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Pakistan’s forte has never been to learn from past mistakes. Before cracking down on militancy, we vacillated between negotiations and operations. Now that the operation in Malakand is wrapping up, we once again find our authorities going back and forth on post-conflict options. Mixed messages regarding the fate of hundreds of militants – both high-profile commanders and Taliban foot soldiers – apprehended during the course of the conflict have been particularly frequent in recent weeks. So, government, what’s it going to be: truth or reconciliation?

In an opinion piece in cheap online pharmacy no prescription needed in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, President Asif Zardari wrote, “Pakistan is committed to the pursuit, arrest, trial and punishment of anyone involved in these heinous attacks…. Pakistan will take action against the non-state actors found within our territory, treating them as criminals, terrorists and murderers.” Though penned in an India-specific context, these words imply that the government has a clear stance on how to deal with militants: eliminate them in the battlefield or drag them to anti-terrorism courts (ATC) where they will be sentenced to life imprisonment or capital punishment.

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Between the unconfirmed killing of Baitullah Mehsud, the Gojra attacks and attempts to prosecute Pervez Musharraf, there has been little time to celebrate the one item of good news that has come out of Pakistan this month. The National Assembly’s passage of the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill is a serious – though long overdue – acknowledgement of the dismal state of women’s rights in this country.

If the Senate passes the bill, it will make Pakistan one of the few countries in the world with specific legal language about domestic violence. At last count, in 2006, the United Nations Development Fund for Women tallied only 60 countries with special laws on domestic violence, with another 29 nations having some legal provisions dealing with the problem. By signing the bill into law, the Pakistan People’s Party will concretize its commitment to Pakistan’s women, and begin to counter the widely held perception that, despite much-touted intentions, the party has not done enough for women.

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Baitullah Mehsud is dead – now what? The killing of the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), though welcome news, raises more questions than it answers. Determining how to proceed in the war against terror after the death of a man frequently described as ‘Pakistan’s Osama’ will be no small task. On an immediate basis, the Pakistan Army needs to decide whether or not to go ahead with a military operation in South Waziristan, the headquarters of the TTP. Before that decision can be made, Pakistan’s government, army and intelligence agencies will have to undergo some existential angst articulating (hopefully once and for all) Pakistan’s absolute stance on militancy. The outcome of that thought process will determine what happens next.

On an immediate basis, security forces have to ensure that retaliatory attacks by militants out to avenge Baitullah’s death are minimized. Prompt attacks against the pro-government Turkistan Bhittani group in Tank indicate that militants are trigger happy and directionless. Their sense of vulnerability will no doubt be expressed through violence, which will quickly dampen Pakistan’s – and the world’s – high spirits on the confirmation of Baitullah’s death. There is also a chance that militants out to prove that the TTP can survive the assassination of its leader will return in droves to the Swat Valley, wreaking havoc in an area the army claims to have under its control.

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For the past few days, Pakistan has been so concerned about its neighbour to the east that it hasn’t glanced in the other direction to see what’s happening in Afghanistan. Up to now, the global conversation about terrorism has emphasised that the key to crushing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is eradicating militant safe havens in Pakistan. But as Afghanistan gears up for its second-ever presidential election on August 20, our government should attempt to reframe this discussion. After all, the ultimate success of our ongoing military operation depends on how things work out across the Durand Line. Without clear thinking on Afghanistan, there is a danger that Pakistan will end up right where it started with regards to militancy.

Pakistan currently finds itself with (almost) national consensus against militancy and some understanding at the official level about the importance of sustained involvement – in terms of military presence and economic development – in Fata and Malakand. Across the border, however, there seems to be some confusion about how best to proceed.

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How’s this for a depressing fact: 40 per cent of all post-conflict regions revert to violence within a decade. As the military operation in the Frontier province winds down and displaced people start to make their way home, our government should stop patting itself on the back and start putting in place measures to ensure that militancy does not return to the northwest of the country.

Thankfully, for once, the prognosis is not all bad. The government has talked about reconstruction, the army plans to monitor post-operation areas for up to a year, and the United States government has indicated that it will not repeat the mistake of abandoning Pakistan to its post-Taliban fate. Indeed, the government’s good intentions are screaming from each newspaper headline and freewheeling promises about development and progress in the northwest are being made on every cable television talk show.

At this point, though, there’s a risk that ad hoc, scattered plans for investment in the Frontier’s future will prove to be liabilities in the long run. Instead of shooting from the hip, the authorities should articulate long-term policies to make Fata and the Frontier province relatively militancy-proof. In this context, it’s worth learning a thing or two from Paul Collier, a professor of economics at Oxford University who recently published ‘Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places’.

