The brutal band of men called the Taliban are following an ideology of hatred and bringing into disrepute Islam and indulging in worst form of brutality that can ever be perpetrated on fellow citizens. These men are a product of the hypocrisy that was unleashed upon this unfortunate nation by the illegitimate military dictator Zia-ul-Haq, who has done more harm to this country than all its enemies put together. We live in a country whose paid protectors in order to gain their concocted vision of strategic depth, have given refuge to foreigners with a perverted concept of jihad that has brought us insecurity and death.
Unimaginable is the brutality of cold blooded murder of 27 innocent Pakistanis who were taken off buses going to their hometowns to celebrate Eid, or target killings sponsored by these so called liberal political parties embroiled in the battle for turf in Karachi, or suffering of those whose kith and kin are missing for years, with no end in sight, nor any closure. More citizens of Pakistan have been killed in settled areas by mobsters patronized by political parties than in FATA by drone attacks. Our society is becoming increasingly violent and this is tearing the social fabric.
But despite the bevy of numerous security agencies we have being paid for by the taxpayer, few culprits have been caught. In spite of this shameful performance, our civil and uniformed intelligence agencies have all the time in the world to eavesdrop on politicians but not to do the more important job, with the net result being that even our sensitive defense installations are accessible to terrorism. The recent foiled attack on Kamra shows that increased vigilance pays off but the attack should never had taken place to begin with. Our agencies need to up their game if we are to defeat the terrorists.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
