Nature of terrorism in Pakistan

Terrorism rampant in Pakistan is a highly complex phenomenon. The terrorists and their leaders are not very sure about their objectives. They are the spill over of the Taliban who ruled Afghanistan for a few years after the exit of Russia and were ousted by the Northern Alliance in the wake of American invasion as the aftermath of 9 September 2001 in which the terrorists had destroyed New York Tower and other installations in America. Taliban’s allies in Pakistan’s frontier regions provided them safe havens. They started dreaming of enforcing their primitive and perverse version of Islam in Pakistan they had practiced in Afghanistan. They were composed of Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks, Afghans and some elements drawn from other Central Asian States. They professed to fight against the USA but there was no American in Pakistan. They argued that since Pakistan was an ally of the US, therefore they were justifies to make it a target of their militancy. They claimed to wage jihad for the glory of Islam but were all out to destabilize Pakistan which is the backbone of the Islamic world. They in fact had degenerated in to mercenaries who were paid by Pakistan’s enemies to destroy it in the name of Islam. They took advantage of the lenient, weak and incompetent Pakistani governments that successively followed each other and established their influence in Swat, Bajuar, North and South Waziristan i.e. the entire FATA region. For some time, they were in virtual occupation of that part of the country and openly challenged the writ of the state. Having established strong bridgeheads thus they started hitting the sensitive targets throughout the country. They conducted suicide attacks on unwary innocents Muslims, bombed mosques, destroyed buildings, blew up schools and utility installations and were said to be on way to take over Islamabad. Their eventual aim was to lay hands on nuclear assets of the country. The defining moment however came when Pakistan Army decided to swing in to action and aided by the Air power it took on them with determination to decimate them. The Army destroyed their strongholds, training camps, stockpiles of arms and ammunition and killed as many of them as possible with declared aim to annihilate them once for all. However, terrorism will keep popping its ugly head up until the main causes that provide it breeding grounds are seriously addressed. These are: One— spread of education nation-wide and achieve hundred percent literacy. Two— Alleviation of poverty ensuring equitable distribution of wealth. Three— End to feudalism in all its manifestations. Four— Introduction of Islamic system of governance for which Pakistan was demanded. terrorism. Main emphasis for the purpose should be on the elimination of the causes that breed terrorism. The foremost requirement is the removal of poverty among the masses achieving fair distribution of wealth in the society. For this purpose feudalism should be abolished as most of the Far Eastern countries have done in the recent past to become progressive economies. The country should have democracy in its truest form so that political leadership springs from the grass-roots and remains wedded to the masses during the tenure of their stay in the government. The education system should make the entire nation literate so that simple people falling easy prey to the nefarious designs of the ethnic and religious fundamentalists, can distinguish between the right from the wrong. The whole nation should be deweaponized because so long as the weapons remain in the possession of the people they will be put to use, often for no justification. To fight the foreign inspired terrorism, such as the one being promoted by India, Pakistan should become extra vigilant. Every conceivable precaution should be taken. Its own intelligence agencies should remain alert to the danger and make sure that the culprits are apprehended before they succeed in doing the mischief. Pakistan suffers from the curse of terrorism in a manner quite distinct from the rest of the world. Long before the advent of Taliban quite a number of fundamentalist organizations such as Sipahe Sahaba, Lashkare Tayyaba and Jhangvi, Harkat-ul-mujahedeen etc were already active throughout the country. They freely promoted Shia-Sunni parochialism and resorted to target killing of their respective leaders. They fanned the fire of sectarian and ethnic hatred against each other which at times culminated into bloody riots. They as such had made the task of the Taliban easier so that they could penetrate deep in to the Pakistani society to carry out their destructive activities. They are all banned outfits but their clandestine operations continue unabated. The reason is that every government that comes to power is worst than its predecessor. Corruption is their main weakness. A government manned by corrupt leaders is morally imbecile and administratively compromising. It is unable to take stem action against the defaulters. When every one is busy in robbing the country then who is to take action against whom? The economy is hit by shortages of every kind. Electric power has become rare; gas is being shed while all other utility services have gradually gone out of the reach of the common man. Inflation has touched heights as never before with the result that half of the population has been pushed below the poverty line. Bitter protests and angry demonstrations have gripped the country that is likely to gain momentum because no remedial measures, except hollow promises, are in sight to redress the situation. in short, it is an ideal environment for the fundamentalists, racists, sectarionists and terrorists to flourish and hit their chosen targets at will. Pakistan is in need of a strong government that is staffed by genuine representatives of the people with clean hands. It should be in a position to strike terror in the heart of unruly element and command respect of the common man. It should be guided by the national interests alone and be bold enough to say no to unreasonable demands of today’s super power of the world. Plenty of surplus electricity and gas is’ available in Iran which as per agreements should be imported at the earliest but Pakistan continues to suffer shortages because the US would not permit the implementation of the agreements. With such weak kneed government in power terrorism will keep on making its ugly appearance; India will keep on threatening military actio3 and America will keep on dictating its terms by inducting its black water agencies and CIA agents. Pakistan should stop the presence of foreign agencies on its soil and act as a sovereign state. It is a beautiful country and should be made proud, peaceful and independent as well. The sum up, it has to be acknowledged that the world today has become a very unhappy place. It has become a veritable snake-pit of violence. The instances of turbulence are given different names at different times. An act of violence is termed as terrorism by some and as struggle for freedom by others, depending upon their convenience and vested interests. A freedom fighter of yester years is terrorist of today and a patriot of today is condemned as terrorist of the past. It is the will of the stronger that prevails. The fact is that all acts of violence are the reactions of the oppression of the mighty over the weaker. The weaker has his own manner of hitting back. Being wronged he feels justified in avenging himself. The punishment for an act of violence is