Those who always see the things in the 'half-glass-is-empty' perspective, are utterly depressed over the frequent martyrdoms of officers and juniors of LEAs and armed forces although these martyrdoms speak volumes of the valour of our soldiers and cops who are determined to lay down their lives for their beloved homeland and compatriots without any fear of merciless retaliation. And this valour, combined with the sacrifice factor, spells hope for a nation that is facing 'existential' threat (some say, it is also 'ideological', though this is a debatable point) at the hands of people who claim to be the staunchest believers as compared with all their brethren-in-faith throughout the Islamic world. However, the fact remains that all the classes of people inside Pakistan are concerned- and alarmed- over this rapid surge in the instances of martyrdoms of officers of the armed services and other security forces. The people value all the martyrs on equal footing, including the officers and juniors from lower ranks but they are perturbed over the frequent loss of seniors on whose training, the state spends a lot of resources, time and attention to build the command structure. Hardly a day after the burial of young, valiant officer, Major Ishaq Shaheed, the country stands shocked over the martyrdom of AIG Peshawar. Now the fear has become widespread once again although the people have complete faith in their defenders' ability to protect them against both the visible and the invisible enemies but, at the same time, people expect of the government at the top and the forces at its command to re-launch pre-emptive strikes after minutely identifying the new trouble spots and breeding grounds (plus training centres and hideouts) throughout the country, whether they are located in the tribal belt, close to the borders or in the settled areas. Yet more alarming are the revelations coming every now and then in the national and international media about the ever-growing nexuses among the killer groups in general and with India's RAW in particular. The evidence to this effect has been provided by Pakistan, to Afghanistan as officially disclosed by our Foreign Office spokesman, Dr Muhammad Faisal, the other day. According to the spokesman, "Indian intelligence agency RAW's personnel in Afghanistan, other Taliban terrorist groups and Daesh are involved in terror-related activities in Pakistan. Islamabad authorities have evidence about the RAW's rapport with Afghanistan. Accordingly, Pakistan has provided several proofs of terror acts to Afghanistan and asked Kabul to take action against the terrorists. But no positive response has been received from the neighbouring country. The US government has also been informed in this regard". These nexuses are also well known to the local populace whose majority opines that though the operatives in terror outfits are ideologically motivated through misleading interpretations of belief, the top brass in these outfits are on sale to any entity even though the latter may be pursuing anti-Pakistan or anti-humanity agenda. The FO spokesman has also reaffirmed that Mullah Fazlullah was the mastermind of the acts of bestiality perpetrated against the innocent students and staff of Army Public School, Peshawar. In this regard, the latest statement given by DG, ISPR, Major General Asif Ghafoor, has also rebuilt people's confidence in the security apparatus which, according to the general, is carrying out operations against the terrorists on a constant footing on the basis of valuable, precise information forwarded by intelligence agencies but "no army can succeed without the support from its nation", the general asserted, saying further that 'these operations will improve in the days to come". This signal of improvement is encouraging and the latest development-cum-security initiative, inaugurated the other day in Balochistan by Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is being viewed by many as the first effective step towards improvement of the security situation particularly because the Balochistan province is now probably the hardest hit territory in terms of mass killings as terrorists are not even sparing the innocent pilgrims and job-seekers travelling to foreign lands for earning their livelihood. The selection of Balochistan by the forces that are leading the war against terrorism from the front, is a welcome sign in this backdrop but the alarming security situation also demands that other areas should not be ignored in this matter because the terrorists are not only fighting a war with weapons but are also fighting a war of nerves in which they want to drain the energy of security personnel by rapidly changing the target-spots here and there. The terrorists' philosophy is striking the terror in the hearts of the people and building up the weariness factor for which purpose they usually adopt the strategy of frequent changing of targets. It is with this understanding that ISPR has re-emphasized the nation's support for the army. Unfortunately, the bashing of institutions unleashed by certain public figures is diminishing this direly needed people's trust-and support. No doubt, the top notches in some of the state setups of the past have been doing adventures and misadventures but that does not necessarily imply that things are still treading the same ugly path that too in an era of mass awareness where civil society, media and newer groupings among the masses have assumed the responsibility of vigilant watchdogs. It is probably in this perspective that DG ISPR has stated that selective application of the Constitution shouldn't happen, and that keeping the Constitution supreme in its true spirit is everyone's responsibility.
