Siege Within

PAKISTAN was once again a victim of internal terrorism as gunmen climbed a bus and fired indiscriminately on members of the minority Ismaili Shia community in Karachi. Forty three people were killed as a result. The extremist Jindullah group affiliated to ISIS claimed responsibility for the outrage. Jihadis in Pakistan are on the rampage again. The authorities appear incapable of containing terrorism which is escalating. Pakistani minorities are the target. Pakistan’s civil society is beleagured. The fault obviously lies with the country’s military and intelligence machinery which is the ISI. The army makes use of terrorists to gain a foothold in neighbouring countries. A preposterous distinction was made between good and bad jihadis. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has however summarily dismissed it. A recent American report has revealed the sinister fact that al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was secretly sheltered by the ISI at Abbotabad before he was killed by US troops.
Pakistan has also leaked its Abbotabad Commission Report which is withheld from the public. It also suggests that Osama bin Laden received support from the country’s security agency. Evidently, Pakistan’s security establishment blows hot and cold in its pursuit of an anti-terror policy. The military-intelligence complex does not take orders from the Islamabad government nor does it act according to parliamentary norms. But Islamabad should take effective steps to rein it in so that it does not encourage terror. Otherwise Pakistan will be in siege within.