Terror issues

The alleged suicide attack, due to which five Chinese citizens and a Pakistani driver lost their lives, is most terrible, horrific and condemnable.

At the government level, the prime minister and president of Pakistan personally visited the Chinese embassy in Islamabad to express condolences, whereas China has truly demanded that those responsible for the cowardly attack must be punished.

A day ago, a brave soldier of the Pakistan Army was martyred in a cowardly attack on the naval base in Turbat. Recently, in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, terrorists rammed a vehicle full of explosives at the security checkpost, as a result of which seven soldiers of the Pakistan Army were martyred. Although nobody has taken responsibility yet, in the past, there was solid evidence of involvement of extremist elements taking shelter in the neighboring country of Afghanistan.

After the 9/11 tragedy when the United States attacked Afghanistan, a number of Pakistani nationals with ideological sympathies with the Taliban had crossed the border to fight against the Western invaders. A few of them succeeded in returning home safely, whereas the rest are still missing.

Reportedly, secret agencies of at least three foreign countries are active in Balochistan to fulfill their nefarious purposes. Due to unrest, several separatist militant groups began to flourish in the province. According to media reports, numerous militants went to the training camp established in Afghanistan and continued to carry out attacks against Pakistani security institutions. During the border tension a few months ago with Iran, the presence of non-Iranian citizens was also confirmed on Iranian soil.

In many tragic incidents, innocent passengers and settlers were killed after their addresses mentioned on their national identity cards were checked. Chinese experts working on the CPEC project, which is vital for the country's development and prosperity, were also targeted at various sites. Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav in Pakistan is also linked to the ongoing critical situation in the province.

When it comes to missing persons, while it may be true enough that dozens of people went missing inside Pakistan, another side of the story is that persons who are in the custody of our country's security agencies return after being found innocent in the investigation. It is therefore not justified to criticize the security agencies for those who have gone out of their own free will or have fallen victim to some foreign agendas.

In my view, at this critical time, fighting the new wave of terrorism should be at the top of our national priorities and all patriotic Pakistanis should come forward to discourage the baseless propaganda against our national institutions.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council. He tweets @RVankwani