Terror model of Pakistan and the way forward

The genetics of terrorism has undergone, at a tremendous pace, extensive modifications in the past decade. The product of this negative-evolution is a group of degenerated, moral-less, cruel and emotionless human-looking creatures that cannot be compared even with the cruellest of animals. They are, on regular basis, experimenting with new ideas to disrupt human peace; the most recent example was the attack on a public school in Peshawar. Terrorism is not a country-specific issue rather it is a global reality which is inflicting serious damages to many countries. And Pakistan is one of the worst-hit countries.
Terrorism in Pakistan, unlike other countries, is a multidimensional, deep-rooted and wide-spread phenomenon in terms of its underlying causes, novelty and variety of techniques. That is why fighting the war against terror, with only an option of victory, has become the top agenda for the government of Pakistan, before which all political parties including PTI have surrendered, at least for the time being, their political agendas and quest for toppling the Nawaz regime.
To appreciate Pakistan’s national war against terrorism it is important to highlight some of its dimensions, which are responsible for making Pakistan-specific terrorism unique in the world. Terrorism model of Pakistan has three broad categories; terror in the name of religion (TIR), terror in the name of politics (TIP) and routine terror activities which are a common problem across the globe. Therefore I will only focus on the first two dimensions which make Pakistan an exclusive example of a terror-stricken country.
Terrorism, in Pakistan, in the name of religion primarily gets oxygen from a perverted religious mindset, prevalent within the country as well as abroad, who have assumed that they are Muslims and have ordained upon themselves to fight anyone and everyone who is not aligned with their self-created and highly bigoted version of Islam and they incorrectly term it as jihad. This is the most dangerous form of terrorism because here the followers are emotionally-bonded and religiously motivated to blindly follow the odious agendas of their professed religious-gurus.
The TIR has several branches but two of them are most vital: first is the sectarian violence, which has a long history in Pakistan. And second is to wage a war against anyone, in the name of religion, who does not fit the perpetrators’ version of religion.
Second form of terrorism in Pakistan is related to TIP. Political parties orchestrate and fund terrorism across the country to maintain their political hegemony and spread a scare-feeling related to them so that no one threatens their political domain, Karachi is the best example to quote in this regard.
Both TIR and TIP require huge financing which is primarily obtained from few known sources such as kidnap for ransom, extortion and terror-”scholarship” i.e. the financial support received from terror-sponsoring countries. For example India has been very actively involved in such activities. Pakistan, on various occasions has shared the details of Indian sponsored terrorism in Pakistan especially in Balochistan but to no effect. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, in continuation of his previous regime policy, has extended positive gestures to India but his efforts for promoting regional peace are being reciprocated, by India, with terrorism inside Pakistan and tension at Pak-India border. Similarly the Afghan soil was used for attacking the Army Public School children at Peshawar.
Nawaz Sharif, in his third term as prime minister, is very eager to bring foreign investment in the country. To open the corridors of foreign investments Pakistani premier had very successful interactions with leaderships of China, Turkey, European Union, and United States of America. However his vision to boost Pakistan’s economy to make it an Asian tiger is severely hindered by terrorism, which has made Pakistan a risky place to invest. Therefore, in order to bring prosperity to the nation, it is important to crush terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
To break the complex terror structure operating in Pakistan the government, in consultation with all the political entities and the armed forces, has come up with the 21st Constitutional Amendment and formed a National Action Programme (NAP) to launch a sustained crackdown against the banned outfits. The NAP authorises the relevant security departments to reach out to the friendly countries to clamp down on financers of terrorist networks in Pakistan. At the domestic level NAP mainly entails the formation of speedy trial courts, regularising the madrassa system, checking the re-emergence of proscribed organisations, ban on hate speeches and publishing of hate-spreading material including misuse of loudspeaker and reactivation of National Counter Terrorism Agency (NACTA).
The hallmark of Pakistan’s war against terror is the unprecedented coordination and harmony between the civil government and the military. The Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has been given a free hand by the prime minister to wipe out terrorism and its roots from the country. Civil-military consensus, which was inevitable, in Pakistan is a big blow for terrorists because, so far, they have been thriving on the disagreements between civil and military leaderships.
In my opinion terrorism, like alcoholism, is a disease and can be cured. National Action Plan formulated by the government of Pakistan can prove to be effective in controlling and punishing the terrorists especially those belonging to TIP category. However what Pakistan needs on long-term basis is the change in the mindset of youth so that they are never lured to such misadventures. This can be achieved by reforming our education system and syllabi and bringing the madrassa education in conformity with modern times and national objectives. We also need to provide a sound counter narrative to that of the extremists and terrorists to win the hearts and minds of the youth.
We will have to work on emergency basis to ameliorate the economic status of the people so that they are not forced to sell their poverty to become foot soldiers of terrorists.
Every citizen must feel that he is being looked after and not exploited only then can he play the role of a productive citizen. The future of a peaceful, stable and terror-free Pakistan lies in educated, religiously enlightened and financially stable citizenry. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appears determined to achieve these goals to transform Pakistan into a prosperous, enlightened and peaceful country.