Junaid Ali Malik |
COAS Qamar Bajwa attended the 54th Munich Security Conference in Germany. While presenting the viewpoint of the state of Pakistan in the conference, he fittingly said that only state had right to impose Jihad. The role of non-state actors should be abolished in all ways possible. No non-state entity should be given the right to craft a state within a state. Pakistan has been bearing the brunt of so-called Jihadi organizations that have hijacked the peaceful religion of Islam.
On the other side, the world has also done injustice with the term Jihad and gave it a false coloring. Unfortunately, owing to the lawless Afghanistan next door, Pakistan has suffered a great financial and non-financial thrashing. In this regard, the slackness of Pakistani authorities throughout history has added salt to the wounds of the nation. They left no stone unturned to prove that they were incompetent to form independent and rational decisions keeping in view the national interests.
Instead of indulging into political bashing at home, the sole concentration of the politicians should be over coordination with each other and with the law enforcement agencies so that a comprehensive set of strategies could not only be formulated but also implemented.
Be it dictatorship or democracy, the decisions of international exposure, with concrete debate from different stakeholders on them, were never made inside the parliament. Border management with Afghanistan is the need of the hour and an immediate requisite for peace in the region, but it is long-overdue. COAS stressed over its importance too. Neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan showed any urgency to the fulfillment of this need.
Americans also followed suit. Lack of financial resources on the part of Pakistan cannot be the sole reason for that. The Durand Line of 2,640-kilometer should be properly checked so that the movement of the extremist elements from one state to another with implied and overt agendas can be halted. Furthermore, the relations with Afghanistan should be looked over thoroughly.
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Giving more and more space to registered and unregistered Afghans will spoil the already tumbled economy of Pakistan. The planning for the Afghan refugees’ safe departure should be initiated and implemented at the earliest. How can Pakistan sustain millions of Afghans when around five million Pakistani people are unemployed?
Just imagine that no top-level leadership of the major political parties except the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Imran Khan visited the region of Waziristan. Nawaz Sharif became the first elected-premier who visited the area of Miramshah with the then COAS Raheel Sharif in 2014.
The political government is chiefly responsible for fencing the border with Afghanistan, covering the political gap in war-torn areas, and improving the wrecked infrastructure. In the name of Jihad, no more fasad should be allowed. Pakistan needs to come to the point where it was before it plunged into American war against USSR and then the Taliban in Afghanistan.
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The Indian role in Afghanistan is rising and that too is attached with certain vested interests. Pakistani political and military leadership cannot keep itself aloof from what is happening in the neighboring countries. Pakistan needs to have a sustained democratic setup that comprehends the regional dynamics very well. Most of the times, the democratic leadership owing to its carelessness could not form an influential strategy, and the result came in the shape of the destruction of the tribal areas and the displacement of the local people from their abodes.
The Durand Line of 2,640-kilometer should be properly checked so that the movement of the extremist elements from one state to another with implied and overt agendas can be halted.
Just imagine that no top-level leadership of the major political parties except the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Imran Khan visited the region of Waziristan. Nawaz Sharif became the first elected-premier who visited the area of Miramshah with the then COAS Raheel Sharif in 2014. These irregular visits will not produce the desired results. The frequent visits to the war-torn areas will bring confidence among the local political leadership, and this will also discouraged the terrorists whose sole purpose is to convert the eye-catching landscape of the tribal areas into a living hell.
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Instead of indulging into political bashing at home, the sole concentration of the politicians should be over coordination with each other and with the law enforcement agencies so that a comprehensive set of strategies could not only be formulated but also implemented. Only then would peace and tranquility be possible for Pakistan.
Junaid Ali Malik is a professional writer. He considers writing is the sole purpose of his life. He has done masters in Commerce and History and holds PG Diploma in International Affairs. He is an entrepreneur by profession. He can be contacted at alimalikmalik627@gmail.com or @junaidalimalik1. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.