Letters to the Editor
If there was ever any doubt in the minds of those who blame everyone in the world, except the delusional extremists, there should be none after recent events (in particular the attack on GHQ). The religious extremists have exposed themselves to be the real enemy of the state and the people of Pakistan. The seeds for these monsters were sown over three decades ago and Zia's legacy just keeps on yielding its poisonous fruit. This should be a textbook example of why the foreign policy of a nation should never be formulated by its generals. Although the news is generally grim, however, no one should be allowed to raise the spectre of doom and gloom. Among all the poverty, death and misery, there are also examples of artistic and cultural vibrancy, fierce political discourse, and great examples of humanity. If the snapshots of reports are to be believed the Edhi Foundation ambulance network must be one that many other countries must envy. Universities, colleges, schools exist and cater for a vast number of people. There is a tremendously active news and media industry – a stark change from the moribund and suffocating censorships of many previous dictators. As the adage goes the news of Pakistan's demise is greatly exaggerated.
But what Pakistan requires right now is resolve and unity to defeat this monster, before it devours the nation from within. There is apparent resolve from the government, the army and through the expression of their will at the last elections, from the people of Pakistan. Among the compassion for the victims of barbarity and resolve to defeat the senseless murderers one thing must become crystal clear: there should be no delusion in the minds of Pakistanis as to who their real enemies are. Let it be said and accepted as fact that no real or perceived enemy of Pakistan has created the killing fields of the innocent from Karachi to Khyber on a scale that the Taliban/Al Qaeda/Jaish/TTP and their dastardly cohorts have done in the guise of creating a 'Sharia state'.
Of all the reasons that have hamstrung Pakistan's progress into a tolerant welfare state, the ideal of its creators, is the fear, and what now appears a naïve competition, with its much larger neighbour to the east. India despite its many problems has just sent a probe to the moon, it is part of the new world economic forum, the G20, and it has been a flawed, but stable, democracy since independence. It is not to say that it may not cause mischief in its neighbour's affairs (the much-mistrusted foreign hand), however, it would be difficult to believe that India would contemplate Bantustans of Islamist extremism next door, particularly as it harbours a minority Muslim population within.
On the other hand, Pakistan should abandon its 'competitive little brother' attitude to its gigantic and increasingly powerful neighbour. Both India and Pakistan need to find a way of shedding their intransigence regarding the issue of Kashmir and resolve to its settlement through dialogue only. For Pakistan, losing one arm of the country over an issue of land and kinship may be considered carelessness, risking the disintegration of the whole country, for the sake of 'strategic depth', will be sheer stupidity. It may sound counter-intuitive but all roads to an ultimately peaceful Pakistan pass through New Delhi.
R Matif
Thanks to the first and second level security at GHQ that due to their bold and timely action and sacrifice the nation was saved from a serious disaster on 10/10. Now that it has become clear that Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have jointly started a war against Pakistan and its people, our think tanks, intelligence and other government agencies and even the media should stop supporting them. These groups are openly funded by our many enemies.
A Swat-like operation should also be conducted in Punjab as a majority of the high-profile perpetrators of terror are from that area. During the Taliban era in Swat we have witnessed here that their trainers and bomb-makers were mostly from Punjab and secondly most of their local leader have been members of one or the other Punjab-based militant group. Its biggest example is the terrorist leader Ibne Amin who was once a member of Jaish-e-Muhammad. We must now abandon these so called 'strategic assets' for our own safety and security in particular and the whole world in general.
Ali Khan
Matta
