by Noor Dahri
The history of terrorism in Pakistan
is very specious and the implications of terrorism on the soul of Pakistan are
very deep. There are many causes behind the origins of terrorist acts in Pakistan.
One of the reasons is born and bred terrorism and terrorist network in a
country which was stamped down by their own Army many times. Pakistan Army is
fighting a war with insiders in the Army and outsider who were once children of
the Army. There are many examples of the attacks on army, naval and air force
bases which were carried out with the help of army personals who wanted to
destabilize not only Pakistan or damage the infrastructure of Pak Army but to
establish a so called Islamic State.
Fundamentalist elements within the
army are so strong, and the Army is confused how to counter these high ranking
officers. Two groups have been created within the Army, one is moderate group
which supports democracy, and the other is an extremist group, which fully
supports the TTP (Tehrik e Taliban Pakistan) terrorist network and ISIS. An
Army Brigadier Ali Khan and his colleagues Major Anayat Aziz, Major Sohail
Akbar, Major Iftkhar and Major Javed, who were convicted are the concrete
examples of extreme elements within Pakistan Army.
According to Rob Crilly who is a
Pakistan correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph: “Ask
any NATO commander in Afghanistan what is the biggest hurdle to defeating the
Taliban insurgency, and there is only ever one answer: the safe havens in
Pakistan from where militants can launch strikes in safety”. The strong
connection between Haqqani network and Pakistan Army is really old and stiff.
According to Abdul Rashid Waziri, a specialist at Kabul's Centre for Regional
Studies of Afghanistan, explains that links between the Haqqani network and
Pakistan can be traced back to the mid-1970s. The ISI links with the Haqqanis
since 1979. According to a report published by West Point's Combating Terrorism
Centre (2011), the network acts as a key facilitator of negotiations between
the Pakistani government and the TTP and as the "primary conduit" of
many Pakistani Taliban fighters into Afghanistan. In 2009, Pakistan told US
authorities that a retired Army Major was arrested in connection with Haqqani
network. The council on Foreign Relations published its report noted that:
“Pakistan's military intelligence
agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has long faced accusations of
meddling in the affairs of its neighbours. A range of officials inside and
outside Pakistan have stepped up suggestions of links between the ISI and
terrorist groups in recent years.” In June 2008, Afghan officials accused
Pakistan's intelligence service of plotting a failed assassination attempt on
President Hamid Karzai; shortly thereafter, they implied the ISI's involvement
in a July 2008 attack on the Indian embassy. Indian officials also blamed the
ISI for the bombing of the Indian embassy. Pakistani officials have denied such
a connection”.
According an intelligence report “The
United States had direct evidence that the ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja
Pasha, knew of Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Pakistan was also
responsible for the evacuation of about 5000 of the top leadership of the
Taliban and Al-Qaeda who were encircled by NATO forces in the 2001. This event,
known as the Kunduz airlift, which is also popularly called the "Airlift
of Evil", involved several Pakistani Air Force transport planes flying multiple
sorties over a number of days”.
Pakistani scholar Pervez Hoodbhoy
also accused ISI for its connection with Osama bin Laden: "Bin Laden was
the 'Golden Goose' that the army had kept under its watch, but which, to its
chagrin, has now been stolen from under its nose. Until then, the thinking had
been to trade in the Goose at the right time for the right price, either in the
form of dollars or political concessions". In 2011, American troops
reportedly recovered Pakistani military supplies from Taliban insurgents in
Afghanistan.
Pakistan Army always supported and
perpetrated terrorist incidents in India for the cause of Kashmir. It is
likewise proved that LET militants brought Indian army personal’s beheaded head
in Pakistan and showed openly in public at their assemblies. The leader of the
terrorist organization “Jaish –e-Mohammad” Moulana Azhar was released from the
Indian Prison through the interchange of airplane hostages in Afghanistan and
later the same terrorist leader appeared and made his own terrorist group at
the soul of Pakistan with the help of Pak Army. There are yet many examples
that Pak Army still supports terrorism organizations and militant networks.