Plugging the fountainhead of terrorism

And government’s cold feet

The war against the terrorists is bound to suffer if traces of extremist thinking continue to persist in political leadership. Many had hesitated, some like JI still do, to designate the TTP killers as terrorists. Former JI chief declared Hakimullah Mehsud a martyr and doubted if Pakistani soldiers killed in the fight against terrorists could be called martyrs. Sirajul Haq claims politicians in the corridors of power pose greater threat to the country than Daesh. Imran Khan expressed willingness to allow the TTP to open its office in KP. That Mehsud’s killing should have shocked the interior minister indicates that soft corner for terrorists exists among some of the ruling party leaders also.

The hesitation to take timely action against protesters in Islamabad shows that sympathy for the extremists has the potential to paralyse the government machinery. The protesters violated the agreement reached with the Punjab government, resorted to violence and destroyed government property. No force was used however to remove them from the red zone for three days. On the fourth day, they left making victory signs after extracting a verbal agreement from government negotiators on their seven demands. The government set a bad example by yielding to street power.

For years terrorists have enjoyed immunity in a number of areas in Punjab. No action has been taken against some of the banned groups working under assumed names. Ahmadis have been abducted and killed and their houses attacked in several cities while the Punjab government looked the other way. Police and intelligence reports about some of the seminaries in Islamabad district providing shelter to terrorists and collecting ransom money on the TTP’s behalf, were ignored. And still the ruling party thinks that an operation by Rangers or army is unjustified in the province! Both the politicians and the army have to realise that unless an all-out and effective campaign is launched to remove the residues of extremist thinking from society, the nation will continue to bury its children falling victim to terrorist attacks for decades to come.