Dangerous deeds

It is becoming clear that the Taliban remain free to attempt to imprint their violent ideology on peaceful citizens.

We live in a country where activities that would usually be considered entirely innocuous have acquired dangerous dimensions. The 35 girls injured as Taliban activists lobbed grenades into a Mardan college after shooting at the watchman, were engaged in a farewell party organised for their seniors. It is uncertain if the attack was intended only to target an educational institution for girls, like the dozens others hit in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, but it seems likely that the function at the college had angered the militants. It is an irony that men with bombs, guns and grenades remain free to roam the streets, while college students cannot even engage in a simple act of entertainment without coming under threat of violence.

It is also becoming increasingly clear that the Taliban remain free to attempt to imprint their violent ideology on peaceful citizens. Attacks such as the one in Mardan have an impact that stretches far beyond the immediate victims. The three dozen or so girls injured in the incident and their families will live for months, years, perhaps lifetimes, with memories of the trauma suffered. But the ripples of fear will affect many others and inevitably lead to a cutting down in extracurricular activities at colleges and schools across the north.

How long will we allow lives to be disrupted and endangered in this fashion? Why have our security networks failed to halt the militants and why do their structures remain essentially intact? These are issues we need to think about in depth. Already, the very nature of life in our state has altered. Tragically, innocent civilians are often the most effected by the wrath of the militants. The Mardan attack is a reminder that the militants remain unbowed and this will not change until there is a rethink in strategy and more effective implementation of the security plan intended to defeat them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2011.