Despite Pakistan’s face-off with the US, the toughest and the longest in the country’s history, there has been no respite to terrorist attacks inside Pakistan. The year 2011 will in fact be remembered as one of the worst in the recent past marked by some of the bloodiest killings. This brings to question the argument that the terrorists conduct attacks because Pakistan follows US dictation.
On Monday, a militiaman was killed along with three others in a terrorist attack in Lower Dir. In Karachi, the vehicle of a CID official investigating cases of terrorism was sprayed with bullets killing two. Threats issued to the judge who had sentenced Mumtaz Qadri forced the government to send him along with his family out of the country, indicating that the terrorists are not sparing even the judiciary which can by no stretch of mind be accused of being pro-US or pro-government. What is at stake is not only the fate of the system but also the very existence of the country.
The US has agreed to step back on the demand for immediate operation in North Waziristan. Washington is now seeking Islamabad’s assistance in bringing the Haqqanis and Taliban representatives to the negotiating table. On Sunday, addressing a JUI(F)conference, Fazlur Rehman also urged all defunct militant outfits to abandon violence and revert to peaceful political struggle for the acceptance of their demands. This provides an opportunity to the militants to join mainstream politics. Any sane person would readily agree that negotiations are the best way to resolve disputes. Pakistan however has little time at its disposal to deal with the issue of terrorism from a position of strength. Once the US and Nato forces leave Afghanistan, abandoning the region to its fate, Islamabad alone might not be able to fight the combined force of the Afghan and Pakistani militants. It is already finding it difficult to cleanse the tribal agencies of them. The only way left is to finish the talks with the militants within weeks and if they are found to be unwilling for a peaceful settlement launch, along with the US-led Nato troops, a well-coordinated and all out hammer-and-anvil military operation on both sides of the Durand Line.
