It is a shame that the loss of precious lives of so many students is reported in this manner. The loss of even one of their lives is a disaster, because it causes irreparable damage. There are tough questions to be asked of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the security agencies as to where these fully armed and trained terrorists emerged from and how they reached Charsadda, in the face of claims that we have broken their backs.
The information released by the government and the military, reports in the press, and incidents on the ground seem like scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which do not seem to form a clear bigger picture about what is going on. The military says it has taken control of the vast piece of land that has been considered virtually ungoverned, and that the terrorists come from sanctuaries in Afghanistan to attack targets in Pakistan. While that may be true, there are serious problems with how we react to these attacks.
There are five assertions that we tend to make after every attack. First, that the damage is ‘minimal’, because it could potentially have been worse. We say we have evaded a disaster, and should be grateful. Second, that there was no security lapse, and that everything and everybody was in perfect place, but the suicide attackers simply cannot be stopped. Third, that the terrorists were extremely well trained and that was the reason for their success. Fourth, that they are cowards who are only reacting to our operations, which have brought down their infrastructure. And fifth, that we have found out that the attacks were being orchestrated from Afghanistan.
NACTA is now a lost cause and madrassa reforms remain a distant dream
The fundamental questions – why we are vulnerable to such attacks, and whether there were any security lapses or intelligence failures – are never asked.
There is no mechanism to evaluate the implementation of the prime minister’s National Action Plan against terrorism. NACTA is now a lost cause and madrassa reforms remain a distant dream. The infamous aiders, abettors and supporters of various terrorist groups are safe and secure in all cities of Pakistan. In Islamabad, female students of the famous Jamia Hafsa seminary linked to Maulana Abdul Aziz’s Lal Masjid, pledged allegiance to the ISIS in a public message. The interior ministry has declined to take action against him because of lack of evidence. Leaders from banned organizations are free to carry out their activities, and are even invited on TV for talk shows and interviews. The anchors thank them profusely for sparing some of their precious time to talk to them. Political parties have openly sided with and aided criminals who have in turn aided and abetted terrorism, and nobody is even remotely embarrassed.
Even if we believe the claims that the military operation Zarb-e-Azb is 90 percent successful, it is clear that the remaining 10 percent of the goals are the toughest to achieve. And saying that does not make one an agent of the enemy.
We must ask ourselves how people can feel any degree of security when terrorists with truckloads of arms and ammunition are able to penetrate important facilities at will. And if they are being supported by India and find safe havens in Afghanistan, what are the foreign policy measures we are taking to counter them?