Charsadda attack proves Pakistan is losing war on terror

On January 19 this year, after a month of observing the first anniversary of the attack on the Army Public School on December 16, 2014, Pakistan had to face another attack on an education institution, when the Bacha Khan University, in the same area - Northern Province - came under the terrorists'fire. This attack took more than 20 lives including that of an assistant professor of chemistry.

The Taliban mastermind of the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar claimed responsibility for carrying out the Bacha Khan attack, only a few months after a statement by the Pakistan Army in which it claimed to have cleared out Waziristan (tribal belt between Afghanistan and Pakistan) from terrorists.

After bearing the deaths of more students, the state should confess about its unguided policy against terrorism and weaknesses in the National Action Plan, the policy which was formulated to fight terrorism following the Army Public School attack.

After the January 19 attack, the Pakistan Army spokesperson, Asim Bajwa tweeted live that army chief Raheel Sharif has appreciated the timely response by the security agency.

After a few days of the attack, Bajwa held a press conference in which he paraded four alleged terrorists involved in attack.

I wonder, what “timely response” is when you have failed to keep your education institutions secure after two years of intensive operation called Zarb-e-Azb against the terrorists.

Also read - Charsadda attack: Pakistan needs to tame demons at home

The Bacha Khan University incident happened at a time when Pakistan was being blamed for the attack on the Indian Air Force station at Pathankot. India blamed the attack on terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and claimed to have evidences about its involvement.

Masood Azhar, the JeM chief, has been taken under protective custody by Pakistani authorities and many seminaries run by the JeM have been closed down in different cities of Pakistan's Punjab province. But Pakistani authorities have turned down the Indian proposal of joint interrogation of Azhar. Many JeM members have been arrested in connection with the Pathankot attack.

Pakistan has had to face major setbacks in the war against terrorism, in which more than 60,000 lives have been lost including those of 5,000 security personnel, but unfortunately neighbouring countries blame Pakistan if their land is hit by terrorists. The reason is Pakistan’s past policy of differentiating between terrorists as “good Taliban" and "bad Taliban” continues to haunt her.

Pakistan has become a fertile land for the terrorist organisations’ recruitment and training process. The presence of the Islamic State (ISIS) was announced after an attack on an American professor Debra Lobo, in Karachi where ISIS leaflets were found.

And the attack on a bus of the Ismaili community which also happened in Karachi had traces of the ISIS.

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

Many media reports are proving that the orphan militants of Taliban and al-Qaeda have now joined the ISIS.

Mufti Hasan Swati, claimed to be the deputy head of the ISIS in Pakistan, was an erstwhile Taliban member. He told a foreign journalist that the military operation in Waziristan has helped them (ISIS). According to him, hundreds of militants who quit previous groups have joined the ISIS.

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2015, showed that 28 per cent of Pakistanis have negative views about the ISIS. But nine per cent have favorable views and 62 per cent have "no opinion". This was alarming. This survey was conducted after the Army Public School attack in which the main target were school children. Even after such heinous acts of terrorism, 62 per cent people in Pakistan are still undecided about forming an opinion against terrorism and terrorist organisations like the ISIS that is beheading people around the world.

According to Saifullah Mehsud, the head of Fata Research Centre, said: “All the ingredients are still here.” International media quoted him that 35 years of lessons will not be so easily erased.

Also read - Terror hits Pakistan again: Gunmen strike Bacha Khan University near Peshawar

The damage caused in the last 35 years by supporting the "good" Taliban and finding strategic depth in neighbouring countries can’t be fixed by launching military operations in the tribal belts or using National Action Plan for political victimisation as alleged by the opposition.

Now is the time to confront this menace which has got embedded deep in the society and institutions. In September 2015, a former Pakistan Air Force pilot who was raising funds for the al-Qaeda's South Asia branch was arrested from Karachi.

The terrorists, who carried the Ismaili bus attack, had graduated from prestigious institutes of Pakistan. Since 2014, the Pakistan Army has been claiming to have cleared out the tribal belt of terrorists and confiscated 200 tonnes of armaments; but then, the nation faces such attacks which either have traces in the tribal area or southern Punjab.

For instance, after the Pathankot incident in India, police crackdown in the southern area of the Punjab province led to the arrest of six suspected ISIS militants.

Pakistan has to do more for breaking the backbones of terrorism in the country. The state has to move forward from military operation to countering the terrorists' ideology. The ISIS always tries to capture territories and occupy national assets. Therefore, this is the time for the Pakistani state to establish its writ and proper democratic system in all the areas including the tribal belt.

Borders and ports should have a strong surveillance system to control cross-border terrorism; the parallel judiciary system (jirga) in the tribal areas should be eliminated.

Cities from the north to south should have a decentralised system with community watch and local policing. Books and websites carrying hate speeches should be banned. If the state can ban YouTube, why not such websites and social media fora. Pakistan cannot afford to go into another war, countering the newly emerging threat - ISIS - and loose another 60,000 lives.