The 'factories' that breed, nurture and produce terrorists will continue to produce more
LAHORE: Yet, another dastardly attack by terrorists has taken the lives of over 72 citizens of Pakistan, in Lahore. There will continue to be the usual rhetoric and condemnations, with promises of stern action, which will never be carried out. We are reaping the harvest of our own follies when Ziaul Haq’s unconstitutional rule gave sanctuary to people of doubtful credentials and foreign mercenaries to fight proxy wars. The factories that were funded by foreigners have now become a booming criminal business. One wonders what prevents the installation of CCTV monitoring in public places in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and elsewhere, including entry points at border crossings, airports and check posts in the country. This would have cost a fraction of the money spent on mega projects worth several hundred billions.
Even if all of the army is utilised for fighting terrorism, other than killing hundreds of recruits, nothing else will be achieved. The factories that breed, nurture and produce terrorists, whether funded by foreigners or through local support, will continue to produce more terrorists to replace those killed. As long as the Pakistani federal government and all provincial governments abdicate their constitutional obligation to invest in education and outsource it to the private sector, hundreds of thousands of poor people will be forced to send their children to unregulated madrassas, which exploit religion to brainwash them and unleash havoc on this country.
Until the late 1970s, state-subsidised schools existed and produced men like Dr Abdus Salam. Today, education and health have become a business which, in the presence of a corrupt bureaucracy, are totally unregulated and charge exorbitant fees. While the population has been increasing, our tax revenue collection has decreased because the political elite and corrupt bureaucracy within the Federal Board of Revenue facilitate tax evasion. In this crime against the state, both the political elite and the civil bureaucracy are party.
Ali Malik
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2016.
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