Yet another dastardly attack by terrorists has taken lives of over 72 citizens of Pakistan in Lahore. There will usual rhetoric and condemnations, with promises of stern action, which will never be carried out. We are reaping the harvest of our own follies when Zia’s unconstitutional rule gave sanctuary to criminals and foreign mercenaries to fight proxy wars. The factories which were funded by foreigners have now become a booming criminal business. One wonders whether it is nexus between law enforcement and criminals which prevent installation of CCTV monitoring of public places in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar etc and entry points at border crossings, airports and check posts in this country?. This would have cost a fraction of money spent on mega projects worth several hundreds of billions.
Even if all the army is utilized to fight terrorism, other than killing hundreds of recruits nothing else will be achieved. The factories that breed, nurture and produce terrorists, whether funded by foreigners or through local support, will continue to produce more terrorists to replace those killed. As long as Pakistan Federal Government and all Provincial Governments abdicate their constitutional obligation to invest in education, and outsource it to private sector, hundreds of thousands of poor will be forced to send their children to unregulated Madrassas, who exploit religion to brainwash and unleash them on this country.
ALI MALIK,
Lahore, March 28.