Daily Times

Sir: With the spectacular rise of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq, al Qaeda is on the back foot in proving its relevance in a changing world. To avoid any direct confrontation with IS, al Qaeda has now chosen another front to work on: the subcontinent. Religious parties and organisations that coordinate activities in Pakistan have long claimed that they are not involved in promoting terrorism. I fail to understand what proof is required to link these seminaries to the ongoing mayhem in Pakistan and Afghanistan, now being extended to other countries in the subcontinent. The Pakistan army has been fighting terrorists for a long time in South and North Waziristan, Swat and a host of other tribal areas. Does it not seem like they are still fighting the symptoms, not the disease itself? Unless and until we defeat the ideology that is brainwashing hundreds of thousands of seminary students, we are just running after shadows in the tribal areas. All efforts and sacrifices will go down the drain because these armies of religious zombies are getting ready to replace downed comrades. Now it is up to us to make a sensible choice, otherwise the subcontinent will keep bleeding for years to come.

MASOOD KHAN

Jubail,

Saudi Arabia