The situation remained normal in almost all of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) and its adjoining Federally Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA) on the eve of Independence Day as compared to last couple of years.
The normal situation allowed not only the Chief Minister and Governor KP to attend functions arranged in connection with the Independence Day celebrations, but also Chief Of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Keyani attended a colorful and impressive ceremony at Kakul Military Academy near Abbottabad. Likewise, civil and police authorities attended gatherings at district level while civil and military officers joined each others in celebrations at agency level. In the recent past, due to militancy and terrorism the Independence Day celebrations were confined to government installations and people’s homes in most of the major cities of the country. Since 2005, violence and terrorism have been witnessed on the eve of I-Day celebrations, especially in the scattered areas of KP and adjoining tribal regions. This forced the law enforcing agencies to turn their focus on security arrangements rather than participation in the I-Day gatherings and celebrations.
Though the law enforcement agencies have been engaged in combating trends of militancy and terrorism for almost a decade now, it seems they have at last reached a point to control the situation well. The present government’s efforts since it came into power after the 2008 general elections in this regard are extraordinary. The government, particularly that of the KP province, has declared a war on terror and has joined hands with the armed forces in this respect. The three-tier formula, also known as the 3Ds (dialogues, deterrence and development) and which has helped a lot in bringing the situation under control, was adopted by the previous government but it was implemented practically by the present government.
The KP government, in pursuance of this formula, entered into dialogue with the militants headed by Maulana Fazal Ullah and ordered the release of Maulana Sufi Mohammad along with other stalwarts of the banned Tehrik Nifaz Shariah Mohammadi (TNSM). But unfortunately such acts encouraged Taliban militants to attempt to expand their influence to adjacent Buner and Dir areas after Swat, once they came down from Matta Mountains. These acts of militants united the whole nation and who now unanimously voiced for a military action against them. The army, honoring the wishes and expectations of the people, not only uprooted militant’s network from Swat but also encouraged the KP Police, Frontier Constabulary and civil administration in chasing the militants to end. After waging a successful jihad against militants in Swat, the civil and military authorities went after the militants in the rest of the country in general and KP in particular. One must always remember the tremendous sacrifices made by people and security forces of KP in war on terror. The government and the people both should appreciate the sacrifices as they are the sole reason for the return of peace and tranquility throughout the region. However, the war is not over yet. Militants and terrorists still exist and from time to time they create problems with their terror activities. Therefore the government, armed forces and law enforcement agencies need to remain alert. It is the high time for the armed forces to go ahead and crush the remaining elements hiding in scattered areas of the country particularly in mountainous regions of tribal belt.
