Pakistan subject to state terrorism from abroad: Raza Rabbani

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said on Tuesday in Geneva while speaking to a high-level panel of parliamentarians, UN and other experts at the 133rd Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly that Pakistan was a subject to state terrorism from abroad, says a message received here.
The title of panel discussion was: Parliamentary action in meeting international commitments to counter terrorism.Rabbani said Pakistan was subject to state terrorism from abroad. “My state and society have been torn, women have lost husbands, mothers have lost children and men have lost their mothers and fathers. For more than a decade Pakistan has suffered the most due to terrorism. Yet it is said we support terrorism,” he noted.
He put it on record that a superpower, which wanted to counter the presence of USSR in Kabul used Jehad as the rallying call. They needed a whipping boy - first it was “communism now it’s Islam.” The international community especially the West should not single out a religion or nationality or ethnicity to terrorism, but should condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
“The issue has been mishandled by the Western governments, Western society and the Western media. However, he admitted that lack of justice in our society has attracted the young people to terrorism,” he pointed out.
Rabbani highlighted that the multifaceted terrorism had no counter narratives as resolutions are limited to the conference rooms having no relation with ground realities and we are told to do more, let us correct “The world need to do more.”
Pakistan, he said, has incurred financial losses amounting to US 107 billion dollars and lives of 62,000 Pakistanis and other losses to its social sector in fight against terrorism.Rabbani noted that Pakistan along with war on terrorism was facing the challenges of rehabilitation of IDPs and maintaining law and order situation to prevent the return of terrorists.
He said that Pakistani nation would not allow anyone to destabilise itself and will come out with forceful military and diplomatic response. Rabbani also shared that how the Parliament of Pakistan has played a vital role by providing anti-terrorism policy guidelines through building a consensus of Pakistani leadership across the board.
“The Parliament also provided a strong legislative cover through hectic deliberation. He also mentioned the anti-terrorism measures adopted by Parliament of Pakistan and resultant military action in the form of Zarb-e-Azb and National Action Plan which has broken the back of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP),” he said.
Rabbani said that military action alone could not address the threat posed by terrorism and extremism, a comprehensive response was required to tackle this global problem.The counter narrative and not only of Pakistan but Asian African perspective given by Mian Raza Rabbani was appreciated and talked about by many parliamentarians in the other committee meetings and informal discussion in the IPU Assembly gathering.