An ideological Zarb-e-Azb is also essential to defeat extremist thinking
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been seriously affected by terrorism. The start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan in June 2014 was a watershed that gave hope that we were beginning to seriously grapple with the menace of terrorism. The second watershed in counterterrorism was the adoption of the National Action Plan, which displayed a clear resolve of the political leadership and security forces, after the devastating terrorist attack by the TTP on the Army Public School in Peshawar in December 2014. But, once again, the terrorists seem to have made a comeback as seen in the recent terrorist attacks all over the country, especially the carnage in Charsadda on January 20, and the Lahore park blast.
Besides fighting militancy, we need to discourage the culture of intolerance and extremism. To completely root out terrorism, we will need to add other arrows to our quiver besides the kinetic punch. An ideological Zarb-e-Azb is essential to defeat extremist thinking. This is necessary in order to defeat the terrorists in their ideological capacity to mobilise support, recruit and then indoctrinate impressionable young minds to put on suicide belts.
In this regard, the media, intellectuals, analysts and civil society should contribute to confronting the extremist mindset. The way out of the current impasse is to promote the culture of tolerance and moderation. Counter-narratives are created to fight the war of ideas with the aim being to win the hearts and minds of the population.
Terrorism can best be tackled by undertaking some critical measures that may include: addressing the root causes and sources of terrorism, highlighting the importance of civil society and public support for counterterrorism, utilising the critical role of the media in fighting the terrorists’ ideology, stressing the importance of reforming the education system including registration and regulation of madrassas and creating awareness among the masses about the funding of terrorism and that people should be careful while giving donations to charities linked with terrorist organisations. Counterterrorism is not effective without corresponding counter-radicalisation efforts. People need to fix their intellectual base in order to deal with the extremist tendency that recently targeted the country’s information minister and Junaid Jamshed. We need to promote the culture of peace and harmony in society, as said by the founder of Pakistan in his August 11, 1947 address, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the state”.
Amjad Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, April 4th, 2016.
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