The savage and brutal attack on innocent unarmed citizens of Pakistan who had just witnessed the flag lowering ceremony at Wagah checkpost, just 500 yards from border, should awake us to the ugly reality that the enemy we face is against the state of Pakistan, has neither sense of remorse nor any value for humane or Islamic teachings which forbid murder. If only we had been wise to notch this snake in its infancy, this country would have been more secure than it is today.
It should also jolt us out of our deep slumber so that we can accept our security lapses, and take concrete measures to win this war against terrorism. This is a war for the very survival of Pakistan and no individual or institutional vested interests must be allowed to prevail. Failure is not an option against these terrorists, nor is policy of restraint or reconciliation. They must be made to surrender, be debriefed by professional expert counsellors and then rehabilitated if possible, or condemned for life imprisonment without parole, or given death penalty if found involved in murder.
Given the frequency of successful terrorist attacks on our vital security installations, it is time that alarm bells be raised and a secure sterile zone enforced, free of commercial or housing projects, with no free access to general public in sensitive areas. Why has permission been given for private residences under garb of farm houses, shops, restaurants etc in close proximity to what constituted our Second Defence Line during 1965 and 1971 wars?
National security should have a priority over commercial and individual interests, especially near the border or other important security infrastructure. It is time we accepted capability of these terrorist outfits who can flare up tensions by carrying out such attacks against our neighbouring countries from within our territory and take concrete measures to prevent them.
We must also reconsider flaws in our existing policies so that our long term security and foreign policy are reset on the right course after an in-depth brainstorming by qualified experts in relevant fields to ensure that in the long run there are no repercussions as we have had viz a viz our failed strategic depth policy which only ended in making our internal security more fragile.
ALI MALIK
Dubai, UAE
