Daily Times

Friday — the day marked for special prayers — seems to be marked recently by terrorist organistations to wreak mayhem in what would preposterously be termed a practice in some holy fight against those opposing their radical narratives. The tribal agencies in particular, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Karachi, and certain areas of Punjab have all been targeted and the death toll is on a rise, apparently uncontrollable by the administrative and law-enforcement agencies of Pakistan, be those provincial or federal. The inability of civil and military authorities to strategise a plan that could be formulated into a cohesive policy to combat terrorism on its multiple, complex levels, and the practice of stop-gap measures seem to be incredulous keeping in the view the constant threat of terrorism at any given day. No substantial counter-terrorism policy has been implemented, which could be instrumental in prevention, and the eventual cessation of terror-related chaos in a country, reeling under the effects of spillover of war on terror and its multi-faceted consequences. The apparent lack of co-ordination between different intelligence agencies, the paucity of trust between various law-enforcement agencies, the incapacity of police to work in a systematic manner on city-to-city basis, and the courts’ reluctance to give verdicts in terrorism cases, all these factors have become an amalgamation of what would only be termed an almost complete breakdown of law and order in areas that need round-the-clock vigilance to keep the militants at bay. This Friday’s suicide bomb blast in an already affected-by-too-many-terrorist-attacks Peshawar resulted in the unfortunate deaths of 12 people, among which four belonged to a security agency. The attack, which was apparently on the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC) Commandant Abdul Majeed Khan, ostensibly took place merely metres away from a military-manned check-post near the US consulate. Khan, in the protection of a bullet-proof vehicle, survived the deadly attack when a pedestrian strapped with a bomb blew himself up, killing innocent bystanders, and wounding 35, some of whom may have suffered fatal injuries. It is almost a repeat performance of August 4, 2010, where Sifwat Ghayur, the former FC commandant, was killed in a suicide attack outside the FC headquarters. The attacks on the FC and other security agencies are retaliatory actions in a blatant attempt to seek ‘vengeance’ for the attempts to eradicate militancy in the tribal regions of Pakistan, and the relentlessness of the same has become a horror story for the people of these areas, and in the perpetuation of fear all over Pakistan. This latest attack is another indication of the failure of the ANP government as well the central government to impose even a semblance of order in the terror-afflicted region. The caretaker cabinet’s apprehension that the threat of terrorism will be the biggest sword hanging in the province as the election 2013 approaches is very valid, but the fear of sabotage has come at a time when all that is done will be nothing more than an exercise in ‘too little too late’. But keeping in consideration the very real menace of terrorism as a top priority, some comprehensive programme has to be implemented before the elections, thereby ensuring the safety of campaign rallies of different political parties, and the Election Day gathering of huge numbers of people at polling stations. The failure to do so would bring about consequences that would be too horrific to be borne in a country that as soon as emerges from the aftermath of one terrorist disaster is hit by another one. The coming days would be conducive for militants looking to unleash more terror, targeting assembled groups of people in the wake of preparation for the elections, and it is imperative that all such ambitions be quashed in time. It is time for the intelligence agencies to work in unison with the law-enforcement bodies and civilian administrations. Any lapse to do so would prove too costly for a terror-worn Pakistan today, catapulting it into more chaos. *