Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir has called upon religious scholars and groups to bring moderation back into society and negate ‘fasaad fil arz’ (anarchy). Addressing the National Ulema Convention on Thursday, the army chief reaffirmed Pakistan’s stance that the armed forces will counter whoever tries to create anarchy in the country. He pointed out that criminals and smugglers are backing terrorism while anarchy is being spread through social media. Gen Asim Munir’s speech was mostly in the context of terrorism, religious extremism and anarchy. He talked about tolerance and unity in the face of extremism and division. The message from the chief’s speech is clear: there will be zero tolerance for terrorism, extremism and unrest in the country. Those who are involved in such activities will be dealt with severely. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also addressed the same convention and called for efforts to wipe out the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He also criticized the use of social media to spread lies and propaganda and said even soldiers who sacrificed their lives were being humiliated on social media.
This is not the first time the army chief or the PM have talked about rooting out terrorism. Pakistan has sacrificed thousands of lives – both civilians and security forces – during the war on terror. A consensus was built that the TTP is an enemy of the state and after successful military operations, terrorists were rooted out of Pakistan. However, many of those who escaped went on to hide in Afghanistan. The PTI government had somehow hailed the Afghan Taliban regime even though at the time too security experts had warned that the Afghan Taliban and the TTP were one and the same when it came to ideology. Now it is no secret that the Afghan Taliban are aiding and abetting the TTP while the latter carries out cross-border terrorism in Pakistan. It was the fault of the government of the time to allow them to resettle in the country after the fall of Kabul – something that has now been acknowledged officially as well.
Thankfully, the state of Pakistan is very clear on this issue now – there will be no talks with the TTP and the Afghan Taliban must stop supporting terrorists or face consequences. As for social media, it is important that the state counters fake news and propaganda with facts and logic rather than banning social media platforms. It was also good to see the army chief talking about religious intolerance and extremism. The rise of religious extremism in Pakistan is not new but the recent spate of incidents where religion has been misused to target innocents is a worrying trend. The state of Pakistan, with the help of religious scholars, can and should counter this trend. We need more tolerance and less bigotry in society.