Daily Times

The atmosphere in Karachi is still sombre and citizens are traumatised due to the firing incident on a bus in which 46 members including women and children of the Ismaili Shia community lost their lives. City life came to a standstill and all activities remained suspended to mourn the killings on May 14, after a day of mourning was declared by the federal government. Traders voluntarily shut markets and trade activities across Sindh were suspended to condemn the heinous act. All public transport remained off the roads while offices, schools and other departments remained closed. The members of various religious, political, national and international human rights organisations condemned the gruesome act and called for the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime against humanity. Almost all politicians, including the prime minister, federal ministers, civil society and people from other walks of life strongly condemned the firing incident.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, senior civil-military officials are busy tackling the situation in their own capacities. In this situation, the head of the state has failed to comprehend the magnitude of the problem. President Mamnoon Hussain has made a statement that terrorism in Pakistan is now in its death throes. He said that the scourge of terrorism was taking its last breaths owing to effective actions by the government against terrorists. It seems that our worthy President is still unaware of the scale and seriousness of terrorism that has taken root all over the country. It has been nurtured and provided a conducive environment to flourish in Pakistan for more than four decades. Now it has taken such a virulent form that it has become very difficult to eliminate it all at once or even quickly. In order to rid the country of terrorism and extremism, robust policies and their strict implementation are direly needed. There is a need to understand that tough challenges lie ahead. The nation should not be made a fool of through flowery statements. No doubt the armed forces have attained commendable success against the terrorists in FATA, but a lot more needs to be done. At the Apex Committee meeting in Karachi chaired by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and including senior government and intelligence officials, the participants have renewed their pledge to root out terrorism at all costs. At the meeting, a number of important decisions were taken to break up the network of the terrorists. The decisions included speeding up the intelligence-led counter-terrorism operations all over the country through across the board operations, the holding of an apex committee meeting on a weekly basis and ensuring better policing and surveillance. It was announced that a system will be devised for strict checking at all entry and exit points in the country, and that an internal subcommittee would allow for more effective civil-military cooperation in order to increase the efficiency of information-based operations. The meeting resolved to carry the operation forward with more vigour, intensity, and to consolidate the gains that have been made.
The resolve at important meetings, statements and policies are meaningless unless something is done practically. We cannot sweep the dirt under the carpet by just holding meetings and issuing statements. Rather, a practical approach is needed to rid the country of the disease of terrorism. Whatever efforts are being made are good but a lot more needs to be done. Intelligence-led operations and strict implementation of the National Action Plan is the need of the hour. The top political leadership says that both the army and the government are on the same page against the threat of terrorism. A non-discriminatory action against all terrorist outfits is needed to prove the worth of this statement. Enough hopes and wishes have been uttered, now we need action, not words. The fight against terrorism has to be multi-pronged. The police should be depoliticized and intelligence sharing between federal and provincial intelligence agencies should be ensured. The government needs to keep the masses informed about the threat of militancy and its dangers. Strict implementation of the National Action Plan and counter-terrorism operations are needed to pre-empt the terrorists’ evil designs. *