Pakistan's bred monsters are behind Lahore blast

On Easter eve, a suicide blast occurred at a crowded park in Lahore, killing more than 70 people - mostly women and children. More than 300 people were wounded in this act of cowardice.

In a message sent by media breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, later claimed the responsibility for the attack, and said that it was aimed against Christians.

Following the attack, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who was on his way to attend nuclear security summit in Washington DC, was forced to change his plans due to the gruesome nature of the attack. After several high official meetings in prime minister house and army headquarter, the authorities announced that they would launch an operation in Punjab against those who are behind the Lahore attack.

Also read - World mourns for Lahore

The spokesperson of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan accepted the responsibility for the March 27 attack: "We want to send this message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered in Lahore." He said, "Prime minister can do what he wants but he won't be able to stop us. Our suicide bombers will continue these attacks."

In the past, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Pakistan since 2014. Even the India-Pakistan border Wagah has been targeted. Christians were targetted in the 2015 twin bombing on two churches, again on a Sunday in Lahore.

After 2014 Army Public School attack in Peshawar, killing more than 130 children and attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, where 22 lost their lives, Pakistani military and civilian leadership pledged to fight terrorism with renewed zeal.

They launched the national action plan (NAP), which called for a ban across the board counterterrorism effort throughout Pakistan, their abettors, sympathisers and financiers. Due to political opportunism, there was hesitance and reluctance to implement the NAP by Nawaz Sharif's ruling party Pakistan Muslim League (N) in the Punjab province, from where it won majority.

Political pundits believe the reason behind this is the electoral support that PML(N) enjoys from its religious and conservative vote bank.

Therefore, they diverted the NAP towards Sindh, the southern province of Pakistan, which generated media frenzy as it was directed against Sharif's two main political rivals, but did little to subdue the battle-hardened religious extremists.

Also read - Charsadda attack: Pakistan needs to cut all ties with terror for its own good

With change in command of military, a new policy was enacted against terrorism. The policy of "good Taliban and bad Taliban", which was followed in the Musharraf era and trickled into the Kiyani's tenure. But these policies failed to limit the blowback.

It was by the end of Kiyani's term that it finally dawned on the administration that Pakistan's security threat is more internal than external. General Kiyani said, "The biggest threats are religious intolerance, political turmoil and anarchy…"

With Raheel Sharif as current chief of staff, the policy has again shifted towards the traditional narrative that Pakistan is being destabilised from outside rather from within. The liberal political forces of Sindh, particularly Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), which is the second largest secular political force in the country, represent the urban Sindh has been currently targeted by external elements for acting as alleged collaborators. This doctrine was followed in the '90s when democracy was restored in Pakistan after Zia's era of Islamisation.

When Musharraf took over in late '90s, he was forced by the US to go against the Taliban in Afghanistan to project Pakistan's soft image in the Western capitals. The administration again asked for public support through secular political forces like the MQM and political partnership in war against religious extremism. But current chief has formulated a totally different policy for the MQM.

Also read - Pakistan has lost the plot fighting terrorism

In this war, Pakistan army has lost many young soldiers, which the ruling elite refuses to acknowledge. It must comprehend that Pakistan's real problems surfaced the day non-state actors were patronised as foreign policy tools.

Recently, former Pakistani ambassador to US, Husain Haqqani said, "The Pakistani establishment easily gets distracted by the delusion of fighting India and influence in Afghanistan and allowing certain jihadi groups to pursue those objectives, not realising that they can end up having offshoots, just like the Pakistani Taliban came from Afghan Taliban."

Pakistan has to realise that the religious groups, which act like State within the State and operate with impunity, can't continue to run as a part of its society. Currently, Islamabad is under siege by religious groups, which are demanding Sharia laws and exile of all Ahmidis from Pakistan.

Pakistani establishment has to come up with the datum that counter-terrorism policy should be institutionalised rather than personalised. The religio-political forces have to cut ties with banned organisations, which are hell-bent on spreading hate against minorities or sects; a cost they should pay even if it damages their vote bank.