Maimuna Ashraf (Nov.29, No more yes!) and Lubna Umar (Dec.1, Permanent rejection), have made selective use of facts to jump to conclusions. The picture which forms after using all the available facts is as follows. A large part of FATA has been occupied by Al-Qaeda, and Haqqani group of Afghan Taliban. Security to both these forces is provided by a mercenary force of local tribesmen called Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan. Other collaborators are Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Al-Qaeda is the brains behind the suicide-bombings that are rocking the country. TTP, LeJ and LeT are the executors of these assaults. Over 1000 innocent Pakistanis are killed, on the average, each year, by them.
The agendum of the Afghan Taliban is to attack US-NATO-Afghanistan forces from the safety of their base in Pakistan. Al Qaedas agendum is to strike at Western interests worldwide, and to keep Pakistan unstable, so that it doesnt tangle with Al-Qaeda. Territorial integrity of our country is being violated by these non-state organisations, but our government is doing nothing about it. Consequently, the US has been resorting to drone strikes on the bases of these non-state organisations, thereby violating our countrys sovereignty.
The only way to end suicide-bombings, and re-assert our sovereignty over FATA, is to destroy the sanctuaries of Al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban and TTP through concerted military action, starting from North Waziristan. There is a hue and cry whenever drones strike inside Pakistan, and rightly so. But, strangely, there is no outcry at the occupation of a large part of our homeland by non-state forces, who are, additionally, killing Pakistanis at will. In fact, the Opposition, the intellectuals and the public, are all silent – the silence is deafening.
JAVED ASGHAR
Lahore
