Living in the time of terror

The ruling set-up should play the role of a leader and decide once and for all how to tackle the monster of militancy.

It is clear the terrorist threat remains just as real as it ever was. Apart from the attacks we have seen across the country over the past few months, killing dozens of persons on the basis of sectarian considerations or other motives, this is evident from the advice given by the prime minister to the Punjab government to do all it can to combat terror. Clearly, the perception of the dangers that lurk is reasonably grim, with concern that everything possible has to be done to avoid the violence we have faced over and over again for far too many years. Many of us fear more violence may lie in store for us in the future.

In this context, the warning from intelligence agencies that a lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty could lead to reprisals from militants is rather alarming. While the issue of the death penalty is a separate one, wrapped in a complex debate, it seems that obvious blackmail should not be the reason for decisions to be made. It was rather disturbing to read reports that suggested the government may be bowing down under this pressure. Such caving in would obviously send out a very dangerous signal. Already, the sense of helplessness we seem to see following each terrorist attack and each sectarian outrage is something that can only make us feel less safe, more anxious and remind us of the perils we live with constantly, with the security situation deteriorating day by day.

Quite clearly, we need a policy to tackle the terrorist threat. Security remains the key challenge for our country, badly crippling almost every aspect of life: the economy, trade, politics, and recreation and entertainment. Because of the militant nightmare, investments, both domestic and foreign, have virtually stopped coming in, commercial activity affected, political leaders too scared to meet their constituents and people in many places reluctant to step out of their homes. Life has been very badly affected, and given all this, it is extremely worrying to note that we still lack a definite policy. While the cabinet earlier this month spoke of the possible use of force and talks only if arms were put down, there appears even a few days on, to be a lack of willingness to take any definite action. Maulana Fazalur Rehman, head of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, whose party is said to be inching closer and closer to the ruling PML-N, continues to speak in favour of talks with the Taliban and says a forum for this purpose will be established soon. It is unclear if there is consensus on this across the board. The military, it is understood, opposes negotiations with a force against which it has been locked in war since 2009, and in fact, even before this, losing many of its personnel in the process.

We need clarity of mind and of vision. Indeed, we deserve it. People everywhere, notably those living in areas of conflict, need peace and normalcy. This zone of conflict has indeed spread into our cities, like a stain which takes up more and more space as it spreads. The colour of the stain is deep red — and it has already badly damaged the social fabric it has tainted. We need to cleanse it. Indeed, we deserve decisive action. It cannot be delayed any further; doing so would put us at risk of even greater and possibly irreparable damage. We cannot afford this. We need then for our government to stop beating around the bush, stop making vague statements, which change from one day to the next and instead, come up with a concrete plan of action. We have already waited too long for this. Indeed, confusion is building in the public mind with each passing day and this can only make things harder. The ruling set-up needs to play the role of a leader, show the way forward and decide once and for all what we need to tackle the monster of militancy, which still stands like a giant ogre in our midst, benefiting from the lack of decision on how to deal with it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2013.

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