Terrorism in Pakistan

The recent attack in Drabban, Dera Ismail Khan, which killed 23 security personnel, shows that terrorism is once again rising in the country. There have been observed many incidents of terrorism in the past; however, things have become very frightening this time as the country is already facing a multitude of crises.

Terrorism, in Pakistan, has taken its roots in several catalytic events in the past. First of all, when the Soviet Union attacked Afghanistan back in 1979 during the Cold War, the United States and Saudi Arabia began to prepare proxies in Pakistan who could fight against the Soviet forces. These proxies were called the Taliban. As a result of this conflict, the negative impacts of the whole complex war between Soviet forces and the Taliban were observed in the country and terrorism began to increase. Many extremists and terrorist elements crossed the porous border named the Durand Line and settled in border regions of Pakistan. The Kalashnikov culture established in these areas which challenged the law and order situation. Hence, terrorism began to increase.

Secondly, at almost a similar time, the Iranian Revolution took place in Iran in 1979 when an Islamic government ascended the throne. Here in Pakistan after the revolution, the Shia sect gained confidence and began to feel strengthened in their domestic affairs. In the already happening Soviet-Afghan War, the US and KSA supported the Islamist government of Zia-ul-Haq and therefore the Sunni sect got reasonable support from these countries. As a result of these developments, two opponent ideologies emerged, and extremism surged in the country which ultimately turned into terrorism in subsequent times.

Then came the horrific event of 9/11. Pakistan became part of the US government against its global war on terrorism. The same Taliban which were considered “good Taliban” before, became “bad Taliban”. When the US and Pakistan started acting against the Taliban in Afghanistan, they retaliated. Their sole target was Pakistan afterward. Consequently, terrorism was seen at its peak and the country lost more than 80,000 people.

Terrorism, after all its complex roots and issues, has now become a tough task to handle. Today, many terrorist outfits are operating in Pakistan. The Tehreek-i-Jihaad Pakistan has recently claimed the attack against the police station in Draban in Dera Ismail Khan. Several casualties have been reported after the attack. Before this attack, the Tehreek-i-Talibaan Pakistan, another terrorist organization, had carried out several attacks in the country. The government of Pakistan is sadly indulged in political wrangling at petty issues. It has no time to act against these terrorist organizations. Therefore, the people of the country are losing hope in this government. Terrorists are performing illegal acts to fulfill their intractable demands at all costs.

It is time that the government must act responsibly before it is too late. The reasonable demands of the terrorist outfits must be resolved if there is room. However, their intractable demands should not be obeyed and a zero-tolerance policy should be adopted against them. Similarly, the federal government and the provincial governments of the country must collaborate against terrorism. They should exchange relevant data and information with each other to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country. In the same way, law enforcement agencies must be equipped with advanced weapons and technologies. The recent attack in the KPK province has claimed 23 innocent lives and the hopes of these families have been shattered by their death, but it has been observed that the government's actions have been less effective in combating terrorism. To avoid further events like Draban, terrorism must be eliminated from Pakistan so that the country may also progress in the contemporary globalized world.