Where Pakistan Stand?

 Security has become a major problem

Security of Pakistan as well as of  the citizens has become crucial for the future of the state. It has come to pose a challenge for both the government and the people in Pakistan. Prior to the emergence of current situation, many people believed that Pakistan had to counter only the external threats .

Now the internal threat and suicide bombing too had become crucial which associate with external. Rather this demands as much vigilance as the external threat like US drones attacks, NATO air jets shelling ,bomb blast and suicide attacks as well. The security and the well-being of the country now depends how best it deals with these two threats which is very difficult to handle by Pakistani security departments without any external help.

The events that followed Sept 11, 2001 have changed the situation all over the world. Former German Chancellor Schroeder had rightly said that the world would now be different. He said it would certainly not remain the same.

The former President of Soviet Union, Mr.Gorbachev has warned Nato that they cannot get victory in Afghanistan. He said there is better for United States that USA withdraws its troops from Afghanistan. The Former President said that his country pulled his forces from Afghanistan after ten years and Afghan victory is Impossible for them and United States as well and it is time to leave this region .

Violence has hit our country hard after 9/11. Some say it is on decline but many others strongly challenge this argument. They say it is not on decline rather it is on rise. Whether it is on rise or decline, people have begun to live with it as a dreadful part of their life. All the people being aware of the menace keep thinking how best they could meet the challenge. They put forward different strategies.

On one point they all agree that the problem of security demands immediate and prompt attention of all. It appears that something has gone wrong somewhere. People do not feel themselves safe and secure as they did about ten years ago. Everybody has to be on guard. Officials or private citizens, elderly or youth, men or women now feel compelled to take precautionary measures.

The security agencies constantly advise the people to remain alert. They should report to the police if they feel suspicious about any person in the area. Similarly, they had better keep themselves away if they find anything by the roadside that might arouse their suspicion.

Some people go so far as to say that they do not know when they leave their homes whether they will be able to return or not. The common man finds his life, property and unfortunately sometime even his honor at risk.

Every corner of the country is unsafe no parks, schools, shrines, mosques where people gather for pray, education and entertainment by terrorist attacks,hundreds of people killed in these attacks. The reasons for the situation having deteriorated to such an extent are varied and many in number.

The spread of militancy practically too all parts of the country has been the main reason for giving rise to fear and insecurity. The militancy has unleashed terror in many forms. These include bomb blasts, suicidal bombing, target killing kidnapping for ransom and street violence and robberies at gun point. Bomb blasts and suicidal bombing from Khyber to Karachi have made the people think more about their safety.

Such incidents as these can make anybody become an easy target and it could occur anywhere. This fear has begun to haunt the people at homes, this nightmare should be finish. The streets in their offices and you name any other place, they feel it there.

According to reports, 87 suicide attacks took place across the country last year. Nearly 1300 people were killed in these attacks. This figure is an increase of about forty percent in comparison with the preceding year.

 The CIA operated drones have been attacking Northern tribal belt for the last more than two years killing over 2000 people. The US drones have struck tribal belt especially North West and North South Pakistan almost forty times since September 2,30 times in October 2010 killing over four hundred people, mostly innocent tribes with terrorist.

The number of suicide attacks has been on the rise during this year than 2009 . Most of these attacks have been carried out by teenagers who had under twenty. According to the report of local Urdu News channel three hundreds of teenagers have been trained to be used as suicide bombers.

The personnel of security forces have suffered heavily in such acts but neither the women nor children were spared. The educational institutions especially those in the NWFP have been attacked by militants. They have been very harsh against the schools for girls. Why? About 100 schools for girls were destroyed alone in Swat.

The militants had taken over Swat. The life there stood paralyzed. The whole world felt shocked. The place was a major attraction for tourists from home as well as abroad. But the tourists had stopped going there.

Everything had come to a halt. Pakistan had to take action. Pakistan army came to the rescue of the country. It launched operation to take back the land well known for its scenic beauty. The army succeeds in taking it back but many of its brave soldiers had to render the supreme sacrifice of their life to restore the writ of the state.

The common citizens too had to pass through agony. About two and a half million local people had to leave the area during the military operation against militants. They moved to safer place as Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) – refugees in their own country.

What more horrible situation could be there? However, it goes to the credit of the Pakistani Nation that it stood united to meet the challenge. Although these challenges were created for us after 9/11. Is it revenge or preplanned challenges?

This War mounded over the different Muslim countries. We don’t know how and where the militant come from .These militants are created for Muslims by others ,Who knows ? Life from now onwards would be new for them and thus their conduct and their attitude would also be different.

The threat to life and property has also had its effects on economic and social life of the people. The military operation also had to be conducted in North / South Waziristan. It had become the stronghold of militants and the State had to take action to restore its writ. It was launched last October 2009 and though militants have been driven out from large areas, the military operation has not ended as yet.

Action also has been taken in the Orakzai Agencyand other places of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Never before has military action ever been taken on such a large-scale in the history of FATA which stretches over a period of hundreds of years. This alone adequately describes the serious situation that prevails there. What more amply could be stated than that the United States had declared it from be the most dangerous area in the world?

 The United States is considered the sole Super Power in the world but here in this region, it too feels the threat to its security. USA  has launched drone attacks and violation in our North West areas of Pakistan territory.

Thousands of people have been killed but the United States says  do more ,do more need to be  ensure its safety and US drone attacks are  a part of their war . During these attacks innocent civilian have been killed By US Drone strikes, Air Jets and helicopters shelling and firing. NATO that came into existence to meet the threat of the former Soviet Union and its communist allies too is fully involved in Afghanistan.

NATO was set-up in 1948 to defend the Western but according to the organization itself; this has been the most difficult challenge for it. The precarious economic situation of Pakistan could be well imagined that it had been compelled to incur an expenditure of more than dollar thirty five billion to fight against terrorism. This it had to do for securing its border on the Western front.

In addition Pakistan has to bear a huge expenditure for the security of its Eastern borders. It is therefore that Pakistan should take every step it considers essential for its security on both the Eastern and Western fronts. By Saadia Sehar Haidari

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