Terrorists get matchless response from army chief

ISLAMABAD: As Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa was about to hit the first 100-day mark in this top most military office, terrorists flung down the gauntlet only to face a matchless response leading to their decimation.

"Each drop of the nation’s blood shall be revenged and revenged immediately. There will be no more restraint for anyone. Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond,” is what the army chief stated after the most deadly Feb 16 suicide bombing in the compound of the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif.

Make no mistake, enough is enough. The message was blunt, loud and clear for Afghanistan, which needed it since long because constant persuasions, demarches, requests and soft handling have consistently failed to bring home to it the realisation of putting an instant stop to Pakistan’s immense sufferings inflicted by terrorists, operating from its soil.

Gen Bajwa took no time to translate his declaration into reality with practical measures. The terrorists’ sanctuaries in Afghanistan have been bombed, a decisive action that was required since long. The Kabul government has always taken Islamabad’s protests lightly and has not moved against terrorists, who are playing havoc in Pakistan.

When the army chief talked about the ‘hostile powers’, it was undoubtedly directed at India, which is engaged in its anti-Pakistan activities from the Afghan soil with the Kabul government fully conniving with New Delhi in rocking its neighbour.

It is naïve to rule out the American connivance in this dirty game. Even an average person would quickly understand the wicked machination. Terrorists from Afghanistan can’t operate against Pakistan if the American forces want to check them. The US can swiftly annihilate these criminals in a few air strikes but the condition is the will on Washington’s part to do so. But despite Pakistan’s intense hullabaloo, neither Americans nor the Afghan government has even slightly moved against these terrorists. Their non-action leaves no doubt in any mind that they want Pakistan to bleed.

It is not only Pakistan that is crying aloud for years about the terrorist attacks from Afghanistan. Now, a former senior American official has also told the truth. Former Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has stated that India has been using Afghanistan as a second front against Pakistan, adding that India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border and “you can carry that into many dimensions”. “India has always used Afghanistan for its own war and is creating problems against Pakistan from Afghanistan.” He took a long time to call a spade a spade.

The US is spending billions of dollars every year in Afghanistan to restore “peace”, but doesn’t realise that it can’t be achieved unless India is reined in and stopped from sponsoring terrorists’ sanctuaries in the war-torn country. Despite continued America’s shutting its eyes on Indian terrorism in Pakistan, Islamabad is sincerely making contributions for return of peace in Afghanistan.

Although Pakistan has been frequently severely tortured by the Afghanistan-based terrorists, it has persisted with its policy of appeasement towards Kabul and millions of Afghan refugees present here. All these initiatives, which needed to be welcomed by Afghanistan all the time, have been taken mistakenly by Kabul. Even now, Islamabad is not inclined to throw out the refugees from its territory, who are mostly responsible for the woes it is facing.

Islamabad has been pushed to a corner to order its security forces to destroy the terrorists’ safe havens in Afghanistan. There was no other option left as Kabul has not understood the soft language. The closure of borders at Chaman and Torkham will obviously have sweeping economic impact on Afghanistan, which will have to be brought to its knees now after it does not comprehend the gravity of the situation. Additionally, the border shutting has also affected the Nato supply line to Afghanistan.

Even before Gen Bajwa assumed office on November 29 last, there had been quite calm as far as terrorism was concerned due to the intensive campaigns by the law enforcement agencies specifically the military operation, Zarb-e-Azb. At the same time, the violations of the Line of Control (LoC) and working boundary by India also came down after he became the army chief.

However, last week saw an unprecedented bombing in all the four provinces and the tribal areas, which turned out to be a huge challenge for the army chief. Gen. Bajwa has repeatedly stated that the military will extend every kind of cooperation to the civilian authorities. He has accompanied Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif where it was necessary, showing a remarkable civ-mil harmony and coordination.

It is most satisfying and encouraging that all the civilian and military institutions are working hand in hand. They have to, considering the challenge thrown by the terrorists. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has given full powers to the army to carry out search and combing operations anywhere in Pakistan it deems fit. There is no question of any reservations by the federal government over the actions being taken by the army troops. Simultaneously, close consultations between the premier and the army chief are frequently held to have every side on board about the key decisions. Every side deserves equal credit for the good job being performed to rid the homeland of the scourge of terrorism.