Terror redux

Lt-Col Faisal Malik embraced Shahadat in Shawal on August 24. The percentage of casualties incurred by army officers during the current operations in Fata is one of the highest compared to other anti-insurgency operations in our region. The latest casualties are a stark reminder of the extremism that still stalks our homeland.
The insurgency in Fata is a consequence of years of mollycoddling of terrorists by our society. There are still sympathisers of the Taliban among us. The attackers of Shuja Khanzada were allegedly hosted by a madressah while the heartless killers of our children in the Army Public School Peshawar attack were harboured, feted and guided on their grisly mission by a prayer leader. Is it not time to seriously introspect about the way we embrace our religious tenets? What caused this extremism in society? What role has our state played in nurturing these rogue elements? And finally where is our military strategy on the bell-shaped ‘success curve’? Has the back of the extremists been broken as has been claimed by state information channels?
Brig (r) Raashid Wali Janjua
Rawalpindi