It often becomes the word of debate that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is trying to gain legitimacy from the rise of Afghan Taliban to power. But as it struggles to regroup and rebrand itself, primarily in Afghanistan to conduct cross-border terrorist attacks, the terrorist organization exposes the hypocrisy of its falsified narrative on Jihad, in its entirety. Just as an instance, it is clearly divulged in Sural-al-Anfal that:
“But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace and trust in Allah, for He is the One that hearth and knoweth (all things) (8: 61).”
This quranic verse brings forth the significance thatIslam adheres to the sanctity of peace and prosperity of the society, which TTP clearly abhors and abuses. Hence, with the true spirit of Islamic virtues and morality and also endorsed by the recent statements of COAS Gen. Asim Munir, State of Pakistan with its security forces, primarily remains committed to completely uproot the menace of terrorism. 87 anti-militant operations in the year 2022 as compared to 67 in 2021 despite our economic woes, clearly depicts the resilience of Pakistan and its armed forces when it comes to the sanctity of Pakistan’s security.
Whilst our security forces have attained notable successes in the pursuit of ‘zero-tolerance policy for terrorism without discrimination’ of any sort, certain sources are in continuous process to propagate such falsified narratives as that of Pak Army being involved in the back channel talks with TTP, whereas, the former strictly do not intend to make any such move. ‘Security forces remain ‘singularly’ (in contradiction to prevalent political chaos in the country) focused on Counter-Terrorism and IBOs, which are being conducted all over the country with pronounced success’, as maintained by COAS in the wake of latest attack on Karachi Police Forces Headquarters.
Fortunately, we have come to the point where people in our ex-FATA realize that the very essence of Jihad, in its true sense and spirits, is what gets exhibited in the sacrifices laid down by our security forces, law enforcement agencies and civilians in their pursuit of “Zero Tolerance” policy for such terror outfits. Out of the total 419 fatalities endured in terrorist related incidents last year, about half have been borne by our security officials, who stand high alert with their all-encompassing commitment towards “resolute deterrence and securing a conducive and enabling environment” when it comes to countering menace of terrorism. Our Defense Industrial Complex tends to boost not only National Security fabric but also cooperates with the region and beyond, with the intention to secure perpetual peace and prosperity and security for all. This is what is exhibited in the sales of PAC Kamra of JF-17 to Nigeria ($184 million) or provision of 12 Mashaks to Iraq ($33.3 million deal), generating economic gains for the state in return.
While Pakistan copes up with its inevitable economic challenges caused by unforeseen enemy be it Covid-19 or the tormenting floods (June-October, 2022), which alone caused Pakistan economic losses to the tune of $15.2 billion as given by Post Disaster Needs Assessment Survey (by UN in conjunction with WB, EU, and ADB), the state remains fully committed to guard its security interests at all costs, first and foremost. 87 anti-militant operations in the previous year as compared to 63 in 2021, stands as a testament to this fact.
Pakistan, already has uprooted the menace of terrorism and TTP is in a continuous turmoil in its struggle to rebrand itself. The Afghanistan government, appears to be analyzing the situation in the right context now as given by its latest deliberations with Pakistan. Every state testifies to this reality today that geo-economics and geo-security are strictly intertwined and terrorism or provision of safe havens to any such terrorist activity does benefit to none.
Pakistan’s humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, standing at $1 billion for the reconstruction of war-ravaged country, provision of 14,945 tonnes of humanitarian assistance by virtue of four C-130 and 694 trucks as well and establishment of various hospitals, including Afghnaistan’s second largest 400 bed Jinnah Hospital, among others, validates our claims of fraternal relationship and commitment towards achieving mutual peace and prosperity in the region and beyond. With this, the state of Pakistan, on prioity, needs to materialize its commitment towards people-centric socio-economic development, so that people are well-informed, prosperous and developed enough to allow any nefarious designs to operate in our state and are in a better position to stand with the true essence, meaning and actors of Jihad. While building up the capabilities of CTDs and consolidating NACTA, anti-military narrative needs to be effectively countered, in order to deter and uproot enemies, struggling to operate within the borders of Pakistan.
TTP and All-Encompassing National Consensus
