The reality is, also, that many of these terrorist groups have links with mainstream religious parties.
JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: This is with reference to your editorial of May 17 titled “Another attack”. There have been conflicting reports as to whether the Taliban have accepted the responsibility of the attack on the Saudi diplomat in Karachi. In any case, if they haven’t claimed the killing, they have said that they condone the act.
Perhaps this killing in Karachi and the one in Shabqadar on May 13, which killed dozens of paramilitary recruits and numerous civilians, may bring us to face the ground reality. And this is that Pakistan is infested with terrorist groups who are involved in the preaching of hatred, bomb attacks, suicide bombing and destruction of public and private property. The reality is, also, that many of these groups have links with mainstream religious parties. For example, this week, a rally was held in Lahore where one of these groups called Osama bin Laden a ‘martyr of Islam’ and was joined by activists of a religious party and a political party.
Pakistanis will soon need to decide whether there is a need to take firm action against these terrorist and militant groups. Either it is to be that, or we are to forever blame the outside world for our ills. We need to understand that the only way that terrorism inside Pakistan can be eliminated is, if all Pakistanis unite and understand that the greatest threat to their country comes from these militants and not from other countries or foreign intelligence agencies.
Masood Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2011.
