Sir: Whether it is Daesh, Boko Haram, al Qaeda or the Taliban, their target remains the same — instil fear and terrorise opponents, nations, countries by beheadings, indiscriminate killings, bombings, enslaving of captured women. It is to test and break the resolve of those who dare to challenge them and win over a submissive population. No cricket team has visited Pakistan for the last many years, only because the Taliban and their sectarian allies were able to terrorize the cricket-loving nations with the consequences of playing in Pakistan. Similarly, Pakistan has not held the traditional military parade on Pakistan Day for the last eight years — only because of security concerns. Obviously we can’t force foreign cricket teams to visit the country but by withdrawing from the spectacular military parades, we in fact gave a wrong message to the terrorists — you win, we withdraw in fear. After many years of inaction and reluctance, as has been evident from the half-cooked measures to counter terrorism, finally we see some change in Islamabad’s attitude. For the first time, no one is calling (at least in public) the Taliban our ‘misguided’ brothers, providing the Taliban with equal opportunity on the media to express their viewpoint, or calling Pakistani soldiers sacrificing their lives fighting the terrorists merely ‘dead people while the Taliban are the real martyrs. It has been announced that Pakistan is going to hold the long awaited military parade on the upcoming Pakistan Day on March 23. To prepare for the parade and to make the venue safe for the distinguished local and foreign guests, the Islamabad administration is in full action. Forty religious seminaries that lie within the two kilometre zone of the parade venue have been served notice to shut down for a week, March 18–24, vacate the seminaries’ hostels and relocate students to other places. One may appreciate these actions as the security of the guests shall be the top priority, but what about those days when there is no parade? If terrorists can hide, plan and execute from these seminaries on March 23, why not on other days? We need to be consistent in our words and deeds. If it is our resolve that there is no distinction between good and bad Taliban, then we need to prove the same. The nation expects from its government and army a terror-free country, not just a secured parade ground for a few hours.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail
Saudi Arabia