THE recent upsurge in terrorist activities has forced the government to formally launch a fresh operation to weed out the threat. The National Security Committee (NSC), which met in Islamabad on Friday with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the chair, approved re-launching a multi-dimensional and comprehensive operation to purge the country of the curse of terrorism. The comprehensive operation, along with the security aspect, would also involve efforts at political, economic, diplomatic and social levels. A high-level committee, constituted by the NSC, would submit a report within two weeks for the launch of the operation and its parameters.
Pakistan defence forces and security agencies carried out successful operations against terrorist networks at a huge cost of men and material and the counter-terrorism strategy was considered as a role model by the international community. However, it is unfortunate that instead of consolidating the gains through follow up policies and actions, the so-called soft policy pursued by the previous Government has pushed the country back to a stage where a new all-encompassing operation has become a necessity. The participants of the 41st meeting of the NSC expressed a unanimous view that the new wave of terrorism was the result of a soft policy adopted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government with the banned outfit Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They were of the unanimous view that as a result of the soft policy which was followed without any thought against aspirations and expectations of masses, terrorists were allowed to return to safe havens in the country while miscreants were released from jails in the name of confidence building. The dialogue policy could not succeed because of unacceptable demands made by the TTP including restoration of special status of seven border regions formerly known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and non-deployment of Pakistan Army in former no-go areas, presumably to establish its own Islamic caliphate there. Talks were apparently aimed at peaceful resolution of the trouble but premature release of terrorists and permission given to them to resettle and operate easily made all the difference and the terrorist outfits re-organized them into a formidable threat again. It is because of lack of vision and foresight in conducting the dialogue with the TTP that today we are back to square one as far as acts of terrorism are concerned. The frequent terrorist attacks during the last two years, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, indicate the resurgence of terrorism. Ironically, Pakistan offered immense sacrifices for the cause of Afghan people and it was generally hoped that things would start improving after the return of Taliban to power in Kabul but instead insecurity in Pakistan has increased since then. The year 2022 witnessed 27% more terrorist acts than 2021 and 2023 may be worse with almost 200 terror-related incidents and at least 340 fatalities by March. As the TTP leadership is enjoying hospitality in Afghanistan, Islamabad has been demanding of the Taliban Government to take punitive action against the outfit for violent activities in Pakistan but the Kabul authorities are reluctant to oblige. Their apathy to the security woes of Pakistan can be gauged from the fact that they are making demands that Pakistan should foot the bill for any operation against terrorists. In this backdrop, Pakistan was left with no option but to re-launch a well-coordinated operation against the rising threat and, therefore, the unanimous decision of the NSC augurs well for peace, security and progress of the country and its people. There is surely no escape from the operation but it will put additional strains on the national economy in view of its already fragile nature and financial constraints. The country will be required not just to deploy necessary manpower to achieve the desired targets but also divert more resources for its implementation. As against wild conjectures, the NSC meeting did not discuss the issue of an imminent showdown between Parliament and the judiciary, accentuated by the latest verdict of the Supreme Court fixing elections for the Punjab Assembly on May 14 but the launch of the operation within a fortnight effectively means no availability of necessary security from the defence forces and other agencies for election purpose, making it unlikely for the elections to be held on the fixed date.
