Unabating terrorism

Terror is raising its ugly head once again. It seems the sleeper cells of terrorists, in connivance with their mentors, are out to destabilise the society. The back-to-back terror attacks on the armed forces and other civil installations across the country are quite unnerving. What makes it more worrisome is their resurgence as non-state actors and terrorists were almost routed in army-led operations, and a very heavy price was paid for restoring normalcy. The Miranshah attack, which resulted in the martyrdom of three soldiers and a number of children, confirms the nefarious agenda of anti-state elements. Similar attacks in Sargodha, South Waziristan and Dewargar jurisdiction of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa apart from a female suicide bombing at Karachi University — over a period of last many weeks — are a grim reminder that regressive mentality is alive and has to be eliminated ruthlessly.

The post war on terror backlash is proving to be quite toiling on civil and military cadres. Operation Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad had written glorious tales of bravery, and Pakistan was back to serenity. The spirit and sacrifices of those operations should not be lost. What is needed is a more coordinated approach to screen the faceless enemy in our midst, and take it out. Likewise, the tribal belt and other bordering areas must be mopped once again to flush out terror elements, who must have taken refuge under ethnic and sectarian cloak. Last but not the least is the mushrooming of pseudo-intellectual elements who are out to spread hate on parochial lines, and such elements are common in the settled urban and rural areas. The campaign of otherness in Balochistan is a case in point, and unfortunately that is backed by tribal and political elements.

Cleansing Pakistan of non-state actors is a must. It cannot be ignored under any political compulsion. The country is already under review by international finance monitors, and our retention on the FATF’s grey list is a vindictive measure. The civil-military harmony is a blessing in disguise, and this narrative of oneness should translate into a success story against radicalism. The new episode of revulsion in Afghanistan has a lot to do with unrest in Pakistan, and this aspect should be scrutinised minutely.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2022.

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