not to be administered in the form of counter-violence. Causes have to be identified and removed. Poverty, oppression, economic, political and physical injustice at national and international scale are some of the outstanding causes. Efforts should be made to remove these. Measures such as globalization and attempts at making the world a global village should be set at rest. They serve only the oppressor and not the oppressed and therefore promote violence instead of putting an end to it. Last of all the world disputes should be addressed honestly by the world body. It should respect its own resolutions passed years ago and get them implemented. Terrorism rampant in Pakistan is a highly complex phenomenon. The terrorists and their leaders are not very sure about their objectives. They are the spill over of the Taliban who ruled Afghanistan for a few years after the exit of Russia and were ousted by the Northern Alliance in the wake of American invasion as the aftermath of 9 September 2001 in which the terrorists had destroyed New York Tower and other installations in America. Taliban’s allies in Pakistan’s frontier regions provided them safe havens. They started dreaming of enforcing their primitive and perverse version of Islam in Pakistan they had practiced in Afghanistan. They were composed of Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks, Afghans and some elements drawn from other Central Asian States. They professed to fight against the USA but there was no American in Pakistan. They argued that since Pakistan was an ally of the US, therefore they were justifies to make it a target of their militancy. They claimed to wage jihad for the glory of Islam but were all out to destabilize Pakistan which is the backbone of the Islamic world. They in fact had degenerated in to mercenaries who were paid by Pakistan’s enemies to destroy it in the name of Islam. They took advantage of the lenient, weak and incompetent Pakistani governments that successively followed each other and established their influence in Swat, Bajuar, North and South Waziristan i.e. the entire FATA region. For some time, they were in virtual occupation of that part of the country and openly challenged the writ of the state. Having established strong bridgeheads thus they started hitting the sensitive targets throughout the country. They conducted suicide attacks on unwary innocents Muslims, bombed mosques, destroyed buildings, blew up schools and utility installations and were said to be on way to take over Islamabad. Their eventual aim was to lay hands on nuclear assets of the country. The defining moment however came when Pakistan Army decided to swing in to action and aided by the Air power it took on them with determination to decimate them. The Army destroyed their strongholds, training camps, stockpiles of arms and ammunition and killed as many of them as possible with declared aim to annihilate them once for all. However, terrorism will keep popping its ugly head up until the main causes that provide it breeding grounds are seriously addressed. These are: One— spread of education nation-wide and achieve hundred percent literacy. Two— Alleviation of poverty ensuring equitable distribution of wealth. Three— End to feudalism in all its manifestations. Four— Introduction of Islamic system of governance for which Pakistan was demanded. Pakistan suffers from the curse of terrorism in a manner quite distinct from the rest of the world. Long before the advent of Taliban quite a number of fundamentalist organizations such as Sipahe Sahaba, Lashkare Tayyaba and Jhangvi, Harkat-ul-mujahedeen etc were already active throughout the country. They freely promoted Shia-Sunni parochialism and resorted to target killing of their respective leaders. They fanned the fire of sectarian and ethnic hatred against each other which at times culminated into bloody riots. They as such had made the task of the Taliban easier so that they could penetrate deep in to the Pakistani society to carry out their destructive activities. They are all banned outfits but their clandestine operations continue unabated. The reason is that every government that comes to power is worst than its predecessor. Corruption is their main weakness. A government manned by corrupt leaders is morally imbecile and administratively compromising. It is unable to take stem action against the defaulters. When every one is busy in robbing the country then who is to take action against whom? The economy is hit by shortages of every kind. Electric power has become rare; gas is being shed while all other utility services have gradually gone out of the reach of the common man. Inflation has touched heights as never before with the result that half of the population has been pushed below the poverty line. Bitter protests and angry demonstrations have gripped the country that is likely to gain momentum because no remedial measures, except hollow promises, are in sight to redress the situation. in short, it is an ideal environment for the fundamentalists, racists, sectarionists and terrorists to flourish and hit their chosen targets at will. Pakistan is in need of a strong government that is staffed by genuine representatives of the people with clean hands. It should be in a position to strike terror in the heart of unruly element and command respect of the common man. It should be guided by the national interests alone and be bold enough to say no to unreasonable demands of today’s super power of the world. Plenty of surplus electricity and gas is’ available in Iran which as per agreements should be imported at the earliest but Pakistan continues to suffer shortages because the US would not permit the implementation of the agreements. With such weak kneed government in power terrorism will keep on making its ugly appearance; India will keep on threatening military actio3 and America will keep on dictating its terms by inducting its black water agencies and CIA agents. Pakistan should stop the presence of foreign agencies on its soil and act as a sovereign state. It is a beautiful country and should be made proud, peaceful and independent as well. The sum up, it has to be acknowledged that the world today has become a very unhappy place. It has become a veritable snake-pit of violence. The instances of turbulence are given different names at different times. An act of violence is termed as terrorism by some and as struggle for freedom by others, depending upon their convenience and vested interests. A freedom fighter of yester years is terrorist of today and a patriot of today is condemned as terrorist of the past. It is the will of the stronger that prevails. The fact is that all acts of violence are the reactions of the oppression of the mighty over the weaker. The weaker has his own manner of hitting back. Being wronged he feels justified in avenging himself. The punishment for an act of violence is not to be administered in the form of counter-violence. Causes have to be identified and removed. Poverty, oppression, economic, political and physical injustice at national and international scale are some of the outstanding causes. Efforts should be made to remove these. Measures such as globalization and attempts at making the world a global village should be set at rest. They serve only the oppressor and not the oppressed and therefore promote violence instead of putting an end to it. Last of all the world disputes should be addressed honestly by the world body. It should respect its own resolutions passed years ago and get them implemented.