Imran for chalking out counterterrorism strategy

In a major policy-shift, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Tuesday came down hard onr terrorists and called upon the government, political parties and all other stakeholders to sit together on a single platform and chalk out a comprehensive strategy to flush out terrorists from the country once and for all.
Khan has been taken as a Taliban apologist and analysts across the world call him a pro-Taliban politician who has been critical of the country’s decision to join the US-led war against terrorism.
He has also been called a major critic of the drone attacks and he organised a peace march to Waziristan in October that caught attention of the international and local media.
Terming the menace of terrorism the biggest challenge for the country in 2013, Khan said the menace of terrorism was a major hurdle in the country’s progress.
“Terrorism has been the main cause of the prevailing economic crisis. The government should take immediate steps to provide protection to the people, which is their constitutional obligation,” he said.“Year 2012 was the most challenging year for Pakistan. The government’s writ totally eroded across the country and terrorism reached all-time high as target killers, extortionists and sectarian assassins were at liberty to strike the innocent people at will, while the kidnappers were out there to kidnap the people and get ransom as a routine matter,” he added.
Condemning the killing of 21 Levies officials by the Taliban and the targeting of a bus carrying pilgrims in Mastung that claimed another 20 lives, Khan said during the last five years, thousands of innocent people and security personnel had embraced martyrdom in various terrorist activities, which spoke volumes of the incumbent government’s ineptness and incompetence.
The PTI chief urged the government to overcome its ineptness and play its constitutional role so that the people could live a peaceful life. He urged the government to realise its responsibilities and work out a well-thought-out plan by taking all political parties and stakeholders on board to weed the menace of terrorism out from the country forever.
Khan said due to the uncertain security situation, foreign investors were not ready to invest in Pakistan, while Pakistani businessmen had been transferring their capital abroad, adding that during the last five years, thousands of small and big industries had been shifted abroad, leaving thousands of employees jobless.