Daily Times

Sir: I never knew that there is no difference between a spy and a terrorist but the recent reporting of some of our own national media houses on Sarabjit Singh’s death revealed to me that a spy could be called a terrorist and a terrorist could be called a spy. According to my knowledge, a spy is a person who secretly collects and reports information about an enemy or competitor. A spy is usually employed by a state or institution to obtain secret information from rival countries, organisations and companies. In short, his/her sole responsibility is to keep secret watch on others and he is never involved in any act of terrorism. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, the situation is otherwise; here a spy from another country acts as a terrorist as well. A few years back, we had been hosting Raymond Davis, who was apparently a spy but later on, by killing three Pakistanis, he proved that he was a terrorist as well. The same is the case with Sarabjit Singh. The Indian higher-ups, as well as the Indian media, claim that he was a spy but the honourable Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan said he was a terrorist directly involved in a series of bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad, which killed 14 innocent Pakistanis in 1990. Our nation and the media must try to understand the difference between a terrorist and a spy. A terrorist could never be treated in the manner in which a spy is usually treated.

PROFESSOR ALI SUKHANVER

Multan