Daily Times

It is a well-known fact that the Pakistan military, supported by the National Action Plan (NAP), defeated sponsored terrorism from India and Afghanistan, and homegrown terrorism, especially in its former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), now part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Balochistan and Karachi. While fighting that war, the Pakistan military also flushed out those terrorists who had taken refuge in various parts of the country and carried out sporadic terrorist acts.

However, the isolated remnants keep propagating their ideology through various media platforms, and in person through religious schools. Pakistan is now moving towards a violence-free society through a dedicated strategy that includes implementation of NAP, and constant vigilance to be exercised by the elements of the Operation Raddul Fassad, and also by carrying out intelligence-based operations wherever required. This strategy is also directed at neutralising the propaganda of terrorist organisations, elements of which appear to be located in Afghanistan and are suspected to enjoy the tacit support of the countries that are hostile to Pakistan.

The spectacular success of Pakistan in fighting terrorism has been acknowledged by the major countries of the world. Pakistan has also failed the efforts of Daesh to establish its foothold in its territory, although Daesh or the IS had managed to carry out some attacks in Pakistan, using its presence in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s impressive performance in successfully defeating terrorism on its soil is a good case study of a resilient army as a guide to the countries that are suffering from the menace of terrorism to root out this scourge in their respective countries.

Pakistan is now moving towards a violence-free society through a dedicated strategy that includes implementation of NAP

After witnessing Pakistan military’s extraordinary performance in fighting the war on terror and its success in denying entry to the IS in Pakistan, the major and regional powers such as China, Russia, Iran, CARs and the US are now convinced that Pakistan’s cooperation in keeping peace in Afghanistan and Central Asia is necessary, and to defeat Afghanistan based Daesh/IS, which has a broader agenda of creating problems for Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs). In the region, India is the only country that is not happy with Pakistan’s success in the war on terror because an unstable Afghanistan is in India’s favour as it wants to continue to use the Afghan soil to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s strategy to swiftly defeat the propaganda campaign of some terrorist organisations, like Daesh/IS and al Qaeda, is a robust one that is based on the strong narrative that terrorists have no religion, and that Islam is against all forms of terrorism. Security forces are working to eliminate the remnants of terrorists, their facilitators and supporters throughout the country. That comprises of some elements of sub-nationalists, criminals, sectarian, and anti-state forces. They are being used against Pakistan by hostile neighbouring countries, located on the eastern and western side of Pakistan, as part of their proxy war against Pakistan to meet their geopolitical objectives.

Although terrorists’ backbone is broken and they have no courage and resilience to face the Pakistan military, some isolated vestiges keep propagating their ideology through various means, which is being effectively neutralised by Pakistan by presenting strong counter narratives. As all sects, ethnicities, age groups and gender were targeted without any discrimination, it showed that terrorists don’t belong to any religion or sect, and rather, they promote anarchy and chaos. DAESH has not been able to establish a footprint in Pakistan, and only splinter groups carry out their propaganda to achieve international relevance.

Based on religious injunctions, it is being advocated to the domestic and the foreign audience that none of terrorists’ acts can be justified in the light of the Quran and the Sunnah. In his farewell sermon, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) had declared the sanctity of human life to be more than the Holy Ka’aba, which does not align with the tactics of AQ/Daesh. In the Paigham-e-Pakistan fatwa by 1000s of Pakistani muftis and religious intellectuals, domestic as well as international, acts of terror are clearly described as non-Islamic and forbidden. Our religion does not say that jihad justifies killing of innocent citizens or destroying their property, an act that was forbidden by Islam even during active war.

In essence, the Pakistani security forces are protecting the faith, culture, values and lives of fellow citizens, and will never give up their responsivity to forcefully evict any terrorists, irrespective of their aim or propaganda. It is to be emphasised that terrorists’ sponsors and planners are present in the neighbouring Afghanistan and India; they mislead terrorists to use them in the proxy war against Pakistan.

It is expected that the peace deal, recently signed between the US and the Taliban will be implemented successfully, and with the establishment of peace in Afghanistan, the Afghan soil will not be allowed to be used by India to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan. And that Pakistan will be able to completely eliminate foreign sponsored terrorism from its territory.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute, and Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute, Islamabad.