Pakistan has been successfully combating terrorism for over twenty years, but this menace continues to resurge whenever it seems the country is almost over with it. Before the fall of Kabul there was a sense of so-called optimism that if the United States withdrew from Afghanistan, it would reduce the threat of terrorism in the country. Sadly, these claims have been disproven, since Pakistan has seen a 60% upsurge in terrorist events following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
Analyzing the terrorism in Pakistan, it can be bifurcated into two kinds. First, the Islamic terrorism, purported by terrorist groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Islam, and ISKP. Second is the linguistic and regional terrorism which is asserted by Baloch Liberation Army, Baloch Raji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS), and the Baloch Liberation Front.
Having their epicenters in Afghanistan, both of these types weigh in on the support of criminal mafias. They target Pakistan Army Personnel and other law enforcement agencies, indicating that their end goals are the same, to destabilize Pakistan.
The Shadow economy, comprising 40% of the GDP, is one of the reasons terrorism tends to resurge in Pakistan. This informal economy, devoid of tax net, becomes a source of terror funding. 6 million liters per day of Iranian oil is smuggled into Pakistan which costs Pakistan a loss of Rs 227 billion. In a similar vein, 14 million tires are sold in Pakistan annually, and 65 percent of these tires are brought via smuggling. As per the report of Pakistan Business Council, Rs 800 billion is lost annually in tax evasion due to these illegal means of trading. Inimical terrorist elements and mafias gather their economic support from smuggled money and carry out heinous acts of terrorism in Pakistan.
Local administrations in areas affected by terrorism do not put forth any significant effort. Plagued by corruption, they operate under the policies that lack coherence. For instance, the federal government provided 415.50 billion rupees to the KP government. However, it is unknown where these funds were used by the KP government, as the condition of Pak rupee remain the same as before.
The traditions of Pakistan’s Madrassahs, or religious schools, date back almost a millennium to the teachings of Islam. However, during the past few decades, they have progressively played a role that is at odds with their initial intentions. Out of the 32,000 Madrasahs in Pakistan, only 51.9 percent are officially recognized. How ironic it is that, as per National Action Plan 2014, it was decided that all seminaries in the country would be registered, yet half of seminaries in Pakistan are not in any record. Moreover, there is no official recordkeeping about the funding and resources of these seminaries.
The current threat stems from the fact that some of these institutions have developed very tight relationships with radical militant organizations and are vital to the upkeep of the global terrorist network. The displacement of a public education system by madrassahs pose a significant threat to the stability and economic prospects of the Pakistani state.
In the long run, maintaining security and stability has been made more difficult by the local governments’ failure to implement capacity-building programs in the areas affected by terrorism resulting in terrorists establishing strong roots in these locations. For example, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has only five hundred and thirty-seven personnel in its counter terrorism force, which are incapable to handle terrorist incidents occurring in the province.
The fact that there is a stalled legal system in the country raises the spirits of terrorist elements. Although 92 perecent of all terrorist incidents in the previous year occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, there are not as many anti-terrorism tribunals in these regions that can apprehend the culprits. 23 counterterrorism courts are operating in Punjab, 32 in Sindh, 13 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 9 in Balochistan, according to information from the National Counter Terrorism Authority. Tragically, 605 terrorism cases that are still undecided in Pakistan. Among these cases 48 are pending in Punjab, 115 in Sindh, 195 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 208 in Balochistan.
Another significant issue is that the criminal mafias and their enablers pick up the case of missing persons very soon after any terrorist is apprehended. There is a strong network present between criminals and terrorists, and it is impossible to win this fight without fracturing this network. The responsibility rests on the shoulders of political leadership to dismantle such networks, so these elements do not disrupt counterterrorism efforts.
A question arises from here, how Pakistan is intact and solid despite enduring terrorism to this much extent? When a quarter of the terrorism faced by Pakistan was endured by countries like Libya, Syria and Iraq, they were turned into ruins. It is noteworthy that Pakistan Army is doing 126 operations on daily basis and 111 soldiers have been martyred in the year 2024. This is the sole reason Pakistan is standing firm and is resilient in its journey to be a prosperous state.
Pakistan has faced many unprecedented times before and has carved its way out of those difficulties. Nothing remains a stumbling stone in Pakistan’s journey towards progress, peace and prosperity. Terrorist are purely the Khawarij, and the religion of Islam clearly disowns such people. The war against terrorism is the war of our survival and everyone has to fight this war together.
Pakistan Army cannot fight this war alone. Until terrorism is eradicated completely, there will be neither peace nor any economic stability in this country. It is the need of the hour that all civilian state departments should stand shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan army to defeat the menace of terrorism, once and for all.
The writer is a freelance journalist.