Pakistan: State,Security, and Citizens

Fateema Barcha

That day when I returned to my hostel, my friend from Peshawar told me about the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. One her friend’s had also been martyred. I was in a state of anger and frustration, but also curious thinking how could a bunch of gun-carrying men enter a garrison area and shoot children at will.

After the brutal attack on the children; after losing 132 children among 151 killed, the government and security agencies apparently realized the scale and magnitude of their blunder. Hurried efforts were made to beef up security of schools across the country.

It is a strange fact that in Pakistan security measures are always taken after a major incident happens. That does not mean we have been able to secure our citizens against suicide attacks and other terrorist activities. After the Peshawar massacre, major terrorist attacks have happened in Shikarpur and Lahore, to name a few.

We have to take necessary measures to avoid suicide attacks and many other terrorist attacks because terrorists do not belong to any state and they are non-state actors.

Pakistan being a state should be powerful and skillful enough to control and avoid terrorist attacks. A failed state is one which losses control of its territory, or erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions, Inability to provide public services, Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community. Pakistan has unfortunately acquired the rest of characteristics except the loss of control over territory.

Although it will be not fair to say that Pakistan has not been able to protect its territory, but domestic conditions need to be stabilized because situation prevailing inside Baluchistan may also lead to terrestrial loss.

Along with the security of state security of citizens must be ensured by providing practical and useful security measures by security providing agencies and supreme responsibility for these measures lies upon the intelligence agencies, being responsible for espionage, domestic intelligence, monitoring communications, and maintaining a special, military-trained action group.

One of the dominant responsibility of security provision lies upon ISI, MI and IB in Pakistan because of the fact that unlike developed countries in Pakistan security is not granted everyday by the government. People have to rely upon military, rangers and MI. We need a long term strategy keeping in view all the possible threats for the security of state and especially security of individuals of state.