What our country needs is a new narrative, a narrative which accepts that the devil lies within our own citizens.
LAHORE: This is with reference to the article “Who are the terrorists?” by Madiha Afzal published on June 22. The writer has rightly pointed out that it is high time the general public knows about the perpetrators of continued violence and wanton destruction. What our country needs is a new narrative, a narrative which accepts that the devil lies within our own citizens. People need to know that it is not America or India, or for that matter, any other hostile country, which is involved in these attacks or in the destabilisation of our homeland. We are sowing what we reaped.
Our policies of giving blanket protection to militants during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Kashmir infiltration backfired after 9/11 and the same militants are now bent upon destroying the social fabric of our country. Once people know that the enemy lies within us, they would be in a better position to root out these militants. To develop this narrative, the civilian government needs to take the lead. The military, civil society, intelligentsia and the media will then follow suit. In fact, the military has already developed a new security doctrine, identifying the greatest threat to Pakistan is from within. To win this war, the public at large needs to come out of its persecution complex and accept that we are fighting people from within and not without.
Omer Butt
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2013.
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