Adil Najam
Taliban murderers are at it again. An increased rampage of suicide bombings and blasts in Peshawar, in Lahore, in Nowshera, in Hangu, and all over Pakistan. As the operation against them intensifies in the Swat region, they are bringing more terror to the rest of Pakistan. From their statements, they take responsibility for and seem quite proud about killing Pakistanis, murdering Muslims, targeting Mosques, spreading mayhem.
Does this signify an act of desperation on the part of the Taliban, or an act of expansion?
Yesterday it was a blast at a five-star hotel in Peshawar. Today it was the targetted murder of a major anti-Taliban religious leader in Lahore and the destruction of a mosque in Nowshera. But these are just two data points in a continuum of killing Pakistanis, destroying mosques, and massacaring Muslims who disagree with their doctrine of hate that has accelerated recently and is likely to increase even more.
There is little pioint in repeating the gory details of these bouts of murder by the Taliban. We know the details already. And what we know will change soon enough. And more bombs will be added.
It is clear that the Taliban know exactly what they are doing. They are spreading mayhem. They are breeding fear. They are terrorizing Pakistanis. They are doing all this for a reason. The real battle is for the hearts and minds of Pakistanis.
They made the religious argument and that seems to be working less and less for them today. Now they are threatening our daily existence in the attempt to break the will of the public.
The question is: Will they succeed? Will we give in to their terror? Will they be able to scare us – the people of Pakistan – into retreat? Will we bow to their venom and murder?
These are not easy choices for those who actually live where the bombs are blowing up, where limbs are flying, where children are dying. This was always a war on Pakistan that Pakistanis themselves would have to fight. the Taliban are making it ever more personal for ordinary Pakistanis, every day.
The Taliban are hoping we will make the wrong decision. That we will side with our personal safety rather than our national security. Will we?
@Mustafa Kamaal…. by your own logic, my question to you is, has any RAW-CIA-Mossad nexus person been convicted in a court of law? If not, then allegations are just that!!!!
It is Taliban supporters like who make excuses for the murder of Pakistanis and Muslims who are making these Taliban what they are. Anyone who supports Taliban has to be an enemy of Islam and Pakistan because they are supporting the killing of Pakistanis and Muslims.
It has now become a fashion in Pakistan to blame every mishap on Talibans. My question is, has any Taliban ever been convicted in a court of law? If not, then allegations against Talibans are just that.
Unless we unmask the real perpetrators behind these crimes (RAW-CIA-Mossad nexus), such events will keep happening.
Its desperation and nothing else and stupids targeting Lahore because they know it matter more over there. I heard its Punjabi Faujis who are fighting Pathan extremists in NWFP as Pathan Faujis refused to go against their brothers or whatever.
They are doing what they wrongly believe in and not realizing how many innocent people they have killed and how many families are suffering from their gory acts.
But for our country, it seems that it will get worse before it gets better. Its not the expansion of these crazy taliban rather they are rapidly loosing their constituencies at all front be it people, media, and conservatives.
God bless our country and am sure as a nation, we have resilience to come out of crisis. But it seems that the war against these extremist will bring us together to determine the course of our nation.
The recent attacks are pre-emptive by the core Taliban, who are based in Waziristan. They have seen their franchises in Bajaur, Hangu, Khyber and now in Swat crushed and know that they are on the hit-list.
So they have employed a tactic they first used in Peshawar in January 2006, which is to launch direct attacks in Pakistani cities and build up deterrence against Pakistani awam and army. The Taliban are hoping to break the newly formed anti-militant unity in Pakistan and re-empower their supporters and sympathizers in media and politics.