Religion has nothing to do with terrorism: Nisar

Says world community must come out of Islamophobia;
Pakistan has acted as frontline state against terrorism

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said that religion has nothing to do with terrorism as international community must come out of Islamophobia.

He said that Pakistan had played a frontline state against terrorism and thus suffered colossal losses. He said that the goal of ensuring durable peace, lasting stability and continued development would remain elusive till the regional powers, aided by international community, work hand in hand for overcoming shared challenges and mutual issues. 

He expressed these views while addressing the participants of the Pak-UK international seminar on ‘Sharing Experiences in Stabilisation and Peace Efforts’ at the closing session here at National Defence University (NDU) on Wednesday.

Ch Nisar Ali said, “Mutual distrust and blame-games would only lead to strengthening of non-state actors and those who want to sabotage peace for their ulterior motives. The international community must realise that the policy to remain indifferent to the long-standing regional issues and to intervene only when it suits them or for their short-term goals has taken us nowhere. 

“I feel humiliated when my religion is targeted and is equated with terrorism. In fact 1.2 billion Muslims are the worst sufferers and victims of terrorism. The international community must differentiate between terrorism and freedom movements. Pakistan has paid the heaviest price in the efforts to secure peace within and peace without.

Our sacrifices for promoting peace and stability are manifestation of our commitment and are certainly more than any other nation or country but unfortunately except for the few friendly countries, the international community influenced by our foes, has remained insensitive to our issues and the threats that we face both inside and on our borders. Pakistan has borne the brunt of regional security discrepancies since last many decades. We have single handedly faced post-conflict situation of rival ideologies and more recently the fight against terrorism. Despite paying huge economic as well as human toll, Pakistan has managed to remain resilient with the participation of its people, government and Armed Forces in the process of dealing with the ramifications of the war against terrorism. We are a nation with an extraordinary zeal to fight the elements of instability that not only threaten the peace of the country but also of the region. 

“In the present day global world, security is multi-dimensional and multi-faceted issue. Internal and external factors have added further complexities to the overall security paradigm. You cannot have peace while fanning unrest in the neighbouring country or spilling blood of those innocent who demand their inalienable rights. Similarly, the tendency to play as a tool into others’ hands is also counter-productive in the efforts to promote regional peace and stability. 

“Unfortunately, some countries have taken upon themselves to blame Pakistan for everything even for their own weaknesses. Today regional dimension of terrorism embodies complex dynamics and complicated networking systems, requiring comprehensive and smart solutions.

This necessitates the coupling of national and regional approaches to counter this menace.  “Despite an unprecedented international effort to militarily subdue terrorism, no lasting solution may be in sight if collective efforts are not brought into action. Pakistan has faced a situation when 5-6 bomb blasts and terrorists activities per day were quite common in the country. The government as a policy first exhausted the dialogue option before launching a full-scale military offensive against the terrorists. He said that after Zarb-e-Azb, operation Raddul Fasaad has been launched to wipe out the terrorists and their facilitators and sympathisers. 

“Pakistan has achieved great successes in the fight against terrorism. Compared with the international trends, the graph of terrorism in Pakistan has drastically come down as a result of efforts by our armed forces, police and other law-enforcing agencies. The military power is a short-term measure that needs to be complemented with a robust administrative structure that not only caters to the socio-economic needs of the people but also ensures that the tendencies towards extremism are immediately checked and are instantly countered. This is call for greater cooperation and collaboration at international level with mutual sharing of expertise and knowledge.

The choices before us are clear; either we can stay mired in a situation of mutual mistrust and hostility or make serious efforts to resolve disputes and differences through sustained dialogue and learn from our experiences.” 

The minister congratulated the participants of the seminar and expressed the hope that the various deliberations during the seminar would have contributed positively towards developing greater and clear understanding of the issues and would result in greater cooperation among all stakeholders for the cause of peace and stability.