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ti t l i f h i l b i di S i (htt // ti k/06 F b 2018/ i ti t
 

Narrative of counter- RELATED NEWS

N
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Dr M Sheharyar Khan

islamabad - Pakistan’s fight against extremism is now Eddied Easy to say that
talks are the only
15 years old. Some teenagers would not even recall a solution?...but until the
time of peace since they born in the war period. Taliban ...
These children of anarchy are the walking and talking (https://nation.com.pk/06-
Feb-2018/no-military-
reminders of our failure in providing them a safe and solution-to-afghan-
secure environment where they could grow, learn, problem-abbasi)
entertain and channelize their youthful energies.
Instead, they are lost and insecure and with no hope.

The reason is we still have not sorted out our

demons. We still debate how to fight idea of
Yogi Berra Aby, Your
extremism and violence. How to build a counter-
words delight my heart.
narrative to the extremists’ discourse prevalent in our Pak army should take on
society? How is it possible that we as a nation of 200 drones. ...
(https://nation.com.pk/29-
million failed to come up with some genius idea of
Jan-2018/washington-
debunking the gruesome idea of violence? Are we tells-islamabad-drone-
devoid of intellect as a whole? attacks-to-continue-until-
pakistan-satis es-us)
Every expert on terrorism studies would stress the
need for counter-narrative. But little attention is paid
to the working mechanism of development and
operation of a political narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) in a given a polity. Yogi Berra But who will
destroy them? do you
To understand the operational aspect of think Pak army can take
‘narrativization,’ one has to see its relation with power. on US ...
(https://nation.com.pk/29-
A narrative (https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) is the Jan-2018/washington-
reflection of power. Those who can exert power tell tells-islamabad-drone-
the story the way they want it. In any given polity it is attacks-to-continue-until-
pakistan-satis es-us)
the state which manufactures and popularizes the
discourse. The power of state or state institutions is
unmatched by non-state actors since the state
resources are enormous.

In the case of Pakistan, the state sets the discourse

through state media, educational institutions,
influencing the private media and social media. The
news agenda is set by the state. Even in democracies
like America, the media gets its cues from the
government. The war on terror is prime example
where the government successfully influenced the
media to get public acceptance for the war.

In Pakistan we already have master narrative

(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) regarding
terrorism. The narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) dwells on
delegitimizing those terrorists groups which are
working against the state and wreak havoc on its
people and security forces. However, the discourse
gets somewhat fuzzy when it comes to other militant
groups who emanate from Pakistan but target other
governments. This creates confusion which is
deliberate.

The militant discourse of all the terrorists groups dwell

on certain common features like the ideology of jihad,
hatred of the West, conspiracy theories, and
victimhood of Islam and the Muslims. These frames
overlap with the master narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) . The similar
chord between the militant discourse and master
narrative (https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) of the
state only creates confusion among the public.

The similarity between master narrative

(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) and militant
narrative (https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) should
not be taken as strange coincidence. As a matter of
fact, the state had nurtured such a discourse over
three and half decades for the war in Afghanistan. If
the master narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) had completely
debunked the Jihadi discourse, the de-legitimization
of the terrorists groups would have been easier. But
since it would also mean losing other strategic ‘good
Taliban’ as well, the state is reluctant.
The purpose of such a discourse which doesn’t take
on extremist ideology can be attributed to the fact that
securitization is done by the state to further its own
narrowly defined interests. For instance, if the frame
of illegality of Jihad for non-state actors is promoted, it
will encompass those ‘good guys’ too. Occasionally,
and at marginal and critical level, one can see
criticism of master narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) , yet it cannot
compete with master narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) .

The most interesting frame is that there is no

consensus on the fight against terrorism and that
there are people who still subscribe to the militant
discourse of violent jihad. Such master narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) very skillfully
generates confusion in the minds of people. It gives
room to the state to pursue its policies unhindered.

Indeed, Pakistan doesn’t need a counter-narrative to

terrorism. If the state follows its own constitution,
penal code and international commitments, the need
for counter-narrative would not be needed. There
would be automatic de-legitimization of all those non-
state actors who harm the state.

If and when the state decides to take action and

securitize an issue, in most cases, it does it by
building the discourse to get public legitimacy. We
have seen that in the case of Swat operation and
operation Zarb-e-Azb. The state was able to set the
news and public agenda to use force against
terrorists.

It proves if state is serious in completely eradicating

terrorism and radicalism from its midst, it has the
power to set the discourse and delegitimize violence.
So far, there is reluctance on the part of the
government to do so. This aspect of terrorism could
further be explored if researchers draw their attention
 to the relation and mechanization of narrative
(https://nation.com.pk/tag/narrative) and power in our
polity.

—The writer is political and defence analyst based in

Islamabad and can be reached at [email protected].

(whatsapp://send?text=https://nation.com.pk/14-Jul-2016/narrative-
of-counter-narrative)
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