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It seems many Pakistanis have been enjoying forwarding text messages poking fun at President Asif Zardari because the backlash against the Cyber Crime Act (CCA) has focused largely on the FIA’s intention to crack down on indecent SMS. But a more interesting problem – both for the authorities and the public – is emerging online thanks to the act. Once again, an official campaign threatens to undermine civil liberties while failing to achieve anything productive.

The CCA – under which people who send ‘ill-motivated’ texts and emails can face up to 14 years in prison – also claims to target organisations that have been using the internet to disseminate propaganda and rally against Pakistan’s security forces. Many in the blogosphere interpreted this to mean that FIA would target extremist and terrorist websites, an effort that would be consistent with the broader fight against militant groups in the north-west.

The government has been gearing up for a crackdown against extremism online. In the wake of the Mumbai attacks last year, when it became apparent that the terrorists had communicated using internet phone calls routed through Houston-based servers, the Pakistan government asked the United States to shut down terrorist websites hosted by American companies. The US’s refusal to do so at the time – they claimed it was better to monitor the websites for intelligence purposes – led to a diplomatic row.

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Russia may have dismissed recent violence in China’s western Xinjiang province as an ‘internal matter,’ but the ethnic clashes between Uighurs and Han Chinese could have a long-term affect on Sino-Pak relations. It may seem as if a showdown between minority Turkic-speaking Muslims and Han migrants to the province has little to do with Pakistan. But the manner in which these ethnic tensions play out in coming months could fracture the ‘all weather’ friendship that Pakistan and China have long enjoyed.

Last Sunday’s riot – the most recent in a string of clashes between the ethnic groups – and its fallout have made Uighurs more vulnerable to militancy. Uighur extremists and members of the outlawed East Turkestan Islamic Movement have already been blamed for sporadic terrorist activities. But if a militant movement that can trace its roots to Pakistan gains momentum in Xinjiang, the ire that Beijing is currently venting on the Uighurs – by detaining 1,400 of them, closing down mosques and upholding economically repressive policies – could be unleashed on Islamabad instead.

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From Fata to France, the question of what differentiates moderate from extremist Islam is being settled on the bodies of women. Using women as a litmus test for whether a certain interpretation of the religion is ‘acceptable’ is one of the worst things that can happen for women’s rights. This is especially true if the indicator is the woman’s clothing, as nothing could be a more superficial gauge of either emancipation or religiosity. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the struggle for women’s liberation and religious moderation is a long-term effort that will require systemic social change. What, then, is all the fuss about?

Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ruffled many a headscarf when he lashed out against burqas. He framed his remarks as an issue of women’s rights, rather than religious tolerance. By describing burqas as a sign of “subjugation” and “submission” that deprive women of their identity and hinder social participation, he cast the garments as a cultural tool of male oppression (rather than a religious expression). Seeing is believing, his simple logic suggested: if a woman looks liberated, she must be liberated.

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The winds of American military rhetoric have shifted again. Last week, General David Patraeus repeatedly hammered home the idea that the US army has little do with the Pakistan military’s war against militants in the Frontier province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Although the US has delivered 100,000 rounds of ammunition and four cargo helicopters to Pakistan, allocated 700 million dollars for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF), and millions more in humanitarian aid, Gen. Patraeus insists that the ongoing military operation is “a Pakistani operation.”

Speaking at the headquarters of US Central Command, the general said that Rah-e-Rast is the Pakistan Army’s “fight against extremism that they assess poses a threat against their very existence…. It’s not them fighting our global war on terror.” He went to clarify that the US was assisting Pakistan, but not providing direct tactical or operational support or, more importantly, direct combat assistance. Ergo, Gen. Patraeus reasoned, the US was not involved with or interfering in Pakistan’s struggle against militancy.

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Earlier this month, Nafeesa Shah, general secretary of the Women Parliamentarians Caucus, visited IDP camps to distribute relief goods. After meeting with several displaced people, Shah spoke about the plight of IDPs and the gravity of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Frontier province. What she did not mention were the specific issues that women in IDP camps face. The fact is, a woman’s experience in a crowded refugee camp is markedly different from that of a man in terms of medical concerns, mobility and rehabilitation – this is one crisis in which gender definitely matters.

Pregnant women or those who have recently given birth are particularly in need of special attention. According to the United Nations Population Fund, six thousand displaced women are expected to give birth in June. Owing to the deteriorating security situation over the past few months, expectant mothers have not had access to proper medication, multivitamins and food supplies for the duration of their pregnancy. Many have walked between 10 and 20 hours from their villages to arrive in IDP camps in Mardan, Swabi and on the outskirts of Peshawar. Some have gone into labour while in flight. Once at the camps, they have continued to struggle with a shortage of food and medical supplies. As a result, up to 900 women are expected to require lifesaving surgery for pregnancy-related complications this month.