Pakistan’s society and economy has been badly affected by terrorism. During the past three years, more than 3,000 incidents have taken place across the country and the economy has suffered $68bn since 2010.
The so-called war on terror is the main cause of terrorism in the country. Our past rulers have made faulty policies in this regard without estimating the extent of the losses they would lead to. Since the military offensive against the militants has not yielded any significant result but has led to a severe backlash of acts of terrorism, it is time we considered the option of talking to the militants. Pakistan is a developing country and can’t afford such losses, whether they be the direct military costs of military operation or the indirect economic costs of the fallout of said operations.
The rulers should get rid of imperialist American policies which are detrimental to our national interest and devise policies that are based on the ground realities rather than on the foreign policy imperatives of a superpower.
TARIQ HUSSAIN KHAN
Karachi
