The Pakistan army, forced into a war of the West against an internal enemy that is hard to decipher as they resemble us both in ethnicity and culture, has despite all its earnest efforts and good will is attracting nothing but aversion from both within and without.
Nothing legitimises foreign interventions in the form of accusations aimed at our institutions, especially the army that has gone all out, overstretching itself to eradicate terror from within its own borders that not only aids its own country but proves beneficial to those across the border.
For example, the clearing of Bajaur in 2010 served to restore peace in the Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan along with regaining lost territory from the militant strongholds.
A recent documentary by BBC has tried to display the ISI’s duplicitous role in providing training, safe havens and weapons to the Taliban. No substantial evidence, however, has been provided to buttress its claims. That the documentary uses statements of Taliban operatives that no one has heard of before is enough evidence of it being fabricated to aid the other side.
Although Pakistan has been the victim of such grossly overblown allegations in the past, but this one coming so soon after Clinton’s visit is rather significant. Pakistan has denied all claims made by the documentary as incorrect and non-representative of the Pakistani version, but is anybody listening?
History is our greatest mentor as it differentiates for us between our real friends and foes. We must speak for ourselves before it is too late.
LUBNA UMAR
Islamabad
