Now Pakistan Is Under Serious Threat
Muhammad Khurshid
February 13, 2009
There was a time when no one except former president Pervez Musharraf was ready to accept the fact that terrorism is the problem of Pakistan, but now this menace is a threat to the very existence of this country. Now Pakistani media has also been saying that terrorism a threat to Pakistan. Now this fact has been accepted that terrorist training camps are present in Pakistan.
Rulers of Pakistan have taken a long time in accepting the truth. They have accepted the truth after the killing and destruction on large scale. Now this question must be anwsered by those who matter in the Pakistani administration as who are terrorists. Who are providing support to terrorists in tribal areas?
According to my observation during last eight years, rulers of Pakistan has created terrorists. They have brought and settled terrorists in tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border. But later the punishment was given to the poor people of tribal areas, who have committed no crime.
Pakistani forces have killed thousands of people in Bajaur Agency during operation against terrorists. Most of the victims are the innocent women and children. Rulers of Pakistan have committed war crimes in tribal areas. Media is under the control of Pakistani government, therefore, it has been keeping mum over the death and destruction.
Terrorists after feeling heat in tribal areas have now entered other parts of the country. Now they have reached to Islamabad. Now they are in a position to take over the country anytime.
Now there is serious threat to the state of Pakistan. Invisible hands have been trying to dismantle the country. According to a Pakistani newspaper comment, the monster of terrorism is creeping from the fringe towards the centre. After Fata and Swat the militants are now making inroads into the settled areas of the NWFP and Punjab. Their latest attack in Peshawar that killed an ANP legislator on Wednesday could prove to be a watershed in the war on terror. Mr Alamzeb Khan is among the most high-profile victims of militancy — irrespective of which group claims responsibility — and his killing has shocked the government and the people of Pakistan. The fact that the attack took place so brazenly on the day the American special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, was visiting the NWFP capital speaks volumes for the message the terrorists wanted to send: no one is now safe in Pakistan. If a member of the ruling party can be targeted despite all the protection he had presumably been provided, how can the common man hope to escape the firepower of those determined to impose by violent means their own brand of Islamist extremism in the country? Pakistanis have never felt as insecure as they do today.
A look at the ´victories´ chalked up by the militants should be enough to substantiate their claims that the government is not winning the war on terror. They have a clear-cut strategy: to isolate Pakistan in order to weaken it militarily, politically and diplomatically. Thereafter it would be a walk-over for them. In the last 10 days while the government has been issuing bulletins giving the count of the militants killed and claiming success, the terrorists have not been deterred. They beheaded a Polish engineer they had been holding hostage since September. They have attacked Nato supply routes in a bid to disrupt them — two bridges were blown up and trailers torched — forcing the authorities to shift the parking bays for Nato supplies to Punjab. Members of the paramilitary and police have been forced to defect to win their release. All this while people are being killed and threatened. It is to state the obvious that the people expect the government to get its act together and draw up a feasible strategy to counter the terrorists. That no strategy is still in place cannot be denied. The Polish foreign minister added another dimension to the picture when he spoke of rifts in the government which apparently does not command the loyalty of all officers. Can a war be won by a government lacking a strategy and discipline within its own ranks?
The End
Rulers of Pakistan have taken a long time in accepting the truth. They have accepted the truth after the killing and destruction on large scale. Now this question must be anwsered by those who matter in the Pakistani administration as who are terrorists. Who are providing support to terrorists in tribal areas?
According to my observation during last eight years, rulers of Pakistan has created terrorists. They have brought and settled terrorists in tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border. But later the punishment was given to the poor people of tribal areas, who have committed no crime.
Pakistani forces have killed thousands of people in Bajaur Agency during operation against terrorists. Most of the victims are the innocent women and children. Rulers of Pakistan have committed war crimes in tribal areas. Media is under the control of Pakistani government, therefore, it has been keeping mum over the death and destruction.
Terrorists after feeling heat in tribal areas have now entered other parts of the country. Now they have reached to Islamabad. Now they are in a position to take over the country anytime.
Now there is serious threat to the state of Pakistan. Invisible hands have been trying to dismantle the country. According to a Pakistani newspaper comment, the monster of terrorism is creeping from the fringe towards the centre. After Fata and Swat the militants are now making inroads into the settled areas of the NWFP and Punjab. Their latest attack in Peshawar that killed an ANP legislator on Wednesday could prove to be a watershed in the war on terror. Mr Alamzeb Khan is among the most high-profile victims of militancy — irrespective of which group claims responsibility — and his killing has shocked the government and the people of Pakistan. The fact that the attack took place so brazenly on the day the American special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, was visiting the NWFP capital speaks volumes for the message the terrorists wanted to send: no one is now safe in Pakistan. If a member of the ruling party can be targeted despite all the protection he had presumably been provided, how can the common man hope to escape the firepower of those determined to impose by violent means their own brand of Islamist extremism in the country? Pakistanis have never felt as insecure as they do today.
A look at the ´victories´ chalked up by the militants should be enough to substantiate their claims that the government is not winning the war on terror. They have a clear-cut strategy: to isolate Pakistan in order to weaken it militarily, politically and diplomatically. Thereafter it would be a walk-over for them. In the last 10 days while the government has been issuing bulletins giving the count of the militants killed and claiming success, the terrorists have not been deterred. They beheaded a Polish engineer they had been holding hostage since September. They have attacked Nato supply routes in a bid to disrupt them — two bridges were blown up and trailers torched — forcing the authorities to shift the parking bays for Nato supplies to Punjab. Members of the paramilitary and police have been forced to defect to win their release. All this while people are being killed and threatened. It is to state the obvious that the people expect the government to get its act together and draw up a feasible strategy to counter the terrorists. That no strategy is still in place cannot be denied. The Polish foreign minister added another dimension to the picture when he spoke of rifts in the government which apparently does not command the loyalty of all officers. Can a war be won by a government lacking a strategy and discipline within its own ranks?
The End
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