Intermittent terrorist attacks
Engineer Sikandar Shigri
Pakistan is facing sporadic attacks from terrorist since its involvement in this bloodshed game. This was not our war but unfortunately we were thrown into this quagmire treacherously. Now we have stranded into this filthy game in such a way that neither we can get rid of it nor we get victory over terrorism. Many innocents have lost their lives. Many soldiers have laid their lives fighting against terrorist outfits, but it never seems to come to an end.
Before December 2014, no any stringent action was taken against terrorism. On December 16, 2014, terrorists targeted a school in Peshawar leaving 134 children dead. This heinous act made every eye wet and every person in the country and abroad felt bereaved. In the wake of this carnage the government and the security institutions vowed to take quick and stringent action against the terrorists. National Action Plan was promulgated and military courts were made functional throughout the country.
As the result many terrorists were hanged, many were killed in military and police operations, and many more were incarcerated. In that traumatized situation, the government, army, civil society and all the other factions of society were seen united and on the same page against terrorism. People belonging to different walks of life supported army, pledging to stand with them, and the armed forces also pleaded to bolster operation against the terrorists. Army started operations in different parts of country and as a consequence many terrorists were killed, their networks and structures were destroyed, and their ability to access finances was curtailed to a large extent.
Feeling the heat, and the pressure, the terrorists hibernated, but later on once again they reminded Pakistanis about their existence by attacking Bacha Khan University in January 2016. As a result of this attack 18 people, including a professor, were killed. After few days of the attack, the army caught the facilitators of the attack and presented them in front of the media.
Only a few months after the Bacha Khan University attack, the wave of terror once again gripped the country, when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a park in Lahore where citizens were enjoying a weekend with their families and children. The attack was carried out on the Easter even, while the Christian community was celebrating it. In this attack the death toll was recorded above 50 and injured was above 200.
These intermittent attacks once again made the citizens wary of the capacity of the government and law enforcement agencies to combat terrorists and root out terrorism, once and for all. People expressed their anger by deploring and maligning the government and other responsible machinery.
All these attacks are the proof of the failure of our government and the institutions responsible for making the country safer for the citizens. People are not secure anywhere, be it a Mosque or a cinema, or a park.
The looming threat of terrorism has made the life of the citizens completely barren. If anyone dares to speak against the terrorists outfit and their facilitators, either he receives death threats, or he is brazenly gunned down. Our defense institutions and government seem helpless. The recent killing of social activist Khurram Zaki in Karachi is a live example of the ability of the terrorists to hit anyone. His only mistake was that he spoke out against the terrorists and this engendered his death. The need of the hour is to get united as a nation regardless of sects, creeds, and clan. Stand firm against this menace and save the nation.
