As the sun of 2016 descends deep down into the horizon of past, one is left musing over the problems that impede the way to progress, peace and ease in Pakistan. As Maya Angelou said, “Anew year is the time to make new resolutions, and new resolutionsare made in the light of past mistakes and irritants. These irritants, if not fittingly addressed to, may block the way to permanent ease.” If cast a thorough glance, 2016 was relatively better for Pakistan. The biggest irritant of the nation –the intractable monster of terrorism – was considerably bridled. The Spectator, a UK based magazine, in its latest feature titled “Pakistan is winning its war on terror” has also detailed the efforts Pakistan has made in grappling terrorism. Notwithstanding the eulogies for Pakistan, terrorism undoubtedly remained the biggest menace in 2016. There were 18 terrorist related activities last year claiming 612 civilians and 293 security personnel casualties whereas 896 terrorists were killed. The figures are not small, and still ‘miles to go before we sleep’ in the words of Robert Frost. To gauge the success of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts, the sole touchstone remains Pakistan’s response to APS attack – the bleakest of all calamities the country has ever faced. On this 16th of December, the slain kids were again remembered. TV screens and social media ran the doleful stories of heart-wrenching scenes. Tear-brimmed eyes of the bereaved families and their grave faces with puckered brows dared to pose certain brow-raising questions to the custodians of the state, but they have never had the answers that could soothe them awhile. In the aftermath of APS episode, the entire nation was in high dudgeon and sought revenge on the perpetrators. Moratorium on the death penalty was lifted. The people at power corridors sat together, scratched their heads, and scribbled down Nation Action Plan (NAP) to avenge the brutes and purge our land of the killers who did not flinch back even a little in spraying bullets on our children. Huge pledges were made. Tall plans were tabled. The nationwas united against the terrorists. Much was being hoped – hope that the tragedy of 16 December shall never creep back in our lives, hope that terrorists will be exterminated by the steely will of the policy makers. Sadly, nothing happened. Bereaved mothers kept weeping, and the nation went busy in their respective pursuits, and the NAP kept getting dusty. Now the nation remembers the departed soul once in a year – 16th of December. Tristful discourse with sad demeanours does not have the potential to forestall future tragedies unless reasoned planning and its ruthless execution are put into. It is here where we lacked in. We bewailed the incident, made plans with loftypledges but could not execute them. Bombs kept exploding and the people kept falling to the ground. The same terrorists again sneaked into Bacha Khan University, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, Quetta and elsewhere to unleash the venom of terror. Every time, the nation was consoled with the trite that the cowardly terrorists are on the run with broken backs. Every attack reminds us that there is something that has been going amiss in dealing with the complex enigma of extremism and its offshoot terrorism. So far, the military has played their commendable part — they have pounded accurately on the set targets. The question is if dealing with the terrorists militarily provides the sole panacea to the problem. The reply is ‘no’. There is a political side to where the thought-out plan and its implementation from the civilian side can play the most important role. We are walloping them, but the point is how we should grapple the incubators which keep hatching the philosophy that beguiles a brain to wreak vengeance on the guiltless Muslims in schools, universities, bazaars and mosques. Our planes will keep pounding on them, and the hatcheries will keep producing the spiteful brains ready to explode any time on the commands of their masterminds. Certain steps have to be taken up. First, the state must not provide any space to the elements of disgruntlement, which later are exploited by the cunning masterminds against the state, to penetrate into sections of society. For example, some players in Karachi do not lose any chance to misguide the Urdu speaking community into believing that they have always been exploited by the state, thus attempting to sow in them seeds of hatred against the other communities and the state, and thereby extracting the desired objectives hostile to the state’s interests. So have been manipulated the sentiments of our brothers in tribal areas. Second, we never carved out the counter-narratives to our adventures or misadventures which were subsequently used by the architects of terrorism to turn the brains against Pakistan. We must have produced reasons to the abduction of Aafia Siddiqui, Akbar Bugti’s killing, attack on Jamia Hafsa and above all being the frontline ally of the US in the war on terror. With no counter replies, the agents of terror took these incidents as examples to initiate war on Pakistan. Third, another counter-argument is needed to address the misconceived notions of waging jihad against a Muslim country. A debate must be initiated by writers, intellectuals, anchors, parliamentarians and above all the religious scholars that how a holy war can be waged against a state that does not debar its citizens to perform the rituals of Islam. The role of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri carries weight as he is perhaps the only religious scholar on the land who explicitly criticises through Islamic references the misquoted version of Islam by the terrorists and their likes. In a recent address to a congregation in Karachi, he quoted references from the Holy Quran, Hadiths and Islamic history to disprove the wrong concepts of these ragtag and bobtail groups of extremists. Questions and discussions ought to be raised how Islam allows a person to kill innocent children. The APS students were killed ostensibly on the plea that their elders are from armed forces, so the revenge must be taken on the kids to hurt their parents. An incident can be quoted here from the life of The Holy Prophet (PBUH). During a Holy Sermon, an Ansari, seeing some people from the tribe of Banu Tha’lba, said, “O Rasool of Allah, Their ancestors killed a member of our family. We appeal to you to get one of them killed in exchanged for that.” The Holy Prophet (PBHU) replied, “The revenge of the father cannot be taken on his son.” Pakistan can make progress with ease and honour if a single-point ‘new year resolution’ is made, and that ought to be fighting the misconstrued extremist ideology. With planned and coordinated efforts, the counter to wrong extractions of Islam must be promoted with cogency. This will also be auxiliary in communicating the message of Islam that teaches Muslims to live in peace and harmony not only with the brethren from their own religion but also those from the other faiths. The writer is a Lecturer English and can be reached at tahir_iqbal87@hotmail.com