Now that the general elections in Pakistan are a few days away, there are fears that TTP terrorists may do anything to sabotage them. At this juncture, the entire nation, especially the youth, must help the law enforcement agencies to foil any sabotage attempt.

The Pakistani nation and its armed forces crushed terrorism by sacrificing more than 70,000 lives, but the former PIT government, which was in power for three and a half years, invited the subversives of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who took refuge in Afghanistan to come back to the tribal areas in the name of reconciliation. As a result, terrorists armed with deadly weapons returned in large numbers and started fresh terrorism against the land of Pakistan by establishing a foothold in their previous hideouts. They also established contacts with Baloch separatists and started suicide attacks and bomb blasts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the effects of which were also felt in Punjab and Sindh.

The unrelenting propaganda of social media has fueled them, with which the nation is once again facing the monster of terrorism.

Army Chief General Asim Munir in his thought-provoking speech at the Pakistan National Youth Convention in Islamabad on Wednesday, addressing the youth in particular, has expressed his views on the negative role of terrorism and social media.

He has said that the armed forces can prepare and fight against all kinds of threats and conspiracies at all times, but the cooperation of the entire nation is necessary to bring this monster to an end, because if Pakistan is there, then we are. If not Pakistan, then neither are we. He exhorted the youth to get to the bottom of social media news and said that without research and positive thinking, the society remains chaotic. The chief guest of the ceremony, caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar also said in his speech that the youth should reject the propaganda spread by the enemies of Pakistan and rely on the authentic information provided by the state.

He further said that youth constitute 65% of Pakistan's population. Victory would not have been possible without their involvement and support. Youth can play a key role in tackling emerging challenges to national security. The nation has fought this scourge with courage and bravery and has made eternal sacrifices while the Pakistan Army has fought the war against terrorism with full dedication and professionalism.

Terrorism has been fought by other nations but Pakistan fought the biggest battle against this monster. The reason for this is that India is an enemy in Pakistan's neighborhood which keeps using new tactics to harm it. It has a major role in terrorism originating from Afghanistan. Valid proof of this is in the form of Kulbhushan Yadav still imprisoned in Pakistan who confessed that he spread terrorism in Pakistan from his secret hideout in Iran. Unfortunately, the governments of Afghanistan also contributed equally to this, even though this brotherly Islamic country has religious, ethnic and linguistic ties with Pakistan for centuries.

It is good to see that the security agencies are determined to thwart the efforts of elements hostile to the country to sabotage peace and stability.

The Afghan Taliban government should cooperate in the promotion of mutual trade and peace-building efforts in the interest of both countries. After that, it was expected that the use of Afghan territory for terrorism against Pakistan would be stopped and this practice will be completely closed, but despite the continuous assurances of the Afghan government, this did not happen, due to which a negative impression was created on the government and public level in Pakistan.  The statistics revealed at the end of 2023 indicate that during the year, Pakistani security forces killed 566 terrorists in a total of 18,736 operations and arrested 5,161. Among them, 109 terrorists were killed in 15,063 incidents in Balochistan, while 447 were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

During the year, 190 terrorists were killed, 14 in Gilgit-Baltistan, while 10 were killed in Sindh.

These actions of the security agencies are saddened by the situation that the outlawed TTP and its followers want to impose in Pakistan and the region. They will not get anything except heavy loss of life and money and disgrace, however, Pakistan is continuously convincing the Afghan Taliban government to ensure effective border management from its side. The claims have been proven. They should keep their promises not to use their soil against Pakistan while realizing the centuries-old bilateral brotherly relations between the two countries.

In the context of the growing tension in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, it is certainly a promising news that the senior leader of the Afghan Taliban and the governor of Kandahar province, Mullah Shireen Akhond, will visit Islamabad in the next few days for talks to improve the situation. It is a clear fact that the two brotherly Muslim countries are not only bound by faith but also by deep historical, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, economic and geographical ties.  In the past four decades, Afghanistan faced severe problems as a result of the demilitarization of the world powers twice, the Pakistani nation helped the Afghan brothers in all possible ways to get rid of them.

Especially due to the ravages of these terrible wars, millions of Afghan families who left their homeland and came to Pakistan were warmly welcomed by the people and governments of every part of the country and most of them actually enjoyed the same facilities as the citizens of Pakistan.

However, due to the support of the United Nations for the NATO-American invasion of Afghanistan after 9/11, the Islamabad government at that time had to cooperate with the United States in various forms in this war, due to which Pakistan also supported the Afghan movement on a large scale.

It was heavily targeted by terrorism from local supporters of the resistance, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and several other militant groups. However, the war that lasted for twenty years in Afghanistan was ended by negotiations between Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan and the US government, in which Pakistan's role was of key importance in making it possible.

Published in The Daily National Courier, January, 29 2024

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