Operation in North Waziristan
I would like to ask the writer some questions.
LONDON:
This is with reference to Shaukat Qadir’s article of June 3 titled “No need for operation in NWA”. I would like to ask the writer some questions. 1) Is it all right to allow non-state actors such as the Haqqanis to rule what is part of Pakistan? 2) Does the government of Pakistan have no responsibility towards Pakistani citizens who are living in the area where the Haqqanis hold sway? 3) What is to be done about reports which by all accounts suggest that North Waziristan is being used to launch attacks into Afghanistan, given that Pakistan is not at war with Afghanistan or Isaf? 4) What about training camps set up in North Waziristan, which captured would-be suicide bombers have pointed to? Is it acceptable that they be allowed to continue to operate? 5) Does the writer deny that when a military operation happened in South Waziristan, many Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan leaders and fighters fled to North Waziristan and are still there? 6) What about the network of smuggling, kidnapping and other criminal actions which go on in the region? Should they be allowed to continue? 7) If all is well in North Waziristan, why do we have 30,000 troops deployed there? As a nation, have we become so weak that our ‘interests’ lie in protecting militants? 9) Shouldn’t the militants in North Waziristan be seen as criminals to whom we have ceded our sovereignty? 10) Will the writer or anyone in the establishment explain how groups on Pakistani soil are allowed to have their own militias?
Nadir El-Edroos
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2011.
This is with reference to Shaukat Qadir’s article of June 3 titled “No need for operation in NWA”. I would like to ask the writer some questions. 1) Is it all right to allow non-state actors such as the Haqqanis to rule what is part of Pakistan? 2) Does the government of Pakistan have no responsibility towards Pakistani citizens who are living in the area where the Haqqanis hold sway? 3) What is to be done about reports which by all accounts suggest that North Waziristan is being used to launch attacks into Afghanistan, given that Pakistan is not at war with Afghanistan or Isaf? 4) What about training camps set up in North Waziristan, which captured would-be suicide bombers have pointed to? Is it acceptable that they be allowed to continue to operate? 5) Does the writer deny that when a military operation happened in South Waziristan, many Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan leaders and fighters fled to North Waziristan and are still there? 6) What about the network of smuggling, kidnapping and other criminal actions which go on in the region? Should they be allowed to continue? 7) If all is well in North Waziristan, why do we have 30,000 troops deployed there? As a nation, have we become so weak that our ‘interests’ lie in protecting militants? 9) Shouldn’t the militants in North Waziristan be seen as criminals to whom we have ceded our sovereignty? 10) Will the writer or anyone in the establishment explain how groups on Pakistani soil are allowed to have their own militias?
Nadir El-Edroos
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2011.