerous path.
Ultimately, the focus should be on finding peaceful solutions rather than escalating conflicts. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of Al Jazeera.
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