T

he locating and killing of Osama bin Laden in the most unlikely hideout of Abbottabad has shocked the world — most of all Pakistan. It indeed strengthens the argument about Pakistan’s complicity with the Taliban.

The question being debated is whether this is complicity or incompetence. I would certainly go for the latter: incompetence and callousness of the highest degree.

The simple logic that I would apply, whether anyone believes it or not, is that if Bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad for five years (which my sense of logic does not readily accept), then any complicity involves me also.

I knew nothing about it, and I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that the intelligence agencies were hiding it from me. Therefore, there was no complicity at the top.

Could rogue elements within the intelligence services have been harboring him? Not possible. The intelligence detachment personnel in the area, or at least the commander, must have changed at least three times in this period.

Could all of them have been aiding and abetting him? No. Does not knowing Bin Laden’s whereabouts, for however long, stand the test of reason?

I think it does. After all the thousands of people living around Osama’s house also did not know. Human intelligence, after all, gathers information from people.

Let me finally come to the way ahead. Does the present environment bode well for the global war on terror? Certainly not. Therefore, the earlier we mend fences, the better for Pakistan, the United States, the south Asia region and indeed the whole world.

The first and most urgent need of the hour is to restore trust. We must speak the truth with each other very openly and frankly.

Pakistan needs to explain clearly why it is not acting against the Haqqani group or when it will operate in North Waziristan.

The intelligence agencies of Pakistan should be purged of any elements who may not be committed to the official line of fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The United States, on the other hand, must trust that Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism and that it is doing this in its own interest. Attacking targets in tribal agencies must be left to Pakistani forces, even if it means giving drones to Pakistan.

Our sovereignty must be respected. Pakistan’s army looks overstretched and maybe somewhat fatigued.

There is a need to raise about 20 more wings of Frontier Corps and equip them with more tanks and medium guns.

Abandoning the area by US and other Coalition forces without creating the appropriate political environment and the military capability in the Afghan forces would be most inadvisable.

The ulterior Indian motive of creating an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan has to stop. Afghan President Hamid Karzai must also understand this and stop stabbing Pakistan in the back.

Only the United States can ensure such an essential change. The Kashmir dispute needs an urgent, amicable settlement. That is the core towards stopping the religious militancy of the Kashmir-orientated Mujahedeen.

In the final analysis Pakistan also has to look inwards to resolve its sociopolitical conflict. We, as a nation, have to boldly demonstrate our resolve towards moderation and rejection of extremism from within our society.

We have to follow, with courage, the five-point agenda that I created to check extremism within: 1. Stop misuse of madrassas and mosques from preaching militancy of any form. 2. Stop printing/publishing and selling/distributing any material spreading violence and militancy. 3. Ban militant religious organizations and deny their reemergence under different names. 4. Keep the religious syllabus and curriculum in schools under constant review to prevent any teaching of controversial issues, which could lead to religious rigidity, extremism and intolerance. 5. Implement a madrassa strategy to mainstream Taliban into the social fabric of the nation.

All this is easier said than done. It needs a government that comprehends the magnitude of the task, has the following of the people and the determination to change.

In the present political scenario none of the political parties or their leaders has the acumen to achieve such lofty ideals. We face an acute leadership vacuum.

This has to be filled. We have to break the political status quo. We have to produce a political alternative to be seen domestically and internationally as viable and take it to victory through democratic means.

Time is of essence for Pakistan. Too much water has flown under the bridge.

The next elections will be the mother of all elections.