Asif Mahmood
The Kohat tragedy is deeply painful. Terrorist proxies continue to play their dirty game against Pakistan. Terrorists and their sponsors have turned Pakistan into a battlefield for a long time. It appears that after suffering a humiliating defeat on the international border, India and its other facilitators in the region are now engaged in fighting through terrorist proxies.
Pakistan is perhaps the only country in the world that has successfully confronted such a massive challenge of terrorism. It is true that terrorist incidents still occur from time to time, but it is equally true that the Pakistani state has crushed terrorism to a very large extent. The state is now pursuing those who remain.
No other country has faced such a massive challenge of terrorism. Had any other country faced what Pakistan has faced, God knows what would have happened. It is Pakistanis who have been confronting this torment for such a long time, yet their resolve has not weakened. It is Pakistan that has, to a very large extent, crushed terrorism. Although aftershocks of terrorism may still emerge from one place or another, that is understandable because these are international proxies currently operating against Pakistan.
Overall, however, the courage, bravery and steadfastness with which the Pakistani nation and Pakistan’s security forces have confronted terrorism are highly commendable.
There are many questions and many aspects that require attention, but the fundamental issue at this moment is that we need to reflect on our internal situation. At a time when hostile forces have launched a war against Pakistan and terrorism is causing damage to us in its most dangerous form, we need internal stability and unity within Pakistan.
At such a time, if there is a march towards Islamabad, if there is political chaos, or if there is political instability, that certainly does not serve Pakistan’s interests. It is the responsibility of all of us to bring Pakistan towards internal stability.
If Pakistan becomes internally divided and falls into turmoil, that only strengthens the hands of the terrorists. We need to be united on one point: Pakistan is in a state of war. And when Pakistan is at war, we must not allow political differences to turn into internal disorder.
Pakistan belongs to all of us. We all need to think about this.
Our security forces are fighting terrorism. Our army and our police are making sacrifices. We must stand with these forces. They have sacrificed their lives for our tomorrow. Their sacrifices should be acknowledged and appreciated, and the very minimum requirement of that appreciation is that we should not do anything that pushes Pakistan towards internal turmoil.