Pakistani children hold candles during a demonstration in connection with first anniversary of the school attack
Hundreds of students, some who look as young as six years old, pump their fists in unison on the Pakistan school grounds where Taliban gunmen massacred 134 of their classmates a year ago.
“O mother, those who stole your dreams from you,” they sing. “O mother, I have to go and take revenge from them: I have to go and educate the children of my enemies.”
The 4.5-minute video released by Pakistan’s military is playing on almost every television station to mark the first anniversary of the slaughter yesterday. The catchy tune does more than induce patriotism in a wounded nation: It also underscores how the armed forces have reasserted their power since the killings.
The very public resurgence of the military, which has ruled Muslim-majority Pakistan for more than half of its history, has further reduced the power of weak civilian leaders. Analysts see Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif increasingly sticking to economic affairs, with army chief Raheel Sharif holding sway over internal security and foreign policy.
While that arrangement has stabilized Pakistan for the moment, it carries risks just as the nation’s economy appears poised to take off on a wave of Chinese investment. Upcoming decisions on whether to grant Raheel Sharif an extension or curtail powers granted to the military after the massacre could trigger a crisis for Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by a coup in 1999. Facing a similar dilemma, past prime ministers have granted extensions rather than risk a standoff with the military.
“Anything that is perceived as a threat to the interest and power of the security establishment will bring tension,” said Faisal Bari, associate professor of economics at Lahore University of Management Sciences. “Whenever the civilians try to push, then there will be trouble.”
Optimists see Pakistan’s economic growth accelerating as new power plants end crippling power shortages and China pours USD45 billion into infrastructure. That will buoy spending from a burgeoning middle class in the nation of 200 million people that has prompted the country’s main stock index to double since 2012.
Terrorism Fight
Pessimists say that the government hasn’t done enough to raise revenues and tackle corruption, leaving the nation’s finances vulnerable as a $6.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan program concludes next year.
No matter what, security remains the foundation for growth. More than 50,000 people have been killed in terrorism-related violence since 2001 – including the sons and daughters of army officers at the school in Peshawar last year.
After the massacre, the armed forces and lawmakers agreed on a 20-point plan to curb terrorism. Measures included the creation of military courts, registration of religious seminaries and a renewed effort to end violence in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city.
A year in, it’s having an effect: Militant attacks this year from July to September fell by more than half since the same period in 2013, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies. Some 302 people have been executed since the school killings, almost as many as in the previous decade combined.
Dramatic Footage
At the same time, the military has stepped up its propaganda efforts. Last week’s music video is a follow up to one released right after the massacre that is played routinely on television and radio stations. Another one featured dramatic footage of soldiers risking their lives to free a group of women and children from militants.
And it’s not just music videos. Army-backed television dramas, theatrical plays and feature-length films all boost the image of Pakistan’s military. Asim Bajwa, the army spokesman, has 1.6 million followers on Twitter – more than the prime minister.
The propaganda is creating a generation of Pakistanis with a “deficiency of democracy and politics in their veins,” said Ayesha Siddiqa, a defense analyst in Islamabad and author of “Military Inc.,” a book that examined the military’s business interests. Kamran Haider and Faseeh Mangi, Bloomberg
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