One of us

Following the recent terror incidents across the country, Pakistani forces carried out surgical operation inside the Afghan territory, targeting terrorists’ hideouts and training camps. Such a strategy will only escalate tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The issue is that we should first put our own house in order before pointing fingers at foreign hands. Despite demands for an across the board operation by public and the media over the past two years, there have not been paramilitary operations in the whole of Punjab and interior Sindh as was done in Karachi. Perhaps, political expediency has taken preference over national security.

After the recent attacks, hundreds of terrorists are reported to have been killed and hundreds more apprehended in a sudden crackdown which is being viewed with scepticism by the people. The bottom line is that terrorists’ hideouts and sleeper cells exist in large number in Punjab and Sindh and they operate with impunity in the absence of any will on the part of security forces to flush them out through a full-fledged operation without any hindrance.

Arif Majeed

Karachi